Love's Amazing Cover-Up

Sermon at Huron Chapel EMC, Auburn ON
Dec.22/19 - Advent IV  Is.7:1-16 (Mt.1:18-25)
I’LL COVER THAT FOR YOU — ALMOST
This is the fourth Sunday in Advent, when we traditionally light the “Love” candle. A key thought in today’s sermon is that Love covers over a multitude of sins. Bob Goff taught us Love Does. John 3:16 teaches us Love Gives - “God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son” (etc.). But today we see that Love COVERS. The love God showed at Christmas involved His Son Jesus coming to save us from our sins, to cover the debt we owed a holy God so we could be with Him forever.
    Love COVERS. There are stories going around of the “random acts of kindness” sort where the person ahead in the Tim Horton’s drive-through pays for the car behind – maybe that’s already happened to you! An elderly woman was standing in the checkout line at a grocery store ready to pay for her merchandise: a litre of milk and a loaf of bread. She opened her purse. No money was there; neither was her chequebook. As she was about to ask the clerk to put her things back, suddenly a gentle voice said, “It looks like that is your lunch.” A gentleman was standing right behind her, smiling. "Don't worry," he continued. "Today I want to treat you.Take your things with you." Then the man paid for her merchandise and his own.
    A week passed by, and the woman came back to the store. The cashier recalled the incident and recognized her. She approached the woman and whispered, "Ma'am, maybe you'd be interested to know...That gentleman's cheque — it bounced!" (!)
    When we cover the shortfall for another, there’s a cost to it. The beauty of Christ’s gift at the cross is that it’s rich and pure enough to cover over all our transgressions.
POLITICAL BULLYING: AND WE’RE SURPRISED?
Love’s grace, covering the debts of others, does not come naturally to us. Our fallen tendency is to mind our own business at best, or even try to take advantage of others, rather than pay extra when they can’t manage.
    It’s not been the best week for poor Mr.Trump south of the border: he’s suffered the indignity of becoming just the third president of the United States to be officially impeached. The two charges centre on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – trying to cover things up when investigators were seeking details. Although the House of Representatives voted to impeach him (following party lines), it seems doubtful the Senate trial that’s coming will actually convict him: again, expected to follow party lines. Instead he may be acquitted. Political alliances override the more fundamental issues of whether what was done was actually appropriate for a person in that office.
    But when you step back and think about it, isn’t it actually remarkable that measures are in place for a nation to impeach its own leader? Don’t we sort of EXPECT politics to be about alliances, intrigue, half-truths, manipulation, manouvering to one’s own best advantage? Would the impeachment process even exist if the country weren’t founded on a cultural past which had Christian principles as its basis?
    In some developing countries, corruption is rampant. Expect to be delayed at the point of entry by some officer secretly hoping for a bribe. Dig further and you may find the line of corruption extends right through to the top: lesser officials pay off their bosses, who grease the palms of their own superiors, and so it goes – up to the top echelon.
    Jesus observed to His disciples in Mk 10:42, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.” He’s not introducing a radical thought here, just making an observation about how the world works, how business gets done in the political arena: rulers “lord it over” others, “exercise authority” – even if that means abusing their power. After King Herod found out from the Magi about Jesus’ birth, did he come to worship as promised? No, Mt 2:16 “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” The so-called ‘slaughter of the innocents’ – welcome to our world!
    Secular scholars concede that Jesus was crucified. Not that He needed to have done anything to necessarily deserve it! His life was snuffed out because His popularity made Him detestable to the Jewish leaders of the day, and a threat to their Roman overlords. An innocent man was condemned for the sake of expedience. Pilate the governor and judge said, Lk 23:22 “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty.Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.” (Lk 23:22) But that’s not what happened.
    The criminal crucified just to one side of Jesus bore witness to Jesus’ innocence: Lk 23:41 “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.But this man has done nothing wrong.” Even the Roman centurion in charge of the grisly proceedings admitted an innocent man had been condemned and killed: Lk 23:47 “The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."”
    Our fallen tendency to sin and attempt to pin it on someone else goes right back to the Garden of Eden. The serpent suggested if Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit their eyes would be opened and they would be like God; however when they ate the fruit, their eyes were opened, but they realized they were naked and sewed fig leaves together – the first attempt at a cover-up. (Gen 3:5,7)
    Things weren’t much different back around 735 B.C., the time of our Scripture passage read earlier from Isaiah 7. Assyria was the dominant world power to the north. The northern kingdom of Israel (the Ten Tribes) sought to make an alliance with neighbouring Syria to stand up to the Assyrian overlords. Whatcha gonna do when you’re bullied but try to find an ally so you can be stronger together? Then they pressured the southern kingdom of Judah to join their rebellious scheme. When Judah’s king Ahaz refused, they sought to force him by military means. Is 7:1f “When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.Now the house of David was told, "Aram has allied itself with Ephraim"; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.” Scary times!
