Sermon on Hosea 5:15-6:6
By Revd Jeremy Tyndall
Hosea 5:15-6:6
15 Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me." NIB Hosea 6:1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3 Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." 4 "What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. 5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you. 6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. [NRSV]
15 Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me." NIB Hosea 6:1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3 Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." 4 "What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears. 5 Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you. 6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. [NRSV]
HOSEA 5.15 - 6.6
Jimmy received a parrot for his birthday. The parrot was fully grown, with a very bad attitude and worse vocabulary. Every other word was a swear word; those that weren't cursing were very rude.
Jimmy tried to change the bird's attitude by constantly saying polite words, playing soft music-anything he could think of. Nothing worked.
He then tried yelling at the bird, but the bird got worse. He shook the bird, and the bird got madder and ruder.
Finally, in a moment of desperation, Jimmy put the parrot in the freezer. For a few moments he heard the bird swearing, squawking, kicking and screaming and then, suddenly, there was absolute quiet.
Jimmy was frightened that he might have actually hurt the bird, and quickly opened the freezer door. The parrot calmly stepped out onto Jimmy's extended arm and said, "I'm sorry that I offended you with my language and my actions, and I ask your forgiveness. I will endeavor to correct my behavior".
Jimmy was astounded at the changes in the bird's attitude and was about to ask what had changed him, when the parrot continued, "May I ask what the Chicken did?"
INTRODUCTION
Bishop Maddocks has suggested that there are four areas to people's lives that need healing, that need saving:
1. Our relationship with God.
2. Our relationship with each other.
3. Our relationship with ourselves.
4. Our relationship with the soil.
Today's passages treat mainly of the first of these, but the connection with the others is there too. Let's look at the Hosea passage:
HOSEA
Hosea means "Salvation". His ministry - 750s BC. Northern Kingdom of Israel - was during a period of material affluence but spiritual bankruptcy . The writing was on the wall for those who had the eyes to see. The nation would face great political instability with 6 kings - four of whom were assassinated - in its last 20 years of existence before being finally anhialated as an entity by their former allies, the Assyrians. Their leaders permitted the people to practice idolatry so becoming guilty of spiritual adultery against the Lord. And the fruit was evident for all to see:
There is no faithfulness, no love
no acknowledgement of God in the land.
There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Because of this the land mourns,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea are dying. Hos 4 v 2-4
We neglect God at our peril. The sin against God was affecting their relationship with each, the land and with themselves; it was not bringing them happiness.
So God decides to act:
I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their distress they will beg my favor. 5:15
Does God sometimes withdraw in order that we may come to our senses? The notion of an "absent God" is a feature of Israel's laments in the Old Testament. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
But we may ask… Isn't this the opposite of our faith in the God of Covenant who is always with his people? Don't we talk about God's everlasting love?
Nevertheless, this sense of estrangement is the experience of many. It is the experience even of the truly devout, some write about the dark night of the soul. Mother Theresa found her spiritual life really difficult.
But when we reflect deeper, perhaps we can understand that here is God acting in tough love, where he purposes that out of this sense of abandonment we may come to a recognition of:
1. the vacuum that remains with the loss of God' voice and presence.
2. our need for the life God brings.
Through these experiences, God is calling us on just as much as when we feel his presence upon us.
So here in this passage, I think God was hoping that Israel would recognize their need for Him, and turn again to Him. Indeed, they starting saying…
6:1 "Come, let us return to the Lord. And
2 "After two days he will revive us" …. And 3… his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth."
Part of faith is our hope - which is composed not of wishful thinking - but confident expectation. Lively Christians seem hope ful. He will come to us like the showers - refreshing, life giving, maybe an inference to an anointing of the Spirit.
v.3 Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD- Notice how it's not a teach-in : to know about, but to know. That's the issue and challenge - do we know God?
They had a wonderful model in their history, the great giant of faith, Abraham. Paul writes of him:
Rom 4:20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22Therefore his faith 'was reckoned to him as righteousness.
After two days Heard this somewhere else?? What an amazing echo (Pre-echos of the resurrection ) of the experience of resurrection. Strangely appears in other religions too apparently. May just mean "in a short while" . Three days was the standard time allowed for Israelites to assemble as the central sanctuary - so is it a picture of commitment to gather to renew their covenant with God?... thinking perhaps of what we might call a revival meeting!
