Covenant Connections:
A Covenant of Love ~ Love Returned
Scripture Text: Hosea 3.1-5
INTRODUCTION
I think it’s important to study and investigate and probe the deep-questions of life; …but I-also-know that a person can get lost-in-the-questions! It’s-kinda-like pulling out an atlas, …while you’re driving down the highway, …and holding the map up in front of your eyes to get a sense of where-you-are and where-you’re-goin’; …but, in the process of looking-at-the-map, …you’re blocking your-view-of-the-road! You can look intently-at-the-map, …studying its features and the land-marks, …wondering why the road takes that-kinda-turn, instead of going a different-direction ~ …you can become so-engrossed-in-the-map that you end-up in the ditch because you forgot to pay-attention to the actual road!
I have high-regard for study; …I’m comfortable in the world-of-ideas. But, it’s gotta-be-aimed-at living-faithfully according to kingdom-of-God ~ …following in the footsteps of Jesus, …living-out the two-great- commandments: …to-love-God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength; …and loving my neighbor as myself. You can have your head-in-the-clouds, …your nose in a book, …your home can be in an “ivory tower” ~ …and end-up crashing-and-burning in the ditch because you weren’t paying attention to the road you’re traveling upon!
TRANSITION
Which brings us to Hosea! We can talk day-and-night about the idea that God is love. But Hosea realized that when-it-comes-down-to-it, …we are not adherents to a set of ideas. We are followers of the Lord God ~ …and that means that our very lives and the choices we make, …and the decisions that get fleshed-out in our relationships, …our life-and-living will be absolutely-shaped by the God who calls us His “people”! Hosea’s most profound sermons come not-from his lips; …and they are not preached from a pulpit. But, Hosea’s most-profound sermons come from his life and his daily-choices!
St. Francis of Assissi famously-said: “Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.” What do you think Francis meant by-that!?!
He meant that our lives: …relationships, …conversations, …habits, …practices, …dreams and pursuits ~ …our lives are the most-effective sermons!
Hosea lived the message that God placed on his heart. He didn’t-just talk-about God’s love ~ …that it’s a faithful-love, …and unending-love, …that God’s-love is a long-suffering and merciful and forgiving. He didn’t-just-talk about these ideas; …But, Hosea lived-this message …in how-he-lived his-life.
Do you remember Hosea’s life and circumstances? God told him to marry a flirtatious – maybe-even promiscuous woman. Her name was Gomer. And for a time, things seemed-to-be o.k. But, Gomer started goin’-back to her old-ways. She started steppin’-out on Hosea. And the result was a lot of pain, …and hurt, …and brokenness. And-eventually, Gomer left Hosea. Left her husband. Left her three small children. She got-outta-Dodge!
BODY
I. She Did What!?!
Did she leave because she’d fallen-outta-love? Did she leave because she couldn’t-take the hassle-and-the-pressure of keeping house? Did she leave because Hosea was a simple-man, …with a simple mind, …and simple-ways of a poor-country-preacher ~ …and she wanted more?
Well, actually, …the Bible just-tells us that she left in-order-to “chase other lovers”. In-other-words, …she bought-into empty-promises.
You-know those-promises ~ …the ones the world-makes: …that life can-be more-exciting, …that life must-hold more-adventures, …that there’s more-to-be-had than what-we’d-normally-experience through living- faithfully, …by standing-fast, …by staying-true. And-so, …Gomer traded faithful love for cheap-thrills; …she bought-into the empty-promises and started-chasing other-lovers.
It’s awful! …It’s awful that she would choose-unfaithfulness, …that she would turn-her-back on her marriage and family, …that she would instead go from one-to-the-next and snub the gift-of-love. Hers is a story of betrayal, …and brokenness.
How do such things start? What goes through a person’s heart-and-mind that would lead them to these kinds-of-choices? ~ You’ve gotta-wonder-‘bout-these-things because Gomer’s life-style is not fun-and-games. It’-doesn’t-matter what-period-of-history a lady-finds-herself-in, …the kind of life that Gomer chose is filled with danger-and-abuse; …it’s demeaning and tragic. Hollywood and Vegas may dress-it-up and make-it-seem-like a glamorous-option ~ …in the ancient-world the voices were just-as-sinister-and-deceptive!
But… whatever-the-carrots that the world offers, …they are only vain-and-empty promises.
