Text: \u00a0Hosea 5:15-6: 3<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How has your week been? Some joys?\u00a0 Have there been sorrows? \u00a0Someone have a birthday here? \u00a0Was it a good one? \u00a0Any travel? How has your week been? \u00a0I got my taxes done. \u00a0I am relieved but more than relieved. Not only did I get it behind me, this year we are get a nice refund. \u00a0Now If you are like my friends in the service, the next thing I\u2019ll hear is this. \u00a0We\u2019re going out afterwards and pastor is buying. \u00a0How has your week been?<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well just Imagine someone videoed our lives this past week. \u00a0Everything was covered, somehow even our thoughts, attitudes, our reactions to the people around us. \u00a0Imagine we could play that back. \u00a0What would we also see about this past week? We have not loved God with our whole heart and life. \u00a0We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. \u00a0Far from it. \u00a0All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So we begin most all of our services with an invitation. \u00a0Not an easy one. \u00a0Rather it\u2019s a hard thing. \u00a0It ought to be. \u00a0So hard that some are offended by it. \u00a0We are invited to confess our sins before our God. And then we\u2019re invited to hear some precious good news. We call it absolution. \u00a0That by the shed blood of Jesus we have forgiveness and hope.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Those words of confession are good. \u00a0They are true and right. \u00a0Yet we can make them all wrong. \u00a0We have an example of that here today. \u00a0The words of the Israelites sound so good. \u00a0Come, let us return to the Lord. \u00a0He will heal us. \u00a0He will build us up and restore us. \u00a0Come let us return to the Lord. <\/em>\u00a0But the Lord knew the heart of those that spoke them. \u00a0He\u2019d heard this song before. \u00a0He tells them what he thinks of their words. \u00a0Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But let\u2019s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. \u00a0Their hearts were wrong, but their words are good.<\/p>\n Come, Let us Return to the Lord<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When you read chapter 4, you get a terrible sense of how foul Israel had become. \u00a0I don\u2019t want to spend our time this morning painting that ugly picture. \u00a0But what we do need to take note of is the Lord\u2019s response. \u00a0Just before our text he pictures himself like a lion coming to tear his prey to pieces. \u00a0Then he says here, I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Lord tells his people something important here. \u00a0The pain, the trouble you are suffering at the hands of your enemies is not just about your enemies. \u00a0It\u2019s about me. \u00a0I added that trouble to your sin. \u00a0I sent it, he tells them.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Think about that. \u00a0Think about the sins we have brought here this morning. \u00a0I think of our sins of neglect and abuse. \u00a0What happens when you neglect an important person in your life. \u00a0Your spouse, your child. That relationship suffers. \u00a0What mushrooms \u00a0can pop up in that garden? \u00a0Resentment. \u00a0Bitterness.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Or how about abuse? \u00a0Abuse alcohol or food, what\u2019s going to happen? \u00a0You can lose your health, your license. \u00a0Abuse the trust of someone in your life, that someone may want to be done with you.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That kind of thing hurts. Well here the Israelites were only thinking about those consequences of their sin. \u00a0How do we get out from under them? \u00a0But where are those painful consequences pointing us? \u00a0Who has added them to our sin? \u00a0He\u2019s calling. \u00a0He\u2019s waiting for us to admit our guilt and come.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God speaks here of one of the worst consequences. \u00a0The Lord was going to walk away from his people. \u00a0This makes me think of our immune system. \u00a0It normally fends off all kinds of awful viruses and germs. \u00a0But if a person gets AIDS that protection is gone. \u00a0It makes them vulnerable. \u00a0Israel was about to experience what it\u2019s like to have God walk away with all his blessings. \u00a0He was about to walk away and let them sit on a pin cushion of misery.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But notice why. \u00a0A few weeks ago I went to the dentist. \u00a0I had neglected my teeth for too long. \u00a0The dentist found a place she needed to go deeper. \u00a0This might hurt a bit.<\/em> \u00a0You\u2019re telling me. \u00a0It hurt. \u00a0Why? \u00a0She was getting at the problem. \u00a0The hurtful consequences of our sin are pointers sent by God. \u00a0They help us to see the nature of our sin.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There is one place we can\u2019t help but see it. \u00a0At the cross of God\u2019s own Son. \u00a0When we think of Jesus on the cross, God\u2019s love is front and center. \u00a0Look what God did for you and me! \u00a0But there at the cross, we see something more. \u00a0One of our hymns says it well.<\/p>\n If you think of sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great So Come. \u00a0Come recognizing the nature of your sin and then Come with a penitent heart.