Sermon Tone Analysis

*Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds*

*/Part 14: Compassion & Wrath/*

*Exodus 34:5-8*

*/March 21, 2010/*

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*Objectives of sermon:*

· That we embrace God’s wrath as a core component of his goodness.

* *

*Prep: *

·         Sermons~/mem cov. on serving,

·         Passage and exegesis

·         Handwritten notes, NAC description

 

*Scripture reading: Genea (*Exodus 33:18-20, 34:5-8)

 

 

Opening: Commend Deacons~/Call to Serve

 

We chose *leaders*, not folks to do everything.

The leadership is called by God to *equip* *you*.

·         You need to *serve* and pour out or else become *stagnant*.

Prayer

 

As we wade into some *difficult* *territory*, I pray that you help us see *you* as the *first* *thing*, not ourselves.

This is not about making you *fit* into *our* *ideals*, but you *shaping* *us* to yours.

Loving God’s Wrath

 

*Last* *week’s* challenge was to fall in love with God’s law.

This week it’s even more daunting: Fall in *love* with *God’s* *wrath*.

Q   God is a *God* of *wrath*: How do you *emotionally* *react* to that?

 

·         Do you think of an *abusive*, *unloving* father and become *afraid*?

·         Does it *embarrass* you, an *antiquated* idea of God?

·         Or do you find *comfort* in that idea?

We have our work *cut* *out* for us!

Let’s start by looking at an *example* of God’s wrath, in the “*Golden* *Calf* incident”:

 

NIV *Exodus 32:1* ¶ When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us.

As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." 2 Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.

Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."

Admittedly, this is a pretty big screw up.

Think back on the *analogy* of *covenant* as *marriage*: The Golden Calf incident is the equivalent of hiring a *prostitute* on your *honeymoon*.

Your bride goes shopping and comes back to find you otherwise occupied.

You *defend* yourself, “You were gone for a *long* *time* and for all I knew, you were *dead*, so I wasn’t *really* *cheating*.”

·         God is *really* *mad*, I get that, but I have a hard time with what *comes* *next*:

 

NIV *Exodus 32:25* ¶ Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.

26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me."

And all the Levites rallied to him.

27 Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side.

Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.'"

28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

29 Then Moses said, "You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day."

This sounds more like joining the *mafia* than the *ministry*!

People would take *church* *discipline* more seriously if elders had to take out a few *wayward* *church* *members* before being installed!

Q   How do we *reconcile* this to the picture of a *loving* *God*?

·         Try explaining this to a bunch *2nd* and *3rd* *graders*.

A modern problem of biblical proportions

 

Interestingly, this is a *modern* *problem*.

Previous generations *overemphasized* God wrath, at the expense of God’s love.

Q   We joke about *fire* and *brimstone* sermons, but how many have you really heard?

If you remember the story of *Jonah*, the part of the story of Jonah that *bothers* *us* is the thought that God would wipe out an entire city of 600,000, men, women, and children.

But Jonah and his readers were bothered by the fact that *he* *didn’t*.

·         *BTW*: The parts of the Bible that *embarrass* or *trouble* you say more about *you* than about the *Bible*.

Q   Back to the *question*: We are going to read a lot *more* *passages* like this, so how do we get *around* God’s *wrath*?

We *don’t*.

God is a God of *wrath*, *justice*, and *righteousness* – *deal* with it.

The problem is *ours*, not *his*.

We have a *low* *view* of God that reflects our *culture* more than the Bible.

·         Looking at my *sermons*, they’re *weak* on God’s wrath, because I don’t *like* it, but I am tired of *apologizing* for *God*.

I want to stop making *excuse* and *dive* into all of who *God* *is*, convinced that I will *ultimately* be *happiest* in who he really is because *he* is *good*.

Changing perspectives

 

Back when I answered those *kids’* *question*, I said something about *sin* *hurting* us, and God stopping sin.

This is very *true*, but it falls *short* in that it *focus* on *us*, not God.

I *wish* I would’ve said “God is very, *very* *good*, and we are very, *very* *bad*, even at our best, and God *hates* *sin* because it *destroys* *goodness*.

We all *deserve* what happened to them, but God *saves* us because of his *love* and *mercy*, if we *repent*.”

·         That may not make for a great *bedtime* *story*, but it prepares them to *understand* and *receive* the *grace* of God.

Through this *sermon*, I want us (esp.

myself) to stop trying to *work* *around* God’s wrath, but instead have the *Spirit* *work* *in* me to *understand* that his wrath is a good thing, and become *grateful* for it.

·         We shouldn’t try to *excuse* God’s wrath, rather *recalibrate* ourselves to see God’s *wrath* as part of his *goodness*.

Q   Do I have your *attention*?

Q   Are you wishing you hadn’t brought a *visitor*?

Don’t worry, we *will* see how God’s wrath is part of his *goodness* – God doesn’t have a *split* *personality*.

In fact *the* *key* *point*:

 

·         God’s wrath is a core component of his goodness.

He most certainly is *love*.

Today’s *overemphasis* on God’s love (at the *expense* of his wrath and judgment) is partially a *reaction* to a pervious era’s *overemphasis* on his *wrath* (we suck at *balance*).

Keep these truths in the front of your *mind*:

 

*Psalm 145:8-9, 17 * 8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.

Does this passage sound *familiar*?

It quotes from God’s *self*-*revelation* which was read this morning, and there we find our answers, because it shows a *complete*, *cohesive* picture of God.

God describes himself

 

This passage is the *clearest* and most *complete* revelation of God in the *OT*.

In fact, it’s is *alluded* to *many* *times* throughout the Bible.

Not until *Jesus* do we have a clearer picture of God.

The context is that Moses asks God to show his *glory*.

In other words, Moses ask God to *describe* *himself*:

 

*Exodus 34:6-7 *  6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,  7 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."

*/1.

/**/Compassionate/*

 

He *genuinely* *cares* for all he has made and is filled with *concern* and *mercy*.

We get a sense of the “*tone*” of the word when we realize its root came from the word for *womb*.

*/2.

/**/Gracious/*

 

The fact that they are having this *conversation* (after the Golden Calf) shows he is a merciful God! Gracious means that he is *kind* to us beyond anything we *deserve*.

*/3.

/**/Slow to Anger/*

 

Think how *you* *respond* to injury or insult, especially if it’s a *family* member!

We are *quick* to anger – we are already at a *full* *boil* before they *finish* what they were saying.

But God is *slow* to anger, *patient*, not flying off the handle.

It’s a good thing, too.