The Wayward One

Introduction

Deep Wounds Overview

The series has included sermons dealing with forgiveness; broken sexuality; broken marriages; daddy issues; grief (loss of a loved one); addiction; infertility and losing a child. My encouragement to you is to go back and watch those other sermons and keep this series in the back of your mind because I guarantee you will meet someone who will need these sermons.

Our goal has been to get into the nitty gritty stuff of life. We wanted to open up “your business” and do our very best to speak the gospel into your life.

What happens is we have deep wounds in our lives caused by different situations and it causes us to clam up and put walls up between us and God. We want to open up the walls of our lives and together examine the gospel.

Jesus is not satisfied with leaving you alone in your wounds.

Isaiah 53:4–5 NASB95

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

Isaiah 53:4–5 ESV

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

The prophet Isaiah over 2500 years ago spoke the God’s people about how God is not satisfied with leaving people alone in their wounds.

Today we close out this sermon series but my prayer for this church is the conversation will continue. Whether it be with a Stephens minister or a woman to woman mentor or in your lifegroups, this conversation about deep wounds needs to carry on.

The Wayward One

Hosea’s Story

(ESV)

Hosea 1:2–3 NASB95

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.” So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Hosea’s Wife and Children

God tells Hosea to take for himself a wife who is a promiscuous; a wife who Hosea knows will cheat on him; she is going to walk away at some point in the relationship; yet God tells him to enter into covenant with her.

Hosea knew Gomer would be unfaithful

But not only does Hosea marry her, together they have 3 kids

Jezreel -

Hosea 1:4 ESV

And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

2nd Child - “lo-ru-hama”

Hosea 1:6 ESV

She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.

3rd Child - “Lo-ammi”

Hosea 1:9 ESV

And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”

Imagine doing a gender reveal and having a bunch of people around, next to your promiscuous wife, who everybody knows about; cutting the cake finding out it’s going to be a boy, everyone cheers and then that “one guy” asks in front of everyone, “What are you going to name him?”

Imagine dropping them off at school and making them name tags. Your kid is the super awkward kid, right!

This is a party killer! Hosea probably wasn’t thrilled about telling everyone the names of his kid he had with a prostitute. Yet this is what God commanded him to do. Hosea’s life must tell the story of the Wayward Wife; the wayward nation, the wayward person.

This whole book is about how the people of God fell away from the covenant they made with him. They fell away from relationship and gave themselves to other gods and desires.

Why the Wayward?

The minor prophets often speak to the situation of the day by referring back to a commo

God does miracles and miraculously provides for the people over and over again and all the people have to do is have faith in God and follow his word.

There are many reasons why a person falls away from the faith or live is rejection of the Gospel.

Gomer fell away from her relationship with Hosea because of her desire to pursue sexual passions. Israel likewise fell away because they followed other gods.

They became apathetic in their relationship with God and began to put their trust in other gods.

The “Nones”

20% of Americans have no religious affiliation, they are called “nones”. They aren’t necessarily atheists, in fact the vast majority claim to be spiritual. But they reject traditional religious institutions, they reject church because they don’t want to be defined by what they see the church to be.

They see the church as hungry for money and power. The church is a greedy machine seeking to gather more money for building projects and lavish living. They have been tainted by the televangelist movements that raising money while buying multiple private jets and luxury cars.

Church leaders look more like dignitaries rather than the fisherman and carpenters that started the church.

This has caused them to be apathetic, they do not care about organized religion, they don’t care about belief systems. They just want to live their lives without Christians banging on their door trying to get them into the club.

The Hurt

These are people who care, but have been severely hurt by the church. They have seen the dark underbelly of the church and have been the subject of gossip and abuse.

These are people who have been deeply hurt by the church. They have seen the dark underbelly of the church and seen how horrible Christians can be. They become disillusioned with the church and eventually walk away.

The Passionate

Those who are controlled by their passions. Those who’s desires outweigh their commitment to Christ. They marry someone of a different faith. They commit to a relationship that they know doesn’t jive with their Christian faith. They choose their passion over and against Christ.

This is the Gomer of the group. She didn’t hate Hosea, she wasn’t necessarily apathetic toward him, she followed the passions and desires of her heart.

In fact most people secretly fall into this category. They want the freedom to be able to choose whatever they want without consequence. Why can’t I have what I want? Why can’t I do the things that make me happy? I deserve to be happy so I will get what I want and not worry about the consequences.

The common denominator for all 3 of these Wayward souls is FREEDOM. Each want the ability to choose for themselves what can or can’t make them happy. They want to choose how to live their lives, they don’t want to be told by anyone, especially God how to live their lives.

Conversation with a former co-worker who challenged my pursuit of scripture. She said “I don’t let an outdated book tell me how to live my life”

“for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.” -

Romans 13:13 ESV

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

These people have seen the hypocrisy in the church. They have seen how we eat our young and gossip about one another. They hear us talk about grace yet don’t see us show it toward those who believe differently than us.

The common denominator for all 3 of these Wayward souls is FREEDOM. Each want the ability to choose for themselves what can or can’t make them happy. They want to choose how to live their lives, they don’t want to be told by anyone, especially God how to live their lives.

“for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.” - .

People are searching for freedom in any avenue they can find it. They search for it with governments; they search for it without governments. They search for it with pleasures and pursuing desires yet often times they are left wanting.

We pursue things that we think will make our lives better, we pursue things that will make us happy or fulfilled, thinking if we could just obtain that thing then I would be set.

What freedom do the Wayward pursue?

The Hurt - They pursue consistency. They want something genuine, they want something real and authentic not something that’s fake or manufactured. They want real relationships and real honesty.

God’s Desires the Wayward

God has Hosea marry a prostitute in order to show the people their sin so they would turn around and follow after him. God is trying to show the people he desires them! He wants to show mercy upon them.

