We humans sure have a knack for messing things up, don’t we?!  I tried to avoid the Casey Anthony trial at all costs, but I broke down last week at the gym when I turned on the TV at the machine I was using and saw these words: “Breaking News: Sentencing To Come Any Minute.”  I decided to watch while working out, but I never made it to the actual sentencing because of all the legal maneuvering on both sides.  It made for a very long and boring workout!  All of the legalese reminded me of my three months on a grand jury a few years back. I was reminded of some of the horrific cases we were exposed to.  My time on the grand jury reinforced a deep theological truth I was taught early on in my Christian upbringing: we humans sure have a knack for messing things up.

I’m leading my congregation on an overview of the story of God and the story of God’s people in the Bible – because in all reality, it’s our story too.  A couple of weeks ago, we saw that the story of Cain (Adam and Eve’s son who killed brother) demonstrates clearly that humans – after the fall – have a terrible capacity to misdirect their lives.  Sadly, this is still true to this day.  Throughout the history of God’s people (beginning in the Old Testament), we have been stuck in a vicious cycle of sin, and unfortunately, this cycle continues with us.  But as we will see (and as we know from our own experience as well) God is faithful – even when we aren’t.  Are there consequences for our unfaithfulness?  Yes, as we will see.  But through it all, God remains faithful.

We pick up the story in Exodus 25 where God gives Moses instructions for the building of the tabernacle, which will be a portable sanctuary where God’s presence will reside with His people as they move toward the Promised Land.  As we have seen from the beginning, God has always intended to be present with His people, and the tabernacle is proof of this for the Israelites.  And because worship of God is what His people should be all about, God goes into great detail to describe exactly how He wants the tabernacle to look.  The great detail laid out in Exodus shows that the worship of God is not something that should be taken lightly by His people.  God continues to be faithful to His people by blessing them with His presence as they journey to the Promised Land…but His people do not reciprocate.

Golden Calf

In Exodus 32:1-4 we read, When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.  And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

In an unthinkable act of rebellion and faithlessness, God’s people directly violated the first two commandments that they had just been given by the Lord: 1) You shall have no other gods before me. 2) You shall not make for yourself a carved image.  God had been so faithful to His people.  He had freed them from slavery, set them on their way to their own land, and promised to dwell among them via the tabernacle, but they were not faithful in return. And this is our story too. God is faithful – even when we’re not.

God’s anger burned against His people for their betrayal. Three thousand people perished at the swords of the Levites, and God sent a plague on the rest of the people for their sin. The consequences were devastating, BUT the Lord forgave them of their sin and renewed His covenant with them once again. And God said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.” (Exodus 34:10)  In spite of the people’s sin, God makes good on His promise to be present with them even after their great betrayal with the golden calf.

Self-Confidence Leads To A Devastating Defeat at Ai

Moses dies, and Joshua is placed in charge of leading God’s people into the land that God promised their forefathers.  The conquest begins with God renewing His promise and covenant with His people.  He tells them that if they are faithful to Him and His word that they will be successful in their conquest and will be prosperous in the land.  But, after God’s great victory at mighty Jericho, the people get confident and apathetic toward the Lord and decide to take on the next battle at tiny Ai on their own.  They don’t wait for God’s strategy; instead they pursue their own strategy and attack, and in so doing, they suffer an astonishing loss of life.  Their disobedience cost them (as it does with us)…but God was still faithful.  They repented, He forgave them, and they eventually conquered Ai – this time under His direction.

Over time, Israel becomes established in the land that God promised them. God leads them to mighty victory after victory, and they gain more and more land, but Judges 2:12 reveals where the hearts of the people were after much of the conquest was over: They abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. The cycle of sin and rebellion, repentance and forgiveness continued – even after ALL that the Lord had done for them. Because of this, they experience the hand of discipline from the Lord, but we also see that the Lord does not give up on them – nor does He give up on us in spite of our sin and rebellion.

Rejection of God As King

God appoints judges through whom He rules and leads His people. Some judges are good. Some are not. Sometimes the people listen to the judges. Sometimes they don’t…but God remains faithful to His people. His presence remains with them, and He continues to bless them – so that they will be a blessing to others.  But, the book of Judges closes with these sad words:  In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25)

In 1 Samuel, we’re introduced to the last judge: Samuel.  He’s the last judge because the people of God decide they no longer want to be ruled by judges…they want a king – just like everyone else.  Instead of recognizing God as their king and submitting to His rule through the judges He appoints, they decide they want a human king so that they will be like all the other nations around them.  Shockingly, God tells Samuel to let the people have what they want.  However, He tells Samuel to warn the people of what a human king will do to them.  Samuel does, but even after his dire warning recorded in 1 Samuel 8:10-18, the people persist in their desire for a king.  So, God agrees to give them what they want – on one condition: He chooses the king.  God’s faithfulness is evident amidst the unfaithfulness of His people in that when God chooses Saul to be king, He places His Spirit in him.  God gives the people what they want even though He knows that it will be bad for them…and then He still blesses them by filling their human king with His Spirit!  God truly is faithful to us – even when we’re not.

