Pastor
Steve Geiger Third Sunday in Lent
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Hosea 5:15—6:4
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.”
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 [names for the northern and southern
kingdoms of the land of Israel]? Your
love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.”
Let’s
Return to the Lord Hosea
5:15 – 6:4
1.
Beware of love that is like the dew
2.
Treasure love that is like the dawn
The
picture may seem foreign until you drive through a major metropolitan
area. On the freeway. With four or six lanes going in the same
direction. In traffic. And you’re trying to find the fastest lane.
Perhaps
there are some who can stay in the same lane, waiting to see if they were
right, their lane going most quickly.
Others feel this urge to change.
Cars are moving faster to their left, so they try to merge.
When I was younger and my littlest sister Joanna was in grade school, I would drive the freeways of California, get stuck in traffic, and try to switch to the fastest lane. Joanna would watch the car that I was behind in the original lane and so often would be able to show me, after five minutes had passed, that had I remained in the original lane, I would be much further down the road than I was right now.
I
should never have left. I shouldn’t have
tried my new way. Perhaps I should
return to the lane I had abandoned.
Life
is full of different lanes to drive in.
The Lord himself describes a narrow road to eternal life and a wide path
that leads to destruction. The wide
road seems to be moving faster; it appears to be much more fun. But in this case, switching to a wrong lane
has consequences far more severe than simply getting to an exit a minute later
than you otherwise would have.
Many
in the land of Israel had switched to the wrong lane. They saw disobedience as much more fun than doing right. Hosea describes the people as cursing,
lying, murdering, stealing, and committing adultery. They made things and feelings and pleasure more important than
the one true God. They had turned away from
the Lord.
The
Lord longed to have them back. So the
Lord left.
That
might sound strange. The Lord longed to
have them back. So the Lord left them?
It
can happen, when someone is so caught in a sin, that a parent or a friend may
finally decide to let the one sinning simply go his own way. Every effort has been made to help. Every effort has been turned away. Now it’s time for the person to discover on
his own that the path he has chosen is a path to destruction.
God
had worked so hard to show Israel its sin.
God was now going to permit them to discover the pain that comes from
rebelling against God. So he left. “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.”
Sure
enough. The Holy Spirit describes a
people now in pain. Perhaps the prophet
Hosea was looking ahead to that moment when Assyria had swept in from the north
and brutalized God’s people. Perhaps
Hosea was imagining war tearing apart the land. Perhaps Hosea was speaking of men and women and children being
dragged against their will into captivity.
At
that moment would God’s children admit, “OK, we were wrong; we won’t be bad
again; we’ll love you, Lord?” They
would.
“Come,
let us return to the Lord. He has torn
us to pieces but he will heal us. . . . Let us acknowledge the Lord. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear.”
They
were going to switch back into the correct lane. They were going to admit they were wrong. They were going to see the Lord as the one
who would forgive. Great stuff, right?
Unfortunately,
no. In the verse that follows our
reading for today, the Lord says, “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I
do with you, Judah [names for the northern and southern kingdoms of the land of
Israel]? Your love is like the morning
mist, like the early dew that disappears.”
They
had a track record. They would be
bad. They would drift from the
Lord. When things got rough, they would
remember how good they had it with God.
So they’d say, “I’m going to repent.
I’m going to go back to church.
I’m going to start reading my Bible again and living actions that are
God-pleasing.” And they would. For a
while.
But
like the dew that is wet when another morning greets our eyes but disappears
most quickly as the sun begins to rise, so would these seemingly repentant
people soon go right back to a pattern of life that leads to destruction.
Watch
out for love that’s like the dew.
When
you see it in others. We will watch a
friend or family member drifting from the Lord. We know they are only hurting themselves. That moment comes when they realize they
have chosen the wrong lane. For this
person, sin has led to a broken relationship or to emotional trauma or to
consequences from a court. In their
misery, they may long for God. “I need
to return to the Lord.” They appear to
admit their sin and rejoice in Jesus.
But then you, the one who loves them, see them drift soon back to their
old way. Watch out for love that’s like
the dew.
In yourself.
When
times are good, it can be so easy to drift away. In difficult moments, when you’ve lost your job or a child is in
trouble or money is tight or a relationship is rocky or health is uncertain . .
