Mercy is built on one story Jesus told. It is the reason we say "give mercy." And it has a surprise in the middle.
The king and the two groups
Near the end of his life, Jesus told his friends a story about a king. In the story, all the people of the world stand in front of this king, and he puts them into two groups.
To the first group he says thank you. "I was hungry, and ye gave me meat," he says. "I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in." He says they gave him clothes, came to see him when he was sick, and visited him in prison.
The surprise
The people are confused. They never saw the king hungry. They never saw him in prison. When did they do any of this?
The Gospel of Matthew, one of the four accounts of Jesus's life, tells us the king's answer.
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:40 · King James VersionThe original Greek
καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐρεῖ αὐτοῖς· Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐφʼ ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε.
Found in Codex Vaticanus (about AD 325), Codex Sinaiticus (about AD 350).
The people they helped were the poorest and the most forgotten. And the king said that was him. Every meal, every visit, every coat.
What it means for us
The helpers in the story did not do it to get a reward. They did not know who they were helping. They just saw someone hungry and gave them food.
Helping the poor does not have to be big. It can be a bag of groceries for a neighbor who lost a job. A ride to the doctor. A visit to someone who is alone. We all walk past people we could help, and we all feel bad about it sometimes. But every day is a new chance.
That is why the Mercy app has a place where neighbors can ask for a meal, a ride or a prayer, and someone nearby can say yes. Jesus said that when we do that, we are doing it for him. If you have ever given someone a meal, or sat with someone who was alone, you did it for him. Even your small kindness matters.