Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

(Mine for deep wounds)

It is clear to me this morning that many in this room are dealing with some extremely deep wounds.

I would describe a deep wound as something someone else has done to cause you harm or to offend you.

To some, these wounds had nothing to do with your actions or heart but the one who offended you had evil in their heart and you received the consequences of their evil.

You are dealing with some difficult things that happened in your life growing up or you are dealing with things that took place in your life before you came to know Christ as Savior.

Perhaps this morning, you are not dealing with a deep wound, but I would guess that you know someone who is.

So for you as a Christ follower how do you help those dealing with a deep wounds.

Love Mercy

I sit on this one for a little bit.

What does it mean to love Mercy?

Mercy:

The biblical meaning of mercy is exceedingly rich and complicated, as evidenced by the fact that several Hebrew and Greek words are needed to comprehend the many-sided concept.

Consequently, there are many synonyms employed in translation to express the dimensions of meaning involved, such as “kindness,” “lovingkindness,” “goodness,” “grace,” “favor,” “pity,” “compassion,” and “steadfast love.”

Prominent in the concept of mercy is the compassionate disposition to forgive an offender or adversary and to help or spare him in his sorry plight.

Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988).

Mercy.

In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol.

2, p. 1440).

Baker Book House.

To forgive an offender or adversary and to help or spare him in his sorry plight.

To love Mercy is to love forgiving someone who has wronged you and to spare them of their consequences.

We want Mercy for ourselves but it is contrary to the flesh to want it for those who have offended us.

Yet, this is the good news of the Gospel.

We were offenders and Jesus forgave us and spared us from our sorry plight or consequences

Imagine this morning with me 2 sons who just lost their parents.

The parents had a will in place and the oldest son was to get the parents house when they passed, but after they passed the youngest son saw the opportunity to take what legally belonged to the oldest son and make it his own.

The parents desired that the older son have this house but the younger son came in not too long after the parents had passed and stole what belonged to his brother.

How would that make you feel?

In my flesh, I would not be happy about this.

I would struggle with mercy for the brother who stole from his own brother.

I would be ready for Justice but not Mercy.

Many will tell you that they forgive all the time and love mercy.

They will even tell you how the other person hurt them and go on and on about it.

Their blood pressure will rise and their voice will get louder, but they will reassure you at the end that they love mercy.

(LOL)

When it comes to mercy or the ability to free a person of guilt, its consequences, and spare them of consequences.

I believe true mercy is only available through Jesus Christ.

That is it takes asking the Holy Spirit to empower you with Mercy.

I believe real mercy has always been rooted only in Jesus, and until he takes us home it will always be in Jesus.

The good news is that Jesus has made a way for us to receive mercy and to extend mercy to others.

It was never the desire of our Father in Heaven for us to have to cope or learn to deal with those who have hurt us or the people we have hurt.

Jesus died on the cross to free us from our sin.

Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we could manage our sin problem.

Jesus died on the cross to set us free.

I love in scripture where Jesus says so that you may know the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sin he says your sins are forgiven.

Turn to Genesis 32

As you are turning there let me give you some background to this passage we are going to look at.

Jacob and Esau.

Esau was the older brother.

Esau being the older brother had two things.

He had the birthright and he had the blessing.

BIRTHRIGHT (בְּכֹרָה, bekhorah).

The special privileges granted to a firstborn son

And the

blessing.

The authoritative pronouncement of God’s favour.

One day when Esau came in from hunting.

Jacob had been at home cooking stew.

Esau was hungry and exhausted and wanted some of the stew so Jacob said first sell me your birthright.

Esau was so hungry and said he was about to die so he sold the birthright to his younger brother Jacob.

Then later in life it had come time for Esau being to older son to receive the blessing from his father.

He was about to receive this pronouncement from his father of God’s favour in his life.

His father called Esau in and told him to go out and hunt and come home and make him a delicious meal so that he could bless him before he died.

Their mother Rebekah heard their father say this to Esau so after Esau left to go hunt the game she called her son Jacob in and said listen to me and obey every order I give you.

She said you go out and get two young goats from the flock and I will cook them in to a delicious meal for your father and then he will bless you instead of Esau.

Jacob responded look my brother is vary hairy and I have smooth skin and my father will know that it is not him.

His mother said just do what I say and so she had him put the skin of the goat on his hands so that his father would not know.

He did this and then went to his father and his father questioned him and said is that really you Esau and Jacob lied to his father and said yes it is.

Jacob’s father then gave him the blessing that was intended for Esau.

Later Esau comes in and finds out that his brother Jacob has stolen the blessing that was intended for him.

Esau pleaded with his father to give him another blessing but his father said he could not do that and Esau wept loudly.

Esau is the victim and Jacob is the one who stole from Jacob.

Esau says this in

I will kill my brother Jacob.

Jacob hears about Esau wanting to kill him and so he leaves.

Here in Genesis 32 they have been apart and established their own families and the two brothers are about to meet again.

Unwillingness to love mercy or to seek mercy causes us to do some crazy things.

The deep wound grabs our minds and messes with good clear thoughts.

Here Jacob is about to meet Esau and Jacob send his men to seek favour with Esau.

They come back and report that Esau is on his way with 400 men.

Unwillingness to love mercy causes distress and fear

This unwillingness to love mercy dictates his actions.

The Heart of the Problem says you are slave to the person you hate.

Jacob’s actions are being dictated by Esau.

Esau is living in freedom because of his Mercy for Jacob but Jacob is not.

He is arranging everything of value to him and putting them in order.

Esau is living freely but Jacob is over here stressed out worried and driving himself crazy.

Remember what drove him to this he heard that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men and that is it!!

When our heart is unwilling to love mercy we have a hard time discerning truth in our life.

We start to think here he comes to kill me and I know he is angry with me.

Our heart will start to fill with other sins as well worry, fear, bitterness, yelling, lying, drunkeness, or sexual immorality.

Being unwilling to love mercy roots itself in our lives and leads us in to so many other sins if we are unwilling to deal with it.

This deep wound of unforgiveness may be the sole reason you struggle with addiction.

You may not have an addiction problem but you have a problem of deep rooted unforgiveness that is driving the addiction.

Notice that the fear of Esau dictates the actions of Jacob.

He starts to divide the camp.

You say well I don’t fear anyone.

Fight rather than flight well guess what when you decide to fight then the fight is dictated by someone else’s actions.

You are also being controlled by the actions of the other.