But for the people of Hosea's day, such declarations of faith were presumptious. They had not come to a point of showing their faith by genuine repentance….. They did not turn from idols, repent of their sins, or pledge to make changes… Like a child who wants to be OK but not to have to say sorry. Sin has to be dealt with. Can't be forgiven until acknowledged. Only then could there be true reconciliation. Grace is free but not cheap. They thought that God's wrath would last only a few days; little did they know that their nation would soon be taken into exile.
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early.
Like those new year resolutions…. Compare the parable of the sower the seed sown in the rocky soil or in the ground where the weeds grow up and choke the growth.
On God's side, he was doing some aggressive pruning…
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.
If only they would understand what He wanted… 6:6 highspot of Hosea
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
And acknowledgement of God
Rather than burnt offerings
Let's look at this more closely.
For I desire mercy,
And acknowledgement of God
The prophet Hosea speaks of "chesed" - translated as mercy here - as what God desires in his people. God looks for " chesed" because "chesed" is what God is.
It's the love that won Matthew the tax collector over as a disciple… brought out of a sense of being a nothing in his community's eyes - and perhaps his own if he dared admit it - into a new something - that new creation that God brings about (2 Cor)
Matthew records how Jesus quoting this text himself no doubt because he identified with having been one of those very sinners Jesus had come to save:
11 (the Pharisees) said to his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?' 12But when he heard this, he said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.'
…..perhaps Jesus was saying "You are in need of spiritual healing"
What can we give God? Like the Christmas carol.. What can I give Him, poor as I am … give my heart. . St John…" God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them"
not sacrifice,
(or) burnt offerings
Religious rituals can help people understand God and nourish their relationship with him. That is why God instituted circumcision and the sacrificial system in the Old Testament and baptism and the Lord's Supper in the New Testament. But a religious ritual is helpful only if it is carried out with an attitude of love for and obedience to God. If a person's heart is far from God, ritual will become empty mockery. God didn't want the Israelites' rituals; he wanted their hearts. (Life Application)
CONCLUSION
Love is a dynamic of the heart that expresses itself in deed and words - the dunamis. … We accomplish little if our hearts are not in what we do. So it is with our relationship with God
What does God want from us??? This should be our starting point rather than what can we get from God - yet the latter is how we often operate if we are honest. In our culture - post modern - pick and choose and pay the least amount possible!
Love him with all we have. It is a surrender into God's love. Yet when we embrace Him, we end up receiving so much. Abraham and his decendants would inherit the world (Rom 4:13)
William Barclay. Barclay says of Matthew that,
He lost a comfortable job, but he found a destiny. He lost a good income, but he found honor. He lost a comfortable security, but he found an adventure the like of which he had never dreamed. It may be that if we accept the challenge of Christ, we shall find ourselves poorer in material things. It may be that the worldly ambitions will have to go. But beyond doubt we will find a peace and a joy and a thrill in life that we never knew before. In Jesus Christ a (person)…. finds a wealth beyond anything that (they) .. may have to abandon for the sake of Christ.
Is there anyone here today God is wanting to take a step of faith into His hands? Are there hearts that need an overflow of God's love to bring hope into a situation?
Use the service today, bring it to the cross, receive the grace to do when you receive the bread and wine, the body and blood. Seek prayer and counsel if you wish.
Go with God, vaya con Dios
Jimmy received a parrot for his birthday. The parrot was fully grown, with a very bad attitude and worse vocabulary. Every other word was a swear word; those that weren't cursing were very rude.
Jimmy tried to change the bird's attitude by constantly saying polite words, playing soft music-
He then tried yelling at the bird, but the bird got worse. He shook the bird, and the bird got madder and ruder.
Finally, in a moment of desperation, Jimmy put the parrot in the freezer. For a few moments he heard the bird swearing, squawking, kicking and screaming and then, suddenly, there was absolute quiet.
Jimmy was frightened that he might have actually hurt the bird, and quickly opened the freezer door. The parrot calmly stepped out onto Jimmy's extended arm and said, "I'm sorry that I offended you with my language and my actions, and I ask your forgiveness. I will endeavor to correct my behavior".
Jimmy was astounded at the changes in the bird's attitude and was about to ask what had changed him, when the parrot continued, "May I ask what the Chicken did?"
