church

INI
Misericordias Domini, The Second Sunday after Easter
April 18, 2010
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

Sometimes The Lord Has To LEAD US BY THE NOSE
II Chronicles 33:9-13

To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus
Christ: mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you, Amen. We find today's text
in the Second Book of Chronicles, chapter 33, beginning with the ninth verse,
as follows:

"So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil
than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen.
Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of
Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and
carried him off to Babylon. Now when he was in affliction, he implored the
LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and
prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and
brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the
LORD was God." This is the Word of God.

In Christ Jesus, Who came to call sinners to repentance, Dear Fellow
Redeemed,

Ever seen a bull with a ring in his nose? -They're not too common around here.
But back in dairy country, where I grew up, just about every bull has a nose
ring. The idea is this: when a bull is young, you pierce his nose with a big brass
ring. It's a very sensitive spot, naturally, and when the animal starts getting out
of hand, one yank on the ring will usually quiet him down. After that happens a
few times, the bull learns that it's less painful to just behave in the first place.
It's a lesson they don't forget, and the constant presence of the ring reminds the
bull that misbehavior has it's consequences.

How do you imagine it would feel to have a ring in your nose? Makes you
cringe just to think about it, doesn't it? In today's text we meet a man named
Manasseh who went through that experience. Manasseh was getting out of
hand. He was deliberately ignoring God's Word in his life, so the Lord literally
put a ring in his nose, and gave it a yank! As Christians, we need to know that
our Lord is going to do whatever it takes to correct us when we stray from His
paths. And the more stubborn we are about it, the more painful that correction
is likely to be. In fact, as our theme for this morning puts it:

Sometimes The Lord Has To LEAD US BY THE NOSE
I. ...To repent of our sin.
II. ...To experience His grace.

Our text takes place during the Old Testament period of the Divided
Kingdom. This is the era after David and Solomon, but before the Babylonian
Captivity. Northern Israel was ruled by one king from Samaria, while the land of
Judah was ruled by another king from Jerusalem. Manasseh, the son of
Hezekiah, came to the throne of Judah when he was twelve years old. For 55
years he ruled in Jerusalem, and for most of that time he was a rank unbeliever,
practicing and promoting the very worst forms of idolatry.

Our text says, "So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to
do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the
children of Israel." Manasseh served all the false gods of the heathen. In fact, he
outdid them! He built altars for Baal all over Judah. He was the first of the
Kings of Judah to institute astrology - the occult worship of the stars and
constellations. Manasseh even sacrificed his own son, by fire, to the god
Molech. He didn't keep his idolatry to himself, either; he led the whole people
of Judah into this worst of all sins! "And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his
people, but they would not listen."

We sometimes skip over idolatry as though it were an ancient sin that poses no
danger for us modern Christians. And it's true that we're not very likely to be
found bowing down to some brass Buddha in the privacy of our living rooms.
But there's more to the sin of idolatry than that. The First Commandment says,
"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." What does this mean? We should
fear, love and trust in God ABOVE ALL THINGS. God says, "I am the
LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise
to graven images." -- Isa 42:8. If there's anything you're more devoted to than
God and His Word, you've broken the First Commandment. If you love money,
or power, or pleasure more than you love the Lord, you're an idolater. If you
place more trust in your bank account, or in your insurance policies than you do
in the Lord, you're guilty of the sin of Manasseh. And in that case, don't be
surprised if, like Manasseh, you begin to feel a slight stinging sensation in the
nasal area!

As it turns out, the Lord had to literally lead Manasseh by the nose to get him
to repent of his sin! "The LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of
the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze
fetters, and carried him off to Babylon." The "hook" referred to in that passage
was actually a nose ring. The practice was widespread among the nations of that
region where a person who had been captured in battle would have his nose
pierced with a ring. A thong would be tied to it, and the captive would be led
along the road in this manner. That's what they did to Manasseh. Or rather,
that's what the Lord did, because the text reveals to us that this painful ordeal
was part of God's plan to lead Manasseh to repentance.

