Title: 幸いである
Contents
2009.10.25 Sunday morning service Blessed are the merciful
Text: Matthew 5:1 - 12
God has been so merciful to us. until now . And even now... … !
It is truly terrifying to imagine that there is no mercy from God.
There is no denying that we humans have all committed many sins. For that sin, he would have been punished forever by the judgment of God's terrible wrath.
However, God has provided a way out of that judgment in God's mercy.
God must be a God of mercy.
You have opened the way to salvation through Christ Jesus, and you have not withdrawn your compassionate heart.
So even when we always betray and disappoint him, God still looks at me with compassionate eyes.
But how long will we live on God's mercy alone?
The Bible urges those who are now aware of God's mercy to become merciful. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount has no purpose in ending with just a sermon.
“Go and do likewise.” And that's what Jesus is saying.
The dictionary meaning of the word compassion is ‘to take care of with pity’.
In the Greek, the original text of the Bible, the word 'have compassion' uses the word 'eleemones'.
It is derived from eleos, which means 'mercy', and has the meaning of 'forgiveness of sins and sympathy for the ridiculed and the needy'.
Therefore, mercy is connected with the heart of mercy and is in line with the meekness of verse 5.
This is because mercy is a word with great importance in showing compassion with a heart of love, and meekness refers to an attitude of being gentle with others even if they have done something wrong with them.
Simply put, those who have a compassionate heart are those who have a compassionate heart.
The one who has pity is the happy one. for they will have pity.” It means that you have compassion on God and not on anyone else.
I have pity on the poor, ridiculed, and sinners, but God has compassion on me with the heart of God.
God I'm having a hard time right now. I am so tired and my heart aches.
have mercy on me Lord, have mercy on me. There are more and more people these days who spit it out like a habit.
In fact, this is also my own thoughts these days.
It is necessary to pay special attention to God's compassionate heart, especially for those who are struggling with my life and my body.
So, what kind of compassion can we practice?
Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort ye, comfort my people,” says your God, God commands.
Deeply engraved in my heart is your command to come to them with these words of comfort, words of comfort to be proclaimed to the people who deserve mercy.
These words are always like a whip that moves me forward.
As I was graduating from seminary, I received this word in prayer.
But when he found that this word was clearly written in Isaiah 40:1,
It was surprising and thrilling to the extent that the chicken flesh grew.
It was not a voice that was heard by voice, but it was the moment when I saw the voice that resonated in my heart.
With these words, I find myself chastening myself as I recall the fact that I have been called to find the object of comfort and lead to the practice of mercy.
Guys, are you really happy when you feel pity?
The people of Israel were convinced that without God's mercy, the salvation of the nation as well as the issue of survival itself could not be guaranteed.
They believed that God's mercy was the only shield for the happiness of the people of Israel.
Historically, when these words were proclaimed, Israel's situation was in need of national consolation.
Korea, too, had experience of being colonized by Japan, but these were colonies of the Roman Empire at the time. At that time, Rome's military power was far greater than that of the present-day United States, and Israel, a vassal state, was a very weak country.
They attempted intermittent popular uprisings for the independence of their country.
However, from the perspective of Rome, the resistance movement of the Jews was only as small as the suicide terrorism committed by Iraqi and Afghan people today.
Fighting Rome to escape from the colonial state against this imperial fortress Rome can be seen as the equivalent of hitting a rock with an egg.
Therefore, of course, the only way to liberate Israel was through the mercy of the Lord.
In such a situation, who could live with peace and happiness guaranteed?
We who live in Japan are still relatively better off.
Still, life isn't all that fun and joyous.
Like the psalmist in Psalm 25:16, my soul may be crying out, “Lord, I am lonely and afflicted; turn to me and have mercy on me.”
So let's think about our reality for a moment at this point.
Is our church well aware of God's mercy?
Is it a church that practices mercy?
What is your attitude towards homeless or foreign workers?
