Preach the "Old Testament" #2: The Gracious & Compassionate God

The following is an actual sermon preached at Southside Church of Christ. I post this as an example of preaching from the Hebrew Bible. Those out there who are master homileticians please be merciful.

OPENING

A young man once loved his bride. In fact he simply adored her. He practically "worshipped" the ground upon which she walked (as young men are prone to do). He married her. She, however, did not return his love with with faithfulness. They were scarcely back from the honeymoon when he discovered he exploits with other men. Everyone told him she was trouble and to put her away. She cried for him to forgive her. He loved her dearly and he forgave her. Not long after he discovered she was with yet another man -- this time she was pregnant. What was he to do? She had had her chance so everyone told him to divorce her! But he loved her dearly so he forgave her. By this time, as you can imagine, people began to think this husband was crazy but he loved her. Within a year she had simply ran off with yet another man leaving him with children not his own.

I do not know the people personally in the that story but I can feel the pain, I am sure you can too. The amazing thing is this woman has surfaced again. What do YOU think this husband should do? Should he take her back? What would you do? Think on that deeply.

Another true story -- as sad as the first. There was a man, rich andpowerful. He was a politician. We would probably call him "wicked!" He was guilty of adultery not once but dozens of times. He had people killed. He got involved in witchcraft and lead almost his whole nation into this evil. He was so deranged that during one of his demonic services he murdered his own son in a ritual. Sick! Depraved!Degraded! We cannot multiply the adjectives enough. I do not want this man as a senator, congressman, or president. In fact this man has been thrown into a prison for his crimes. Yet he has had the audacity to ask for forgiveness. What shall we do?

MERCY, MERCY, MERCY, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

Before you answer that question let's look at our text for this morning in light of these painfully true stories. Our text comes comes fromExodus 34. 5-9. Read with me:

"Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And when he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming `The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

Yahweh, the Lord God, claims to be a compassionate and gracious God. He claims to be a God of Steadfast Love (RSV). He claims to be slow in anger and rich in forgiveness. Now I am free to identify the people in our opening stories because I feel they are perfect examples of what this text claims. The man in the first painful story is Hosea and his wife is Gomer. You may want to know that he did forgive her and he did take her back. In fact it may surprise you that God commanded him to take that unloving and unfaithful wife -- who has already blown a number of chances -- he told Hosea to take her back. This was to symbolize his own compassionate and gracious forgiveness of us. We are the unfaithful Gomer, yet he accepts us back -- over and over again!

The sick -- disgustingly evil -- man in the second story is Manasseh, king of Judah. Not only did God quickly forgive this man when he asked, the Lord to but he restored him to power and kingship. Talk about grace. Talk about undeserved compassion. I know -- beyond doubt that had Manasseh been president of the United States and had done the things he had done his chances for a public life would be less than zero. But God is not man -- his compassion, his graciousness, his love proves that beyond doubt. The Bible uses these stories to show uswith concrete and specific examples what Exodus 34 claims. The God of the Bible is a Gracious God. The God of the Bible is slow to anger and a God who is rich in forgiveness.

We learn that God loves us, he pursues us like a man does his bride, he enters into a covenant of love with us. Yet we daily go after other gods. Things and people in this world take away our love that should be directed solely to Yahweh. But God, like Hosea, takes us back. God offers to us, like he did Manasseh, mercy, compassion and forgiveness. Exodus says he does that simply because that is what kind of God Yahweh is.

It is "easy" to be forgiving when nothing really bad is going on. But a lot of "bad" things are going on in the context of Exodus 34. Starting with ch. 32 (only a month after Israel's "wedding" vows[sticking with our analogy of Hosea] and only two months after the miracle at the Red Sea -- and Israel is unfaithful. She is building other gods/idols. Moses had gone up the mountain and the people wandered off after false gods. The people wanted "gods they could see -- humbler gods, gods who would comfort them with a gentler, VISIBLE presence" as Walter Wangerin insightfully notes (The Book of God, p. 140). So Aaron gave them what they wanted - a visible god. He made a golden calf and dared to call it the God of the Exodus. The people went cheerfully into their adultery against Yahweh -- less than a month after their honeymoon! Like any husband, Yahweh is angry, as any husband would be, but he forgives his people (32.9-15). God did not destroy her or desert her. He took her back.