    Coercion, pressure, and force were how things got done in the political world of Israel; ‘might makes right’. Since the northern kingdom rebelled against Solomon’s son, things got more and more unstable. The southern kingdom benefited from orderly succession through the line of David, but not the north. Consider King Pekah: 2Kings 15:25 “One of his chief officers, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him [Pekahiah].Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria.So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king.”
    This was not a new way to seize power. Years before Pekah, Shallum had done something similar: 2Kings 15:10 “Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah.He attacked him in front of the people, assassinated him and succeeded him as king.” Can you hazard a guess what eventually happened to King Pekah? 2Kings 15:30 “Then Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah.He attacked and assassinated him, and then succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.”
    Politics can be vicious, dog-eat-dog, law of the jungle. Power corrupts – in a fallen world. In some ways the wonder is not that a president has done something that warrants impeachment, but that a country has managed to put a system and principles of justice in place that holds its rulers to a higher standard.
    Christians are called to be different. In contrast to the ways of the Gentile rulers who are used to throwing their weight around, Jesus commanded His disciples: Mk 10:43ff “Not so with you.Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” To be a COVERING, a sacrifice on behalf of others.
ONE STRONGER YET – AND MERCIFUL
In a world of political bullies and violent ‘strong men’, God calls us to put our trust in Him and follow His ways; to be different, disciples of the Crucified One. He alone is to be feared, He alone is worthy of our trust.
    God commanded the prophet Isaiah to take his son and meet the king at a certain spot (ironically, the exact place where Assyrians would meet Hezekiah’s officials some years later). The Lord, speaking through the prophet, acknowledges the viciousness of the attack brought upon Israel by its neighbours: v6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” But Isaiah encourages Ahaz to have faith in the Lord. V4 “Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood...’” The attackers may be full of evil intent, but in God’s eyes they’re burnt-out firebrands. He need not be afraid because God is still in control: vv7,9B “Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "It will not take place, it will not happen...” “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
    I love the firmness of that declaration: “It WILL NOT take place, it WILL NOT happen...” The Lord, YHWH, is God of everything that comes into being, whatever happens: He is sovereign, we can trust His plans. God promises in v16 that before a young boy that’s born about then knows who to choose between right and wrong, the land of the two kings Ahaz dreads would be laid waste. And in fact that’s how it turned out: Assyria came and crushed Aram’s capital Damascus in 732 BC, and its king Tiglath-Pileser III soundly defeated Israel that year.
    The sign given to Ahaz to reinforce this was going to happen was itself a miracle – a virgin becoming pregnant and giving birth to a son! Nothing is too hard for God. As the angel Gabriel noted when making the announcement to Mary in Lk 1:37, “For nothing is impossible with God.”
    The boy born so wondrously would be given a special name: Is 7:14 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” That means, “God with us” – that must have been reassuring for Ahaz and his officials to hear! God was stronger than any enemy, and He was not abandoning His people. Even when He disciplined them by sending them into exile in 586 BC, the name of Isaiah’s son accompanying him was a sign of restoration: Shear-Jashub means “a remnant shall return”.
RIGHTEOUS RESPONSE: GRACE THAT COVERS
In all this, the Lord’s loving graciousness is astounding. Let’s back up a minute and consider just WHO King Ahaz is – he could be classed as one of the LEAST deserving of the kings of Judah! Here are six reasons.
1) He gave away all the treasures in the temple storehouses in order to hire foreign help (2Kings 16:8)
2) He burned his son(s) in the fire – how horrid! (2Kings 16:3; 2Chron 28:3)
3) He encouraged corrupt Baal worship in the high places (2Chron 28:24)
4) He replaced the altar Solomon built with one patterned after an Assyrian altar (2Kings 16:14)
5) He used the original bronze altar for divination, a practice strictly forbidden by the Lord (2Kings 16:15)
6) He actually shut the doors of the Temple, forcing worship out into the streets (2Chron 28:24)
    Yet, in spite of all these evil acts – God does not desert His people, abandoning them to the enemy – but comes alongside to deliver them! Such mercy, overlooking the king’s many sins.
    Check out King Ahaz’ attitude in response to the Lord’s offer of a sign to confirm His promise. Is 7:10-12 “Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test."” Such stubborn rebelliousness! If God commands you to ask for a sign, it’s not ‘testing’ Him to do what He says! Ahaz just doesn’t want anything to do with the Lord. If he were to ask for a sign, that might make him ‘beholden’ or obligated to God – whereas Ahaz sinfully just wants to do his own thing, rely on his own resources.
    Yet despite this sinful, adamantly stubborn attitude of Ahaz, the Lord goes ahead to provide one of the most breathtaking and awesome miracles in the whole Bible – the sign of the virgin birth. It would be fulfilled over 700 years later, at the coming of Jesus. Matthew points out the fulfilment in Mt 1:22, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet...” And Matthew, writing in Greek, uses an unambiguous term from the Septuagint so the miraculousness of the conception is clear. Jesus would be absolutely pure and innocent, free of any sin-legacy associated with male lineage.
