Faithfulness

Start out with three verses from the fourth chapter of Hosea, verses one, two, and three. Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness, or kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land.

There is swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery. They break all bounds, and murder follows murder. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish.

And also the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air, and even the fish of the sea are taken away. There is the strong temptation to take a prophecy like that, and apply it to the nation. Easy enough to look over the land, or even over the city, and say, there is no faithfulness, or kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land.

But the first place where such a prophecy as this has to be applied, is to the body of Christ, and specifically to any given congregation of believers. We take this prophecy of Hosea, and apply it to ourselves. If we ask ourselves before the Lord, whether there's something in this word from Hosea, that we need to learn, we can't help but be struck by one of the three prongs of this three pronged message.

Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel. For the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness, or kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land.

The need for faithfulness, kindness, and knowledge of God. Certainly, we've been rather conscious of our need for showing more kindness to each other, and to other people. And we've been aware of the need to pursue more knowledge of God.

And even though we know we have a long way to go, we are at least aware of our desperate need in these two areas. But, when it comes to faithfulness, this has been something which all too often we have thought of as something really quite minor. Now, in matters that pertain to our egos, or our children, or our financial interests, or things in our lives which people can see, we have been quite faithful.

But when it comes to the hidden things, the little things, the things that don't promise to reward us in any way, the things that have to do perhaps with our quote, volunteer service for the Lord, we have very often been unfaithful. We haven't perhaps thought of it that way. We've thought of it as being maybe slightly careless.

And our general approach as a flock of believers fits right into this, because we've been consciously attempting to avoid here becoming too plush, or too nice, too prim, precise, or proper, because we have seen how multitudes of people have been driven from the door of the kingdom of God by this prim, proper, fussy, superficial churchianity. But, there is the opposite danger of becoming so sloppy and so casual, and so irresponsible in the little things of the kingdom of God, that the purpose of the kingdom is itself hindered. And when this happens, what we're really doing, see, is covering over our faithful, faithlessness by our easy, casual approach.

Notice how in everything that Jesus teaches, we see a call to faithfulness, almost everything. Here are a couple examples. Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will set over his household to give him their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.

He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. And he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous manner, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? When he returned, having received the kingly power, he commanded his servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading.

The first came before him, saying, Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more. And he said to him, well done, good servant, because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities. If there's any word which describes the nature of God, it's the word faithful.

If we have died with him, we also shall live with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself, he can't deny his nature. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. In Jesus we see a God manifested as one who is a shepherd faithfully seeking the lost.

Even if he has to scour the streets of Jerusalem to find one sheep, he's the physician who faithfully heals the sick. Even if he has to stay up half the night laying his hands on the needy ones who are brought to him, he's the one who faithfully provides bread for the hungry and doesn't let a crumb get lost, gather up the fragments that remain, let nothing be lost. He is the Lamb who faithfully goes to the cross, lays down his life, because this is what the Father has called him to do.

The cup which the Father has given me to drink, shall I not drink it? Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or kindness and no knowledge of God in the land. It's doubtful that there will be much more kindness among us or much more knowledge of God among us than there now is, until there is an increase in faithfulness in our corporate and individual life.

Specifically, there is a need for the kind of faithfulness that ties down the loose ends. Now there are loose ends in our lives that really don't make any difference. So your car has a scratch, it has a scratch.

What does it matter? There's this box down in the basement, if you have a basement or wherever you put these boxes, that you've been wanting to go through for 10 years. It might be sitting there for another 20, who knows? But there are other loose ends which are very important. A bill that has to be paid.

A letter that really has to be answered. The brakes on the car that need to be fixed. Don't worry about the scratch, but for goodness sake, take care of the brakes before you break your neck.

The foolish virgins really were letting a loose end flop around and they didn't think it was that important not to take any oil in their vessels with their lamps. But it was a major thing that had to be attended to. And they overlooked this loose end at their own peril.

Another example. For truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one iota, not a dot, will pass from the law till all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

He's not talking about splitting hairs over little doctrinal issues. He's talking about faithfulness to God in the things which appear to us to be minor, but which aren't. The loose ends, getting them tied down.

You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looked at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away.

It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body goes into hell.

Again, an area in our thought life which we often think of as rather innocent or harmless, which has to be attended to, must be tied down. It's the loose ends which are going to do us in if we don't tie them down. Then there is the need for the faithfulness which overcomes sloth.

