6-07-2026

“JESUS RETURNS TO US!”

Text: Hosea 5:15- 6:6 – Pentecost 2

Sunday June 7, 2026

Trinity - Creston

         Grace, mercy, and peace is yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

       Our text for this Second Sunday after Pentecost is the OT Lesson that were just proclaimed.

Let Us Pray:  Dearest Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to remind us that even when we stop coming to you, you graciously keep coming to us.  Amen.

Dear Fellow Redeemed in Christ:

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” Though we would never say it, we secretly believe the answer is “me,” or at least partially. Otherwise, we wouldn’t protest so much when things don’t go our way in life, thinking that we deserve better.

The wicked queen in Snow White’s story falsely believes that she’s the most beautiful woman in the world. Yet her internal ugliness, due to a dark pride, is eventually revealed in a physical manifestation as an ugly witch. We are like that. We aren’t as spiritually attractive as we think. Our good works are still corrupted, filthy rags, from our chasing after gods we love more than the Lord—like our own desires. In ways we don’t even realize until we take a long look in the mirror of God’s Law, we’ve left our good, holy, perfect Lord. When we stare at ourselves in that mirror with honest eyes and humble heart, we’re confronted with the face of a sinful witch.

But unlike that witch in Snow White, we have hope. We are turned from our image to gaze into a better mirror. In our text, through the prophet Hosea, God says that when we repent, we will seek his face. When we do, the face of our beautiful Savior stares back at us. “Come, let us return to the Lord,” Hosea says (6:1).

Return to the Lord,
for Though Our Love Is Anything but Steadfast,
the Lord Returns to Us.

  I.   How are we prevented from returning to the Lord?

A.    When we trust in our works, exposing how we’ve left God for other loves.

1.     In Hosea’s day:

a.     The book of Hosea contains the account of God telling the prophet to marry Gomer, a prostitute, who very soon left him. Imagine if you were told to marry someone like that!

b.     Israel’s worship was like leaving a husband for another lover. They worshiped false gods made by their own hands—an egoistic staring at oneself in admiration, loving oneself. Even when their sacrifices were directed to the true God, they were rejected because they weren’t sincere but arose from an impure and self-righteous heart.

2.     As individuals today:

a.     We leave God for our own gods—often in self-love and pride. We attribute our personal successes and spiritual victories to our own achievements and hard work.

b.     We try to earn God’s favor by offering our good works, buying his blessing by our sacrifices. That’s leaving God for self-love too.

3.     As a community today:

a.     As a church, we’ve left God for idols we love, revealed in our boasts: “We built this church with our own hands.” “We achieved this or that by our programs, our imagination, our hard labor.” Sometimes these “successes” come at the expense of God’s Holy Word, as we take liberties in doctrine and practice, including ungodly innovations in worship.

b.     We may have orthodox practices but understand them in subtly perverted ways. We might become theological snobs, arrogantly boasting in our works—perhaps that we do everything in worship “the right way.”

4.     Consequences then and today:

a.     Israel’s love for God evaporates like a passing cloud or the morning dew (6:4). By leaving what is like a marriage vow and our husband’s happy household, we now suffer the consequences of his absence, deserving only punishment. Hosea rebukes us for ignoring the cutting and healing words of his mouthpieces, refusing to repent (6:5).

b.     The repercussions: We deprive ourselves of God’s presence. God hides himself from us until we confess our guilt (5:15). We then do no acts of mercy, because we’ve cut ourselves off from the source of real love.

c.     Yet the affliction we deserve God will use to bring his beloved Bride back to seek him.

Transition: Israel’s arrogant response to the rebuke of God’s prophet is “Show me the evidence God is angry and not impressed with us! Life is good. We’re rich and successful.” Imagine a cheating spouse who thinks his or her partner has neither noticed nor cares because he or she hasn’t yet produced any documentation of divorce. That’s like what can also prevent us from returning to the Lord:

B.    When we live by sight, exposing how we’ve left God for other loves.

1.     In Hosea’s day: The reign of Jeroboam II was comfortable. Rebellious Israel was deceived by what they saw, thinking God was pleased with them, preventing them from listening to divine prophecies.

2.     As individuals today: We believe we’re blessed when life is good, pain-free, filled with success and riches. But the theology of the cross teaches us that true blessedness is hidden, and judgments are governed by God’s Word. Believing God is pleased with what he sees in us and our works is staring into the mirror of the Law but not allowing it to convict us of our sins (lex semper accusat). Instead, we stare at ourselves in the mirror with delusional admiration, persuaded that a beautiful bride stares back at us.

3.     As a community today: We may experience growth in our church membership by compromising doctrine to attract the crowds. Perhaps we believe God has abandoned us if membership has shrunk, falling back on our reason instead of the Lord’s promises. This amounts to a faithless idolizing of congregational goals.

4.     Consequences then and today: The unfaithfulness of Israel, as a body and as individuals, was punished by afflictions later in its history. Also, their impure, faithless hearts resulted in impure fruits: neglecting the poor, hurting, and oppressed. God punishes us likewise. We receive the judgment we deserve.