After that unfaithfulness, God calls Moses back up the mountain and there in the grievous context of sin claims to be a compassionate, gracious and loving God. "Yahweh, Yahweh," is pronounced. Then God proceeds to "exegete" his name -- he tells us what "Yahweh" means. His name defines who he is. His name means "compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, full of great and abounding love, full of faithfulness and forgiveness." That is what God says his name means, that is what kind of God we serve. That is the kind of God that deserves our whole hearted devotion, our worship, our obedience. These six aspects of God are practically indistinguishable. Ones cholar noted there isn't any real difference in the words. "The whole list [compassion, gracious, steadfast love, slow to anger, etc] boils down to: mercy, mercy, mercy. Does God have just one attribute -- this text seems to suggest that." (Ronald M. Hals, Grace and Faith inthe Old Testament, p. 16). Each word contributes to a picture that compliments and extends the rest. For example "merciful/compassionate" (Hebrew, rhm) literally comes from a root that means "womb." The word conjures up the image of the tenderness of a mother's care with the newborn infant she has carried in her womb. What a moving picture of God and his dealing with you and me. The word translated "abounding love" or better "steadfast love" (RSV, Hebrew, hsd) is closely related to the word "grace." The term simply means that God will not, indeed refuses to give up on us. He is a God who loves FOREVER (Ps. 136) despite our rebellion and sin. So, indeed, God is compassion, compassion, compassion! Mercy, mercy, mercy! Love, love, love! Did not the apostle John say "God IS love."

The text says that when Moses heard God pronounce his awesome and holy name he fell to the ground and worshipped. You know that is the only acceptable response we can give to such a great God as ours. We pay homage to our great and compassionate God.

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At this point have the congregation sing, "Glorify Thy Name" to worship him for his love for us
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ARE YOU LEAVING SOMETHING OUT??

I can already hear someone objecting to the text and saying, "Bobby you are leaving out the part about punishing sin! See there is more to God than this love stuff!" My response to that is -- No I am not leaving anything off about sin. God does not overlook, minimize or excuse sin. But in the Hebrew text -- and in the English -- the judgment on sin is NOT part of the explanation of God's holy and awesome name!! Wrath is "not a continuous aspect of the nature of God but a PARTICULAR response to a historical situation" (T. Fretheim, Exodus: Interpretation, p. 302).

God does punish because it is an affront to his holiness but that is NOT the point of this text. God in pronouncing his name deliberately contrasts the fact that he shows love to THOUSANDS -- forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin -- with punishing a FEW. The contrast is unmistakable and glaring. The context of Exodus 34 highlights this very thing. God says to Moses that if we are to know the one true God and not some idol of our own making (of the kind Aaron made) then we must know him as a compassionate and gracious God who is rich in forgiveness. God says you cannot say his name without saying compassion, graciousness and love -- to do so is to evoke a false deity. Due to his name, God acts in forgiving ways. He forgives unbelievable sin. Look at the life of Manasseh. Look at Gomer. Look at Christ on the cross and hear him say "Father forgive them!" The cross proves beyond a doubt that God does not excuse our sin -- he suffers for it and forgives it and there is a huge difference. At the cross Christ took the punishment that would fall on all of us. In that event, in the bloody murder ofthe Innocent One we see Exodus 34 in full action. God forgave"wickedness, rebellion and sin." He forgave the ones who not only were committing adultery but the ones torturing his own Son. The voice of God thunders through the universe -- "Father Forgive them!" Brothers and sisters that voice was heard in Exodus: "The LORD, theLORD, the compassionate and gracious God . . . " God forgives overand over and over. It cost him dearly to forgive.