If a Homeless sits next to me on a Sunday, will I greet you with a smile?
Shall we secretly sit at a distance while trying to hide our displeasure and discomfort?
It's not about anyone else, but what action I will take... … ?
Everyone, what kind of look do we expect of Akashi Church?
Rather than aiming for a large and wonderful church, we should aim for a church that practices compassion. So, when anyone crosses the threshold of this church, let peace and gratitude flow from our lips. Let's pray and live to become such a church.
There are plenty of people around you who need compassion.
The problem is that you only see it when you have compassionate eyes.
God will bless and bless the church with the practice of mercy.
I am sure that God will bless the saints who care for the little ones with compassion and will also bless them.
When you see someone living in sin, it is normal for you to automatically feel compassion.
Because if you leave them alone, they're all going to hell. Do you have eyes that look at your neighbors with such compassion?
You must have those eyes to have the heart of evangelism. In that sense, I cannot understand that evangelism without a heart of compassion is complete evangelism.
The Bible teaches us the specific things we should have compassion on.
Give your food to the hungry. Yuri-ha tells you to bring the poor into your house.
If you see someone naked, put them on. He says to strengthen and comfort the broken and troubled souls.
Then God said, 'Your light will shine like dawn, and your healing will be swift, and your justice will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will guard you after you. is promising a blessing in Isaiah 58:8-9.
The word compassion refers to the virtue of helping others by treating them as if they were their own.
In other words, it refers to such a broad-minded attitude that understands, forgives, and treats even those who have been accused of being sinners, such as tax collectors and prostitutes.
The Lord is saying that such people are blessed.
At that time, the Jews, who had only learned the law and the exclusive beliefs of leaders such as priests, had little concept of forgiveness and tolerance for others. So, knowing that it was God's will to pay back 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth', he did not come close to the thought of showing mercy at all.
They knew that God's justice would be kept only if those who sinned were stoned to death according to the law.
Would that be fair?
I learned the attributes of God at the seminary.
The attributes of God are classified into two categories. The attributes that God has and that humans also have are called 'common attributes', and attributes that God has but does not exist in humans, such as omniscience or omnipotence, are called 'non-shared attributes'. .
From the point of view of this classification of God's attributes, we can see that mercy is a shared part of God. Therefore, there is a good reason why God has given this heart to us as well.
Please do not forget that God's saving grace, its mysterious work begins with mercy, is completed with mercy, and ends with mercy.
Mercy is a concrete act of God's love and grace. Those who practice this deed are the Lord's people, the Lord's disciples who know the Lord and His grace.
He who shows mercy should act with joy. Sometimes we get sick and face difficulties, and there are times when we face corporate failures or difficulties in our careers. The reason I have to experience such suffering must be that I can discover the intention to give comfort and courage to those around me who have experienced similar things. There is also the intention of making him a person of mercy.
This is because you will have the heart to have complete compassion for them.
The present era is the era of competition, and they tell us to make money by any means.
It is taught that those who have wealth and power are successful, and those who do not have them are either losers or losers.
But the Bible does not teach us that way. God's way is not like that.
The true success is not the one who wins the competition, but the one who has compassion.
Because God will have mercy on him and he will bless him in all things. We need to get rid of the foolish idea that material wealth is enough.
There are many things that are more important than material things.
Do we not allow our souls to weaken in our pursuit of material success?
Christians must believe that economic success can also be achieved in the biblical way.
We must conduct economic activities not as a way of competing for survival, but with consideration for others, compassion, and compassion. At work, we must treat others with compassion, not just as competitors. You must have a “win-win” mindset in which both you and I do well and engage in work life and economic activities.
Happiness resides in a compassionate heart.
Be merciful to each other in your family, even at home.
When you do this, you will overcome differences of opinion among family members and create a harmonious family.
A compassionate heart is God's heart toward people.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become compassionate people who resemble the heart of God, receive mercy from God and people, and become the members of the Akashi Church who are the main characters of blessings.