Bishop Maddocks has suggested that there are four areas to people's lives that need healing, that need saving:
1. Our relationship with God.
2. Our relationship with each other.
3. Our relationship with ourselves.
4. Our relationship with the soil.
Today's passages treat mainly of the first of these, but the connection with the others is there too. Let's look at the Hosea passage:
HOSEA
Hosea means "Salvation". His ministry -
no acknowledgement of God in the land.
There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Because of this the land mourns,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea are dying. Hos 4 v 2-
We neglect God at our peril. The sin against God was affecting their relationship with each, the land and with themselves; it was not bringing them happiness.
So God decides to act:
Does God sometimes withdraw in order that we may come to our senses? The notion of an "absent God" is a feature of Israel's laments in the Old Testament. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
But we may ask… Isn't this the opposite of our faith in the God of Covenant who is always with his people? Don't we talk about God's everlasting love?
Nevertheless, this sense of estrangement is the experience of many. It is the experience even of the truly devout, some write about the dark night of the soul. Mother Theresa found her spiritual life really difficult.
But when we reflect deeper, perhaps we can understand that here is God acting in tough love, where he purposes that out of this sense of abandonment we may come to a recognition of:
1. the vacuum that remains with the loss of God' voice and presence.
2. our need for the life God brings.
Through these experiences, God is calling us on just as much as when we feel his presence upon us.
So here in this passage, I think God was hoping that Israel would recognize their need for Him, and turn again to Him. Indeed, they starting saying…
6:1 "Come, let us return to the Lord. And
2 "After two days he will revive us" …. And 3… his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth."
Part of faith is our hope -
v.3
They had a wonderful model in their history, the great giant of faith, Abraham. Paul writes of him:
Rom 4:20
After two days Heard this somewhere else?? What an amazing echo (Pre-
But for the people of Hosea's day, such declarations of faith were presumptious. They had not come to a point of showing their faith by genuine repentance….. They did not turn from idols, repent of their sins, or pledge to make changes… Like a child who wants to be OK but not to have to say sorry. Sin has to be dealt with. Can't be forgiven until acknowledged. Only then could there be true reconciliation. Grace is free but not cheap. They thought that God's wrath would last only a few days; little did they know that their nation would soon be taken into exile.
4
Like those new year resolutions…. Compare the parable of the sower the seed sown in the rocky soil or in the ground where the weeds grow up and choke the growth.
On God's side, he was doing some aggressive pruning…
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.
If only they would understand what He wanted… 6:6 highspot of Hosea
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
And acknowledgement of God
Rather than burnt offerings
Let's look at this more closely.
For I desire mercy,
And acknowledgement of God
The prophet Hosea speaks of "chesed" -
It's the love that won Matthew the tax collector over as a disciple… brought out of a sense of being a nothing in his community's eyes -
Matthew records how Jesus quoting this text himself no doubt because he identified with having been one of those very sinners Jesus had come to save:
…..perhaps Jesus was saying "You are in need of spiritual healing"
What can we give God? Like the Christmas carol.. What can I give Him, poor as I am … give my heart. . St John…" God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them"
not sacrifice,
(or) burnt offerings
Religious rituals can help people understand God and nourish their relationship with him. That is why God instituted circumcision and the sacrificial system in the Old Testament and baptism and the Lord's Supper in the New Testament. But a religious ritual is helpful only if it is carried out with an attitude of love for and obedience to God. If a person's heart is far from God, ritual will become empty mockery. God didn't want the Israelites' rituals; he wanted their hearts. (Life Application)
CONCLUSION
Love is a dynamic of the heart that expresses itself in deed and words -
What does God want from us??? This should be our starting point rather than what can we get from God -
Love him with all we have. It is a surrender into God's love. Yet when we embrace Him, we end up receiving so much. Abraham and his decendants would inherit the world (Rom 4:13)
William Barclay. Barclay says of Matthew that,
Is there anyone here today God is wanting to take a step of faith into His hands? Are there hearts that need an overflow of God's love to bring hope into a situation?
Use the service today, bring it to the cross, receive the grace to do when you receive the bread and wine, the body and blood. Seek prayer and counsel if you wish.
Go with God, vaya con Dios
Rev Jeremy Tyndall © 2008