Who is a God like You,
Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in mercy.
He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
You will give truth to Jacob
And mercy to Abraham,
Which You have sworn to our fathers
From days of old.
The Heart of our Shepherd Holds Mercy
In the fifth grade, I had a teacher that everyone feared. His name was
Mr. May. Like all the teachers at that school at that time, Mr. May had
a paddle, which he would sometimes use on the bottoms of disobedient
children. Mr. May always wore a button-down shirt with a pocket
protector. He seemed really old to us, though I don't what that means
now.
But even though everyone in his classes feared Mr. May, I've always
considered him to be one of my best teachers ever. I think I learned a
lot in fifth grade. What us kids didn't realize at the time was that
Mr. May loved his work. We may have thought he only liked to use his
paddle, but he loved more than that. At the time, we just didn't see
it.
I suppose some of the kids who felt that paddle from time to time might
not have liked Mr. May. They may have thought that he didn't like them,
and never would. Maybe that's why they were disobedient.
Now, think about Jesus' parable of the lost sheep. Why did one of the
flock wander off and get lost? There are two likely reasons. One is
that the sheep was too dumb to remain with the master it loved and
trusted. The other possibility is that the sheep did not love its
master, and actually wanted to get away. Does that sound
farfetched? But isn't that what often happens to people who find
themselves separated from God by their own guilt? Some are reluctant to
come to communion because they feel unworthy. Some are even reluctant
to come to church, and end up avoiding the rest of the flock. What
should be love turns into embarassment, dislike, or even hatred in the
mind of the lost sheep. Like some of Mr. May's students, the sheep
thinks that the shepherd only loves using his paddle.
That's why Micah wrote this Old Testament lesson for us today. Micah tells
us that the heart of our Shepherd holds mercy. He loves every sinner.
He renews his compassion.
(So that) He loves every sinner
Our Shepherd loves every sinner. It's nice to hear that, but it sounds
like one more statement of wishful thinking, like saying, “Where the
skies are not cloudy all day.” There are some places where the
buffalo roam and the sun usually shines, but you know deep down that
clouds will go anywhere. In the same way, it's easy to say that our
Shepherd loves every sinner, but you know deep down that someone must be
bad enough that God will not love them.
There are notorious sinners who commit infamous crimes. Sinners like
Jesse James or Jack the Ripper must be on God's bad side, we think.
It's reasonable. But it's wrong for us to think that way. It sets up a
comparison between ourselves and those we think are worse than we are.
From there, it's easy to say, “As long as I'm not a murderer or bank
robber, God loves me.” In other words, God can forgive some sins but
not others. He loves some sinners, but not others. That's dangerous
and wrong.
This is what the prophet Micah wrote: “Who is a God like You,
Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of
His heritage?” God pardons iniquity. That means sin. Not
some iniquity, but simply iniquity. If you have iniquity, He
pardons it. He doesn't pass over some transgression, but simply
transgression. If you have transgression, He passes over it. You see,
the heart of our shepherd holds mercy, so that He loves every sinner.
But what if you aren't such a bad sinner? Is there anyone who doesn't
have iniquity or transgression? Not anyone here. In fact, the only
human without iniquity of his own is Jesus. That's what it would take
for us to be on God's good side: the perfection of Jesus.
Now, nobody likes to think of our iniquity in terms of specific sins we
commit. Who would want to? We might like some of the things
that God says are evil! So it's more comfortable for us to think of our
iniquity in general terms. We prefer to admit “I am a sinner” rather
than “I am an adulterer.” As a matter of fact, we should admit
that we are sinners by nature. But another reason we are called sinners
is that we do commit specific sins.
Our collections of iniquity are personal. We all commit many of the
same sins, but the mix varies from person to person. If you want God to
pardon your personal iniquities, then you need to confess them. It
won't do to compare yourself to someone you think is worse than you.
Any sin that you refuse to confess before God cannot be forgiven,
because you don't want it to be forgiven. If any iniquity is
left unforgiven, then you are still in your sins, and are bound for
punishment. So it's important that we each confess the iniquity we
have. Repentance must be complete.
I know some of your sins already, because you and I are similar in many
ways. But we also have secret sins, and secret weaknesses. You know
yours and I know mine, but God knows them even better. That's a
frightening thought, isn't it? That fear sometimes drives sheep away
from their shepherd, because they think their sins cannot be
forgiven. So again, don't compare yourself to others. “For
each one shall bear his own load.” Comparisons don't help us. There
is only one thing that can keep us from despair: God's mercy.