CONCLUDING STATEMENTS

If you and I are to know God we must become people who are like him. We must become compassionate, merciful, and loving. We must become slow to anger, full of love and forgiving -- even in the face of painful and grievous sin. Just like Gomer's. Just like Manasseh's. Just like mine! In the NT these same traits are calledthe Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.22-23: "love, joy, peace,patience, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." When we know Godwe start to look and act in a manner that looks like him.

[remainder deleted]

To God's glory and grace,
Bobby Valentine

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Preach the "Old Testament" #1

Preach the "Old Testament" #1

This post was written out of frustration ...

This post, and perhaps a few more to follow, has been inspired by a series of discussions with two preaching brothers I have had in the last few days regarding the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. I was most distressed by the course of the conversations. The conversations were a reaction to this statement I made: "I would love to write a book that finally convinced folks that the God of the "Old Testament" is truly a God of love and grace...the same exact God in the "New Testament!"."

Conversations like these make me really doubt the validity of our old dispensational hermeneutic that has been so vitally important in the history of the Stone-Campbell Movement. Yes, I believe there is a "new" covenant and we are part of it. But "old" covenant cannot simply be equated with "old testament," nor can the "new" covenant be divorced from, or even understood, apart from the Hebrew Bible.

The dispensational hermeneutic, in my view, seriously handicap's our ability to hear God's word in the first 39 books. In what way? Because the the Old Testament was not and is not allowed to speak for itself. It is the contention of my dialogue partners that God was NOT a God of grace and love in the First Testament, that the Old Testament was essentially legalistic and concerned with carnal (fleshy) perspectives - because John 1.17 states that "law" came through Moses but "grace and truth" came in Jesus. I maintain that this text does not mean there is no grace in the Old Testament, if I make that claim do I also claim there is not "truth?" Surely not. I believe the view of many of our brothers is in fact subtle Marcionism. Even if we do not believe in two literal gods we have turned the one God into a schizophrenic! Not only are we often not so subtle Marcionites, we may even be Bultmannians unaware (Bultmann maintained that the Old Testament was ultimately a failure and worthless to the Christian). In my years of preaching I know that my own personal experience has been confirmed through countless conversations.  Just one example. A few years ago I did a sermon series from Genesis (of all books) and had a 78 year old sister thank me for preaching from the OT because she could never recall hearing a sermon on Genesis. Whether her memory was accurate is beside the point. There was not enough of it to make an impact. I am quite comfortable in cutting across the grain on this however.

I have often observed that my brothers who maintain such a low view of the Hebrew Bible for Christians have a corresponding low grasp of both the actual content and the meaning of the "Old Testament." Here are some critical facts though from the "New" Testament regarding the "Old" (such language is not biblical btw and I resort to the NT rather than the OT here because the latter is often not allowed to testify for itself in these conversations):

1) The Law of Moses is Spiritual, holy, righteous and even good (Rom 7.12, 14).

2) Paul uses the Law and the Prophets to prove his doctrine of salvation of grace through faith. That is Abraham is the paradigm of justification through faith; David celebrates this truth; and Habakkuk bore witness to it (Rom 4)

3) Paul told Timothy the Hebrew Bible was good for equipping the people of God unto every good work (2 Tim 3.14-16)

These three cardinal truths are often not even given lip service in our churches and our preaching. The Old Testament is Spiritual according to Paul but many claim it is "fleshy" (code for unspiritual, legalistic or unimportant). In the Old Testament salvation is utterly by grace and not law keeping! In fact the Old Testament calls the relationship between Yahweh & Israel a "covenant of love" (Deuteronomy 7.9, 12) not covenant of law ... there are many who will reject this simply out of hand.

