Call to Come Home

So number nine, the call today is to return home. Grandma's at the house. It's time to come home. So hear this. If you are wandered, Christ has sought you. If you have stumbled, Christ has carried you. If you have sinned, Christ has borne it. If you're weary, Christ is your rest. Your iniquity is not pending review. It's been nailed to a cross. Your condemnation is not suspended. It has been removed. Your place in the father's house is not prohibitionary. It's secured by the blood of the son who sealed it in the empty tomb. [00:41:26] (57 seconds)  #ComeHomeToJesus

He is torn so we are healed. He is struck down so we are bound up. He is raised so we are raised with him. The third day, Jesus becomes the third day for every sinner who returns. Christianity is not advice on how to climb back to God. It's an announcement that God descended to death, crushed it, and walked about out with the keys. You're not coming home to try harder. You're coming home to live with the living God, Christ himself, who's already secured your place in the home. [00:28:45] (39 seconds)  #ResurrectionRescues

He carries the wrath that you and I earned. And at the cross, the full weight of that rebellion, it did not get minimized, but it got punished on Jesus. And this is why Jesus says, it is finished. Finished means finished. The debt is not negotiable but the debt is cancelled. Colossians, Paul writes, cancel the record of debt now in it, where? To the cross on Christ. That is objective truth. You understand? If forgiveness is objective, then the return is not about negotiating terms with God, or if I feel forgiven or not. It is in Christ you are. You are forgiven. [00:37:19] (59 seconds)  #DebtCancelledInChrist

And so when the idols fail you, that is mercy. When the sin leaves you empty, that is mercy. When self sufficiency collapse, that is mercy. See, if God left you drift without any consequences, that would be judgment. If he disrupts you, he confronts you, he unsettles you, that is love. Hebrews twelve six eight says, for the Lord disciplines the ones he loves. Perhaps some of you feel unsettled right now. That may not be a coincidence. The tearing that's going on in your life is not to destroy you, it is to detach you from what is destroying you. [00:25:47] (52 seconds)  #DisciplineIsMercy

Notice God does not say, return once you feel bad enough. It says return. It is his initiative to us. He is initiating his relationship to us again. And this tells us something rather foundational about God. God's first move towards sinners is not abandonment. Hey, you're too much trouble. You're a headache. You're in pain. I'm done with you. No. It's a summons to his very presence. But if we're going to get to hear the comfort, we must not soften the diagnosis because the invitation only makes sense when we understand the wound. [00:24:02] (47 seconds)  #GodInitiatesReturn

This is not about a spiritual self improvement or emotional encouragement, it's about this proclamation that Christ has lived the obedience you failed to live. Christ has died to death you deserve to die and Christ has risen secure which you could never earn. So in Christ, your iniquity is removed. In Christ, your debt is cancelled. In Christ, the father does not just tolerate you, he delights in you. In Christ, you're not trying to get home, you are home. So rest. Last in his grace and mercy, let him bind you, let him revive you, restore you. [00:40:30] (55 seconds)  #YouAreHomeInChrist

This is not a cattle call but intensely personal call. Come to me. Hosea says, return. And Jesus says, come. Come to the father. The burden he addresses is not just, hey, life is stressful. No. It is a burden of sin. The burden of trying to justify yourself. The burden of trying to prove your worth to you, to the world, or to God, the burden of religious performance. And here's the scandal. He does not say prove yourself worthy. He simply says, come. [00:35:33] (45 seconds)  #JustComeToJesus

So let me challenge you gently but clearly. Drifting really announces itself. In fact, drifting often feels like maturity at first. Then it becomes numb. And then it becomes a quiet resentment. And our heart starts to pull away while we still do activities. And then it becomes anger. See, the call is not to try harder. The call is to return. It's not to church programs, but to Christ, the first love to the God who saves you and continues to save you. [00:39:36] (55 seconds)  #ReturnToFirstLove

So verse two, he says, take with you words and return to the Lord. Take with you words, not excuses, not explanations, not comparisons, your words, your confession. See, this is where pride dies. Confession is not emotional drama. It's agreeing with God. I was wrong. You were right. And this is the doorway. And so, as Isaiah says, tell him, take away all iniquity. Take away all my sin. Say it. [00:32:47] (43 seconds)  #BringYourConfession

Hosea calls out this reality of faith. He says, for he has torn us that he may heal us. He has struck us down and he will bind us up. That words to our ears almost sounds like a foreign language. The God we know says, love you, inspires us, makes us feel good, says you're okay, I will bless you, and you have more stuff to make your life filled with joy and ease. The tearing is not cruelty. The tearing is clarity. God is like a master surgeon who is cutting away the cancer within for us to heal. [00:24:51] (55 seconds)  #TornToBeHealed