So remember these two things: first, you need forgiveness as much as
anyone else, because your iniquity is just as great in God's sight;
second, your sins are covered as surely as the sins of anyone else. God
loves every sinner.
This is guaranteed, because the one human with no sin of His own took
the sins of all others upon Himself, and He died in our place, as a
shepherd might die in defense of his sheep. Though we have plenty of
iniquity of our own, He has now taken it away. Jesus died to free you,
and to free everyone you know. We are all equally guilty, but we are
now equally redeemed. The explanation is simple: the heart of our
Shepherd holds mercy. But how many people believe it? How many freely
confess it? I want you to remember our first main point this morning:
He loves every sinner.
(So that) He renews His compassion
We have been given a message of comfort meant for everyone we know.
When we confess our sins, we acknowledge what God says about them. When
we confess our faith, we acknowledge what God says about Jesus. That's
what happened a few minutes ago when we spoke the Apostles' Creed. We
were assenting to what God has told us about Himself. We were claiming
His doctrine for our own, and therefore His Son for our Savior.
“For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” That's also how
evangelism happens. God's people confess the truth by word and deed in
their lives. Nothing I as a pastor can do is more powerful for
evangelism than your simple confession of faith.
But it's hard, isn't it? Bold confessors attract the kind of attention
we may not want. They attract trouble. It's easier on us if we stay
silent and let wandering sheep perish. We might think, “It's only one
person. There are still a lot of people in Church. God must be happy
enough with that.” But you know it's not true. God never said “two
out of three ain't bad.” In fact, what did God say? “One sheep lost
out of a hundred is one too many.” And, “One silver coin lost out of
ten is one too many.” Remember our first point? He loves every
sinner, even the one before whom we might rather not confess our
faith.
So we fail as confessors of the faith. What does that mean? It means
we have something else to confess: our guilt. We are usually more like
Peter in the house of the High Priest than Peter before the multitude at
Pentecost. But our comfort remains the same. Micah wrote, “He
will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities.”
When does He do this? You might think that the Lord God subdued our
iniquities when Jesus died on the cross. You would be right, but
there's more. He subdues our iniquities every time He washes our sins
away with the power of Jesus' blood and righteousness. When you hear
your pastor or confessor speak the absolution, God subdues your
iniquities. When you repent and hear the forgiveness of sins preached
to your heart, then God is casting your sins into the depths of the sea.
The waters of your Baptism cover them forever, and they sink, forgotten,
to the depths, never to return.
There's a difference between the crucifixion of Jesus and the compassion
God shows us in His Word and Sacraments. The difference is that you and
I were not there when they crucified our Lord. But we are here now,
when the same Lord provides His true body and blood from the cross for
our forgiveness. We are here now, when He speaks to us and opens the
gates of paradise by cleansing us with the power of salvation.
The compassion of the Lord God was clearly shown in the death of His
Son. But the same compassion is now renewed daily, everywhere the
Gospel is taught and the sacraments are administered. As the Psalmist
wrote, “Your Word has given me life.” I'm talking, of
course, about the work of the Holy Spirit.
Martin Luther realized that he needed to confess his sins. At the time,
he was required to recall every sin and mention it to his priest. He
spent long hours in the confessional booth, and at the end of the day,
he was still miserable. Luther was being driven away from his shepherd,
because he was able to see his sins more clearly than we usually do, and
he was terrified that he might forget to confess one of them.
Later, Martin realized the truth in Psalm 19: “Who can
understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.” To his
deathbed, Martin still insisted that every sin must be confessed. But
since there are many we don't know about, it's sufficient to lump them
all together, as we do in the weekly confession in the Divine Service.
But if we ever want God's forgiveness for a specific sin, that's
possible too. Simply come to private confession, and God will remove
your sin forever. It will be gone forever, never to be remembered in
heaven.
Please remember our second main point this morning: God renews His
compassion. As the prophet wrote in Lamentations 3: “Through
the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail
not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
The doctrine of our God is precious. It brings life and light to those
who were in death and darkness without it. That whole doctrine is the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is the truth God gives to Jacob, and the mercy
He gives to Abraham. It shows us the simple and all-important fact that
makes us what we are. The fact is, the heart of our Shepherd holds
mercy. Amen.