Living Out Mercy
Have you ever been on the receiving end of mercy?
My uncle, Wayne Culverhouse, was not a preacher. But he knew something about mercy. The funny thing is, from time to time, they would ask him to preach at the church he attended in Columbus, GA.
I have two of his sermons on my phone, and I listen to them from time to time. One of the sermons he once preached he entitled, “It’s your birthday.” It’s a great sermon.
In that message, my uncle Wayne shared that growing up as a child, his mom’s car would always break down. Of course, he’s talking about my grandmother. This had an impact on Wayne. It was hard for him to see his mom broken down on the side of the road, needing help from others.
Wayne said that as a child, he was convicted that when he turned 16 and was able to drive, he would always stop when someone was broken down on the side of the road and help them. And this is one thing that Wayne did, and that he was known for.
He always stopped to help people who needed help on the side of the road. Some people said he carried a toolbox like a preacher carries a Bible. This led him to not only help people on the side of the road, but also homeless people, street people, prostitutes, and really anyone who needed help.
I want to share with you one story my uncle Wayne once shared…
“I was coming home from work one day, and I stopped to get gas. As I was leaving out the back way, I saw her. She was standing on the side of the road right there.
I asked her if she needed a ride. She got in the truck. She said, “I’m out trying to make some money. Are you a cop?”
When I hear that kind of stuff, I tell you, my heart just goes out because I know she’s someone’s daughter. I had a daughter about her age. Her clothes were rags. Her shoes were worn out. Her hair was a mess. She wasn’t very pleasant to look at.
I said, “No, I’m not a cop. I was sent here to give you this.”
I reached into my pocket and gave her some money. I said, “I don’t want anything in return.” She said, “Out here, no one gives you anything. What do you want?” I told her, I said, “This is different. This is a gift. Because you’re special today.”
She started crying, and she said, “How did you know?” I said, “Know what?” She said, “How did you know that today was my birthday?”
I said, “Happy birthday from God. He knew.” And the floodgates opened, and the crying started. And the tears were just beyond control. She could hardly breathe.
After a time, she pulled this ring off her finger. She said, “I found this in the street. It had been run over in the street. And it’s broken just like me. Just like my life.” She handed me the ring and said, “I don’t know if it’s worth anything, but I want you to have it. It’s all I have. And every time you look at it, I want you to think of me.”
Then she said, “I want to go home. Would you please take me home?”
On the way there, she said, “I wonder if they’re going to want me when I get there.”
I never saw her again. I often wondered if, when she got home, if they wanted her. And I wonder if they gave her a birthday party.”
And then my uncle Wayne said this,
The way a person is received makes a difference in how the story ends. – Wayne Culverhouse
How we SEE and how we RECEIVE people matters.
There are people in your life every day who are broken and need you to notice them and remind them that they are people of immeasurable worth.
Who do you need to SEE and RECEIVE in love?
What my uncle Wayne did that day, whether he knew it or not, was show a young girl in need the mercy of God.
Sometimes we confuse mercy and grace. Or we use those two words interchangeably. I understand why. They are similar. But there is a distinction in scripture between mercy and grace.
Grace is literally defined as unmerited favor. It’s getting exactly what you do not deserve. And Biblically, grace is given to the lawbreaker, to the person who has sinned and needs forgiveness and grace.
Mercy is literally defined as compassionate action, and it is directed toward those in distress. Toward those who have a physical need, who are in trouble, need help, rescue, and salvation.
The truth is, we all need grace and mercy.
As people who have received God’s grace, we are called to be people who extend God’s mercy.
You can see this in James 2.
James knew that Christians in his day, just like Christians in our day, struggle with how we SEE people and RECEIVE people. But that we, as followers of Jesus, are called to live out the Gospel by living out MERCY.
James writes…
1 My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
2 For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, 4 doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
Playing Favorites
For James, a faith that plays favorites is no faith at all. True faith in Jesus leaves no room for favoritism or discrimination.
