Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

I feel like “restitution” is way to unfamiliar a topic for me to not start off the lesson with some context and meaning.

Then we will paint it pretty with some real life testimony and colorful metaphors.

That alright?

The first time this word is seen in the scriptures is in Genesis 26.10 “Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us?

One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.””

Here the word, elsewhere translated restitution, is translated as “guilt”.

Isaac, the son of Abraham (the forefather of the Jewish and Christian faith) while traveling with his wife Rebekah and had settled in Gerar.

He was afraid the men of the place would kill him to take his beautiful or “hot” wife, so he lied and said, when asked “is that your wife”, that she was his sister.

One of the men of Gerar, after some time, sees Issac laughing with Rebekah and deduces that she is Issac’s wife.

So the leader of the area calls in Issac to speak with him and is like “Yo, this your bae?”

The leader of the area knew that if one of the men had sought her as wife and had consummated that marriage it would have brought guilt on the people of Gerar.

It would have brought “guilt” on the people of Gerar.

The Shame-Honor See Saw

That’s where restitution starts.

Guilt.

I think its needful to express some culture context for this word guilt first before moving on.

The eastern culture was very much a shame / honor culture versus a intrinsically good and evil culture like the west.

In addition, the eastern culture is more community based than individual based as whole (no pun intended there).

What this means is that wrong was defined by what brought shame on someone’s family, someone’s tribe, or community.

The leader of Gerar, Abimelech, knew if some man in Gerar had had sex with Isaac’s wife, then this would have brought shame on his community.

This shame also carries a implication with it - restitution.

The shame and honor culture is very much like a see saw.

When the see saw falls toward shame something is required to make it fall toward honor.

Honor is always the goal in this culture.

Communities are not content to remain in shame.

So this is the force behind Abimelech’s message to Isaac - almost like “How could you lay a shame trap for me to fall into”

The next time this word shows up, it’ in the book of Leviticus.

If Exodus was an executive summary of the Law of Moses, then Leviticus is the technical details of the Law.

In Leviticus 5.15 Moses (the first leader of Israel after leaving Egypt) states ““If anyone commits a breach of faith (breaks down trust in a relationship - my addition) and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering.”

Here, instead of the word being translated “guilt”, it is translated compensation and guilt in the same verse.

The meaning is clear: compensation is required when guilt occurs.

Compensation is the key to move the see saw.

Some work is required to make shame turn toward honor.

Some cost is involved.

In the next verse we get even more a colorful picture.

Moses states in Leviticus 5.16 that “He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and SHALL ADD A FIFTH to it...”

Notice that its not enough to press equally as hard to make the see saw change position always.

Think of shame as 20% heavier than honor.

More cost is required for shame to change to honor.

Make Good

The other way to understand the concept is “meeting one’s full obligations” as the word has a fullness and completeness at the heart of its meaning.

If I don’t work the full 40 hours, I now owe a debt that at a minimum I need to repay to reach the 40 hour commitment.

If you promised you pay $100 for a bike and only paid $80, then you owe at least $20.

Its up to the person who owes the money to “make good” on the $20 owed for the bike.

Now a simple question: if you were buying the bike from your friend and never paid the $20, what would happen to the relationship?

If your employer didn’t “make good” on your offer letter and only paid you $40,000 when they promised $60,000, what will that do your relationship with that company?

What if you pay someone for a website $1000, but they never finish the website, what will happen to the business relationship?

Nothing good - that’s what.

The other thing to note is that this is not a bribe, its to make atonement.

The gift.

The sacrifice (it must be a sacrifice) leads to forgiveness and is a necessary pre-requisite of it.

Notice God doesn’t just say “say your sorry”.

He doesn’t say “just don’t do it again” in Leviticus 5. Forgiveness is possible because of the sacrifice proceeding it.

No sacrifice.

No forgiveness.

No forgiveness.

No reconciliation.

If one peruses the book of Exodus you will see “restitution” mentioned in human relationships when some loss or offense occurs.

In the book of Leviticus you see it show up when the relationship with God has suffered loss.

Relationships will suffer loss, that is a fact, but we can’t “make good” on the relational debt owed without restitution paid.

Intentions Don’t Matter....as much

I think its important to mention that relational debt with humans or God does not need to be intentional.

I would constantly say to my wife, after I had created some relational debt unintentionally, that “I am sorry babe, I didn’t mean to...” and she would wisely respond back “it doesn’t matter that you didn’t mean to”.

Now, what she was communicating was this: Relational harm, hurt, trauma, or debt doesn’t know or care that the debt created was intentional or unintentional.

It just is - that’s enough to create the debt.

The moment we say “you are overreacting”, “but I didn’t mean to”, or another phase in-kind, we are just creating more relational debt by invaliding - gaslighting - the other person’s feelings.

Good luck trying to gaslight God because you didn’t think it was such a big deal.

In the Old Testament, it didn’t matter whether the man intentionally forgot to cover the ditch he dug, to prevent his neighbor’s animals from falling in the ditch; if the digger didn’t cover it up and their neighbors animals fell in and died, then the digger has created debt with his neighbor.

Intentions or even control don’t make the neighbor’s animal come back to life.

“I didn’t mean to” doesn’t mean a thing when it comes to restitution.

This means so much in the light of George Floyd and so many others killed by police officers that “didn’t mean” to kill the people they were arresting.

Those police officers intentions don’t make empty beds, dinner chairs full again.

They don’t make loved ones come back.

They don’t make the anxiety in the black community absolved.

Those deaths affected the community and their immediate families creating relational debt.

The fact that Emit Till resurfaced during many of the BLM marches is proof that the debt still exists.

There can be no forgiveness if there is no sacrifice offered; without restitution there is no hope for reconciliation.

This is not the black community holding grudge, this is a theological proof.

There was hostility between God and humanity before God put an end to it through reconciliation, but it came with a high cost.

To kill the hostility, Jesus had to be killed.

Forgiveness is needed for reconciliation (i.e., peace) and sacrifice for forgiveness.

This leads us to our next point.

The greater the debt, the greater the cost.

Restitution is relative to the amount of relational debt incurred.

Sinning against an infinitely eternal holy God who is also King of the seen and unseen world will carry more debt than unintentionally killing your neighbors family pet in your uncovered ditch.

Right?

Restitution paid to George’s family cannot be the same as paid to a SMUD customer for being overcharged on a utility bill.

Me accidently stepping on my wife’s toes is completely different than punching her in a fit of rage (never done by the way or I wouldn’t be writing this book.

I can hear her saying in her head with eye-brow raised “…not this chick”).

Betraying my wife’s trust through sexual addiction carries a hefty cost of restitution.

Notice I said cost, again, as it has to cost the offender.

This is necessary because something transpires when the offended forgives the offender after restitution has been paid.

Jesus was one day having a meal at a Pharisee’s house (when you hear Pharisee, think of a bible scholar or PhD. in Bible, or a really really smart Bible person).

At this same dinner an uninvited guest also shows up.

A women who had been forgiven by Jesus at an earlier interaction with Him.

Simon, the Pharisee’s name, doesn’t understand why the woman is there and Jesus tells him a story to explain:

I see what you are thinking right now: why can’t my wife forgive my debt without me having to pay a dime?

Isn’t that what Christians are supposed to do? Let’s table that for now.

Consider the words Jesus spoke “cancelled the debt” as “made the debt good”, that is, “I considered it paid, we are good”.