David and Solomon: The Unfaithfulness Grows

As the children’s Bible I used to read to my kids so pithily states, “Saul started off as a good king, but he quickly became bad.” That pretty much sums up Saul in a nutshell.  His disobedience led to God removing His Spirit from Him and placing it in a small shepherd boy named David.  After years of fighting off King Saul’s murderous attempts, King David assumes the throne.  He was a more faithful king than Saul, but he did not obey the Lord as He was instructed.  He had multiple wives and committed adultery which led to murder.  The Lord declared that the “sword shall never depart” from his house, and because of David’s sin, his family was riddled with strife.

His son, Solomon, followed as the next king, and even though he came from a family where the sword would never depart, God was faithful to Israel and unified them under his reign.  During Solomon’s tenure as king, there was a cohesive government in place, peace ruled the land, and a temple for the Lord was built.  However, the problem was that Israel was supposed to draw all other nations to God, but under Solomon’s rule, Israel seemed more interested in national pride and building their empire than in drawing other nations to the Lord.  Solomon also fulfilled Samuel’s warning from 1 Samuel 8 that the king would “take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.”  In 1 Kings 5:13-14 we read, King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft. Solomon lived in excess and forced God’s people to serve him. Rather than trusting in the Lord, Solomon made alliances with foreign kings (and foreign women) to secure Israel’s safety.

Through It All, God Is Still Faithful

King Solomon was unfaithful to God in many ways, yet God remained faithful to His people.  During Solomon’s reign, he oversaw the building of the Lord’s temple, and eventhough faithlessness to the Lord was rampant in Israel under his rule, notice what happened once the temple was completed: When the priests came out of the Holy Place, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,” the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:11-14)

God STILL blessed His people with His presence!  His design from the beginning has been to dwell among His people, and even in the midst of their devastating unfaithfulness, He was still faithful.  This is the God we serve.  He still desires to be with His people – so much so that He came and lived among us in the form of Jesus Christ – Immanuel, God with us.   While we were yet sinners, Christ came. While we were yet sinners, Christ lived.  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  While we were yet sinners, Christ arose.  While we were yet sinners, Christ redeemed us.  While we were yet sinners, God sent His Spirit to fill us and live in and thru us.

God has always been faithful to His people – even when they’re not.  And He’s faithful to us today – even when we’re not.  This is His story…and it’s ours too!

“Judge (condemn) not, that you be not judged (condemned). ² For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5

Judging and condemning one another is standard operating procedure for most.  It’s an American pastime.  So, if followers of Christ are supposed to refrain from judging and condemning one another, then we need to be told how to stop.  From Jesus’ words above, I believe He gives us three very good and practical ideas on how we can stop condemning one another.

1. Recognize that to the extent we do (or don’t do) something, it will be done (or not done) to us by the Lord.

This is what I like to call the Reciprocal Principle of the Kingdom. Jesus makes it very clear in Matthew 6 that if we forgive one another, then we will be forgiven by the Lord.  If we don’t, we won’t be forgiven by Him.  In Luke 6, Jesus again shows how this principle works.  He says, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”  Recognizing that we will be condemned by the Lord if we condemn others ought to give us good reason to stop.

2. Recognize that we are often guilty of that which we condemn others for.

Theologian John Stott profoundly says, “Human beings unhappily possess an inbred proclivity to mix ignorance of themselves with arrogance toward others.  We have a fatal tendency to exaggerate the faults of others and minimize the gravity of our own.  We seem to find it impossible, when comparing ourselves with others, to be strictly impartial and objective.”  Jesus may have been being a bit light-hearted when he used the log/speck analogy, but there’s nothing light about it.  How can we condemn others when our sin is often so much more heinous than the sin of the one we are condemning.  Recognizing this truth will go a long way in helping us to stop.

3. Recognize that our self-examination must result in mercy toward others.

Jesus says in Luke 6 that citizens of God’s Kingdom are to “be merciful even as your Father is merciful.”  How can we not be merciful to others when we begin to fathom the unfathomable amount of mercy that the Lord has poured out on us?  As we realize that the Lord loves and forgives us even in light of the huge log of sin we possess, then the speck of sin possessed by our brother or sister in the Lord suddenly doesn’t look so bad.  We may need to address his or her sin in order to bring about their restoration before the Lord, but it should be done in a spirit of gentleness and mercy.  The Apostle Paul reminds us that “if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”  Understanding the mercy we have received from the Lord ought to kill any inclination to condemn others for their sin.