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God looked at his people and did not see that. \u00a0He saw no sorrow over their sin. \u00a0In other words what they expressed was not repentance. \u00a0It was more like. \u00a0He\u2019s upset with us. \u00a0He made our life miserable. But we know him. \u00a0We\u2019ll bring some sacrifices. \u00a0We\u2019ll pray some of the psalms. \u00a0We\u2019ll go see the priest. \u00a0Then God will get over it. \u00a0He\u2019ll come around.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But repentance is not play acting our sorrow or just going through some religious motions. \u00a0There\u2019s no use bowing our heads or getting down on our knees unless our hearts are bowed in sorrow. \u00a0There\u2019s no use confessing that sin unless I\u2019m ready to say to God I want to be done with it.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That makes repentance hard. It\u2019s not on our list of 10 favorite things to do. \u00a0For It\u2019s humbling. \u00a0It\u2019s not happy, happy joy joy. \u00a0For to acknowledge the Lord is to take to heart that our holy God hates sin. \u00a0And I am a sinner. \u00a0That\u2019s hard. \u00a0It\u2019s hard to look at the cross of my Savior and see my part in that. \u00a0But that\u2019s what we need to do. To consider God\u2019s will for our lives and how far we have fallen short. \u00a0For then our confession will be more than just words. \u00a0More than just ritual. \u00a0Come, let us return to the Lord. \u00a0And come with a penitent heart.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But please don\u2019t misunderstand. \u00a0Repentance is not about saying to God, look how repentant I am. \u00a0We earn nothing from God by our sorrow. \u00a0No, we confess, we come to God admitting a terrible need. \u00a0How did the tax collector put it in Jesus parable? \u00a0God, have mercy on me, a sinner.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And what can we know when we come? \u00a0What can we know when we return? \u00a0Not this. \u00a0I think of a judge in his courtroom. \u00a0A man is brought before him for the third time. \u00a0You\u2019re here again, Mr. Jones, I see. \u00a0I don\u2019t think that judge is minded to be merciful. \u00a0But what can we know when we come to our Lord seeking his mercy. \u00a0What can we know today as we come one more time before him? \u00a0In Jesus, God\u2019s Son, \u00a0we come before a throne of grace. \u00a0So Come, assured of God\u2019s healing, restoring love.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These words are good even though they were spoken by impenitent people. \u00a0There is real comfort here for us even though they were looking in the wrong place. \u00a0\u00a0I want to walk you through this.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He will bind up our wounds. \u00a0My wife is a wound care nurse. \u00a0She sees some badly infected wounds that need special care. \u00a0The Israelites thought their wound was what their enemies had done to their land and people. \u00a0Made their life tough. \u00a0But they should have thought of how God\u2019s law leaves us. \u00a0It lays open a gaping wound of guilt before God. Worse than any my wife sees. \u00a0But here is the comfort. \u00a0When we come, he will bind up our wounds. \u00a0Jesus will bind them up in his forgiving love. \u00a0\u00a0For by his wounds we are healed.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They also said. \u00a0God will restore us. \u00a0Again they were thinking about their country. \u00a0Peace, safety, prosperity. \u00a0It\u2019s ok to pray for such things. \u00a0But what they really needed restored was their relationship with God. \u00a0They had run that relationship over a cliff. \u00a0There may be times where it feels like we\u2019ve done the same. \u00a0There\u2019s no hope for me. \u00a0Do not be afraid. \u00a0Come. \u00a0Repent. He will restore us. \u00a0In Jesus, all can be well again.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then finally, “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.<\/span>” \u00a0 As surely as the sun, as surely as the rains The rains in Israel were a lot more reliable than ours these days. \u00a0The Lord will come. \u00a0They wanted him to come and give them victory in battle. \u00a0He\u2019s come and given us so much more. \u00a0His body and blood, his very life to bring us back to God.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So now it is my privilege to say to every repentant heart who come, who has returned. \u00a0In the name of Jesus, your sins are forgiven. \u00a0Go in peace. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text: \u00a0Hosea 5:15-6: 3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How has your week been? Some joys?\u00a0 Have there been sorrows? \u00a0Someone have a birthday here? \u00a0Was it a good one? \u00a0Any travel? How has your week been? \u00a0I got my taxes done. \u00a0I am relieved but more than relieved. Not only did I get it behind me, this year we are get a nice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":532,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531\/revisions\/532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI. \u00a0Come recognizing the nature of your sin
\nII. \u00a0Come with a penitent heart
\nIII. \u00a0Come, assured of God\u2019s healing, restoring love.<\/p>\n
\nHere you see it\u2019s nature rightly, here it\u2019s guilt may estimate
\nMark the sacrifice appointed; See who bears the awful load
\nTis the Word, the Lord\u2019s Anointed, Son of Man and Son of God
\nCW HYMN 127: 3<\/p>\n