OUR LORD DESIRES MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE
Hosea 5:15-6:6 - June 20, 2004 - PENTECOST 3
HOSEA 5:15-6:6
15Then 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."
61 "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.
2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
3Let 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.
5Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.
6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
Hypocrisy is a very dangerous and infectious disease. Hypocrisy means saying one thing and doing another or saying one thing and believing another. It’s a dangerous and infectious disease because it infects and affects each one of us from one time to another. It is an age-old problem for God’s people sometimes came to the temple just to worship out of a sense of duty. They came to offer sacrifices as an obligation. They came to do worship to just get it over and done with. God’s people had forgotten that love of God that was to motivate them to show their love to the Lord. The simple fact is when Jesus came and lived on the earth, he ran into that very same problem. Jesus came to the Scribes and Pharisees who were the religious leaders of the day and who were trained in religion and righteousness. Yet, they too liked to follow the law so much that they forgot the Lord’s Gospel of love and forgiveness. Finally, the Lord Jesus had to look at them and say: "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ’These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’" (MATTHEW 15:7,8). The prophet Hosea talks about that very same problem in our text today. The hearts of the children of Israel were far from the Lord. So Hosea comes to the conclusion, as he reminds them and reminds us today as our theme:
OUR LORD DESIRES MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE. This divine mercy is --
I. Not with just a mere lip service
II. Which is seen in our faithful lives
I. MERCY – NOT WITH A LIP SERVICE
Hosea, who was a minor prophet, comes with the same message that the major prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah did. He came with a message of warning for repentance, because the children of Israel once again had slid into the valley of disobedience. They were turning away from the Lord instead of toward him. The Lord was gong to give them one more chance. The Lord says, "Here is my prophet." The Lord is coming to the end of his patience for them. 4"What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? In other words, "What can I do with you Israelites? What can I do with you my chosen people? My children, you do not listen." Hosea says that in the next verse: 5Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth. Over and over, the Lord had sent his prophets to his people and told them, "Turn away from those false gods." Over and over, the Lord had sent warnings to them and said they were going to be forsaken. God said they would be killed with his words and finally he said: My judgments flashed like lightning upon you. The Lord raised up throughout their history enemies who would defeat them. This was God’s judgment against their disobedience. This was God’s judgment against their unfaithfulness. Finally, as Hosea says, the Lord says, "What am I going to do?"
Then the Lord tells the people why he is at the end of his patience. The Lord tells them the problem that lies in their hearts. 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. The original has "mercy" for "their love" which is short-lived. God describes it like the morning mist which is blown away with the first breath of wind. God describes it like the early dew which disappears with the first rays of the sun. The Lord says that is their love, a love which is not a lasting love but is only an outward show. It is only a lip service. Then he comes to that conclusion which is our main thought today. The Lord says: 6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. Over and over the children of Israel had come with their sense of duty to offer sacrifices. They had come to temple as an obligation to offer burnt offerings, and they simply had forgotten about God’s mercy. The Lord speaks the same warning to us today. He says, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." It is easy for us to become distracted in this world. It becomes easy for us to think we too need to come and worship as a sense of duty or an obligation or as something we have to get out of the way. Worship can become meaningless because we are connected very closely with our sinful nature. We are born with a sinful nature that stands, not in a neutral position, but as an enemy of God. So at every turn and corner, it tries to make that which God wants us to do seem like something that is just our duty. Of course, Satan tempts us and distracts us, as does the world in which we live. This sickness and disease of hypocrisy infects us all. The Prophet Ezekiel says: "My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain" (EZEKIEL 33:31). Who among us at times haven’t been distracted, thinking of other things rather than just God’s Word during worship? Who of us haven’t been greedy for unjust gain? We may think that we are not greedy. We might think that we are not like everyone else in this world, but we are. When we look at our lives, we realize that sometimes our worship is a mere lip service. We can open up the bulletin and see what we need for our offerings, and we don’t meet that need every week. We are kind of greedy for unjust gain in other words.
The Lord says, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." The problem is that we don’t spend all of our week sitting here in the pew being blessed by the preaching of God’s Word and the singing of hymns. Week after week we leave the comfort of our church and our pew and we go out and we live in this world. We spend much of our waking day among those who care little or nothing about God and Christian values. Because of that, our lives are infected. The Lord Jesus used the very simple parable of the seed and sower to explain the influence of the world. Then for us to understand it, Jesus explained it. "The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature" (LUKE 8:14). When we look at our life, we have to admit from time to time we have been choked out by the worries of this life just wondering if the Lord even remembers us. Then the word of God does not mature in us. Maybe from time to time or even right now, we are worried about making ends meet. The deceitfulness of wealth or as Jesus calls it, "the pleasures of this world," causes God’s word not to mature. We rejoice today that we are here to be reminded that, indeed, the Lord does desire mercy and not sacrifice. He desires not just our lips but also our hearts and our lives.
