Hello Friends!
We take hinges for granted. You know hinges, those things on the door that attach it to a frame and enable the door to swing open or closed with ease? Imagine that hinges were not ever conceived and thus we had to pick up and move a door aside or back in place each time we entered or left a room or building? What a pain that would be!
We probably also don’t talk enough about rudders. You know rudders, those tiny flaps on a boat or ship or plane that help steer the vehicle? They seem small and easily replaceable to the eye (kind of like hinges) but they are indispensable. How annoying would it be to always have to fly or boat in a straight line and not be able to turn!
Indispensable = absolutely necessary
What is indispensable in your life? Food? Clean water? Shelter?
What is indispensable to the Christian faith?
We’ve been looking at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, at the beatitudes.
To summarize, Jesus says you are blessed (happy) when…
-you are spiritually broken
-you mourn that brokenness
-you are incapable of fixing it (meek)
-you long (hunger and thirst) to be made well.
It’s comparable to a shipwrecked man on a deserted island who realizes and mourns his terrible state as he understands he cannot rescue himself, he then longs for someone to rescue him.
So what is the hinge, the rudder, the key indispensable piece that is needed according to Jesus?
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Matthew 5:7 NIV
Salvation is not possible without mercy. The hinge bears the weight of the door. The rudder works against the water to guide the ship. The rescuer has to go to the lost man and take him aboard. Mercy is indispensable.
Mercy is defined as compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm
Praise the Lord that He is rich in mercy! He alone is able to rescue us, satisfying our hunger and thirst for righteousness!
Yet there is a catch with mercy.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown (given) mercy.
We must face into this storm. We must not turn back from the reality of what Jesus says.
Abundant mercy awaits us, but only if we will share it and not just receive it.
The Gospel hinges on mercy, it is steered by this small word that is an eternal force.
So…
You know what comes next, don’t you?
Do you want the mercy of God upon your life?
Are you willing to extend it to all others in order to receive it yourself?
Let us pray that God will empower us to be as merciful to others as He is to us.
Blessings,
Chris