“Finger pointing.” What thoughts do those two words bring to your mind? For the most part they are probably negative thoughts. At a very early age we are taught not to point at people. It’s considered impolite. As we get older we experience finger pointing in many different ways. If we had brothers and sisters around when we were growing up we pointed our finger at them and they pointed right back at us when there was trouble in the house. It may have sounded something like this, “She did it,” or “He hit me first!” Something very similar happens throughout our years at school. Blame is placed and passed with pointing fingers. As husbands and wives we have to confess that finger pointing probably began shortly after we were married. We follow the pattern of Adam and Eve after the fall into sin. “It’s your fault this happened. No, it’s your fault!” Perhaps at work we have experienced the negative side of someone pointing a finger of blame at us.
Now if finger pointing is impolite and it is so often connected to self-centered, sinful behavior why does God do it? Why is God allowed to do something that we would most frequently see as a bad thing? It all comes down to God’s motive. Often he points his finger at people to call them to repent. He points out the sins that separate someone from him. God does this so that when sinners see their lost condition he can point them to the cross of his Son. There forgiveness is found. There salvation and eternal life are offered.
Since repentance isn’t a one time action on our part we need God to keep up his finger pointing in our lives. Every day we need him to point out very specifically the sins we have committed. Only then can we see our need for forgiveness. Through God’s finger pointing we are then prompted to cling more tightly in faith to Jesus. And through a closer relationship with him we are empowered to live a new life each day. In view of our ongoing need for it let’s ask the Holy Spirit to enable us to again:
“EXPERIENCE GOD’S FINGER POINTING”
I. Let him point out your sin and guilt
II. Let him point out his forgiveness
David’s secret sins seemed safely hidden. His Commandment breaking spree began with lust and coveting as he let himself be enticed by the beauty of another man’s wife. Left unchecked those sins led David to commit adultery and even murder. The first two verses of the Old Testament Lesson for this Sunday tell us the story of how David attempted to cover up his sins. Bethsheba mourned for the husband whose trust she had betrayed. David then took her to be his wife. They both attempted to sweep their sins under the rug of their new life together. But the last verse of 2 Samuel 11 says all that needed to be said, “But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.” God knew what David had done. And God knew that David’s sins were standing like a wall between the two of them. Because David refused to acknowledge his sins and repent of them his relationship with the LORD was broken. In the Psalm for this Sunday, Psalm 32, we heard David describe his misery as he lived with a guilty conscience. And God couldn’t ignore what David had done. He is holy and just and cannot tolerate sin.
I.
In such a situation something has to give as they say. Because David had severed his relationship with the LORD through his unrepentant sinning he was unable to make the first move back to God. Thankfully, because God is merciful and forgiving he made the first move toward David. The first verse of 2 Samuel 12 tells us, “The LORD sent Nathan to David.” Again, we could see that God made the first move. He loved David and he wanted their relationship restored.
Today as you and I consider our relationship with God we see it mirrored in this account of King David. The Bible says we were born dead in sin, blind to spiritual truth, and enemies of God. So God had to make the first move to us. We could not nor did we want to have a relationship with him and yet in love he came to us first. And like King David our natural reaction to our sins is to hide them from others and to attempt to hide them from God. Every chance our sinful nature gets it will do the opposite of what God says to do. And so on a daily basis we again and again disrupt the loving relationship between God and us through our sinning. And yet again and again God comes back to us. And because our sinful nature will deny that we have done anything wrong God must do his finger pointing. He must repeatedly point out our sin and guilt.
That’s what God sent Nathan the prophet to do. You heard the creative way in which he confronted David with his sins. He told a story about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had a large number of sheep and cattle. But the poor man had nothing except one little lamb. One day a visitor came to the rich man. Instead of using one of his own animals he barbecued the poor man’s lamb. This caused quite a reaction in King David. “David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” God’s finger pointing began as he first brought David to see his perspective on sin. God’s anger burns over sin. Those who sin deserve to die—spiritually, physically, and eternally.
So how does God create a similar understanding of sin in us? He does it through the history recorded in the Scriptures. From Genesis to Revelation we are given God’s reaction to sin. We learn about his fierce anger over sin. He points us back to Adam and Eve and reminds us of how seriously he took their disobedience. Their choice to rebel against God brought horrific consequences. Things like the Flood, the tower of Babel, and the Israelites wandering in the wilderness add to our understanding of how God hates sin. The Words of the Old Testament prophets remind us over and over of how God feels about sin. And finally God points us to the horrific events of Good Friday to show us how vehement he is about punishing sin.
But it would not have been enough for God to just stir up in David an awareness of how he felt about sin in general. He needed to point out the specific things David had done. So after getting David good and mad through the story about the thoughtless man who served his neighbor’s lamb for dinner he pointed his finger at David. “Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.” Nathan didn’t speak in general thoughts about sin. He was very specific. You, David, committed adultery and murder!