Chances-are… we look at Gomer with a mixture of disgust and disbelief. But, the tragedy we see unfolding in the drama-of-Hosea’s-marriage is not-just-about Gomer; …it’s-about how-God’s-people have been unfaithful to the Lord! This is not the realm of ideas; …this is not a debate of different theories ~ …Hosea tried to tell his neighbors and countrymen that they were-forsaking the love of God, …in-exchange-for the cheap-love of false-gods. The people of God were steppin’-out on the One who had promised faithful-love to them. He had rescued them out of slavery; …delivered-them from destruction. …gave-them a place to call home. He blessed their land and their flocks. And He promised them a certain-future.
But, they started-chasin’ other-loves. False-gods. Empty-promises. Cheap-thrills. Hosea said that the people of God were just-like-his-wife: …they “prostituted themselves” and were unfaithful to the covenant-relationship. And it’s shocking. It’s startling. It’s gut-wrenching. It is ugly! ~ Wouldn’t you agree?...
But, it happens all-the-time… doesn’t it!?! We see people all-around-us ~ …some have-seen-a-spouse, …others-have-seen their children, …most-of-us have-seen dear-old-friends who turn their back on following-the-Lord. Trading God’s-promises for pipe-dreams; …giving-up faithfulness to receive wishy-washy promises; …chasing worldly-stuff that only leads to brokenness and anguish and pain.
We’ve seen it happen. For some-of-us, …we’ve been there! We’ve fallen into the trap. We’ve chosen chicken gizzards instead of a T-bone steak! We’ve spent our time playin’ on the swing-set at Vets Park, instead of riding the roller-coasters at the amusement park. We’ve bought a Kwik-shop coffee, when we could’ve had a Starbucks!
Whoever… Whenever… However a person chooses the short-cut, …the easy-way, …they selfish-thing ~ …instead of high-road of the Kingdom of God ~ …it is tragic!
We see it in Gomer’s choices. We see it in the worldliness that has saturated our neighborhoods. And we see it in our own-lives whenever we take the broad-road leading-to destruction and brokenness!
At this-point-of-the-story, …it wouldn’t have-surprised-us if Hosea had washed his hands of his troublesome-wife! We would’ve-understood if he’d said, “Enough is enough!” But, even-though we can imagine how-he-felt, …even-though our hearts break for him and his children, …even-if some of us feel-like saying, “Gomer’s made her bed… Let her lie in it!”
The story takes a startling-turn when God speaks up! The Lord tells Hosea to do something… And he does it!
II. He Did What!?!
“Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress.” (Hos. 3.1)
Hosea listened to what-God said to-do. And Hosea decided to do what God said! “So, I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.” (Hos. 3.2)
Ya-know, …when we look at Gomer’s choices, …we’re appalled and disgusted. But, when we look at Hosea’s choices, …we’re speechless! What do you say to this!?! Have you ever seen something so illogical, …something that danced-against-the-grain of reason and expectations!?!
Instead of guarding his heart; …instead of justifying himself; …instead of letting by-gones be by-gones, …Hosea pursued her. He went after her. And he redeemed her!
Did you notice that Hosea had to “buy” Gomer back? ~ It means that she had sold herself to some-sort-of-meat-market-manager. In exchange for protection, …or a roof-over-her-head, …or a daily allowance of food ~ …Gomer had sold herself to the “manager’s” service.
Hosea went to this pitiful-excuse of a human-being and paid a ransom-price to free his bride. He did this, even-though she had exchanged his love for vain and empty promises! He bought-her-back.
By-the-way, …the price that he paid: …15 shekels of silver and a few baskets of barley ~ …it’s about half-the-going-rate for a female slave!... Which oughtta-tell-us how much Gomer was worth in the eyes of her pimp! He was only-interested in moving-merchandise, …providing a desired-service. He didn’t care about the people he had to use into order to make-his-dollar. Disposable. Throw-aways. Use-‘em and toss-‘em… Girls-like-Gomer were worth only what you could get out-of-‘em for a short-time. After-that, they weren’t worth-anything-at-all. And by-the-time Hosea came-around, …Gomer had already lost most-of-her-value to the meat-market-manager. He was ready to get-rid-of-her for a fraction of her price.
