Grace Calls for a Return

EXCITE

We sing songs of grace…

“Grace, grace, God’s grace…”

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…”

“Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus…”

Yet, we might read in Hosea and think God’s grace is gone. Chapter 12 brings it to the forefront and reminds us how necessary grace is as we hear from and respond to God.

EXPLORE

The Call: Return to God

Head

Remember God’s gracious dealings (v.2-5)

God brings His charges once again, and He’s about to punish them because of what they’ve done. What we need to to understand about this is that God doesn’t arbitrarily bring down lightening bolts based on how He feels that day. When judgment comes, it’s justly earned.

However, there is more to the story than mere judgment. Hosea actually recounts a bit of Israel’s—referred to as Jacob in verse 3—history. And, it’s this history that gives the people hope in their repentance.

He reminds them of how Jacob’s story is a story of both deception and blessing, contention and grace. His name means “deceiver,” and even when he’s born, he’s holding on to his twin brothers heel. He even fought (NLT) with God.

But, he was also a child of promise, and God’s grace was with him even before he was born, even before he’d done anything good or bad. He even wept and pleaded with God to be blessed. He sought God’s favor and even spoke with God “face to face” (NLT).

If we’re honest about this forefather of the faith, we’d have to say there was quite a bit that he actually got wrong, yet God’s blessing and favor were with him. Why? Because God is full of grace.

Last week, Bro. Kyle reminded us God’s tender mercy, and here we get the opposite side of the same coin: God is gracious and He absolutely gives us blessings that we do not deserve. He did that with Jacob, even changing his name to Israel and making him the father of the entire nation. And, he did that with Israel as a whole (see Hos.11:1, 3).

This grace is meant to fuel our repentance. This reminder that God has been good to us and called us to Himself even when there was nothing in us but sinful rebellion serves as the basis for His call to repent.

The heart of repentance (v.6)

We get to verse 6, and God’s call to repent, even in the middle of all of the announcements of judgment, comes like sweet music to the ears. The Message says, “What are you waiting for? Return to your God!” This is how we know we will be greeted, with His mercy and His grace. He calls us to return, to repent, and He even tells us what this repentance should look like.

It depends on God’s grace. Grace has been the constant theme throughout the first part of this passage, and the ESV says “by the help of your God, return.” There’s a beautiful dance that happens between the responsibility of Israel to repent and the fact that God is the One who enables that response. It’s not our effort, it’s our dependence on God.

Repentance pursues love and justice. This is such a solid reminder that repentance is more than just saying I’m sorry. It’s a course correction. It’s turning from the false ‘gods’ that run our life and turning to God first and then the life He calls us to, a life of love and a life of justice, which is genuinely caring for the down-and-out, the vulnerable people in society.

Repentance faithfully perseveres. I think Hebrews 12 captures this idea best: fix your eyes on Jesus and chase Him with perseverance all the days of your life!

Here is stated simply: trust God’s grace to give you strength, follow His ways, and do it every day of your life!

Heart

The story of Jacob reminds us that God's grace is greater than our failures, and His goodness is never an excuse to keep on sinning. The same grace that welcomes us back to God is the grace that calls us to change.

Maybe you’ve wandered from God. Maybe you’ve been trying to manage life in your own strength. Maybe you’ve grown comfortable with a sin you’ve learned to excuse. Whatever the case, God is calling your to return. Don’t run. And, don’t abuse His grace. Come back in true repentance.

Hands

So, what’s your next step? Maybe this morning you need to remember the grace that called you in the first place. Or, maybe God is calling you to lay something down. You’re worried or you think you’ve got to get cleaned up first and then come to God.

He takes you as you are. That’s why the first part of repentance is to simply trust Him.

Or maybe this morning, it’s time to work through this repentance pattern:

Depend on His grace. Stop trying to overcome sin in your own strength. Confess your need for His help and ask Him to change your heart.

Practice His ways. What area do you need to turn from in order to begin loving others and looking out for the hurting in society? Who do you need to forgive? Is there a wrong to make right? A person who needs your help?

Persevere in faith. Don’t treat repentance as an event, but more like a lifestyle. It’s a daily pattern of prayer, surrender, and obedience.

The Obstacle: Recognize our Sin

Head

Dishonesty replaces justice (v.7)

Israel is compared to a merchant who sells from dishonest scales. If they’re buying, the scale is light. If they’re selling, the scale is heavy. Either way, they’re ripping people off. And, what’s interesting here is that Hosea uses the word “Canaan” in Hebrew, using it in its strict, lexical meaning. But, it’s almost impossible to miss the insult. He’s telling the people you act just like Canaanites, a pagan nation.

And, this actually abandons what God had called them to. They’re not showing justice. They’re practicing oppression, taking advantage of people to pad their own pockets.

Self-sufficiency replaces dependence (v.8)

Apparently, they’re pretty good at it, too. They boast to themselves, “Look, I’m rich! I’ve made it big!” They’re bewitched by the own success. You know, that’s the sneaky seduction of success: we assume we’re self-sufficient. And, when we think we’re capable of taking care of ourselves all by ourselves, our need for God goes out the window.