    Love covers over a multitude of sins. God promised to be with Ahaz’ countrymen despite the king’s transgressions.
    Joseph and Mary were betrothed, a very serious commitment prior to marriage that could only be dissolved by an official action like divorce. When Joseph found out Mary was pregnant, he could have initiated proceedings for her to be stoned! That was the penalty for fornication under the law of Moses (Deut 22:23f). Instead, what did Joseph plan to do? Mt 1:19 “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” Quietly – not making a big thing of it: love covers over a multitude of sins.
    Because he was a RIGHTEOUS man...Today when someone’s described as “righteous” the intended meaning may be something like a self-appointed morality-Nazi! But because Joseph was righteous, he did NOT act like a morality-Nazi. He would have covered over the supposed sin, quietly. That’s God’s kind of loving righteousness.
    We see God’s merciful love reflected in the very name given to the miracle-boy. Mt.1:21 “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Yeshua, ‘Yahweh is salvation’, particularly God covers-over our sin. Jesus would be both Son of God and Son of Man, a unique birth of divine origin, sinless His whole life, a perfect sacrifice of infinite value – big enough to bring forgiveness for all people who repent and trust in His name, who He says He is.
    Jesus’ sinless purity is essential for His task. Hebrews 7:25-27 “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.Such a high priest meets our need— one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”
    He’s got you COVERED! As the Apostle Paul explained in Romans 4:7f (quoting Ps.32:1f), “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Have you received that sense of blessing? Or are you holding out like King Ahaz, stubbornly resisting so you can keep on sinning?
    What about when people attack us or insult us or treat us badly in our lives – will we respond with loving grace, or in an evil-for-evil manner that spirals downward? Without God’s grace in your life, you don’t have supply to be gracious to others. Listen to two apostles. First, James, the brother of the Lord: Jas 5:20 “remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”
    And the Apostle Peter states most clearly this quality of love that forgives, absorbs, makes allowance for the failings of others, going the extra mile in forgiving again and again: 1Peter 4:8 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
LOVE DESPITE DISAPPOINTMENT
How would you respond if a family member hurt you deeply by something they did? Would you be able to forgive them? It’s not easy. Unforgiveness tears relationships apart. Bitterness hardens into a brick wall. By contrast, Immanuel - God-with-us – makes forgiveness and reconciliation possible, first between ourselves and God, then with other humans.
    In November 1991, Jerry Jenkins wrote an unusual true story about a man awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call. He was groggy. The girl on the other end was weeping. "Daddy," she said, "I'm pregnant." Though stunned beyond belief, he forgave her and prayed with her.
    The next day he and his wife wrote her two letters of counsel and love. Three days later the man received another phone call. His daughter was shocked by the letters. She was not the one who had called earlier...Apparently some other girl had dialed a wrong number! The daughter later said, “These letters are my treasure – real love letters written by a godly father who never imagined he would have to write them to his own daughter:” Here are a few excerpts:
    “Part of me seemed to die last night. Not because of what it means to me as much as what it means to you. You were free to make all kinds of choices. Now you are shut up to a few, and none of them to your liking. But God will see you—and us—through.
    “Though I weep inside, I can't condemn you, because I sin too. Your transgression here is no worse than mine. It's just different. Even if my heart did not shout out to love and defend and protect you—as it does—the New Testament tells me I can't take forgiveness myself and withhold it from others.
    “We think of sin as acts. But sin is a package, an attitude that expresses itself in different ways and to different degrees. But it all comes from the same sin package you inherited through us. Christ is the only difference.
    “God forgives this sin as well as others—really forgives and cleanses. David was a man of God when he went into his experience with Bathsheba and in the grace of God he came out a man of God. And his sin included murder!
    “Satan has no doubt tried to tell you that this affects your standing before God. It doesn't, but it will affect your relationship till you bring the whole matter to Him. There will be a coolness, a separation, an estrangement, until you open the problem by confessing and asking forgiveness.
    “I will not reproach you or [your boyfriend]. I will not even dare to look down at you in my innermost heart, but it is not because the issue doesn't matter. The responsibility is his no less than yours. This is not an ideal basis for marriage. You want a husband who takes you by choice. But if you face the issue and God so leads, He could build a solid marriage. We stand ready to do whatever we can.
    “We're praying much. We love you more than I can say. And respect you, too, as always.
    “Saturday I was very downcast. I tried to sing as I worked outside, and then, increasingly, I seemed to see a calm and loving face I knew was Jesus. It was no vision—I didn't see details—but it was a strong reminder that He is with us and waiting for us to remember this. He loves us and will help us through, especially you. It's great to know Jesus is walking with you.
    “While we can't say that God causes failures, He does permit them, and I think it's clear He uses them to build character and beauty that we’d never have without them. Remember, God’s love is in even this, maybe especially in this.
    “We're glad that in a measure, at least, we can help the daughter we love so much. This is a day of testing, but hold our ground we must. God will give us the victory. That's wonderful. We're looking forward to your being at home. Love, Dad.” Let’s pray.