God’s finger pointing must be that specific in our lives. Otherwise we may not see how our sins separate us from God. And like David we may try to cover up or ignore the evil we have done. So through the standard of holiness revealed in his Commandments God does very specific finger pointing. When we place anything but him on the throne of our heart he speaks specifically about it. “You have placed your will ahead of mine. You have been stingy with me because you have left me out of your budget. When the offering plate is passed you give me your spare change instead of your first fruits.” God points to the specific cursing and swearing we have done. God points his finger at our worship and reminds us of how we come here with half-hearted enthusiasm. God says, “You have dishonored and disrespected my representatives in the home, the government and the church.” God points his finger at our misuse and abuse of the life he has given us. He points out the times we follow the false thinking that adultery only occurs if something physical happens. God’s finger pointing directs us to our specific gossiping about a neighbor or coworker. He shows us how we have coveted a specific material thing or the spouse, workers, or animals of another. Yes, God’s finger pointing is very specific as he points out our sin and guilt.
II.
But why does God do this? What is God hoping to see in us by pointing his finger at our sin and guilt? Listen again to the impact it had on David. “Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” David didn’t point his finger anywhere but at himself. He admitted his sin and guilt.
It is those six words that God wants to lead us to say through his finger pointing. “I have sinned against the LORD!” Forget the excuses and all our “ifs” ands “buts.” When we experience God’s finger pointing we will see our sin and guilt clearly and be led to confess the evil we have done.
Now there are some who point their finger right back at God because of his finger pointing. They look at God as a cruel monster who gets some twisted joy out of seeing people broken up over their sins. Or they say that God isn’t fair when he expects perfection from sinners. But all such finger pointing is far from the truth. Immediately after David’s humble confession Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” God could say that through his prophet Nathan because about a thousand years later Jesus would die in David’s place. Through prophecies God could point his finger at the cross of his Son and say to David, “I forgive your murder and your adultery. I will place your guilt on Jesus and give you his holiness and perfection in its place.” How sweet those words must have sounded to David. His shame, guilt, and fear were removed because God declared him not guilty.
Thankfully God does the same finger pointing in our lives. For each sin he points out with his LAW he points us back to the blood of Jesus. As specific as he is in pointing out our sins he assures us that each and every one has been taken away. And how can he say that to us? Because he pointed his accusing finger at his Son and unleashed his wrath against sin on him.
And how do we receive God’s declaration that he has taken away our sins? We do that by faith. The Holy Spirit enables us to believe the good news that we are forgiven. A Christian author Oswald Chambers described how God forgives us and how we receive that forgiveness in this way, “We trample the blood of the Son of God if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only explanation for the forgiveness of God and for the unfathomable depth of His forgetting is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the outcome of our personal realization of the atonement which He has worked out for us. It does not matter who or what we are; there is absolute reinstatement into God by the death of Jesus Christ and by no other way, not because Jesus Christ pleads, but because he died. It is not earned, but accepted. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement is a propitiation whereby God, through the death of Jesus, makes an unholy man holy.” Through Jesus we hear what David heard so long ago. “The LORD has taken away your sin.”
But perhaps we struggle to accept and believe that good news. We let Satan continue to point his finger at us. I am reminded of the story about a little boy visiting his grandparent’s farm for a summer. Since he was out in the country he was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. but he could never hit his target. As he came back to grandma’s back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let it fly. The stone hit its target. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look and see his sister watching. His sister Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!” So Johnny did the dishes. Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of, Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the duck.” Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed her duck. “I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you! I wondered how long you would let Sally make you a slave.” How long will you and I let the devil keep us enslaved? Today God is pointing us to the cross of Jesus so that we are assured that our sins are forgiven. We are free.
“Finger pointing.” At a very early age we are told it is not polite to point. And I think it would be safe to say that none of us here like to have someone point their finger at us. But what if someone pointed their finger at us with some good news? What if I told you that someone here this morning was going to receive a million dollars? Or what if I told you that someone in the congregation was going to be given a new car today? Wouldn’t you want me to point at you?
When it comes to God’s finger pointing we experience both feelings. On the one hand he points out our sin and guilt. And he even points hell out to us. His finger pointing hurts us, breaks our pride, and crushes us. But then he points to the cross of Jesus and to heaven. May we experience God’s finger pointing again and again through his LAW and GOSPEL. Let him do to us what he did to call David to repentance. Let him point at us and say, “You, are the one! You have sinned in this way and that way.” Then let him point us to forgiveness he offers through Jesus. Then he can say, “You are forgiven. I have taken away your sin.” Amen.
