St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Pentecost 3 June 5, 2005 Hosea 5:15-6:6

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. 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. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 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. 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. 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. For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

God’s Word says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Jeremiah 31:34 We saw a display of artifacts the other day—from the Titanic. For the better part of two hours we walked from room to room—filled with glass cases that held bits and pieces of the Titanic. There were very delicate reading glasses—the finest wire wrapped around almond shaped lenses—very fine wires to wrap around your ears. There was a very small coin purse—made of the most delicate threads of pure gold. There were bottles of fine French wine—the cork pushed by the waiter—back into the half empty bottle of wine—the top of the cork eaten away—but the wine still unspilled. What struck me—was the very last plaque—in the very last room—at the very end of all the displays. It took note of the historical fact that one of the passengers—a man named George—boarded the Titanic—as a 1^st Class passenger—under the assumed name of George—plus his mistress’ last name. George was on the Titanic—not with his wife—but with his girl friend. His girl friend survived. George did not. He was found several days later—wearing a dark grey overcoat—a black suit—black gloves—with his initials—G.R. on his undies—with $430 in his wallet. How would you like your last sins printed on a card—and posted in a traveling museum ---- for everyone to see? The precious good news from God’s Word today is—our Heavenly Father will forgive my wickedness and remember my sins no more!

There remains a terrible danger—when Jesus takes all our sins away—that we take that forgiveness for granted. That’s why God’s Word tells us today:

The LORD Shows Us Tough Love!

I. The LORD calls us to genuine repentance

II. The LORD desires mercy, not sacrifice

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on today is from the scroll of the prophet Hosea. Hosea’s whole life was a metaphor for the faith life of the children of Israel. Hosea married an adulterous woman—a wife who was unfaithful to him—even as the children of Israel were unfaithful to the LORD. Mrs. Hosea had three children. The LORD chose their names. The first was a son named Jezreel. Jezreel means God scatters! This is not good news. Jezreel would be a place of fierce judgment where the LORD would break Israel’s bow—that is crush her military strength. Today, I suppose, that would be like naming your child Viet Nam. A reminder of loss and grief and defeat! The second child would be a baby girl named Lo-Ruhamah—very literally “she is not loved”! She is NOT loved! How sad is that? The third child—another son, was to be called Lo-Ammi—very literally “not my people”! So—at supper time—out the back door when it was time to come in from playing for supper—the mommy would call—“Hey! Painful military defeat! Hey—little girl that we don’t love—hey—people who do not belong to the LORD!” How sad—any time anyone would ask—“So—what are the pastor’s children’s names?” It was a very powerful reminder that the situation was ruined between the faithful LORD and his faithless people!

In the chapter before the one we are concentrating on today—the LORD brings charges—brings an indictment against the people of Israel. Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment 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. Hosea 4:1-3 They are passing laws in the Netherlands—making it against the law to curse! It’s all very complicated—they say—because you have this freedom of speech thing. Well—it isn’t complicated for people of God. There is never a circumstance where it’s ok to use bad language of any kind. Cursing, swearing, lying, deceiving—saying what is rude and crude and obscene is never ok—no matter how provoked we might be. The pollution of our hearts and minds has spilled over into our world—so that the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away. It was on the news today that children are beginning to suffer from diseases that used to afflict middle aged people—because we continue to sin against our own bodies. The beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying—because of my sins and yours!

“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. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him.” At first blush—this seems like a pretty good answer. Let us return to the LORD. To turn around is at the root and base of the whole concept of repentance. It is only law and gospel that can turn people around from darkness to light—from wickedness and gross evil to the goodness of God—from death and eternal destruction to life and eternity in heaven. It is true that the LORD had torn them to pieces. The LORD was the one who would strike them with his fierce judgment! Come, let us return to the LORD. That sounds pretty good. But listen. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence… When our children were young we used to talk about 100 days. I love you for 100 days—the longest amount of time they could conceive of—100 days! The children of Israel have been unfaithful to their Savior so horribly—the LORD is saying—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. And people are saying—ok—repent—and you know what—after 2 days it will all be better—3 days tops—and everything will be back to the way it used to be! Really! Physical adultery against your spouse—and you say you are sorry—and by the second day—the third day tops—and all is forgiven—and it’s back to the way it was before? Really?