See, the resurrection means this, there's no distance too far, No sin too heavy. No drift too quiet. Because death itself could not hold him. If death's enough cannot hold him, then neither can your guilt, your drift, your shame, or your past hold you. But before the resurrection can comfort us, sin must be named. Number four, we are why we must return. Hosea fourteen one says, return, and then it goes on, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. [00:29:24] (43 seconds)  #NoDistanceTooFar

Because when your child is in trouble, the first priority is not discipline, it's proximity. You could deal with the consequences later. You cannot fix what happens if they stay where they are and they get hurt. And here's what I want you to hear before we go any further. God has a code phrase two and it's return. Come. Not when you're cleaned up, not when you figured it all out, not when you feel spiritual again, just come home. [00:19:17] (41 seconds)  #ComeNowNotLater

And Hosea is not speaking to unbelievers or pagans. He's speaking to people who know the songs, who know the prayers, who still know their identity, but somewhere along the way, their hearts drifted. And maybe that's more dangerous distance than we think. Not rebellion, but drift. And into that drift, God does not thunder destruction. He says, come, let us return to the Lord. That is not weakness. That is covenant love hesseth. [00:19:58] (50 seconds)  #ReturnFromDrift

No matter what, both lead to bondage. Just one is easier to conceal. And so Hosea is speaking to that second kind. Israel was not atheist. They know their identity, their religion. They were unfaithful. They had not abandoned religion but they had abandoned the Lord. They are lukewarm giving lip service to God where their hearts are devoted to the world. And so you expect, especially in the mind of old testament, that that kind of distance to God, you would expect judgment. And yet, what do we see here? You get invitation. [00:23:08] (46 seconds)  #InvitationNotCondemnation

I mean, think about it. We bristle when our children ignore us, dismiss us, or use us only when they need something. And yet, how often do we treat the father the same way? God is the emergency room we run to, then we get better, and then we go away. Isaiah fifty three six says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. Coming home begins with naming it. We have wanted our own way and here is where the gospel becomes a little offensive here. See, you can't fix this on your own. You can't outgrow it. You can't manage it. [00:30:55] (68 seconds)  #YouCantSaveYourself

Notice, Hosea doesn't leave room for excuses. We can't blame it on stress, trauma, a misunderstanding, our spouse, or even a cat. We stumble because of iniquity. Sin is not a weakness. It's a selfish revolt against the holy God almighty and our father in heaven. It chew it's us choosing autonomy over trust, control, over surrender, me over thee. And the tragedy is, not only that we rebel, is that we become enslaved to what we have chosen. [00:30:07] (48 seconds)  #SinEnslaves

It's funny. We come to churches and we can argue about worship styles. We can critique the music. We can evaluate the preaching, but we rarely fall on our knees. See, the issue is not that style, not how I feel after the service. It's pride. The issue is not excellence. It's repentance. The words of confession to your sin. So what does God desire more than a church have a crowd? A broken heart that knows and needs him. [00:33:43] (48 seconds)  #RepentanceOverPreference

A contrite heart is is broken to the point that it now becomes in sync with God's word. And it realizes how far it's drifted, how far it's fallen, and the need, the poverty it has, and the need of God's grace, and rescue, and mercy. But don't get mistaken, confession doesn't earn mercy. Confession receives it. God is ready to give and so we return to him. And then Jesus speaks these words. Number six, hear words of life. [00:34:47] (39 seconds)  #ConfessionReceivesMercy

And more often than not, it's a painful time of waiting on the Lord, sitting in the muck while his discipline brings our heart, our devotion back to him. I realize this doesn't fit our very comfort driven spirituality, but it fits scripture. It fits the way God actually saves sinners. And yet, we resist discipline. We prefer, momentum, growth, affirmation, celebration. But without repentance, churches don't go deeper, they go hollow. This discipline is not forever though and it has a purpose. And that purpose is to lead us to new life. [00:26:38] (63 seconds)  #DisciplineLeadsToLife

This is not some poetic optimism. This is prophetic certainty. Israel could not raise itself. It could not revive itself. You and I cannot revive and raise ourselves. The church cannot program revival into existence. Dead hearts do not self erect. But on the third day, Christ walked out of tomb, not metaphorically, not spiritually, but physically and historically, irreversibly. And here's the heart of it. Hosea spoke of us and Jesus fulfilled it himself. [00:27:55] (50 seconds)  #ResurrectionIsReal