Sermon preached on June 20, 2010 for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost at Our Savior. Sermon text: 2 Chronicles 33:1-6,10-18 Note: the sermon was preached on Father’s Day.
The Perfect Gift
Sure, there's always the cliché gift of a new tie. But some people like to try a little harder. They want to get dad "the perfect gift." I suppose this might be an easy thing to do for some dads. Everyone might know what your dad wants, so getting him the perfect gift is no trouble at all.
But for others, it's not so easy. Your dad might be one of those notoriously hard people to buy a gift for. For a gift to be "the perfect gift" it needs to be something that dad really wants. It needs to be something that he'll actually use and not leave sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust. And of course, to really be "the perfect gift," your gift has to show in a meaningful way the love you have for your dad. That's not always easy to do.
I can't help you with picking out the perfect gift for your dad, but I would like to help you see the perfect gift that every one of us has already received on this Father's Day whether you're a dad or not. I'm talking about the perfect gift from our heavenly Father to all of us: the forgiveness of sins. This is a gift that our heavenly Father has given us in the person and work of his one and only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.
This morning I want to remind you why this is the perfect gift for all of us. I want you to remember how much you need this gift. I want you to give thanks for how this gift has become yours. And I want you to see how this gift changes your life. You see, this is no necktie. The forgiveness of our sins is the most precious gift that has ever been given in the history of time. And this gift, the perfect gift, is yours.
Our text from 2 Chronicles takes us to the time of King Manasseh of Judah. In the spirit of Father's Day, though, I think it's worth looking a little bit at Manasseh's dad, King Hezekiah. When you think of great kings from the Old Testament, it's not a very long list. You've got David, Solomon, maybe Josiah, and very few others. But one of those others has to be King Hezekiah.
Hezekiah's father had worshiped false gods and had practically shut down the temple. But Hezekiah changed things. He reopened the temple. He got rid of false gods and their altars all through the land. He restarted the celebration of the Passover again, which had basically stopped happening for years. Hezekiah did everything he could to turn an entire nation back to the true God. The Bible has high praise for him. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him. (2 Kings 18:5-6)
And we think, wow! With such a great dad, his son Manasseh is bound to be great, too! But that's not how it went. Actually, Manasseh couldn't have been less like his dad. The things that he did during his 55-year reign as king are enough to make you sick to your stomach. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger. (2 Chron. 33:2-6)
You can see why King Manasseh needed the perfect gift, can't you? He did some awful things, even sacrificing his own sons to false gods. And he was leading an entire nation away from the true God. Manasseh couldn't make up for this. He needed the forgiveness that only God can give.
But now think about your life. Do you need the perfect gift of God's forgiveness like King Manasseh did? Maybe you're thinking, "Yes, I need forgiveness. I'm not perfect. But I don't need it like King Manasseh needed it. I haven't been as bad as him." And you might just have a point. There's a lot of things that Manasseh has done that you have never done. I don't think any of you have sacrificed any sons to a false god. I don't think any of you have ever led an entire nation away from the true God. That's a good thing!
But what have you done? Sure, you've never sacrificed any children, but have you ever been unkind to a family member? Ever said hateful words to someone who is supposed to be important to you, to someone that God has given you for your good? I'm sure you have. Maybe you've never bowed down before an actual idol. But have you put something, anything, as first place in your heart instead of God? Have you ever, even for a moment, put God and what he wants aside so you could focus on yourself and what you want? The answer is yes. So God's answer is guilty.
Yes, you are guilty of sin. Maybe they're different sins than King Manasseh committed, but your sins make you no less guilty than he was. You are no less deserving of eternal death than he was. See, it's easy to agree that Manasseh was evil and deserved eternal punishment, but you and me? Yes. We were conceived and born in sin, we are by nature sinful and unclean, and we sin every day in thought, word, and deed. We are guilty, just like Manasseh.
And just like Manasseh, we have a heavenly Father who does not treat us as we deserve. Rather, the most loving Father of all gave his Son, his only Son, so that rebellious, guilty sinners could live. To give them forgiveness. To give them eternal life. That's what God the Father did for us by sending his Son. That's what Jesus did for us by living perfectly and dying in my place and yours, to turn our guilty into not-guilty. So that our sins would be forgiven, covered, gone forever.
There was a problem in King Manasseh's case, though. God had all those blessings in mind for him, but he wasn't interested. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. (2 Chron. 33:10) The forgiveness was there, but Manasseh rejected it.
That's a problem you can run into when buying a gift, too. Getting the perfect gift that someone really needs doesn't really matter in the end if that person doesn't use it. I don't care how nice the tie is; if dad doesn't wear it, he misses out on that gift.
Our God gave the whole world the perfect gift when Jesus came and won us forgiveness of sins. But if we don't use that gift, we lose the benefit. How do we use the gift, you ask? We believe it! The forgiveness is ours by faith. And our faith grows as we continue in the Word and Sacrament as the Holy Spirit continues to feed and strengthen that faith.
But sometimes we wander away from that. Maybe going to church becomes less important, or maybe we go but we don't really listen. Maybe we don't get to take the Lord's Supper very often. Maybe we haven't cracked open our Bible for a long time. Slowly but surely, we walk the path of rejecting the perfect gift that Jesus won for us.
So sometimes our heavenly Father does the most loving thing he can do: he calls us back to him. That's what he did to Manasseh in our text. After Manasseh had rejected God and his forgiveness, God showed his love for him. The Lord brought against them the commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. (2 Chron. 33:11)
Yikes! This does not seem loving at all! But it was. It was the most loving thing that God could have done. It was a wake up call that brought Manasseh back to God. His horrible situation helped him realize his sin. It helped him to turn to the Lord in repentance. He prayed to God for forgiveness. Then our text tells us, When he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. (2 Chron. 33:13)
Sometimes God does the same thing to us. No, he probably won't send you to prison in ancient Babylon. But he might allow some very unpleasant things to come into your life. We might not always know why God does this. But the next time he does, ask yourself: Is God trying to wake me up? Is he trying to remind me that I've neglected him. Is he calling me back to him in love to recognize the perfect gift that he's already given me?
Because yes, that gift is yours! Forgiveness is yours! Eternal life is yours! Jesus did it all! Believe it. Trust it. And then live it. When you get a gift that you love, you use that gift, it's always with you. It doesn't sit on the shelf. And we want to be living in thanks for the perfect gift that we've received as God's forgiven children.
Manasseh used his gift. He was so thrilled that he was forgiven, that he had come back to the one true God, that he showed it. He got rid of the idols. He broke down the false altars. He restored the true temple again, and he told the people of Judah to turn back to the Lord. (2 Chron. 33:15-16)
You'll show that forgiveness in your life, too. It will be different for everyone, but you will show it. You'll show it in your relationships with others, as you reflect the forgiveness Christ won for you, as you show and tell of God's amazing love that forgave you when you were unforgivable. You'll show it as you forgive others as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph. 4:32)
So, today, on Father's day. Give thanks for your dad. Give thanks that God gave you that gift. But even more importantly, today and every day after, give thanks for the perfect gift that your heavenly Father gave you. Rejoice in your forgiveness. Believe it in faith and joy for what Jesus has done. Then live that forgiveness as you show your faith in everything. Your forgiveness is real! It's the one gift you need! It's the gift that's yours in Christ alone.
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