Jesus Instructed His Disciples to Imitate the Father

What Did Jesus Do?

“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Luke 6:36

God has no few attributes. He is holy. He is just. He is powerful. He is wise. God is creative. God is patient. God is unchanging. You and I could fill volumes listing and describing the attributes of God. When Jesus instructed his disciples to imitate the Father, and put into practice one of God’s attributes, he chose mercy.

Most of us would probably think of mercy as going easy on someone, someone who often, in our eyes, doesn’t deserve a break, someone who we might consider our enemy. Jesus told his followers to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for our abusers (Luke 6:27-28). To love ones such as these, ones whom we typically want to not just get even with, but come out a little ahead of, well, that takes mercy.

Rather than slug the guy back who has just smacked us in the face, we are to give him another free shot; and we are to hand over our shirt to the thief who has taken our jacket (Luke 6:29). If we follow Jesus, beggars should always find us responsive, and neighbors (even strangers?) who borrow our stuff are to be free to do so without worrying about getting it back to us (Luke 6:30). Sounds pretty extreme doesn’t it? I mean being merciful as our Father is merciful.

But then, the goal is no less extreme than the transformation of sinners into saints. “Is Jim talking about the transformation of those whom we show mercy, or is he talking about us?” Well, if the Holy Spirit has been transforming us, then radical extreme mercy, which is pretty much the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23), will be evident. And, if others are going to be transformed, it will take nothing less than their experiencing the radical and extreme mercy of the Father. If this seems at all obscure or unclear, think back a couple of weeks to when the Church revisited Christ’s Passion. If the Cross isn’t the expression of the Father’s radical and extreme mercy, I don’t know what is.

There’s nothing to loving the lovable. Even sinners do that (Luke 6:32). Lending a hand to those who lend a hand to us is easy. So easy that sinners do it all the time (Luke 6:33). And giving to those whom we are certain will give back to us is hardly the measure of sainthood, sinners give and take from one another regularly (Luke 6:34).

It is only those who are rich in mercy, who love their enemies, and who help and who give with no expectation of return, who are in fact daughters and sons of the Most High; for He is the One who has demonstrated unmatched kindness to ungrateful and evil folks like—you and me. Sure, it might sound like we’re being asked to do the impossible, but remember that doing the impossible is God’s stock in trade. And all Jesus is commanding us to do is be merciful after the fashion and quality of mercy that we ourselves have experienced from our merciful Father.

Here’s the thing: If we are Christians, I mean real Christians, not just in name only, then we possess all that it takes to be radically and extremely merciful, because we have received such from the Father. Jesus isn’t so unreasonable as to ask us to give what we don’t have, but neither is he about to permit us to hold onto what has been given to us for the purpose of our passing it along to others who desperately need it.

It’s easy to blame our enemies for the state of the world. To complain about politicians for the sorry condition of our nation. To grouse about our boss, fuss about our co-worker, grumble about our neighbor. Sinners do these things all the time, and the world has no shortage of sinners. But Jesus never commanded his followers to imitate sinners. Rather he charged us with being merciful, even as our Father is merciful. It is the Father’s grace-filled mercy, radical, extreme mercy alone that transforms us. And it is only our practice of grace-filled, radical and extreme, mercy, that shows that we are the children of the Father.


S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4