“Lord, have mercy! I need you.”
“Christ have mercy, they need you – now.”
Do you know this cry? It is known historically as the Kyrie eleison and it is a cry that echoes throughout life. We live in a broken, desperate world and we all live in that broken, desperate world together. When we pray, “Lord, have mercy,” we are crying out for mercy, praying for mercy, confessing our immediate and daily desperation. At the same time we are acknowledging that God is present, full of compassion and the first responder in every moment of every human need.
And while we might be tempted to imagine that all of this goes without saying, it does not go without saying in a world where many people doubt the reality of God and many others hold misconceptions of God. My guess is you know someone like that. They may give some intellectual ascent to the reality that there is a prime mover, an initiator of all things, but they do not know God as personal, present, active, full of mercy and abounding in steadfast love.
Isaiah 54:10 (NLT) says, “For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the LORD, who has mercy on you.”
When we cry out, “Lord, have mercy!”, we are bearing public witness to the reality we know. God is present, active, powerful, merciful and on the scene. God is proximate— near to the broken hearted—and ready to save.
We often talk about how love is God’s nature, God’s command, God’s gift and a fruit or evidence of God’s active presence in our lives. Well, the same is true for mercy. God is merciful. He is full of mercy.
How can we know? It is written again and again in His word:
- Titus 3:5, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…
- Hebrews 4:16, Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need
- Psalm 86:15, But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness
- Psalm 116:1 “I love the Lord; He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Mercy is God’s nature—not just what He does or how He acts, but WHO He is. God is the God of all mercy. AND mercy is what expects to see flowing into and through His people. God gives us mercy that we might become conduits of it to others. Mercy is God’s nature, God’s command, God’s gift and outward evidence to the world of the inward reality of those who are in Christ and in whom Christ dwells.
Think about the people and places and passages of Scripture where mercy is on display.
In Mark 10, we have the story of Jesus’ encounter with a blind man named Bartimaeus— and a window into the merciful heart of God for the needy. Bartimaeus was sitting alongside the Jericho road, begging, and then he heard that Jesus was approaching and he cried out. The exchange is recorded for us in Scripture:
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
As those who have received mercy, we become conduits of God’s mercy to others. Yes, we cry out to God for mercy because God is merciful. And God desires mercy as well. And those who have received mercy, become conduits of it to others.
Consider the parable Jesus taught about the Kingdom of Heaven and the settling of accounts in Matthew 18:23-35.
In the parable, a king forgives an enormous debt of a servant, but then, that servant goes and demands repayment for a tiny sum from another. When the king finds this out, he calls back the servant and has this to say, “‘You wicked servant, I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’”
Jesus makes clear that those who receive mercy are expected to extend mercy to others.
So, who is crying out for mercy today? In your family, in your business dealings, in your church? The person who has been beaten down and battered by the world may be sitting in the car or the cubical or the chair next to you right now. They may be silently crying out, “Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.” And God might be looking at you saying in the words of Jude 2: “Mercy, peace and love are yours in abundance” (Jude 2, NIV). Pass on to this other today what you have received. You might just be the answer to that person’s prayer.
Mercy, mercy, mercy.
