Mercy

Pray for Your Church: Ministries (4)

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6.10

Incubator of good works
The great salvation which we have in Jesus Christ, and which is the common bond that brings us together as members of His Body, His church, is a salvation of good works.

Not by good works, but unto them: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2.8-10). The good works we are to do have been “prepared beforehand”—the good works outlined in the Law of God, the keeping of which, according to Jesus, not only issues in love for God and our neighbors (Matt. 22.34-40) but also makes us great in the Kingdom of God (Matt. 5.17-19).

The good works set forth in the Law of God address our conduct in every area of our lives. We must learn the good works which God intends for us to walk in and not grow weary of doing them day by day: “And let us not grow weary while doing good…” (Gal. 6.9). Whenever an opportunity arises to do a good work, we must step up to it, wrote Paul. 

But first we must learn what good works are and begin to practice them within the household of faith, stimulating one another to love and good works in our church so that we will always be ready to do good works wherever we are, whomever we are with (Heb. 10.24; Tit. 3.1, 8).

Our church, therefore, is to be an incubator of good works, a place of nurture and feeding that sees its members increasing in the knowledge of, inclination to, and performance of good works at every opportunity.

We must be ready to do good to our neighbors, as Jesus taught, and to have compassion on and show mercy to those who are needy among us (Lk. 10.33-37). Our neighbor is anyone in need of mercy, the kind of mercy God shows to us day by day, as He meets our needs and lavishes us with His love. In the Kingdom of God, of which our churches are signs and outposts, they who are merciful will obtain mercy from the Lord (Matt. 5.7). 

The shepherds of our churches, as they nurture and equip us individually and as a congregation, must lead and direct us into good works of mercy for our neighbors. And we must pray for them and for ourselves that the great salvation we enjoy together in the Lord will blossom in abundant good works of neighbor love.

As He was merciful
Jesus, of course, is the model of doing good works of mercy. He might have gone to Jerusalem, rented a store front, and put out a sign that read something like, “Religion at 11; y’all come.” But Jesus had not come to earth that the lost might seek Him, but that He might seek the lost (Lk. 19.10).

Thus, Jesus walked the paths of Judea, Galilee, Samaria, and elsewhere, seeking the lost that He might, by His words and deeds, make known the Good News of the Kingdom of God. His good works of mercy were many: healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, cleansing lepers, restoring health to paralytics, raising the dead, and more. Jesus had mercy on the people He encountered in His path, and He was always ready to do good to them and never seemed to weary of it (Tit. 2.14).

This was part of the active obedience of Jesus whereby He fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord. And John tells us, since this is the path Jesus walked, it must be the path we walk as well (1 Jn. 2.1-6). As individual believers we must be always ready to do good and show mercy to those around us, according to their need. And as congregations—the Body of Christ incarnate in our communities—we must, in making the Good News of the Kingdom known throughout our community, be ready with good works of mercy for the needy in our community.

We must, that is, be merciful to our neighbors as Jesus is merciful to us.

Opportunities for mercy
Christians are opportunists. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines opportunity as “a time and set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something”. Every day, each of us is faced with opportunities to do good works, including good works of mercy. Paul instructs us to “make the most” of these opportunities, according to the wisdom of God (Eph. 5.15-17). We must be “ready” to do good works (Tit. 3.8), and we must maintain good works as part of our daily schedule and routine (Tit. 3.14).

Local churches—through the ministry of the Word, by effective shepherding and mutual encouragement, and by leading church members into merciful endeavors—can help us to be more like Jesus as we are going about our daily lives in our communities. Local churches that show mercy will know the favor of the Lord on everything else they do. So let us pray for our church, and for ourselves and one another, that we may be always ready for good works and never grow weary in them, especially those works that show the mercy of the Lord.

Lord Jesus, let us never forget
that You are merciful to us day by day, 
according to all our needs and all Your riches in glory.
And let us be ready and eager to do good to one another
and to our neighbors.
Move our leaders, Lord,
to remind us and to equip us
for every good work,
especially works of mercy.
And, as we are merciful to one another
and to the needy in our community,
show favor to us and bless us
with Your Presence, O Lord.

For reflection
1. What would be some examples of good works of mercy you might do today? Are you ready to do them? Eager to do them?

2. What is the role of the equipping ministries of our church in helping us to do good works of mercy?

3. If Jesus were in your community, how would He do good works of mercy? How might your church follow His example?

Next steps—Preparation: Begin praying each day for opportunities to do good works. Pray that you will be ready for them, that you will be alert to when they arise, and that you will eagerly reach out to do whatever good work of mercy will touch another with the grace of God.

T. M. Moore

Give thanks
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest this week: Our Read Moore podcast is concentrating on praying the psalms to seek revival—why we should and what we might expect. Do you ever wonder about what God’s will for you is? Patrick—echoing Paul—makes it clear, as you can see in last week’s Crosfigell. And new in our bookstore, our book, The Ongoing Work of Christ shows us how the book of Acts provides a template and footprint for all who take up the work of building Jesus’ Church.

Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.