Yet, the treasure of the Hebrew Bible is more relevant to our lives than simply teaching us about grace and faith though that is of utmost importance. Without the Hebrew Bible it is impossible to understand who the Creator God is, what humanity is, or even to grasp the meaning of Jesus. In future posts I will explore these in more detail.

Before we can preach from the Hebrew Bible I must be convinced it has a powerful word from God that address us today. In order to be convinced of this we must also master the content and the meaning of that content. To do this we need to learn to listen to the text. Let me recommend three books that will help us be better listeners to the text and at the same time move us to appreciate the essential narrative unity of Scripture.

Ronald M. Hals, Grace and Faith in the Old Testament (Augusburg). This small hundred page book has only six chapters and is incredibly easy to read. If I were teaching OT Survey I have no doubt this little book would be required reading for both the midterm and final. Unfortunately this book is out of print but get it through an interlibrary loan and copy it. Also Amazon is a wonderful place to buy older used books. Run, do not walk, to get this small treasure. Devour it - read it - then read it again.

Thomas H. Olbricht, He Loves Forever: The Enduring Message of the Old Testament (College Press). Again this is a short and easy to read introduction to the heart of the OT. The book plunges into the meat of Exodus 34.6-7 and traces God's redeeming love throughout. This is also a very good book to use for an adult Bible class and I have done so several times through the years.

Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story (Baker Academic). This is the most academic book in this list but it is still easy to read. This book models the narrative unity of Scripture and shows how it invites us to become participants in the drama.

Tomorrow I will use the book of Exodus as a model or test case to see if we can preach from the Torah. As for me and my house we will maintain that Yahweh has always been nothing but a God of supreme love and grace. Any other god one finds in the "Old Testament" is an idol of their own making.

Thank you for letting me vent. Tomorrow will be better! I promise, :-)

While we wait ... here is a verbal exercise: Read Psalm 136 orally and see what the impact is.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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Community of the Kingdom - The "Look" of Jesus

Community of the Kingdom: The "Look" of Jesus
Have you ever wondered what a Christian looks like? Recently this question was posed to me. It caught me off guard so I responded with a few superficial answers. Yet I was dissatisfied with my responses so I turned to the Scripture to help in determine what a Christian looks like.

The proper place to begin, is to find out what the Savior looked like. As I read through the Gospels seeking an answer to my question I began to notice a certain look over and over again. At the center of the Gospels is the remarkable compassionate love of Jesus. It is in plain view, yet we sometimes do miss it.

I read John's reflections on Christ's mission as being about saving, not condemnation (John 3.17). The Master's compassion for one caught in the very act of a capital "crime" is almost shocking (John 8). I noticed Jesus using the image of the Good Shepherd who gives himself in service to others (John 10.10-11). Luke told me that Jesus explained his whole purpose for living included the goals of freedom, healing and releasing the oppressed (Luke 4.18-19).

My journey through the Gospels revealed the Master gripped with compassion as he saw people as helpless sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9.36). His heart ached when he saw the sick (Matt. 14.14) and he literally broke down at the death of a friend (John 11.35). His love was aroused for two blind men outside the ancient city of Jericho (Matt. 20.34). The masses of men, women and children hungry moved him deeply (Matt. 15.32). When a lady experienced the tragedy of death in her family, we read that Jesus' "heart went out to her." I noticed that Jesus was even willing to risk the censure of the church folks in order to "do good" (Luke 6.6-11).

As I continued to read through the Gospels wondering "what does a Christian look like" I came across these words from the Messiah's lips "love one another as I have loved you. By THIS everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13.34-35). I dawned on me that the "look" or "mark" of a Christian was none other than the "look" or "mark" of Jesus himself. What Jesus looked like was compassion pure and simple. Compassionate love! That is the answer to my question. Christians, real Christians, will have the look of Jesus. Jesus said that his look, the look of love, will be the mark of all Christians.

The community of the kingdom of God is filled with little Christ's filled with and moved by compassionate love. Herein is heart of the Christian ... and the Church.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

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