Luke 1:57
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.
Luke 1:58
Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
Nobody deserves mercy. If you deserve it, it is no longer mercy but a right. Mercy is never a right. Mercy is at the discretion of the one showing mercy. To be shown mercy suggests that we were guilty and deserved punishment. You can’t show mercy to a person who is holy, perfect, and ever right.
Mercy is never shown in the middle of the case or even during the investigation. After investigations and the case has proved a person guilty, only then does the person stand in need of mercy. When the court process has concluded and we are guilty and condemned, that is when mercy is seriously needed.
Those who need mercy are not only those who are found guilty but also those who have confessed guilt. When one confesses guilt, only then can one plead mercy. One cannot claim innocence and plead for mercy. Mercy is for those who are in trouble.
When an old woman who was barren gives birth to a child when no one including herself expected it, we should call it a miracle. We should refer to it as a blessing. We should see it as a favor from God. Zechariah and Elizabeth in their very old age, get a child by the name of John. The Bible records that when neighbors came to visit, they thanked God for showing her mercy. Mercy! This was mercy?
Those who visited to thank God for this birth were excited and referred to it, not as a downpour of blessings or a miracle that was last heard of from Abraham and Sarah, but that it was God’s mercy. When John’s birth was reported, it was said that God had shown mercy to Zechariah and Elizabeth. Mercy! This was mercy?
Herein lies a great lesson for life. Zechariah and Elizabeth for a very long time prayed for a child. Long prayers, prayers for a long period of time, do not make you deserve any answer. If you get any answer after praying for a very long time and intensely, it is because God is merciful, it has nothing to do with length and language. The answer to long intense prayers is God’s mercy. Mercy! This was mercy?
Luke 18:1-8 encourages us to pray without giving up. The answers do not come because you were intense, but because you did not give up on God. From the first verse, the aim of the parable was to teach us not to give up on God. Persistence in prayer will get us an answer but not always the answer we want or expect. Persistence in prayer to get a scholarship this year is no guarantee that you will get the scholarship. Persistence is not the secret to getting answers we desire. 2 Corinthians 12:8 tells us Apostle Paul persisted in prayer but never got what he wanted but he got God’s grace. Therefore nobody deserves anything because they persisted in asking for it. We only get anything because God is merciful!
Another lesson is that no one is good enough to deserve God’s response. Zechariah and Mary are recorded as good righteous people. They pleased God in their lifestyle. That did not make them perfect and sinless. Even in their most excellent character, they were sinners whose only chance of survival was God’s mercy being applied in their lives. When good people get answers to their prayers, it is not because they are good, but because answers come as a result of God’s mercy. Mercy! This was mercy?
Luke 1:6 tells us that Zechariah and Elizabeth were blameless before God. Yes, before God, not neighbors or other human beings. Yet, when a blameless person gets an answer to prayer, the Bible tells us it is mercy. We expect that a blameless person would deserve answers to prayer, but no! Answers to prayers even to a blameless person is mercy. Mercy! This was mercy?
When two men went to pray, Luke 18:10-14. One felt like he deserves answers from God. Another one pleaded for mercy. Jesus said that the one who pleaded for mercy got answers to his prayers. How do you approach your prayer life? Do you deserve answers or you hope that God’s mercy will favor you?
After giving tithes and offerings, do you feel entitled to lots of blessings from heaven? Do you feel that because you are vegetarian there are diseases you shouldn’t get? Do you feel like since you quit using certain foodstuffs, drinks and what have you, that your health should be perfect? Isn’t that the attitude of entitlement? If the blameless before God never deserved it, what do you deserve? Isn’t it just mercy that we hope for after all these?
Do you feel your children must turn out well because you put them through a strict regime of reciting religious passages and acting like adults in childhood? Do you feel that your abstinence from sex and long-held virginity should directly cause God to give you a perfect trouble-less marriage? Do you feel that because you have sacrificed a lot in the cause of God you deserve something better? Our passage today is very clear, nobody deserves anything. If you get anything it is because God is merciful.
God is so merciful to the extent that a career thief with no religious experience or learning is saved as he dies on the cross. That is mercy! God is so merciful that a murderer and adulterer is rained in kingship and later on referred to in scripture as a man after God’s own heart. God is so merciful that even Peter who denied Him three times is allowed to lead the pack of Apostles. God does things that the church that believes in that same God would find difficult to do. Everything is by God’s mercy!
The worst and the best amongst us are alive because God is merciful. The worst and the best among us get answers to prayers because God is merciful. Thank you God for your mercies, show us even much more mercies, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
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May GOD show us more mercy in Jesus“ name, Amen.
Amen!
Gracious master Divine, please show me your mercies in Jesus name.
Thanks Doc for the word of God today.
Hallelujah!
Amen!!!
Amen