By-the-way, …if you don’t see the parallel with the spiritual-world, listen-up: Sin will chew you up and spit you out. The Bible tells us that we struggle not against flesh and blood, …but against principalities and powers ~ …And the principalities and the powers at work in this world are not interested in taking care of you! They’re not even interested in you! They’re just-lookin’-to take advantage of you and get-outta-you whatever they can, for-the-time-being! They dazzle your eyes with glitter and gold; …they seduce your heart with promises of happiness and prosperity; …they scratch your itch with thoughts of comfort and security. We can name these liars! They are Hollywood. They are the attitudes of sexism and materialism and selfishness. They are the spirits of worldliness and distrust and self-protectionism. Behind them all is the greatest meat-market-manager of them all, the Devil-himself. He is a liar and a thief and a deceiver of men-and-women, …of boys and girls. When you buy-into his empty-promises, …you’ll find yourself ground-up, used-up and tossed-out. You’ll find-yourself empty and lost and nowhere to go. In the gutter, covered in filth, …broken.
But, in-walks Hosea. He steps into the smoke-filled lounge, …and asks to talk with the manager. Out steps a grizzled-old-man, aged-beyond-his-years. Wearing a sweat-stained under-shirt, …with crumbs from yesterday’s lunch stuck in his scraggly-beard. A stub of a cigar clenched between his yellowed teeth, …and he barks at Hosea.
What would it take for you to step into that-kind of situation? What would-it-take to humble yourself to someone who was so unworthy your humility? What would it take to-pay-this-person …for-someone who’d rejected you? What would it take!?!
It would take love. Pure… Untainted… Godly-love! It would take a love that was not-based on pride …or emotion. It would take a love that was bigger than the situation. It would take a love that remembered its promises ~ …promises to remain faithful-and-true. It would take a love that comes from somewhere outside ourselves ~ …a love that is only found in the deep-reservoir of God’s love! It’s a love that manifests-itself as grace. Grace is unmerited favor. It’s getting what you don’t deserve. It’s mercy instead of punishment. It’s love instead of condemnation. It’s gifts, rather than taxes. It’s redemption rather than rejection. It is grace!
What God tells Hosea to do in-terms-of pursuing his long-gone-wife, …is nothing different from what God has been doing in pursuing His long-lost-children. Hosea marches into the brothel and buys his wife back. It’s surprising. It’s startling. It’s almost unbelievable…
But-then-again, the Son of God marched up the hill called Golgatha to redeem His wayward children back! It’s surprising. It’s startling. It’s way-more than we deserve!
Hosea’s actions, …his faithfulness to-show covenant-love to his wayward-wife ~ …it’s a reflection-of, …it’s a mirror-image-of God’s actions in Jesus Christ: …going to the furthest-end, …enduring the greatest-pain, …paying the ultimate-price to buy back those who’ve spurned His love in-the-first-place!
Listen to the words of the great hymn: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” ~
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God.
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
CONCLUSION
The whole purpose of Hosea’s message is that the people of God would turn their hearts back to God. Not out of a sense of obligation; …or duty; …or-even, out-of-desperation! But, to return to Him fully; …to give our hearts to-Him, …completely; …to recognize His goodness and to rejoice in His hesed-love shown to us. It is love so-amazing, …love-so-divine; …it is mercy-beyond-what-we could-ever-hope-for; …it’s faithfulness to-us, even-when we’re unfaithful-to-Him!
You notice that-whole thing about-when Hosea tells Gomer that she has to remain celibate for a time. It’s not a punishment. It’s not because he’s tryin’ to drive-a-point-home. Rather, he’s simply giving her time and space, … so that she can grapple with her own heart ~ …so-that she can take-stock of this heavenly-mercy that she’s been shown; …so-that she can respond to him with love-and-gratitude.
The Lord has shown His love for you, …and for me. He reached out to us, …when we were far from Him. He did everything necessary through Jesus Christ, to take-care-of-our-redemption. And that’s good news ~ …it’s good news for mothers when they feel as though they’ve dropped the ball; …it’s good news for daughters who feel-as-though they’ve never lived-up to expectations; …it’s good news for sons who feel-as-though they’ve been a disappointment; …it’s good news for everyone who’s ever taken the easy-road, …the cheap-path, …bought-into empty-promises.
The Lord has shown His love for you; …and it’s a love that is strong and faithful; …a love that is steadfast and true; …it’s a love that goes to great-lengths, …and pays a great-price, even when it’s already-been rejected. It’s a love that longs for a better-day, …a renewed-relationship, …a restored-future. The Lord waits for us to give our hearts to Him ~ …un-coerced; …un-provoked; …not manipulated, …but in-joy and with-gratitude.
The only-reason Hosea was able to show such a great love for his wayward-wife, …is-because of the great-depths of God’s love for His wayward-people!
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him!
Isn’t that beautiful?... And today, you are invited to come and experience a reminder of God’s great love. The incomprehensible love of God continues to pursue His people; …God longs for us to return His love and rejoice in His goodness to them!