I’ll confess, from time to time, when I’m with just one of my kids, I’ll tell them… “You know, you’re my favorite!” Or sometimes, when I’m with just one of my kids, I’ll introduce them and say, “We’ve got three kids. This is my favorite!” I just say it to be funny. I love all my kids equally, most days! 🙂
But James isn’t being funny here. He’s not joking around. If you’re a person of faith, you can’t play favorites. We are called to see and receive people in love. All people. According to James, it doesn’t matter if someone is rich or poor. We don’t discriminate.
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?
James says that God has chosen the poor, the very people many despise and dishonor, to be rich in faith. I’ve seen this. I bet you have, too.
A Bowl of Soup
I remember being in Mexico one year on a mission trip. We spent time with one of the families from the church, we worshiped with them, prayed with them, played with their kids, and as we were getting ready to leave, one of the ladies brought out a big bowl of soup for me to take home with us that night.
If I’m being honest, these people were poor. She couldn’t afford to give me this. But I couldn’t refuse it. And I wouldn’t refuse it. It was a gift. If I had been in her shoes, I probably would not have been so generous because I would have realized that my family needed that soup more than these strangers. But she was generous because she had faith. God had provided for them before, and she knew He would do it again. They understood something about praying, “Give us today our daily bread,” that honestly, I’ve never had to really wrestle with.
God has chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith.
The Royal Law
So James reminds us of something Jesus taught us…
8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
For James, it comes down to what he called the “Royal Law.” It was known as the “Supreme Law” of the Jewish faith because if you kept this law, everything else worked out. If you loved your neighbor as yourself, by default, you were not in danger of breaking any of God’s commands.
Jesus himself said this was the greatest command, along with loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
James says in v13,
13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.
If you SHOW mercy, you will RECEIVE mercy.
This isn’t why we show mercy; this is just the outcome of showing mercy.
The why, the reason we show mercy, is because we have received mercy.
We have received from God exactly what we did NOT deserve. We have received His grace, His forgiveness, His compassion, His mercy, His love, His salvation! We didn’t deserve any of it, yet we hit the jackpot! God has lavished His love on us. Because of that, we get to extend it to others! We get to live out the mercy that God has lived out toward us!
When we do this, as we do this, we demonstrate that we have faith! That our faith is alive and active.
If we don’t do this, it’s like our faith is dead.
No Mercy = No Faith.
No Mercy = Don’t know Jesus.
14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? (But don’t have MERCY!) Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
Living Out Mercy
Are you living a life of mercy?
Are you living a life of compassion in action?
A few years ago, there was a pastor of a church in Nigeria, his name is Pastor Lawrence Onochie, and he decided to teach his congregation a powerful lesson about mercy that they would never forget. On a Sunday morning, before the worship began, he disguised himself as a beggar.
He sat quietly outside the very doors of his own church with clothes torn, hair unkempt, and hands outstretched begging.
Most people walked right past him. Many avoided eye contact. You could hear the whispers inside the church about the man sitting outside the church, but no one offered to help. Very few stopped to show kindness.
Worship began. The congregation was gathered, waiting for their pastor to arrive. To their shock, the “beggar” from outside walked down the aisle, pulled off his disguise, and stood before them as their pastor. He opened the Bible and he read these words from Jesus:
Matthew 25
34 …‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
Mercy has power because it reflects the very heart of Jesus.
And every time we show mercy, we make the invisible love of God visible.
Mercy makes the invisible love of God visible.
Mercy isn’t just something we talk about—it’s something we live out.
It’s how we treat the person who looks different, who has nothing to offer us, who’s easy to overlook.
It’s how we SEE and RECEIVE those around us.
Jesus reminds us:
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Today, may you find a way to live out mercy.
“The way a person is received makes a difference in how the story ends.” – Wayne Culverhouse
Today, if there’s one thing I could leave you with before you leave here today, it’s that life is more about others than it is yourself.
Long-lasting purpose is found when you understand selflessness and life being about something bigger than yourself. There is somebody in your life, they may be on the other side of the room, they may be in the seat beside you, they may be someone you cross paths with later today, but what they need today is mercy.
Would you show mercy today?
Because when you do, you make the invisible love of God visible.
You remind them that they are a person of immeasurable worth. And according to Jesus, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Want more from this Series… Click here.
To hear this message, click to watch or to listen.
