Mercy

Matthew 5:7

Today at Costco I was really annoyed by all the people who were in MY way as I shopped. I wished they had found somewhere else to shop. My shopping trip reminded me that my default setting is self-centeredness. I would be supremely delighted if the world suddenly caved into my wishes: traffic would part like the red sea before me, lines at Wal-Mart would mysteriously disappear, and no one would ever tell me that I was wrong again.

We Christians get hung up arguing over if we saved just by "grace" or "grace and works" and simply forget to praise God for the works. What are the good works? Are they painful deeds that we grimace through (kind of like having to do 200 sit-ups)? No, they are the life of Christ working in and through us. And what is the life of Christ in us? The life of Christ looks something like this; it has "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22,23).

This life also has mercy. It's a funny thing because Jesus said that we'll be blessed when we show mercy, but the mercy never even came from us in the first place. It came from him. It's God's economy. He gives us something, we give it away, and he gives us even more of what we gave away. It's the mercy cloud cycle.

"Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy" (Matthew 5:4).