Transition: Yet there’s hope for us who’ve left our Lord. By repentance and belief in true doctrine, we return to the Lord who comes to us in mercy. Ultimately, that means accepting the sacrifice our Messiah made for our sin (Mt 9:13). Driven by unconditional grace and eternal steadfast love, perfectly holy Jesus Christ robes you in his righteousness, purchased for you at Calvary, handed to you in Holy Baptism, an eternal wedding gown that covers all spiritual filth. Hosea hints at this New Testament promise with references to the third day (6:2) and a restored relationship before Yahweh through the afflictions of a Messiah. Jesus’ beauty becomes hidden on the cross, through the very act of taking on our ugliness of sin and death (2 Cor 5:21). Whether in good times or bad, success or failure, we are his beloved, beautiful in his sight. When we believe that, God is then compared to rain watering the desert soil of our soul as individuals and a body (6:3).

  II.  How does God keep returning to us?

A. When we live by faith, embracing our Lord’s purity and salvation.

1.     In Hosea’s day: It takes Israel some time before believing the word of their pastor. They remain stricken under the judgment of God whether they feel it or not. They need healing despite not feeling the symptoms of their sinful disease, rebellion. It’s a healing God is eager to grant (6:1) due to what he would do so mercifully in the coming of his anointed sacrifice for sin.

2.     Individual faith today: “Return to the Lord” (6:1). God calls for individual repentance as a condition of personal healing from sin by our Savior. He was torn up for us on the cross, wounded for our transgressions, “smitten, stricken, and afflicted” on Calvary, yet risen in victory on the third day. He is the only sacrifice and burnt offering that appeases our heavenly Father. Because he takes away our guilt, all temporal punishment and discipline is used by God to deepen our relationship with him. In spite of appearances, we are blessed. Con­sider Gomer: Logic defies such a marriage between the pure and impure, but God does things differently. His ways are often hidden, but always good.

3.     Communal confession of faith today: We of the church are a harlot by nature but redeemed by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus. Believing our Lord remains faithful to us (2 Tim 2:13) sustains us in congregational struggles and puts our visible victories in heavenly perspective. In him as a body, we have ascended to the heavenly places, basking in the light of his appearance and in biblical worship gazing on his wonderful face.

4.     Consequences of this life of faith today: Baptism is our marriage, and Communion is that ongoing consummation. In the liturgy and sacraments, we have the reinforcement of that marriage relationship. Bride and Groom converse through a kind of living love letter, as the Lord interacts with his Bride through his pastor.

Transition: The Body of Christ as a community may sometimes look like a whore, for we all so often leave our Lord. Other church bodies may look more attractive. Coveting another body amounts to spiritual harlotry. Our Husband is a rightfully jealous lover (2 Cor 11:2). Communion fellowship is a loving expression of that intimate spiritual monogamy between one husband and one wife, as expressed in the Song of Solomon. So God does keep returning to us:

B.    When we trust in Christ’s works, rejoicing in his sacrifice and presence.

1.     In Hosea’s day: God offered many chances for Israel to turn from their works and receive his. Unlike pagan practices that required burnt offerings to appease the gods and earn spiritual points, God’s relationship with his people is restored through a broken and contrite heart (Ps 51:17) followed by humble acts of service. God has taken the opportunity to show what a devoted Husband he is to his unworthy Bride.

2.              As individuals today: You believe that though unworthy and unable to appease God’s rightful wrath, he accepts you. By his sacrifice on the cross and through Baptism, you are invited into his holy, eternal household. Your perfect husband returns to you through his faith-building sacraments and tolerates your faults out of love.

3.     As a community today: We confess that God returns to us, affirming his vows to us, when we reaffirm our commitment to the Creeds and Lutheran Confessions. He comes through the preaching mouth of pastors and the ministry of the Keys. The most intimate coming is through Holy Communion as a fellowship that confesses true doctrine in our loving Christ and his redeeming work for his holy church (Eph 5:25). We behave like unrepentant Ephraim if we don’t see our communal identity in common theological confessions (Ap VII 5).

4.     The consequences of Christ’s works: Just as a marriage partner has influence on his or her spouse, a relationship with Christ always influences us for the better. He causes our faith to produce sacrifices of praise, sincere good works that serve our neighbor, including our sacrifices of time to tell others about our beautiful Savior.

Conclusion: Imagine being married to the perfect husband—and then leaving him! Why would we ever do it? And what would we expect to come out of that? Amazingly, he, Christ Jesus, returns to us, with the invitation to happily-ever-after!

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” Jesus is! When you return to the Lord and humbly seek his face, you find a beautiful and merciful Savior staring back. Jesus is the face you see in the mirror of his grace, purchased for you at the cross. The more we stare at him through faith, the more his image is reflected on us. In spite of our leaving, he returns to us! “Come, let us return to the Lord.” Amen.

Now may the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior...Amen.