Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. (Matthew 5:7)
Right before Jesus goes up on the mountain and started in on this sermon, we hear that he had been healing everyone. He was on the move, going from North to South and East to West. I wonder how people found out about Jesus and, if they were really sick (as Matthew’s gospel describes), how did they get to him?
Jesus probably didn’t travel alone. There would have been a group of people going along with him, preparing food, finding places to stay, taking care of the logistics of being on the move. I wonder if these people, the helpers, are who Jesus is talking about when he calls the merciful blessed.
Can you imagine a disciple at the market, buying some food for dinner and noticing someone who is blind, someone who is paralyzed, someone who is addicted, depressed or anxious. They see this person and they are filled with compassion. So they say, “come with me, I know someone who can help.” They guide them by the hand all the way to crowded place where Jesus is “announcing the good news of the kingdom.” They carefully walk them right up to Jesus and tell him about their new friend who is in need, who is sick, who is hurting, who they have been moved to compassionate love for. And Jesus heals them.
I wonder if this verse is about Jesus naming the blessedness of the helpers, the healers. Not praising their actions, necessarily (although the actions matter!), but giving thanks for their tender, open, caring hearts.
How are “mercy” and “compassion” be intertwined to you? How are mercy and healing related?
If mercy and compassion are connected, and they are for me, that means there is an outward ethic of care. These are the kind of people who walk through the world really noticing. Noticing what and who are hurting. Paying attention to the people in need. Looking beyond themselves.
That’s it, really, the looking beyond themselves. Do you know the kind of person I’m talking about? The person that when they ask, “how are you doing?” it can be overwhelming because you know they actually care about how you reply. They are so completely turned outward with their gaze that when you pause for a little longer before answering, they notice the hesitation. They notice the stutter around what may be hard. They feel the need being carried, and that feeling is matched with their compassionate care for wholeness and healing.
Elaine Heath once wrote something like, “Healing is the fruit of mercy. And mercy comes in community, when we are safe enough to tell the truth.”
Sit with that for a second… “Healing is the fruit of mercy.”
I wonder if this verse could also say something like, “blessed are the healers, for they will be healed.”
Blessed are those who heal loneliness by their compassionate showing up. Blessed are those who heal because they care about the rotten day you’ve had and take time to listen. Blessed are those who heal systems by advocating for policies that benefit everyone. Blessed are those who heal because they give voice to communal pain. Blessed are those who heal with steady presence, not turning away on your worst day. Blessed are those who heal by taking your hand and leading you right to where Jesus is. Blessed are the healers.
How is healing and mercy related? Who do you know in your life that is a healer? That is merciful? How have they been a blessing in the world?
May you be blessed by healing today. May you be blessed with full attention to see the hurt in front of you. May you be blessed with a care for the world around you – that which is easy to see and that which isn’t. May you be blessed with compassion for need. May the rough edges we’ve developed from helping so much already, from caring so much for so long, may those jagged places be a little smoother today. May you continue to want healing for the sick. May you continue to look out, with compassion, and be moved to take it right to Jesus’ healing feet. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
coledarren 