And repent he did, finally. After the awful pain and humiliation of being
captured and dragged along the road like a common slave, after lying in chains
in Babylon for who knows how many dark days, Manasseh woke up. It took a
hook in his nose to do it, but he finally turned back to the Lord. "Now when he
was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly
before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him."

Has an illness or an injury entered your life recently? Have you suffered family
problems, or a financial reversal? Then think carefully about whether or not the
Lord may be applying His loving discipline in your life. Have you strayed from
the Lord's paths? Have you pushed His Word aside, or neglected it in some
way? God may use painful means, not to punish you for your sin, but to get
your attention and save you from weakening your faith further, or losing it
altogether. God's discipline is never pleasant when you're going through it, but
it's a lot better than losing our eternal souls! As the Bible says, "No chastening
seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields
the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." --
Heb 12:11.

Why do we need God to lead us? Because we’re like sheep, as we’re reminded
again on this Good Shepherd Sunday. And what are sheep like? Philip Keller
describes them well in his book, “A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm.” And
it’s not a very flattering description. For one thing, sheep cannot clean
themselves. Birds and cats can do it, but not sheep. Remind you of anything?
Like the filth of sin, that clings to us by reason of our sinful flesh? Isaiah says,
“We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy
rags.” –Is 64:6. Sheep cannot defend themselves. They have absolutely no
defense against predators. Porcupines can and skunks do, but not sheep.
Similarly, without Christ and His Word, you and I would have no defense at all
against Satan, the roaring lion who walks about seeking whom he may devour.
Sheep are incapable of finding their own food. They depend upon the shepherd
to lead them to water and green pastures. We believers, if not constantly fed by
our Good Shepherd, would spiritually starve to death. But Jesus says to us, “I
am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who
believes in Me shall never thirst.” – Jn 6:35. Finally, the sad fact is that sheep
just are not smart. And when it comes to spiritual things, neither are human
beings. Left to ourselves, we will always make the wrong decision. Left to
ourselves, we will always tend toward sin and self-indulgence and the very
behavior that will be most damaging to ourselves in the long run. That’s why
Isaiah says, All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to
his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. – Is 53:6.

Thank God we’re not left to ourselves. We have a Good Shepherd to lead us.
When Manasseh was led by the nose, he finally acknowledged and repented of
his sin. But that's really only half the story. Because through that painful
experience the Lord led him to something far greater, far more wonderful than
simply a realization of his sinfulness. God led him to the green pastures of grace
and forgiveness. Perhaps the Lord has laid some painful chastening on your life
recently. It will comfort you to know that God's discipline, painful as it may be,
is intended to lead you to that same beautiful place. Sometimes the Lord has to
lead us by the nose...to experience His grace.

The devil has a favorite trick he likes to pull on Christians. He'll concede that
God does forgive sins as long as he can convince you that your sins, in
particular, are too great to be forgiven. Could your sins are too great to be
forgiven? Well, let’s try an experiment. Describe the worst kind of sinner you
could possibly imagine. It certainly wouldn’t be a Christian. In fact, it would
have to be the opposite of a Christian, wouldn’t it? Like how about somebody
who actually persecuted Christians? Who made it his life’s work to torment
believers, and persecute them and put them to death? Guess what- you’ve just
described the Apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul. He started out as the
scourge of Christians, hunting them down and throwing them in jail. The Lord
Jesus had to lead him by the nose, as well, to see the error of his ways. God
literally knocked him to the ground on the way to Damascus and said, "Saul,
Saul; why are you persecuting Me?" But the Lord forgave him. Yes, the Good
Shepherd rescued even this blackest of black sheep. Saul got a taste of God's
grace in Jesus Christ. And that's all it took: as the Apostle Paul he became the
greatest Christian missionary there ever was.

My fellow Christians, when Satan says your sins are too great to be forgiven,
don’t fall for it. Yes, your sins are very great. So are mine. And when you look
into your past you’re often going to feel just like the Apostle Paul did when he
said “I am the chief of sinners." But remember what else he said in that passage:
"Christ Jesus came into the world to SAVE sinners, of whom I am chief!" So if
you feel like you're the chief of sinners, then be comforted that you are the
exact person Jesus came to save!

