“What It Means to Be Forgiven”
***With thanks to Ed Dobson sermon preached at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Father’s Day***
1. Malcolm Gladwell states in his best-selling book The Tipping Point that little changes can have big effects. When small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or ‘tipping point’ is reached, changing the world.
2. he illustrates his point by documenting the return popularity of Hush Puppy shoes; the rise of fax machines 15 years ago; the proliferation of cell phones today. All 3 reached a tipping point that sent their sales exploding.
3. for the next 2 months I want to talk about tipping points that affect our relationship with God. If we get these points God-right, the affects will ripple outward to make a difference in our world.
4. the tipping points of forgiveness, noise vs. silence, busyness, fears, depression, compartmentalization of life, temptation & materialism.
5. each of these, depending upon how we handle them, will tip us in one direction or the other – either toward fulfilling God’s will or away it.
What does it mean to be Forgiven?
1. the 1st tipping point is forgiveness. What does it means to be forgiven by God. Vertical forgiveness. Psalm 32 tells us.
2. I believe there are many of us who carry around baggage. Stuff from our past. Things we have said, done or thought. Things that we believe God has not or will not forgive us for. We live with guilt & shame.
3. if this describes you, Psalm 32 is good news!
3 words for sin
1. 32:1-2 contains 3 different words for sin:
à transgressions
à sins
à sin
Each of these is a completely different word in the Hebrew language in which this psalm was written.
1 – transgressions (32:1)
1. in the Hebrew this word literally means to miss the mark.
2. one mark that God has set for us is telling the truth. To not tell the truth is to tell a lie & to tell a lie is to miss the mark.
3. Wednesday night I had this incredibly vivid dream. I was at a 50th wedding anniversary. A writer whose books I’ve just discovered was at the celebration – Anthony Doerr. I went up & talked to him. He asked me if I had bought any of his books. I said yes, knowing full well that I hadn’t. I was afraid to tell him the truth. I lied. I missed the mark.
4. all of us know what it means to miss the mark.
2 – sins (32:1)
1. in the Hebrew this word literally means to refuse a rightful authority in your life. Applied to God it means to refuse God’s authority in our lives.
2. I’ve been rereading Thomas Merton’s autobiography The Seven Story Mountain. In the middle part of the book he recounts the long process of his conversion to Christ. Although he had become a Christ-follower & joined the Catholic Church, he continued to live his life his way. His intellect was converted but not his will.
3. his drinking & partying continued. His desire to make a name for himself as a young, aspiring writer in New York City continued. His lustful ways after women continued.
4. he painfully came to the conclusion that he was still refusing God’s authority in his life. Thomas Merton’s will was trumping God’s will.
5. we sin whenever we snub God’s rightful authority in our lives.
3 – sin (32:2)
1. the Hebrew word here means to be bent or to be crooked as opposed to standing up straight.
2. during college I worked summers for the Ada County Highway Department in Boise. I was on a crew that painted crosswalks & directional arrows. On freshly asphalted streets we used a chalk line to lay out the crosswalks. Sometimes we stayed to the chalk line & painted a straight cross walk. And sometimes we veered to the left or to the right & painted a crooked cross walk.
3. sometimes we walk the line of God’s revealed truth & sometimes we don’t. The crooked crosswalks in our lives are called sin.
3 words for forgiveness
1 – forgiven (32:1)
1. literally means to pick something up & carry it away. In Genesis 50:13 this word is used to speak of carrying the dead body of Jacob from Egypt to Canaan after he died. His body was picked up and carried from Egypt to Canaan.
2. blessed are those who when they miss the mark their transgressions are picked up & carried from one place to another.
2 – covered (32:1)
1. this word means to cover something. Simple word, simple meaning. For example to take a coat & cover your face so you can’t be seen.
2. blessed is the one whose sins of refusing to live under God’s authority are covered so that they can’t be seen.
3 – not count against them (32:2)
1. literally the word means to determine or calculate something. In Leviticus this is the word used to determine the value of land. This land is worth this much.
2. blessed is the one whose crooked ways God will not calculate or determine to them.
Bags of trash
1. I’ve brought a bag of trash from home. We all have bags of trash in our lives. Your trash may be different from my trash. You may not struggle with the things I struggle with. This bag of trash is our sin.
2. and what does Psalm 32 tell us?
3. Blessed is the one for whom God picks up the trash of their lives & carries it away. Psalm 103 tells us, as far as the east is from the west so far has God removed our transgressions from us.
4. God himself has picked up our trash & carried it away!
5. Blessed is the one whose sins of snubbing God are covered up so you can’t see them any more. Here’s another bag of trash. And here’s a blanket to cover it up so it can no longer be seen.
6. God covers up my bag of trash so I don’t see it anymore!
7. Blessed is the one whose bent ways God does not calculate or hold against them.
8. this is what it means to be forgiven by God.
the Old Testament atonement for sin – Leviticus 16
1. this chapter contains instructions for the Day of Atonement. Once a year the high priest offered sacrifices for the sins of the entire community.
2. 16:7,15-16: the high priest brings 2 live goats. 1 is dedicated to God, killed, blood brought to ark of covenant, sprinkled as an atonement to cover the sins of the people. Key word is cover. Blood covers sins.
3. 16:20-22: now the live goat is taken. The high priest lays his hands on the goats head & confesses over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites. The goat is sent away into wilderness. It carries away the sins of the whole community. The goat is shoved off a cliff & killed. Sins are carried away.
the Jesus atonement for sin – Hebrews 9 & 10
1. now lets see how the New Testament applies this to Jesus. 9:7: the high priest on the day of atonement offers sacrifices for people’s sins – refers back to Leviticus 16 & the day of atonement.
2. 9:11-14: Christ was sacrificed once for all by his own blood.
3. 10:11-12: Christ offered for all time one sacrifice for sins. Then he sat down at the right hand of God. This means he finished his work! No more sacrifice for sin.
4. Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for all the bags of garbage in the world.
5. through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, once & for all, God picks up our sin & carries it away. He covers it up so that it cannot be seen. And he says I’ll never bring it up to you again.
6. this is what it means to be forgiven by God!
3 words that describe our response to being forgiven
1 – rejoice (32:11)
1. rejoice means to celebrate with wild unrestrained passion.
2 – be glad (32:11)
1. this simply means to shout. In other Old Testament passages this word is translated shout!
3 – sing (32:11)
1. literally means to shout with joy. To sing with inexpressible joy
Time to Respond
1. we are told in this psalm that we are a blessed people. Why?
à we are blessed because God carries away our transgression of missing his mark for our character & conduct – carries it away so it is no longer seen
à we are blessed because God covers our sins of resisting his authority & living by our own – covers our sin so we can no longer see it
à we are blessed because God does hold us accountable for the bent or crooked things in our lives
2. what this means for us is a response worthy of God’s action in our behalf –
à we sing, we worship with unrestrained passion & joy!
à we shout aloud to express our thanksgiving
à we shout with joy joy joy because we are a forgiven, freed people
3. 1st we’re going to celebrate communion & then we’re going to rejoice, be glad & sing as the Utes lead us in worship!
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