WEEK 5:  "Makaria" Are the Merciful

"Blessed Are the Merciful...
.....For They Shall Obtain Mercy."  Jesus Christ

Right Out of the Twilight Zone?!  Yes.

This beatitude is perplexing! Does it suggest that in order to receive mercy, we first have to show mercy, almost suggesting salvation by works?  Does it challenges us to tap into a power that is unrealistic for mere mortals, dooming us to an eternity of feeling badly about an ideal to which we will never measure up?  May we as well give in now and stop trying since we will never be able to attain this standard to which Jesus seems to call us?

Hardly!  As we learned through each other and through bible commenters, this teaching, as Jesus reminds of all of His teachings, intends to set us free!  This teaching intends to save us!  To bring us life everlasting, and a good one.  Remember, through these beatitudes, Jesus is seeking to show us the way to life--He wants us to not just have life, but have it ABUNDANTLY.

We are reminded here again that the word "blessed" used repeatedly in the beatitudes is "Makaria," meaning "a happiness that is whole, complete, contained within itself."  Jesus is trying to get us see how to experience this state of happiness that far exceeds anything the "world" can offer us and in this beatitude, he introduces us to the concept of 'mercy' as a steady stream pathway into this.

We opened by exploring our current conceptions around the word "mercy," "merciful," and "receiving mercy."  This brainstorming produced some wonderfully varied responses, including:

• Portia's voice in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"

The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare (Act 4, Scene 1). 

Portia speaks: 

The quality of mercy is not strain’d, 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 

Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest: 

Itblesseth [the one] that gives and [the one] that takes: 

’Tis the mightiest in the mightiest . . . 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Itis an attribute to God himself; 

And earthly power doth then show likest God’s 

When mercy seasons justice. 

• Twilight Zone episode:  "A Quality of Mercy" 
• Mercy Me song, "I Can Only Imagine"

• Tolerance for others' errors
• Compassion
• Undeserved pardonning of a wrong done to us or others

Several of us noted the circular, or reciprocal, nature of this verse as so many of the bible's teachings which underpin what we call the "Golden Rule"~do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

We explored the roots of key words "mercy" and "merciful:"

English dictionaries define merciful as:

Since no single word in any language can adequately translate words in most other languages, we also plowed ground by examining the words used in Greek as well as Hebrew and Arameic to further round out our understanding of Jesus' teaching in this beatitude:

In the Bible a variety of Hebrew and Greek words are used which fall within the general semantic range of the English word "mercy." They include such terms as "lovingkindness" (Heb. hesed), "to be merciful" (Heb. hanan), "to have compassion" (Heb. riham), and "grace" (Gr. chris).  

While the New Testament account of the Sermon on the Mount is written in Greek, Jesus spoke Arameic.  So the word Jesus likely would have used is the Hebrew and Aramaic chesed or "hesed."

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible commentary on Matthew states regarding this word:

"It does not mean only to sympathize with a person in the popular sense of the term; it does not mean simply to feel sorry for some in trouble. Chesedh [sic], mercy, means the ability to get right inside the other person's skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind, and feel things with his feelings.

Clearly this is much more than an emotional wave of pity; clearly this demands a quite deliberate effort of the mind and of the will. It denotes a sympathy which is not given, as it were, from outside, but which comes from a deliberate identification with the other person, until we see things as he sees them, and feel things as he feels them. This is sympathy in the literal sense of the word. Sympathy is derived from two Greek words, syn which means together with, and paschein which means to experience or to suffer. Sympathy means experiencing things together with the other person, literally going through what he is going through." (p. 103)

"To know all is to forgive all." French Proverb

We spoke of the back end of this beatitude being perhaps a doorway to the front--that it may be in opening ourselves to the mercy of Jesus Chris or others, that we may find or discover or engage our own capacity to be merciful.  

One could also hear this beatitude as~

"Happy beyond imagination are those who are merciful, who show compassion, who get into the very skin of others to feel what they feel, think how they think, experience what they experience."

"Those who are merciful, who show compassion, who get into the very skin of others to feel what they feel, think how they think, experience what they experience~these shall experience a happiness contained within itself, a happiness that is unmoveable by external events or happenings."

"To those who open themselves to experiencing the mercy of God, shall be given the power to be merciful."

This requires a humbling of ourselves.

"Nothing moves us to forgive others like the amazing realization that God has forgiven our sins." 

John W. Ritenbaugh The Beatitudes, Part 5: Blessed Are the Merciful, Forerunner, "Personal," May 1999, Read more:http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/PERSONAL/k/170/The-Beatitudes-Part-5-Blessed-Are-Merciful.htm#ixzz2AbshnULu

We examined the beatitude as a next rung in the "ladder," considering it from the perspective of the preceding beatitudes.  One of our members noted that he was struck, in considering this beatitude from this perspective, how in the preceding beatitudes Jesus is addressing people who have nothing whereas this beatitude introduces the idea of having something to offer others--Mercy.

"It is not easy to love with a deep love, which lies in the authentic gift of self. This love can only be learned by penetrating the mystery of God's love. 

Christ has taught us that "man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but is also called 'to practice mercy' towards others: He also showed us the many paths of mercy, which not only forgives sins but reaches out to all human needs. 

...love of God and love of one's brothers and sisters are inseparable.” 

Pope John Paul II

~~~
We then spent 5 minutes in individual meditation. We invited ourselves into the private chamber of our hearts, the inner sanctuary inside each of us, where we may convene through the Holy Spirit with His Highest, our Father, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  While with meditation, minutes can sometimes feel like an eternity, we were all struck how fast the time passed.

~~~
We closed in prayer offering thanksgiving to God for the time and space to stop by the side of the road, to lay our burdens down, even if for only a few minutes to find rest for our bodies and spirits; and for the offerings of each one of our group members.

HOMEWORK:  See the "Me" in Mercy

Where do you need God's mercy?  Allow yourself to experience God's mercy, knowing that in so doing, you will be able to show mercy even more freely!  Fear not!

You are invited to notice opportunities--big or small--to show mercy to those in your realm this week.

You are invited to contemplate the theme of mercy further, since it runs fluidly throughout the Old and New Testaments of the bible.  Some bible verses to help you get started in your journey into the heart of mercy are included in this blog!

How does the notion of gratitude tie into mercy?

~~~
May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which surpasses anything we know here on earth, hold you this week.

See you Sunday,
April