Deo Gloria
Sermon for August 22, 2021
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Proverbs 10:12
Theme: Wisdom for All Time
Lesson: Love Covers a Multitude of Sins!
- It’s the way God has dealt with us.
- It’s the loving and wise way to deal with others.
“Hey, George, did you hear what Jerry said about you? He said you’re a lazy bum, a bum who can’t do anything right. Can you believe that?”
“Sandy, did you hear what Anna said about you? She said you’re a nosy, blabber-mouth who can’t keep anything to herself. She should talk, huh?”
“Did you hear what happened to Tom? He got arrested the other night for drunken driving?”
“Remember the time your neighbor borrowed your reciprocating saw and he brought it back with a broken blade. I mean it’s bad enough that he broke the blade, but then he didn’t even tell you about it and you didn’t find out until the next time you wanted to use it. What a jerk!”
People do that all the time, don’t they? They talk about the sins of others. They repeat the nasty things that other people said. They remind you of the mean and hurtful things other people did to you or to them. And they stir up trouble in the process, lots and lots of trouble.
Solomon shows us a better way, a wiser way, this morning in Proverbs ch. 10. Instead of repeating the sins of others and using their sinful words and actions to stir up even more trouble, Solomon urges us to cover them over. Love covers a multitude of sins!
A family was just sitting down for Christmas dinner. It had been a hectic morning, but everything was finally ready and they were just sitting down to eat. Before eating, they paused for prayer and each one took a turn saying a special prayer of some kind. When it came around to little Jenny, she didn’t know what to pray about, so she didn’t say anything. After a few moments of silence, her mother said, “Jenny, it’s your turn.”
“I know, mom,” she replied, “but I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, just speak to God and say what I usually say,” her mother answered.
Jenny then bowed her head and said, “Dear God, why did we ever invite so many people?”
Can you imagine how embarrassed Jenny’s mother must have been? Can you imagine how embarrassed you would be if everybody knew about your sins? Can you imagine how embarrassed you would be, for example, if every week God published your sins on Facebook or reported them on the evening news? “This past week Jim Anderson lied to his boss, twice. He told 5 dirty jokes. He cursed at the dog and swore at the cat and misused my name at least 30 or 40 times. He yelled at his wife and kids. He ran a red light. He looked at pornography on the internet. And last night he went to a party with his friends and got drunk.” Or can you imagine how embarrassed you would be if every week God posted a list of your sins on the bulletin board here at church, so when all your fellow members came to church, they could read the bad things you said about them and the unkind thoughts you had toward them? God doesn’t do that, though, does he?
Or do you think God sits around in heaven and tells the angels about your sins? “Hey, guys, guys, come here. Did you hear what Nancy did today? Wait till you hear this one.” God doesn’t do that either.
Or on the last day when all people have to stand before God and be judged, do you think God is going to read a list of all the sins you ever committed and embarrass you in front of everyone—every bad word you ever said, every bad thought you ever had, every mean and hurtful thing you ever did? Come to think of it, that would probably take quite a while, wouldn’t it? So maybe he’ll just hit the highlights then. Maybe he’ll just read a list of all the really bad things you said and did. No, God isn’t going to do that either.
So what has God done with all of your sins? He has covered them up, covered them in the blood of Jesus. Does anyone remember what the cover of the ark of the covenant was called? You know, that special golden ark that sat in the temple in the Holy of Holies—the cover had a special name. That’s right: the atonement cover. You see, inside the ark were the two tablets of stone on which God had written the 10 Commandments. God had given them to Moses and he placed them inside the ark. And remember God told Moses and the people of Israel that that is where he lived among them, that he dwelt between the Cherubim above the cover of the ark.(2 Samuel 6:2) But then you know what happened: Day after day and week after week the people sinned. They broke God’s commandments. And every time God looked at the ark, he could see the 10 Commandments inside and he would be reminded of all the times the Israelites had broken those commandments. And he would become angry at them. But then once a year the high priest would go inside the Holy of Holies with the blood of a lamb. And he would sprinkle some of the blood on the cover of the ark. And that blood would atone for the sins of the people. It was as if the blood of the lamb covered up their sins so God couldn’t see them anymore.
Like so many things in the Old Testament, this too was a picture of Jesus our Savior. Like God’s Old Testament people, we too sin against God. We too disobey his commandments and break his laws. And God has every reason to be angry at us and punish us for our sins. But because of his great love for us, God sent his Son to be our Savior. And on the cross Jesus, the perfect Lamb, shed his blood to pay for all our sins, to atone for all our sins. So in the eyes of God, it’s like our sins are all covered up so he can’t see them anymore. David talks about this in the book of Psalms. In Psalm 32 he says, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him”(vv. 1+2). Isn’t that an amazing statement? I mean, it’s not like we haven’t sinned. We have, more times than we care to admit; but God doesn’t count them against us. What a gracious God we have! Instead of keeping track of our sins and then publishing them for everyone to see, God forgives them and he covers them up. He covers them in the blood of Jesus.
So how do you suppose God would have us deal with others? What do you suppose he wants us to do with other people’s sins? Do you suppose he wants me to go around and tell everybody else? “Did you hear what Bobby did the other night?” “Did you hear what Tammy said?” Or let’s say I overheard Sarah making some rude remark about Mary? Do you suppose God wants me to go over to Mary and tell her what Sarah said? “Mary, do you know what Sarah said about you?” No, that’s what hatred does. “Hatred stirs up dissension,” Solomon says. Hatred goes around and talks about other people’s sins. Hatred tells others about the bad things that Tony did or the bad things that Tony said. Hatred goes over to Mary and tells her the unkind remark Sarah made about her. Hatred uses things like to that to stir up trouble between Sarah and Mary. Hatred uses things like that to hurt people’s feelings and stir up bad blood. Hatred uses things like that to start fights and arguments and quarrels. Hatred stirs up dissension. And sadly, that’s exactly what you and I have done at times. We have been more than happy to talk about other people’s sins. We have been more than happy to tell Shawn what a rotten jerk Steve is. We have been more than happy to tell Mary exactly what Sarah said and maybe even embellish on it a little, to make Mary really mad. We have been more than happy to create hard feelings and fights and dissension. May God forgive us for such sins! May he forgive us for the sake of Jesus our Savior!
Love does just the opposite. Instead of blabbing about other people’s sins, love covers them up and keeps them to itself. Instead of telling Shawn what a rotten jerk Steve was, love covers it up and keeps it to itself. Instead of telling Mary the rude remark Sarah made, love covers it up and keeps it to itself. As Solomon says, “Love covers over all wrongs.”
In fact, not only is that the loving thing to do, it’s also the wise thing to do. Does telling others about someone else’s sin ever help the other person? No, it just makes them think less of that person. Does telling Shawn what a rotten jerk Steve was help build a better relationship between Steve and Shawn? No, it tears it down. Does telling Mary the rude remark Sarah made about her make for a better relationship between Sarah and Mary? Of course not. It only makes things worse. Do you want to have a better relationship with your family, with your spouse, with your relatives? Then don’t talk about their sins. Instead forgive them and cover them up. Do you want to have a better relationship with your friends and your classmates at school? Then don’t talk about their sins. Instead forgive them and cover them up. Do you want to have a better atmosphere at work, where people get along better and work together better? Then don’t talk about their sins. Instead forgive them and cover them up. Do you want to have a better relationship with your fellow members here at church? Then don’t talk about their sins either. Don’t even go down that road. Rather for Jesus’ sake and for theirs, forgive them and cover them up.
That’s the lesson that Solomon is teaching us this morning, a lesson that will make us truly wise: Love covers a multitude of sins! Amen.