And what about Manasseh? Along with Ahab, he's still remembered as one of
the most wicked and corrupt kings in the history of God's people. But when he
humbled himself in repentance before the Lord, the Lord forgave him. Our text
says that when Manasseh prayed to the Lord, "...He received his entreaty, and
heard his supplication." In the original Hebrew, the words indicate that God
received his prayer with favor. He listened to what this humble sinner - lying in
chains in a foreign country - had to say. The Lord paid attention to Manasseh's
request, and granted it!

What a marvelous example of grace! Why did God forgive Manasseh? Because
he deserved it? Certainly not! In fact the opposite was true: if anyone deserved
to be destroyed, it was Manasseh. But after all, that's what grace is: undeserved
love. Manasseh deserved to suffer, but in His grace the Lord relieved his
suffering. Manasseh deserved condemnation, but in his grace the Lord gave him
forgiveness. Manasseh deserved hell, but in his grace the Lord opened to him
the way to heaven.

Wolves are endangered in many parts of this country, but I was surprised to
learn that one place they’re not endangered is Israel. Apparently there is a
growing population of wolves in modern-day Palestine. In fact, there was a
newspaper item a few years ago about an Israeli shepherd who was actually
attacked by a wolf. He was sleeping in the fold with his sheep, when he awoke
to a terrible commotion. He discovered that a wolf had slipped into the
sheepfold and had one of the sheep in its jaws, trying to drag it away. When the
shepherd started to hit the wolf with his staff, the animal turned on him. A
fierce struggle ensued, in which the man was terribly torn and bitten before
finally killing the wolf. The shepherd had just enough energy to crawl back to
his wounded sheep and cradle it in his arms. According to the newspaper
account, the next morning the sheep was found alive, still clasped in the arms of
the shepherd, who had died. And the newspaper headline said, “Sheep Alive,
Covered in Shepherd’s Blood.”

“Sheep alive, covered in Shepherd’s blood.” That would be an appropriate
headline for you, wouldn’t it? Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 "But a hireling, he who is not the
shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves
the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 "The
hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 "I
am the good shepherd; …I lay down My life for the sheep.” – Jn 10:11-15. Jesus
saw the wolf coming. He saw eternal death for you, unless He did something to
intervene. So He laid down His life. “The Shepherd died for sheep that loved to
wander.” Jesus gave Himself into death on the cross of Calvary, so that you
might be saved. Now The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Praise God, it can now truly be said of you, “Sheep Alive, Covered in
Shepherd’s Blood.”

The Lord redeemed Manasseh, too. Our text continues "So the Lord received
his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his
kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God." Manasseh finally got
to where he could experience the heavenly peace of God's grace and
forgiveness. The Lord had to lead him there with a ring in his nose, but he got
there! And when the ring and the bronze shackles had served their purpose, the
Lord removed them. And now that God had put Manasseh's feet back on the
right path, he showed his gratitude by serving the Lord in his life. The rest of
this chapter details how he got rid of all the idols in Jerusalem and commanded
the people to worship only the Lord.

How is the Lord leading you in your life right now? If the Lord has sent
chastening into your life to correct you and lead you to repentance, then rejoice
- it means you really are God's beloved child. "For whom the LORD loves He
chastens," the Bible tells us, "and scourges every son whom He receives." --
Heb 12:6. So submit with patience to the Lord's discipline, knowing that its
outcome will be to the eternal benefit of your soul.

You may remember the account in 1 Kings chapter nineteen, where God spoke
to the prophet Elijah in "a still, small voice." A friend of mine, Pastor James
Albrecht, used to say: "If you miss the still, small voice of God in your life,
don't worry - He has a louder one!" In other words, if we stray from the path of
righteousness, the Lord is going to do whatever it takes to bring us back to
Him. Sometimes it takes a lot. Sometimes the Lord has to lead us by the nose!
God grant that we each of us may daily repent of ALL our sins, so that we may
daily experience the wonders of His grace. AMEN.