Listen to what the LORD says next. “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. Love that evaporates like the morning fog—that dries up like the dew on your lawn when you let the puppy out—is not the kind of love you what for your marriage or for your Savior! Again—it’s all about attitude! Researchers who study such things—have studied the attitude of cynicism—being cynical and sarcastic. They have figured out—that when it comes to being cynical and then saying something sarcastic—something cutting and biting and hurtful and rude—the idea starts on the left side of your brain—works it’s way to the front—and then finishes up in a very specific part of the right side of your brain. They say—children as young as 3^rd graders can become very cynical. That people as little as 3^rd graders—listen to people tell them something. Then say—“Yeah, right!” And worse! There was a place on the Internet the other day where you could vote—is it wrong to be sarcastic—or is it simply wired into our brains—a reflex that’s so natural it’s ok? People voted two to one—that it’s ok to be sarcastic! Do we get to do that—vote on what we decide is right or wrong? No! Our Heavenly Father has decided what’s right and what’s wrong. And his penalties are exceedingly strict. Driving down the interstate the other day I was surprised to see signs that said—“kill a highway worker and the fine is $10,000 and 14 years in prison.” With time off for good behavior—making your bed and playing well with others—it could be much less than that! Is that all a human life is worth? A couple of months wages—and a few years in jail? It wasn’t hard to believe that a little 4th grader murdered a little 6^th grader because they were having a fight over a very small toy. It wasn’t hard to believe a 2^nd grader took the life of a little 7 month old infant—because the baby wouldn’t stop crying. The penalty? They say the 4^th grader could get as much as 18 months—a year and a half of confinement—a year and a half—for taking the life of her little friend! God’s Word makes it exceedingly clear—the wages of sin is death. Not just physical death but forever eternal destruction. The very last verse of the scroll of the prophet Isaiah says, “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” Isaiah 66:24 How scary is that? Have you ever read the sermons that were preached to the pilgrims who first came to America? Sermons like “Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God”? Paragraph after paragraph talked about the punishment our sins deserve. That God holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire…his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours…that you did not go to hell the last night; that you were suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep…there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up… Do we think of the forever punishment our sins deserve? Do we ponder the grace of God that is ours for Jesus’ sake? Did we sit down and read our Bible this week? Did we search the Scriptures? Or did we spend more time mowing our grass than reading God’s Word? Did we spend more time watching the Brewers or the Cubs than we spent reading God’s Word? Did we spend more time watching Days Of Our Lives or Law and Order reruns than we spent reading God’s Word? Did we spend more time watching Everybody Loves Raymond than we spent reading God is love?

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. Did you hear about Ed and Genevieve Sobieski of Schenectady? They celebrated their 80^th wedding anniversary the other day. They dated for 3 months and then were married. Ed was a good factory worker. Genevieve is a very good cook and home maker. They said the most important thing to do besides saying, “I love you,” is to say, “I’m sorry!” To say they were sorry for their sins—their mistakes—their failures and short comings. Our Heavenly Father wants us to say, “I’m sorry!” To say it to our Heavenly Father and to our family and our neighbors. That’s what’s important! Sometimes the church is accused of only being concerned about money. People will say—that’s all the church wants is my money! That’s wrong. Listen to what God’s Word says—I desire mercy, not sacrifice…acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. You cannot buy God off with a dollar or a million dollars in a little paper envelope placed into a plate passed to you by an usher. You can’t buy God’s love by showing up here in this building once a week—twice during advent and lent—with your thankoffering! Jesus is the offering sacrificed on the cross to take all our sins away. The Thankofferings we do bring—are gifts we bring because we want to. Our Thankofferings are just part of making ourselves living sacrifices—our whole being dedicated to God and showing mercy our family!

We saw the Titanic display at the COSI Museum the other day. They had one room set up like one of the dining rooms with place settings—the actual china and crystal and silver ware from the Titanic. They had one room where they had the stair case—all made of precious wood—with the chandelier and the statues. They had a hall way—like one of the hallways by first class cabins. They had a room set up like third class bed rooms—with the noise of the engines—and the trembling of the walls and the floor from being so close to the engine room. Near the end of the tour you stepped into a room that was very cold and very dark—with a very high ceiling—a ceiling that twinkled with stars. To the side of the room was a huge ice berg. Not plaster—but genuine ice—made of salt water—salt water that was colder than 32 degrees—in order for the salty water to freeze. You could touch that ice—feel that cold as you read how most people died—not from drowning—but from hypothermia—from the bitter ocean cold! You could feel that coldness—that hardness—that death. My heart was colder—harder—more dead than that ice. Jesus came to live the life we couldn’t—to die the death we couldn’t—to take away all our sins. To take our heart dead in mistakes and sins—and give us a new heart—a heart of faith and hope and life! Jesus showed us his tough love—that we might see him safe and warm in heaven. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz