Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

Which is best…Coke or Pepsi?

Bombers or Riders?

Jonathan Toews or Sidney Crosby?

Mac or PC? John Deere or New Holland?

(Do these with images and invite people to “vote.”)

Clearly on many issues the best is very subjective.

We have our opinions and reasons for believing them, but other people hold just as dearly to their opinions for their own reasons.

The Bible invites us to compare God to others.

Isaiah 40:18 asks, "To whom, then, will you compare God?

What image will you compare him to?" Exodus 15:11 declares clearly that God is the best when it says, "“Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?"

Micah 7:18 also asks, “Who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives…transgression…” In asking this question Micah invites us to recognize God’s matchless forgiveness.

The primary text will be Micah 7:18-20 and other will be Luke 15:11-32, which we have already read.

So let’s read Micah 7:18-20.

!

I.

He Forgives out of His Character

Three lines in verses 18, 19a reveal the character of God out of which forgiveness arises.

First of all, it says “You do not stay angry forever.”

Anger is appropriate when a wrong has been done.

It is right to be angry when a 15 year old steals a car and kills a police officer.

It is right to be angry when innocent bystanders are killed in a gang war.

It is right to be angry when 6 million Jews are killed just because they are Jews.

God also gets angry at such evil and injustice, but God doesn’t stay angry.

The Hebrew implies that God does not hold tightly to anger.

It is a good thing that He does not because if He did, we would all be doomed because all of us are guilty of sin.

Justified anger is a part of God’s character, but so is letting go of that anger.

Instead of holding on to anger, we read that God “delights to show mercy.”

The first definition of mercy in Merriam Webster’s dictionary is, “compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender.”

When God forgives, He shows mercy to those who deserve punishment.

But what strikes me most powerfully about this phrase is that God “delights” to show mercy.

What do you delight in?

What do you do about that in which you delight?

Do you delight to eat dessert?

If you do you don’t refuse it when it is served.

Do you delight to call a friend?

If you do, you call them often and never consider it a burden.

Do you delight to work in your garden?

If you do, you gladly go out there and spend time in it and never consider how long you have to be there before you can go in.

What a special thing to realize that God delights to show mercy.

He is glad to do it.

He does it quickly.

He does it often.

The third line is that God has compassion.

He cares about those in need.

He does that which is loving and which is best for those on whom He has compassion.

Each of these phrases expresses something of God’s character and it is out of His character that God forgives.

Because He does not stay angry, because He delights in mercy and is compassionate, He desires to forgive all who come to Him.

The matchlessness of God’s forgiveness is revealed in these characteristics.

For God to forgive in this way is absolutely astounding for a number of reasons.

It is amazing that God delights to forgive because God has more to forgive than anyone else.

It is easy to forgive when someone does a minor wrong to you once every five years, but with God every creature He made is sinning against Him several times every day!

That is a lot of sin to forgive!

In Psalm 51:4, David recognizes, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

Furthermore, recognizing that God forgives out of His character is also amazing because He doesn’t forgive as an equal, but as one who is holy.

If we forgive another it is the right thing to do, but it is also wise because we know that sooner or later we will need forgiveness because we will wrong someone.

God is holy.

He has never done anything wrong and will never need forgiveness.

God is holy and as the holy Lord every wrong done in the universe violates His holiness.

So if God forgives, it is an act contrary to His holiness.

When God forgives out of the mercy of His inner character He must violate another aspect of His character and that is His holiness.

How can God do that?

Paul picks up on that when he speaks about what Jesus has done and recognizes that the death of Christ on the cross allows God to forgive.

In Romans 3:26 we read, "…he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."

God’s forgiveness is matchless because it arises out of His holy and compassionate character.

!

II.

He Forgives Completely

The matchlessness of God’s forgiveness is further revealed in verse 19b where we read, "…you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

These two images reveal how completely we are forgiven.

When 5 kings had waged war against Israel just after they entered the Promised Land, they were captured.

Then we read in Joshua 10:24-26, “When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, ‘Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.’

So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.

Joshua said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Be strong and courageous.

This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.’"

When they put their feet on the necks of these kings it is an imagery of conquest and victory.

Micah says “…you will tread our sins underfoot” and I believe that such a picture of conquest helps us understand what God has done to our sins.

He has shown His power over them by stomping on them.

One commentator says that this means that God will, “conquer their power and tyranny by His compassion…”

            The other image teaches us that when God forgives, our sins are gone.

In 1912 the Titanic made its first voyage and we know that the disastrous results of that voyage were that it sank and more than 1500 people lost their lives in the marine disaster.

The boat went down in about 4 km of water, too deep to get to for many years, besides which they did not know exactly where it had gone down.

Finally in 1985 they found where the Titanic had gone down and from then on they began to search the area and bring back artifacts.

Every expedition to discover what happened and recover things from the area has been very costly and very difficult and dangerous for those attempting it.

That is what happens to things that are cast into the sea.

They become difficult to retrieve.

What a blessing to know that that is where our sins have been cast by God.

It helps us to understand just how completely God forgives our sins.

They are put beyond reach, we are completely forgiven.

There are other passages which communicate the same kind of message.

Psalm 103:12 says, "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

In Isaiah 38:17 we read, "…you have put all my sins behind your back."

God puts our sins where He will not see them, where He will not be reminded of them.

Jeremiah 50:20 seems to describe a “hide and seek” situation when it says, "In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare."

Have you ever played “remember when?”

When Carla and I were traveling we played it a few times as we passed places that held memories.

Do you ever play “remember when” with your sins?

How often we dredge up the sins we have committed and feel guilty for them all over again.

Our shame and guilt surfaces all over again as we remember what we have done wrong.

God does not do that.

He has forgiven us and the matchlessness of His forgiveness is that when He forgives it is gone.