1 Peter 4:10 - As each one of us has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Exodus 34:6b - …the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger and abounding and loving kindness and truth.
Ephesians 2:4 - But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.
Romans 12:6-8 - Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
“Mercy (v 8): This is a gift of people specifically moved to work with the poor, the sick, the weak, the prisoner, the addicted, the elderly and so on.” (Keller - Romans 8-16 For You, p.113)
3 aspects demonstrated when we use the gift of mercy
I. A Gift to be Shared with Every Neighbor
Luke 10:30 - Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.”
A. An act of love
Luke 10:27 - And he answered, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 9:27 - “…two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
Matthew 15:22 - “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon possessed.”
B. Shared without boundaries
1. To meet a variety of needs
a. Outside the church
b. Inside the church
Acts 9:36 - Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (Which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did…
Acts 9:39 - …So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.
2 Timothy 1:16-18 - May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
2. To be given freely – with cheerfulness (Rom 12:8)
II. A Gift that Uses what God has Provided You (Luke 10:33-35)
A. Mercy flows from a heart of compassion
Luke 10:33b - When he saw him, he felt compassion…
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 - Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
B. Mercy has a cost
Luke 10:34 - …and he came to him and bandaged him up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
James 2:15-16 - If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
C. Mercy takes time
D. Mercy uses the resources that you have – God does not ask you to give what He has not provided
E. Mercy seeks the person’s continuing good
III. A Gift that Reveals Your Heart (Luke 10:36-37)
Luke 10:36 - Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber’s hands?
Luke 10:37 - And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said Go and do the same.
A. Mercy shows you are acting as a neighbor
B. Mercy reveals a heart for the Lord
Titus 3:5-6 - He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
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