Hosea 6:1-6
"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.
Matthew 9:9-13,18-26
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at
the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up
and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house,
many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his
disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why
does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing
this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I
have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said,
"My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and
she will live." Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years
came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to
herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Jesus turned and
saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you."
And the woman was healed from that moment. When Jesus entered
the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he
said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at
him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl
by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that
region.
Do you hate doing your taxes every year? Did you know that since
1969 – the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program – known
as VITA – helps Americans prepare their tax returns. Last year, more
than 72-thousand volunteers helped more than two-point-seven million
taxpayers file their forms. That works out to 36 or 37 tax forms for
each volunteer. Would we like to fill out three-dozen tax form every
year – for free?
What a mission of mercy – especially for older Americans who struggle
to keep up with the new rules and the shift toward online filing.
But if we think about it – those volunteers are sacrificing their time:
their free time or time with their families – to do this.
There are also about 750-thousand volunteer firefighters and 300
volunteer EMS workers in the United States – who give a lot of their
time and risk their lives to save other people’s lives and other people’s
property.
And this is a nod to the upcoming celebration of America’s 250 th
birthday: soldiers during the Revolutionary War were supposed to be
paid at least six dollars a month – although the fledgling Continental
Congress struggled to do THAT much.
So why did or do these people make such great sacrifices to do these
acts of mercy? I believe this is part of the ethical system that Jesus left
to His followers. This is not to say that every tax volunteer or firefighter
or EMT or Paramedic is a Christian – but Jesus casts a long shadow.
But it did not begin with Jesus – although He was the model for us.
It began with God’s message to Hosea for the people of the northern
kingdom of Israel. As we heard from several other prophets – Israel’s
leaders were making ill-conceived alliances with some of their
neighbors – although they had little choice.
Earlier in Hosea’s ministry, he declared:
“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.’”
God’s people were unfaithful in their moral obligations to God – and in
their moral responsibility to each other. In other words, their sins were
turning their backs on their neighbors and turning their faces away
from God. On top of that – they put their faith in their alliance with the
Assyrian Empire.
At the same time – they kept up their religious practices. Which were,
however, just practices. Faith was pretty much absent from the rituals,
although many of them also dabbled in Assyrian idolatry.
So the fall of Israel to the Assyrians in 721 BC was God’s indictment of
His serially faithless people. It resulted in a smaller exile than the one
that would later follow the Babylonian conquest – but it was painful.
In this midst of this awful period in Israel’s history – the voice of Hosea
calls out: “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.”
The word “return” that Hosea uses is the Hebrew word “shoov” –
which is also translated as “repent”. It expresses the motion of
turning around and heading in the opposite direction. Like going
home. Like the action of the Prodigal Son.
God did not want a lot of ceremony – which is often pious performance
masquerading as holiness. Rather, He wants transformed hearts.
As Hosea’s contemporary, Joel wrote: “Rend your hearts and not your
garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents
from sending calamity.”
Our God does not ask for religious performance or elaborate rituals or
checking off boxes of good deeds. He wants changed hearts: hearts
that love Him and long to grow closer to Him, and hearts that reach out
to others in love and mercy. He asks us for hearts that mirror His.
This is where the Pharisees were so wrong in criticizing Jesus for
eating with tax collectors and other so-called “sinners” at Matthew’s
home. Jesus was offering these outcasts a chance to have new lives –
free from guilt and shame – and freedom to bless others with their
honest dealings.
On the other hand, the Pharisees saw this fraternizing as corrupting
Jesus. After all, didn’t our parents warn all of us, “If you lie down with
dogs, you’ll get up with fleas!”?
The challenge is that our rituals can be detached from our hearts and
much of our charity has less to do with our love for people who
struggle than it does with easing our own feelings of guilt.
The people of Israel were simply going through the motions – bringing
animals for sacrifices and keeping feasts and fasts – but their daily
lives were full of injustice, deceit, and empty devotion. God refers to
their so-called loyalty as "a morning mist." Sacrifice that does not
include a transformed life is actually an insult to God.
Have you ever tried fasting during Lent or on Good Friday? I’ve done
it several times – hoping that God would be impressed – or that God
would use it to humble me … The problem is that my rumbling
stomach kept my mind on how much time remained until I could
resume eating, rather than reorienting my priorities.
The problem with that practice for so many people is that they are
looking at it from the point of view of sacrifice – rather than the point of
view of mercy. The first focuses on rules and requirements and how
we look to others. That can lead to pride and even judgement.
The second focuses on people and transformation and grace toward
others – which leads to love and community.
Way, way back in 2005 – Chris Rice released his sixth contemporary
Christian album, “Amusing” – which included a track called “Love Like
Crazy.” I mention it because it pretty well sums up what we are talking
about this morning – which is the beautiful Hebrew word hesed – a
word that is used for God’s covenant-keeping love for us.
I heard a rumor
That love will make you crazy
Well, is it true?
Well, that's no rumor
Look at the crazy things
That love made Jesus do
Well, the friends He chose
Were thought to be outrageous
And you could even find Him
Touching the contagious,
And the craziest is how
He chose to save us, save us
He gave His life away
Then He had to go and say
"Got to love the same way
That I love you"
In that covenant of love we find loyalty, compassion, forgiveness,
healing, and wholeness. God wants us to love Him with the best
version of ourselves that we can muster – which, by the way,
will always fall short. But if we do it out of covenantal love for Him,
it will bring joy to God’s heart. Amen.