God is Merciful
Each week in our Great God series, we have been talking about an attribute, a characteristic of God. Over the last four weeks, we have talked about God’s Glory, God’s Justice, God’s Goodness, God’s Wisdom, God’s Love. Today we are talking about His attribute of Mercy.
When I was a child, a popular game the boys often played was “mercy.” We would join our hands together, lock our fingers together, and it would be a contest of strength to see who could bend the others' fingers back far enough…cause them enough pain, so that they would say. “Mercy.” Sometimes I would win – and the times I would lose, I was often too stubborn to say the word “mercy.” I would rather go cry in the bathroom because of the pain later than say the word “mercy.” When you would say the word “mercy,” the other person would stop trying to hurt you…they proved they had a little power over you…so they would relent. (Most of the time.)
When I was growing up, I did not want people showing me mercy. To me, it felt like receiving mercy from other people was a sign of weakness – and perhaps because of my abusive childhood, I did not want to be perceived as weak.
That changed when I was a sophomore in High School. I was working with other high school students through a government-sponsored program during the summer. We painted the parking lot stripes, did the landscaping, replaced the sod on the football field… and the school's Principal let us drive his truck around the school campus for our work.
I thought I was a bigshot driving his baby blue Ford truck, until I took both hands off the steering wheel, waved at my friends, and crashed right into Ms. McKinney’s brand new car. To recap: I drove the Principal’s truck and wrecked into my math teacher’s car. I did not have a driver’s license. I did not have car insurance.
I slowly walked into Ms. McKinney’s classroom and confessed to her what I had done. I expected to have the book thrown at me. I expected Ms. McKinney would call the police. I expected to be punished, suspended, and that I had ruined my chances of getting my Driver’s License.
Instead, she showed me mercy. She did not call the police. She took the car to an auto body shop, explained the situation, and they reduced the cost. On the first day of school, I handed Ms. McKinney most of the money I had earned that summer to cover the repair cost. I no longer viewed “mercy” as a sign of weakness!
Earlier in this series, we talked about how Moses in the Old Testament wanted to see the Glory of God, so God tucked Moses into the face of a cliff, covered him with his hand, and passed in front of Moses. And while he did, God announced who He was…
Exodus 34:6 (NLT2)
The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
As God announced his goodness, love, and patience to Moses, he also announced that He was the God of MERCY. So, how do we define mercy?
Mercy is God’s action toward people who cannot fix themselves
When God reveals His character to Moses in Exodus 34, Israel has just committed a massive act of rebellion against Him. Moses had been on Mount Sinai receiving the 10 Commandments, and while he was gone, the people grew impatient. They asked Aaron to make them a god they could see. So, Aaron collected their gold, melted it down, and formed a golden calf. And then the Israelites did something insane: Now that they had a golden baby cow, they worshiped it and gave it the credit for rescuing them from Egypt! How BIZARRE!
This was an “in-your-face” rebellion to God. God had just delivered them from slavery, parted the Red Sea, rescued them from the army of Pharaoh, and fed them in the wilderness. And once they worshipped this golden baby-cow, there was nothing the Israelites could do to undo what they had done. They could not take back their worship, and they could not erase their disobedience. In other words, they could not fix themselves.
That is the background context for when God announced that MERCY was one of his characteristics. Rather than losing his temper, sending down fire from Heaven, and smiting the Israelites…Rather than waiting for Israel to prove themselves, earn their way back, or for them to repair the damage they had done…God revealed that He is a MERCIFUL God.
The Israelites were unable to fix what they broke. And instead of retaliating and paying them back, God declares that He is the God of mercy.
Mercy is God moving toward people when they have no leverage, no solution, and no ability to repair their failure. Mercy is God acting because of who He is, not because of what we have done.
And if we are honest, you and I need that kind of mercy from God as well. Because…
God’s mercy frees us from pretending we are fine
Like I would pretend playing the game of “mercy” did not hurt, most of us have become skilled at pretending we are okay.
That is why one of our guiding values at Beach Church is “Transparent Living.” We do not want to be a church that pretends we do not need God’s mercy. We don’t want to pretend that everything is fine. We believe it is okay to not be okay. We believe God desires us to be real, open, and honest about who we are, and we allow others to do the same.
Transparent Living is one of our Guiding Values because sometimes we deceive ourselves and assume God is more comfortable with the version of us that looks put together than the version of us that is struggling. When we believe that, we begin to manage appearances. We start to carefully edit our stories. We keep certain parts of our lives hidden.