So…enough with the condemnation.  Bring on November 3rd!

In the book, Gayle reveals that almost from the day she learned of Ted’s indiscretions, she knew she would try to forgive him.  She says she wrestled with the question: “Will I be the woman who washes her hands of the situation and walks away from Ted, or will I be the woman who loves him and shows forgiveness?” She knew the choice was hers.

As a matter of fact, in the days after everything came out in the open, Ted actually encouraged her to leave him, claiming that he was so toxic that he would ruin her.  But ultimately, she chose to stay because she says that she knew that Christians are called by God to forgive, and she says that she wanted to be the person who remained faithful to her Lord, husband, family and church.

I’m pretty sure that what Gayle Haggard has chosen to do is something that not many Christians would choose to do themselves.  I often overhear married Christians proclaim that if they ever caught their spouse cheating on them that they would leave – which always makes me feel very troubled.  I’m sure glad the Lord doesn’t leave me when I “cheat” on Him.  On the contrary, He proclaims that He will never leave me regardless of what I do, and He willingly offers me forgiveness when I betray Him.

I have great respect for Gayle Haggard, and I find her forgiveness of her husband incredibly inspiring and Christ-like.  May the Lord help all of us to extend grace and forgiveness to those who hurt us just like Gayle has.  Just like He did.

Now, three years later, he’s back.  He and his wife are once again hosting a Bible study in their Colorado home…and people are coming.  Nearly 100 this past Thursday.

Many of those who attended carried cookies, pies, and brownies along with their Bibles. By the time the Bible study began, more than 50 cars were parked outside their home. Haggard insists that his intent is not to start a new church, but he isn’t ruling out the possibility. He said the reason for starting a home Bible study after three years of exile was a simple one.  “We were getting lonely,” he said.

Albuquerque pastor, Alan Hawkins, traveled to Colorado Springs to be in Haggard’s living room last Thursday.  He said, “The essence of our faith as Christians is to forgive. When this thing happened, I said, ‘Ted, nobody is defined by their worst moments.’”

I’ve been following Haggard’s journey over the past three years, and on Friday, I listened to the audio of Haggard’s first public speaking engagement that took place one year ago.  I found him to be contrite, humble, and surprisingly honest about his journey up to that point.  I was actually inspired by his words and felt a great sense of compassion for him as I listened.

At the time of the recording, Haggard said that he was selling life insurance and reported that he was actually beginning to make enough money at it to provide for his family (five kids, including one son with special needs).   I was happy to hear that he was finally back up on his feet and able to provide for his family once again.

Then today I read the news story that he is holding a Bible study in his home and is open to the possibility that it may become a church – with him as the leader – sometime in the future.  I’m torn about this.  On the one hand, I celebrate with him the forgiveness, freedom, and restoration he claims he has received from the Lord.  I – along with Alan Hawkins – believe that the scandal he was involved in three years ago does not define him.

However, I struggle with whether he should be so quick to assume – whether official or unofficial – the role of pastor.  By his own admission, the problems that led to his “fall from grace” were deep-seated and could be traced all the way back to his childhood.  Is three years enough time to deal with those issues and assume a role of spiritual leadership once again?  And, because he was in such a high-profile position of leadership and because so many people were affected by his fall, I wonder if three years is enough water under the bridge for those who were impacted.

I fully believe that God can and has forgiven Ted Haggard of his sins.  I also know that it is incumbent upon all Christians to view him through the lens of Ephesians 4:32 where Paul tells us to be kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving of one another just as we’ve been forgiven by God through Christ.  However, I do question the timing of his re-emergence into a pastoral role.  Is three years enough?  What do you think?

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

A 70-year-old man who lost eight teeth, suffered a cut on his upper lip that required 40 stitches and had his hearing aid crushed into the inner canal of his ear during a road rage attack last year astonished Baton Rouge state court officials on Tuesday with an act of forgiveness.

Steve Bonfanti told the court he would set aside the $41,000 in restitution that District Judge Richard Anderson ordered from the mother of his two attackers for the education of her two young grandchildren.

Anderson, who said he had never witnessed such an extraordinary move in his court, sent Baton Rouge brothers Johnny Mutrie, 26, and Eric Mutrie, 19, to prison and put their mother, Rhonda Mutrie, 54, on probation for their roles in the violent beating of Bonfanti.

At about 5 p.m. on Sept. 10, 2008, Bonfanti was driving home.  Johnny Mutrie, who was driving behind Bonfanti, started blowing his horn, making obscene hand gestures and passed Bonfanti, according to the warrant. Johnny Mutrie then stopped and Eric Mutrie started a confrontation with Bonfanti leading to the brutal beating.

Bonfanti, who did not ask for restitution, pledged the funds for the education of Johnny Mutrie’s two young daughters.

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. - Matthew 18:21-22