All of us are basically slothful, lazy. If we can do it, we'll likely get where we want to go without having to think, without having to work, and without having to apply any kind of effort. Because of our predisposition for always finding the easy way, we're always getting sucked into some new shortcut to glory, or at least some way of, you know, getting along the things of the kingdom without trying very hard.

And he who had received the one talent came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, weeping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not winnow. So I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.

That was a lie. The only reason he did this was because he didn't want to work. It's easier, put it in the ground, give it back to him when he comes.

You know, you'll still make it. I'll get in by the skin of my teeth. Ah, but as Master answered, you wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I have not winnowed.

Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers. And at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

For to everyone who has will more be given and he will have abundance. But from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. Their men will reap and gnash their teeth.

You know, we don't like to listen to that aspect of Jesus' teaching, but it's there. Always it's there. How many of the things that we do for the kingdom of God or in the kingdom of God or in the name of the kingdom are really done by sheer momentum? You know, we just keep on coasting along through.

After all, I'm only a volunteer. What can God say? God, help us to come to the place of faithfulness, to the kind of faithfulness which overcomes the slothfulness in our prayer life, the kind of faithfulness which brings us up short and helps us to overcome the mental sloth so that we can come together like this week after week with our minds and our hearts truly prepared to come into his presence instead of expecting somebody to carry us up into his presence. Gee, I didn't get anything out of it.

I didn't feel anything today. Did you come prepared? How much prayer went into it? God, help us to be diligent and faithful in our daily work and in our family life. Finally, there is a need for that faithfulness which is willing to take on responsibility.

But I just don't like to be tied down. I like to be able to do what I want to when I want to. How many of us secretly say that in our hearts all the time, every time somebody comes anywhere within 10 miles of us who might ask us to do something, you know, already it begins to happen.

But that's the inspiration of a life that is totally empty. I don't want to be tied down. I want to float.

So along comes the priest and he sees this wounded man by the side of the road and he quickly looks around to make sure that none of the church people are watching or maybe nobody else. And he goes around, keeps going, because he does not want to be tied down. He has a wonderful meeting he's going to where they're going to discuss the issues of social justice.

And he has to make a pronouncement before the microphone. Along comes the Levite, the good upstanding church member. And uh-oh, he runs into him too.

And then he looks around to make sure nobody's watching and off he goes, because he doesn't want to be tied down. He heard that here comes the Samaritan, the kind of guy, the Jew lying there. What did he do? He stopped.

Ties himself down to this man's knees, makes himself responsible. And what does it mean to be faithful but to tie ourselves down all through our lives? But again we say, huh, but I've been tied down long enough. I'm entitled to a happy retirement from the things of the kingdom.

See, but what does it mean to carry a cross? What does it mean to be a servant? We mouth those words, but to be a servant and being willing to take a hold of a responsibility and see it all the way through, he laid down his life for us. And he still, at this very moment, before the form of the Father, obligates himself to being our shepherd. Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel.

For the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or kindness and no knowledge of God in the land. If the kindness, the mercy of the Lord is to find a sure home in our midst, and if the knowledge of God among us is to be more than a thing of a mouth, then there will have to be in our individual and corporate lives a faithfulness in the little things, the hidden things, the things that never gratify our egos, the things that only God can see.

And the first step to a life of faithfulness is something that can be taken right now, today. The first step is simply to repent of our own faithfulness, to bring it before God and confess it and cry out to him for help, which he's only too willing to give. The end of the book of Hosea, the last chapter, begins with these words.

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Repent for your unfaithfulness and draw near. And if you're willing to do that, then come words of marvelous hope.

I will heal their faithlessness. I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be of the dew to Israel.

He shall blossom as the lily. He shall strike root as the poplar. His shoot shall spread out.

Notice the roots and the shoots, all the things which are hidden from the sight of man. Who sees the root of a tree? Who sees the shoot that brings it nourishment? All these things are out of sight. The only one who sees is God and his fragrance like leaven.

Then those things follow. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow. They shall flourish as a garden.

They shall blossom as a vine. Their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. I will heal their faithlessness.

I will love them freely. Those who repent, turn and come back to me. In the midst of a world of violence and deceit and treachery and cynical indifference, God is at this moment raising up a people of mercy, a people who really know him.

And the primary characteristic of this people is that they are faithful. God hath brought to be number among them.