Hosea 2:14–15 NASB95

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Bring her into the wilderness And speak kindly to her. “Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

Hosea 2:14–15 ESV

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

Hos 2:14

God desires that all would be saved!

1 Timothy 2:4 NASB95

who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

God desires your prodigal, he desires that person you know who has walked away from the faith or is living in rebellion against God.

Gomer was a woman who represents people who have walked away from God and have given themselves to the slavery of their own desires.

The main reason people walk away from the Lord is because they are searching for a freedom they think lies beyond Christ. They are looking for that thing, that relationship, that movement that will give them purpose, meaning, value and freedom.

The Israelites walked away from God because they followed the passions and desires of their own hearts rather than God. they turned to other gods and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator.

When people walk away from God they become mastered by something other than God. They have the illusion of freedom but the reality is something much different.

God desires the Wayward but how are we to reconcile the language of Hosea and even the other prophets?

It seems like God is a bit bi-polar. On one hand he pronounces judgment and destruction on the people but than he turns around and promises grace and forgiveness.

Hosea names his last two kids “no mercy” and “not my people”, it seems pretty clear that God is done with these guys. But then Chapter 2:23 Gods says, “I will have mercy on No mercy, and I will say to Not my people, You are my people and he will say ‘you are my God’”. Wait a minutes, which one is it? Are they or are they not God’s people? Will they or will they not receive God’s mercy?

Wait a minutes, which one is it? Are they or are they not God’s people? Will they or will they not receive God’s mercy?

We ask this question of the prodigal. Will they receive mercy? How can they turn to God when they have gone so far off track? We know God wants the Wayward but can and will he bring them back, and if so how?

God Fights for the Wayward

In the story of the prodigal son we see the perspective of the son. We are in the mind of the son. Jesus wants us to identify with one of the sons. We are either the son who has left the Fathers home or we are the son who has rejected the father while staying in the family.

Gomer pursues her idea of freedom. She pursues the things she knows and has experienced before. She walks away from covenant and gives herself to promiscuity. But in the process she becomes enslaved. We know that her pursuit of freedom has left in a state of bondage. What will Hosea do?

Gomer was enslaved by her desires, she was enslaved by the idols that brought her peace, hope and fulfillment.

How does Hosea deal with the problem? He pays her debt.

Hosea 3:1–3 ESV

And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”

Hosea 3:1-2

I can imagine Hosea walking into the brothel, rubbing shoulders of the perverts and detestable men crowded around to see the women. I can imagine his eye racing back and forth looking for his Wayward bride. He sees her in the corner, looking weary and defeated. Broken by the weight of her freedom. He cuts through the tables and sets down his payment totaling 30 pieces of silver, which was the price of a slave. Her eyes look up to see her lover standing before her, making payment for the debts she has acquired. She knows it is unearned, she knows she does not deserve the mercy or to be called his wife, but she stands up and follows him home.

Hosea doesn’t just sit by and condemn his wife, he doesn’t just sit back and wait for her to return, he goes out and fights for her.

Just as Hosea goes and gets his wife out of bandage, so Jesus came and got us from our sin and bondage.

1 Peter 3:18 NASB95

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

God has given the Wayward a way. He has provided the means for them to return home and come back to the family of God. He has revealed to us our sin and bondage and has given us a way to freedom.

Practical Application (4 points)

We fight through prayer.

Personal Story: I used to be a bad kid. I remember being in middle school, having a big head, thinking I was a big deal; and having a huge problem with my parents. I hated authority, i hated my parents, I hated alot of things. I remember telling my mom, like I had several times before, that I hated her, and I wanted to be as far away from her as I could be. I ran out of the house and got convicted by the Holy Spirit. I remember listening to the Katinas song “Thank you” and it brought me to tears. I repented to my mom and to God for the Waywardness of my behavior.

But heres the kicker, I also remember being in high school, leaving for the school but forgetting a book or something and coming home to find my parents sitting at the dining room table praying. My dad would have his glasses off with his hands covering his face and my mom the same. And let me tell you, they weren’t just praying to God, they were fighting. They were warring with the enemy over us. They were praying for our souls and our future. My parents prayed for each of my siblings and my spouses. They didn’t just pray for us they fought for us.

They fought for their kids because they serve a fighter God. They serve a God that never stops fighting for the ones he loves.

Continue to pray for the Wayward. Don’t just pray for them, fight for them. don;t just desire for them to know God, but fight for them to know God.

We fight for them through community.

You are not in this battle alone; God has enlisted brothers and sisters to come along side of you and fight. Leverage that. Invite your lifegroup and or your pastors to pray along side of you.

If you are not in a Life Group community, join one today. If you just started coming to New Life, stop by Starting Point and get to know some of the pastors and elders. Get in community so you don;t have to go at it alone.

We fight for them through staying in the Gospel

We have to fight the temptation of making them the center of our faith journey. We can get lost in our pursuit of the prodigal that they take the place of God.

This happens when our faith takes blows because we don’t see the desired results we want.

This will also keep us from hardening our hearts by comparing them to ourselves. I would never make that decision,

By staying in the gospel you will continue to grow. The wayward one needs you to grow in your faith. they need you to mature spiritually so you can better answer questions, so you can better show the love of God, so you can better share the gospel.

We fight for them through patience

Some people take time to realize what God has done for them.

some of you have loved ones in the state that Gomer was in when she walked away from Hosea. You know they are in bondage. Maybe it’s drug addiction, maybe its pornography, maybe its a relationship. Some times the hardest thing to do is wait but this might be what God requires.

We want to get in and fix all the problems, we want to make everything better. YOU ARE NOT GOD! It takes people time to recognize their bondage. Trust God and listen to His Holy Spirit and let him lead you.