To top it off, they’re self-sufficiency leads to arrogant pride. They think they’re sin is hidden in the dark. They say, “No one has caught me cheating! There’s not a sign of sin.”

God’s judgment exposes the truth (v.9)

Verse 9 comes in, however, with a sober reminder that God sees everything. Nothing escapes His watchful eye. How do we know He sees the sin they think they’ve been so careful to hide? He says He’s bringing judgment. Essentially, He tells the people, “As it was when you were wandering in the wilderness under My judgment, so shall it be again when I cause you to loose your land and send you to wander once again.”

Heart

One of the most dangerous things about sin is that it rarely announces itself as rebellion. We justify it.We minimize it. We compare ourselves to people who are worse than we are. And before long, we can become so comfortable with our sin that we no longer recognize it for what it is.

If we’re successful, it can be even worse, because we excuse or ignore conviction thinking that what we’re doing is okay because clearly God is blessing us.

The truth, though, is that even if we can fool others…even if we’ve deceived ourselves…God sees what others, even what we can’t see ourselves. He brings it to light not to threaten us but because He is gracious and kind and warns us so we will turn to Him.

Hands

Pray Psalm 139:23–24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

Then, examine your heart. Are there places where you’ve made excuses for attitudes and actions that God calls sin? Or, maybe there are areas you’ve ignored conviction and it’s time to listen to the Spirit.

The Warning: Remember the Consequences

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God has spoken through the prophets (v.10)

Israel can’t cry ignorance. God has spoken through the prophets giving His people a clear picture of the way things are. Israel is without excuse.

Here’s the thing about God’s word, too. It was meant to make them wise, to give them understanding. It was meant to lead them to worship with reverential awe. They were supposed to take this word and pass it on to their kids and teach them to do the same. But, God’s people chose to not listen to the God who speaks!

Sin has multiplied in stubborn rebellion (v.11)

Instead of listening to God’s instruction, they multiplied their sin instead. Gilead was rampant with religious scandal and Gilgal was running wild with empty-headed religion.

He says their altars were heaped up on the side of the road like the edges of a plowed field. Some of y’all will remember driving through St. Joe after Hurricane Michael, how all of the roads were lined 6…8…10 feet high with debris. That’s what I think of here—altars piled high all along the road, burning meaningless sacrifices to nothing gods.

God’s grace was met with provocation (v.12-14)

So Hosea returns again to Jacob, and again God’s grace takes center stage. Jacob’s story and Israel’s story…they run in parallel. Jacob went to Aram for refuge and to find a wife. He ended up being fooled, stuck there as a servant for years. Same for Israel. They fled to Egypt to find refuge in the middle of a famine, and they ended up in bondage for generations. Who delivered them both? It was God. God went before Jacob, delivered him from service to Laban and gave him favor with his brother Esau when he returned. And, God delivered Israel and guarded His people by the prophet Moses.

God’s grace. Over and over again, expressed in a multitude of ways, God’s grace has rescued His people. But, notice the end. Gone are the familial words…husband, father, child. Instead, his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him. Grace has been met with disgraceful deeds and bitter provocation. The warnings have been ignored for long enough. It is time for the Lord to repay.

Heart

How many of your grew up in Florida, or you’ve at least lived here most of your memorable life?

In Florida, hurricane warnings are par for the course. Most every year we watch the weather channel a little more diligently because something’s brewing somewhere. And, we hear the warnings—now’s the time to evacuate, if you’re living in x-y-z, you need to leave. We get so accustomed to hearing the warnings that we…quite frankly…learn to ignore them.

Then 2018 came. Michael blew through in a terrifying fury, and it forever changed, at least for me, the way I view and hear warning calls.

Hands

Friends, we cannot deafen our hearts to God’s conviction. That’s His warning sirens! But, how good we become at learning to listen to voices other than His?! How good have we become at silencing His voice because we don’t want the hassle of heeding the warning?!

We must, we must, we MUST learn to walk in step with the Spirit. Listen to His voice before devastation strikes.

Do you read your Bible and pray with an open heart? Are you listening? Are you eager for God to speak?

EXPERIENCE

Did you gather together this morning expecting God to move? Expecting to hear either a song of encouragement or instruction? Expecting the Spirit to open your heart to receive His truth? Expecting God’s Word to bring life?

Did you gather with a willing heart?

Maybe the answer is no, but God is still speaking. Such is his grace. So, what are you going to do now? What’s your step of obedience today?

Maybe it’s learning to hear the warning. You’re so good at ignoring the warning that you need God to shake you out of this sleep-walking Christianity you’ve been practicing because there’s a storm on the horizon.

Maybe you hear the warning, so today’s about dealing with the obstacle—that sin you’ve ignored too long. God is pressing this thing on your heart, and justification no longer works.

Maybe today is the day your cast yourself on His grace and kindness.

I’m not sure what your next step is, but I can promise you this: if God is speaking to you this morning, He wants you to do something about it. If He’s speaking, the right response isn’t to put it aside but to walk in obedience. Let’s pray.