We love having guests over to our house, but we never invite them to look in our closets, under the couch, or in the junk drawer. It’s not because we are trying to hide anything or keep anything secret – it’s because we don’t want to be judged by others because of our junk.
But, as a follower of Jesus, as a recipient of God’s mercy, you don’t have to hide your junk.
If God only loved cleaned-up people, we would spend our lives trying to clean ourselves up before coming to Him. If God only moved toward strong people, we would constantly try to look strong. If mercy depended on us fixing our lives first, then mercy would become something we earn instead of something God gives.
God already knows the truth about us. He knows the thoughts we regret. He knows the words we wish we could take back. He knows the habits we cannot seem to break. He knows the parts of our story we hope nobody ever asks about. And even with that full knowledge, He does not retaliate against us.
God is not surprised by our failures. He is not shocked by our struggles. He is not trying to decide whether we are worth showing compassion to. Because Mercy is part of who he is…He shows mercy…
That means…
You do not have to pretend your life is perfect.
You do not have to pretend your faith never struggles.
You do not have to pretend your past does not exist.
You do not have to pretend you have everything under control, because the truth is that none of us do.
In fact, Titus 3:5 says:
Titus 3:5 (NLT2)
…he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
The cross is the ultimate display of mercy. Jesus took the punishment we deserved so we could receive the mercy we did not deserve.
God’s mercy frees us from pretending we are fine, because His mercy reminds us that God is not waiting for a better version of us to appear. He meets us as we actually are. And when you embrace this type of freedom through his mercy, telling the truth stops feeling dangerous and begins to feel more like relief.
So, accept His MERCY…then…you will see that…
His mercy transforms how we treat people at their worst
When you embrace God’s attribute of mercy, something changes inside you. You stop living like someone trying to survive failure. Mercy lifts the weight of shame off your shoulders. And you begin to see people differently.
Instead of seeing people through the lens of their worst moment, you begin to see them through the lens of God’s mercy. You remember where God found you. You remember what God has forgiven you. You remember how patient He has been with you. And your heart is filled with gratitude and joy!
Mercy does not make you weak. Mercy makes you free! Free from bitterness. Free from keeping score. Free from needing revenge. Free from the pressure to be the judge of everyone else’s life.
That freedom is victory!
Think about the Israelites again. They worshiped a golden calf after God rescued them from slavery. They failed in a spectacular and embarrassing way. But God still revealed Himself as compassionate and merciful. Because God is merciful, sin is not the final chapter of your story.
Every person in this room has moments they regret. Every person in this room has failed God. Every person in this room has hurt someone they love. Every person in this room has needed mercy more than once. And God keeps pouring His mercy out. And when you understand how much mercy God has shown you, showing mercy to others is something you look forward to rather than a burden.
So here are some practical ways you can show mercy to others this week…Show mercy and pause before you send the angry text. Show mercy and do not to bring up the same mistake for the tenth time during an argument with your spouse. Show mercy and refuse to embarrass someone in front of others when you could. Show mercy in parenting by correcting your child without shaming them. Show mercy to a friend and choose to work through conflict rather than withdrawing from them. Show mercy to people even if you don’t feel like it because mercy is not a feeling, it is a choice. These quiet little moments of mercy are powerful and life-changing.
Every time you choose mercy, you are reflecting the heart of God. You are showing people what God is like. And slowly, over time, mercy will soften hearts, rebuild trust, and bless others.
So, let’s keep showing God’s mercy to others. One of the most mercy-driven ministries we have at Beach Church is Celebrate Recovery.
CR is for anybody who wants to overcome a hurt, habit, or hang-up. The reason I say it is a mercy-driven ministry is that those who lead 12-Step, those who lead a small group, all of them have overcome a hurt, habit, or hang-up…and now they lead because they are showing mercy to others and are consistently “there” for others who want to experience recovery as well.
In March, we will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of CR. (Wait for applause) I encourage you to be a part of this ministry. They gather together every Friday night for a meal, worship, and then break out into small groups to talk about what they want to overcome. Because they are demonstrating God’s mercy to others through transparent living!
The game of “mercy” we played as kids was about who was the strongest. But in the Kingdom of God, mercy is for the weak, the broken, and the ones who finally stop pretending. So this week, stop crying in the bathroom. Put your hand in the hand of God and accept His mercy, then go show it to someone else.