SPEAKER_00: If I had to summarize the entire spiritual life in one sentence, it might be the very first line of today's first reading.
SPEAKER_00: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that God does not say, Hey, I want you to start over.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say, earn your way back.
SPEAKER_00: He does not say, prove yourselves worthy.
SPEAKER_00: No, he simply says, return.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the most beautiful words in the Bible, because it reminds us that Christianity is not primarily about never falling.
SPEAKER_00: It's about returning.
SPEAKER_00: Every saint had to return.
SPEAKER_00: Saint Peter returned after denying Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The prodigal son returned after wasting his inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: Saint Augustine returned after years of chasing everything except God.
SPEAKER_00: Holiness is not the absence of failure.
SPEAKER_00: Holiness is the refusal to stay away from the Father's house.
SPEAKER_00: Then Hosea gives us something remarkable.
SPEAKER_00: He tells the people exactly what to bring when they return.
SPEAKER_00: Not sacrifices, not money, not impressive achievements.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Take with you words and return to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: God simply wants an honest conversation.
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to be able to say, Lord, I have sinned against you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, please forgive me.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I need you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I want you in my life.
SPEAKER_00: That's why confession is such a powerful sacrament.
SPEAKER_00: God is not waiting for a polished speech.
SPEAKER_00: He's waiting for your heart, a humble heart.
SPEAKER_00: Then comes one of my favorite verses in all of Hosea.
SPEAKER_00: God says, I will heal their defection.
SPEAKER_00: I will love them freely.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the order.
SPEAKER_00: First God heals, then he loves.
SPEAKER_00: No, he heals because he already loves.
SPEAKER_00: We often think God loves us once we've changed.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if we turn to the gospel, it says exactly the opposite.
SPEAKER_00: God loves us first.
SPEAKER_00: That's the heart of Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: Grace always comes before growth.
SPEAKER_00: Mercy always comes before holiness.
SPEAKER_00: Love comes before transformation.
SPEAKER_00: And because God's love is free, no one here is beyond his mercy.
SPEAKER_00: Not the person who has been away from the church, not the one person who's been carrying a deep sin, years of regret, not the one who thinks, well, I made too many mistakes.
SPEAKER_00: I'm way past redemption.
SPEAKER_00: No, God's invitation is always the same.
SPEAKER_00: Return to me.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus gives the apostles a very different message in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: He does not promise them comfort, he promises opposition.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves.
SPEAKER_00: It's not exactly a recruiting slogan.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine interviewing for a job and hearing that.
SPEAKER_00: You'll be misunderstood, you'll be hated, you'll be persecuted.
SPEAKER_00: And yet that's exactly what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because he wants his disciples to understand something very clearly.
SPEAKER_00: The goal of Christianity is not to avoid suffering, the goal is to remain faithful through suffering.
SPEAKER_00: One of the great mistakes Christians make is thinking that difficulties mean God has abandoned us.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the saints knew better.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes opposition is not evidence that you're doing something wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's evidence that you're doing something right.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus himself was rejected.
SPEAKER_00: The apostles were rejected.
SPEAKER_00: Nearly every saint was rejected at some point.
SPEAKER_00: Faithfulness has never been measured by popularity.
SPEAKER_00: It's always been measured by perseverance.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Jesus ends with these powerful words.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever endures to the end will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Notice he does not say whoever begins well.
SPEAKER_00: Many people begin well.
SPEAKER_00: But he says, whoever endures.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian life is not a sprint, it's a marathon.
SPEAKER_00: It is choosing Christ today, tomorrow, and the day after that.
SPEAKER_00: It's returning after every fall, trusting after every disappointment, praying when you don't feel like it, structuring your life, having a great discipline to God, remaining faithful when no one notices.
SPEAKER_00: So today, perhaps the Lord is asking each of us two questions.
SPEAKER_00: Where do I need to return?
SPEAKER_00: And second, am I looking for an easy Christian life or a faithful one?
SPEAKER_00: Because the promise of Jesus is not the road that will be easy.
SPEAKER_00: The promise is that He will walk with us in our difficulties, in our sufferings.
SPEAKER_00: And in the end, that's more than anything.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.