Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy”
Sometimes it feels like it doesn’t pay to show mercy.
On our trip to Scotland our tour bus took us through some of the most breathtaking scenery we’d ever seen. Ohhs and ahhs filled the coach as we drank in the Scottish Highlands of Glencoe. Then our tour guide began to give us a history about the area. And she played a Scottish song, “The Massacre of Glencoe.” What?????
She related the sad story.
In 1692, England ruled Scotland (as you Braveheart fans would know), but the country consisted of many different clans, including the Campbells and the McDonalds. The new king of England, William II, demanded that all the clans sign an oath of loyalty to him by January 1st. He said anyone who didn’t sign would be punished. So all the clans signed the oath.
The chief of the McDonald clan signed the oath on Dec. 31st, but when he traveled 60 miles to show the magistrate, there was no magistrate there to approve it until Jan 6th. And even though he had signed the oath in time, unknown to him, the king of England determined his clan would be made an example to the rest of the country.
So William II paid off the men in the Campbell clan to kill the McDonalds. One hundred soldiers arrived in Glencoe, tired, hungry and battered by a blizzard. The unsuspecting McDonalds welcomed them into their village. They fed them and cared for them until they got their strength back. Then, after two weeks, the Campbells mercilessly slaughtered all the McDonalds.
A nice payback for their mercy, eh?
God calls his people to be merciful. He says if we don’t show mercy to others, we won’t receive it (James 2:13). Although the McDonalds didn’t experience reciprocal mercy in this life, when both clans stand before the Lord on Judgment Day, who do you think will receive mercy?
We have no promise of seeing the fruit of mercy on this side of heaven. There’s no prerequisite like be merciful if you can see the outcome. As followers of Christ, God has shown us more mercy than we can imagine. So why wouldn’t we show mercy to others?
Mercy no matter what.