My Very First Sermon

Delivered to the contemporary service at Ortega United Methodist Church on Sunday, August 7, 2005.

Sermon Title: "For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent."

Scripture Lesson: 2 Chronicles 33:1-20 RSV

Farmers of years past drove rings through the noses of pigs so that they would not root under fences and buildings and cause destruction. According to Jewish legend, the king of Assyria drove a ring through the nose of Manasseh as he dragged him off to prison in chains.

Just as a pig is destructive and out of control without a ring in its nose, so was Manasseh a man completely out of control.

He was a king in name only. In truth, he was a slave. He did not rule his life. Sin ruled his life.

He was subject to every passing temptation: bowing down before idols, practicing sorcery, even sacrificing his own children to false gods. There was no limit to his evil.

Manasseh could not, or would not stop himself.

So God eliminated the distractions from his life: the idols, the feasts, the splendor and debauchery of the royal palace. These were replaced with the cold stone walls and darkness of a lonely prison cell. There, Manasseh found the time to listen to God.

After years of incarceration, serial killer David Berkowitz, known as the Son of Sam killer, found time to listen to God. The Lord confronted him with his horrible sins, and Berkowitz repented.

He repented and found forgiveness and salvation.

He repented and found hope.

He repented and took responsibility for his life.

Berkowitz came up for a parole hearing in 2002. But taking responsibility for his sins and their consequences, he refused the opportunity.

Taking control of his life, he now serves the Lord as a remarkable story of the transforming power of Christ’s love and grace. Berkowitz now spreads the Gospel message to other inmates and leads them away from the dark forces at work in their lives.

Manasseh, likewise, had done horrible acts – even murdering his own children as blood sacrifices for false gods!

But he cried out to the Lord.

And God answered.

He restored Manasseh to the throne of King David in Jerusalem. Now Manasseh hungrily pursued the work of the Lord. He tore down the idols in Judah. He cleansed the Temple of the Lord. Manasseh did away with the evil practices that he had previously so eagerly embraced.

Manasseh started out weak – a slave to sin and his own wicked passions. Who, upon looking at Manasseh, would ever think that he would amount to anything of value for the Kingdom of God?

Yet the Lord takes broken, sinful men and women, and uses them for His work.

Now if the Lord can do great things with a child murderer and idolater like Manasseh, or a serial killer like David Berkowitz, what can he do with your life?

If you humble yourself before him, and repent of your sin.

If.

No one among us is clean. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have fallen short of the glory of God. We all have a confession to make.

This morning, we will take communion. By taking the body and blood of Christ, we accept that we have fallen short of what God expects of us. We accept that we are unclean sinners before the perfect life that Christ lived. And we accept the sacrifice that God made of his only son for our redemption.

The Apocrypha contains what is thought to be the prayer that Manasseh spoke from inside his prison cell. It is a prayer expressing the place where all of us are: imprisoned by sin but for the blood of Christ. Let it be our prayer today as we seek reconciliation with the Lord and rebirth through his son.

[read Prayer of Manasseh as closing prayer]