. yes, there can be first a moment of anger and frustration with God. But when trouble drives us finally to see
that there isn’t anything we can do to change it, and we realize that we really
do have a loving God who helps in trouble, so we pray to him and we read our
Bibles and maybe we start coming back to church and we even make promises about
how we will change our lives and be leaders of godly action in our homes. There was something at that moment that led
us to be excited about placing Jesus first in our lives. But have you ever found that as troubles
lessen and time passes, that many great changes are undone and many great
commitments are forgotten? Is our love
like the dew?
When
we live, in a sense, two lives. Church
is a regular activity. Sunday mornings
are busy with worship and Bible study and Sunday School. Love for God is spoken and lived. But sometimes it’s so easy to forget, and so
soon, isn’t it? We trusted on Sunday;
we’re worried and upset on Monday. We
loved purity on Sunday morning. By
Sunday evening a television show that we’d be embarrassed to watch in this
building is entertaining our eyes in our own private building. We found peace in Jesus and loved his
forgiveness on Sunday. By Wednesday
we’re feeling so horribly guilty for something that we did, sure that there’s
no way I can have peace, and almost getting mad at God for the guilt that
haunts.
Can
our love be just like the dew?
God’s
warning to Israel is a chance for us to consider. To confess. To admit,
“Lord, I’ve taken you for granted.
Sometimes I think that you’ll be there when I need you, so I don’t have
to be afraid about drifting a bit. I
used your love as an excuse to grow comfortable for a time not loving you.”
Sometimes
God puts distance between himself and us, that we might discover on our own the
consequences of our sin. How God would
have every right permanently to put distance between himself and us. To take from us one day every bit of his
love.
Even
with Israel, that’s not the heart we see.
We see God pleading with them.
“Don’t you see what you’re doing?”
Don’t you see that love like dew is dangerous?
Words
of rebuke, but not from a heart that is vengeful. These words come from a heart that longs for us to have a change
of heart. From a God who longs for us
to see that the lane we can choose leads to destruction, but there is another
lane.
Return
to the Lord, whose love is like the dawn.
“As
surely as the sun rises, God will appear.”
As surely as the sun rises.
Love
like dew is a love that is momentary and false. As surely as the sun rises—like the dawn—this is love you can
count on.
Now
it’s true, those who first spoken these words were misusing that love. They were saying, “I can have in my heart
sin but still count on God to be there when I want him.”
This
misuse of love is most dangerous. Thank
the Lord that the description of God’s love is most true.
God’s
love is like the dawn.
There
are times we may feel that we have pushed God too far away. That we have misused his love one too many
times. That it’s too late.
Listen. To a people who had fallen into adultery and
murder, into pride and idolatry, listen to the Lord’s plea through Hosea,
“Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: ‘Forgive us all our sins and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what
our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
God’s
reply? Hosea 14. “I will heal their waywardness and love them
freely, for my anger has turned away from them.”
Sin
has been our downfall. But let us take
to our lips these words, “Forgive us all our sins and receive us graciously.”
God’s
reply? “My anger has turned away.” Centuries before the moment of making peace,
the Lord showed a love that is like the dawn.
Every day, there is a dawn.
Every day, the sun comes up.
Every day. This is love you can
depend on. Know that when Jesus came to
show the heart of God, a heart that showed itself again and again to Israel . .
. know that when Jesus came to take on himself our love like dew . . . know
that when Jesus came to make his own our false love, he did that because of
true love. Love for you. A victim of God’s fury, but for you. Dead on the cross for you. God through Jesus has been gracious to you. Forgiven you.
Love
like the dawn. That you can count on.
Treasure
love like the dawn. Your own. Pray for strength to love God always. Yes, our flesh will still bring us
struggle. But today let us say, “God,
help me from this day forward.” God,
help me fight Satan. Help me love you
when times are good. Help me live my
entire week the commitment I have for you on Sunday morning.
Know
that such love is the best.
I
don’t want to pick the wrong lane and stay.
I want to return to the better lane.
The way that leads to life.
Where
love is like the dawn, not like the dew.
Return
to the Lord. Amen.