The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Kelcey W. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Research on Mercy
Mercy is like the nutrients in the soil that allow all things to grow. Without the nutrients, the soil would exist but stay cold and hard. A person who lacks mercy is like this barren soil. If he does not contain the nutrient mercy, nothing good will grow in him. Mercy, in a general sense, is forgiving others when you do not have to, or when others would not expect you to. This is the basis of God's plan for humanity – without mercy salvation would be impossible. Mercy in one form means, "to love from the womb." The love a mother has for her child exceeds all.
God and His mercy are much the same. As a father to His children, and He loves everyone He has created. His mercy in unfathomable – we deserve eternal punishment in hell for all the times we have broken His laws. As a whole, the human race is not deserving of God's favor. However, as a father is willing to welcome back his child, so God does for us. He is willing to forgive even the worst mistake or evil committed against Him. This is the ultimate example of mercy: God showing kindness to us when we deserve punishment. He did this by sending His Son Jesus to take our punishment and extending mercy to us instead. Sometimes it is hard to comprehend why God would extend His favor to strangers who hated Him, who had done nothing to gain His good will. The simple truth is that God loves His creation, and though He did not have to grant us mercy, He did.
God manifested His mercy to mankind in many ways. Jesus was the best example of this mercy. "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is repeated many times throughout the New Testament and the Old. Jesus told the Pharisees to learn the meaning of this statement. When Jesus came to earth, He was the last sacrifice and because of God's mercy, there was no need for humans to sacrifice again. God not only showed mercy through His Son's death, He also showed it through His life. Jesus' ministry included many examples of people, who a lot of times were outcasts, coming to Him for help. They cried out, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" Many times after this statement, the writers of the gospels record that Jesus was moved with compassion and did as they asked. Compassion is also a very important part of mercy. God says, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy and compassion on whomever I will have compassion" (Romans 9:15). Those receiving His compassion and mercy included a centurion, a gentile, an outcast woman, and those inflicted with leprosy.
Without mercy salvation would also be impossible. Without mercy, we would be hopelessly lost. Salvation does not come through us but through God's grace. The mercy that has been given to us is an incorruptible inheritance that does not fade away. The writer of Hebrews also tells us that at God's throne we obtain mercy and He helps us through our trials. "God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive with Christ" (Ephesians 2:4-5).
God has shown mercy to us when we did not deserve it. This mercy extends to all people in all times and places. We, as new creations in Christ, are also called to extend mercy to those around us. The parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that we should not become so wrapped up in our "religion" that we forget to look to the side of the road and see those who need mercy. It does not matter if this person is an outcast, a social misfit, a sinner, or a famous person; God has granted us mercy, so we too need to be merciful. In another parable, Jesus warns us not to take God's mercy for granted. There was a man who owed his master a great sum of money, maybe around several thousand dollars in today's standards, but he was unable to pay it back. The man begged for mercy, and his master forgave the debt. Then the man promptly left and started beating a fellow servant who could not repay a debt of small measure (like five dollars). This man did not repay his gift of mercy by granting it; instead he repaid mercy with evil. God desires rather that we be merciful as He was merciful to us. Mercy triumphs over judgment, and we should not complain about who gets chosen. Instead, we should focus on the great debt that we have been forgiven.