Sadly, we know as the world goes around year after year, there are many who don’t grow closer to God; but just the opposite, they run farther away. The Lord reminds us that the world will grow even more evil before the Day of Judgment. Sadly, then some like the children of Israel follow other gods; and that word of God is choked out completely. Paul wrote to Titus: "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good" (TITUS 1:16). May that never happen to any of us gathered here today. We see it in the world around us. Many claim to know God, but their actions show something different. Many claim to be a Christian; and yet, their lives reflect Satan.
The Lord says to them, as he also reminds us, he desires mercy, not sacrifice, not just a mere lip service but faithful lives.
II. MERCY – WITH FAITHFUL LIVES
It was a last chance here for the children of Israel. Time and again, the Lord had warned his people. God had sent them prophets to turn them from the false gods. He had sent them judgments. Now they are in the Promised Land, and they had another chance to repent. They knew of repentance. As Hosea chapter 6 starts: 61 "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. Of course, they look at the Lord and blame him for hurting them when he had not; but they also understood that he was able to heal them. Their God was able to help them only if they would turn.
3Let us acknowledge the LORD. 2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. It reminds us about the Lord’s resurrection when after three days, he was restored to life and the tomb was empty. These people would say: "The Lord will restore us." They knew God’s mercy and that it wasn’t just a hit and miss prospect. His mercy did not depend on them and their obedience – as they often disobeyed. Listen to how they describe the mercy of God and his forgiveness: 3Let 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." Just as day chases away night, just as rain waters the earth, that is how sure and certain is the Lord’s love. He comes to his people time and time again to show his people his mercy that they might live in the joy of God’s salvation. These were the words of warning. These were the words of encouragement from Hosea the Prophet.
As our text began, what does he say about all of this? He writes: 15Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. The Lord was waiting for them to repent, because they had followed false gods and had forgotten the Lord. The Israelites had often merely offered sacrifices out of a sense of duty and obligation. So Hosea waits for their repentance. Hosea continues: And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me. As we come to the end of these words and read the rest of the story, we find that the children of Israel did not repent at this warning. The children of God did not understand this mercy instead of sacrifice. The Lord raised up enemies against them once again. They were taken away as slaves never to be returned to the Promised Land. As slaves in a foreign land, just as Hosea said: And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me." They had dwelt in the Promised Land. They forgot the Lord. They were taken away as captives. They remembered how good it had been. The Lord desired mercy, not sacrifice. They finally remembered the Lord in their misery.
Today, we do not have to wait until the Lord takes us to some miserable place; so that in our misery, we cry, "Oh Lord, help us." But today, and each and every day, we can recall for ourselves how much the Lord loves us. God loves us more than we love him, and we rejoice. God loves us more than we can imagine, and we are comforted and encouraged. We don’t deserve the Lord’s love. We sin daily and sin much. Yet, as sure as the sun rises, that is how sure we are of the Lord’s love and forgiveness for us. Listen to Lamentations: "Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (LAMENTATIONS 3:22,23). The Lord is faithful even when we are unfaithful. The Lord love even when we do not care to love. The Lord obedient to all of his promises even, and in spite of the fact, that we are disobedient.
How great is the love the Lord lavishes on us day after day, because he delights to show us mercy. Oh, we know that sometimes we wonder with the world and how it is today when the Lord will return. We wonder how soon Jesus will come back as the righteous Judge. None of us know. We pray for that that Jesus would come quickly. But the Lord reminds us today that he is also patient, for the Lord doesn’t want to see anyone perish. God did not want to pronounce judgment on these children of Israel, but they would not listen. They did not listen, and they turned away from him. So they turned away from God’s blessings, and God turned his blessings away from them. But we are comforted in the fact that the Lord delights to show us his mercy. He is patient. 2 Peter tells us: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 PETER 3:9). We begin to understand when the Lord says, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." The Lord desires mercy because he has shown us mercy. Jesus has also shown us love. Jesus has also shown us compassion. Jesus has even shown us forgiveness. The list goes on.
Because of that, we are anxious then to live our lives as shining lights in a sin-darkened world. We are anxious to live our lives, not because we are under compulsion --- not as a sense of duty --- or an obligation, a feeling that we must do it --- but as a response to God’s love for us. So we come to worship, not just because we have to, but because we want to. That is the new man in us defeating our sinful nature. We realize then, as we sit here and are encouraged and strengthened in our faith, that our worship is not just Sunday morning; but our worship becomes our way of life. From Romans we read: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship" (ROMANS 12:1). The Lord reminds us we can live as believers in this world. This is our spiritual worship.
Believers can do what is right, even though people around us do what is wrong. Christians can stand up for what God says is right, even though people might deny God’s sovereign will. This is our spiritual worship. This is what it means when the Lord desires mercy, not sacrifice. Our loving Lord reminds us today to not just go through the motions but to be dedicated to the Lord in our worship, not just with our lips but in our lives, not just on Sunday but hour by hour, day by day, year after year. In Hebrews we are told this: "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (HEBREWS 13:15,16). The Lord desires mercy, not sacrifice, not just words from our lips but actions from our hearts and in our lives, a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us all. Amen. Timm O. Meyer
