Today’s sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost comes from the Old Testament lesson appointed for today: Hosea 5:15–6:6.

It’s rare when Hosea comes up in the Lectionary, so I wanted to make sure I shared this word from the prophet Hosea – “Mercy – Not Sacrifice.”

Hosea 5:15 – 6:6 (English Standard Version)

¹⁵ I will return again to my place,
    until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
    and in their distress earnestly seek me.

6 “Come, let us return to the Lord;
    for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
    he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
² After two days he will revive us;
    on the third day he will raise us up,
    that we may live before him.
³ Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
    his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
    as the spring rains that water the earth.”
⁴ What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
    What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
    like the dew that goes early away.
⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
    I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
    and my judgement goes forth as the light.
⁶ For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

—

The Right Rev. Dr. Jon I “Jack” Lumanog is an Anglican Bishop in good standing with the Apostolic Communion of Anglican Churches and the leader of The Anglican Diocese of St. Ignatius Loyola. A pastor and evangelist at heart, Dr. Jack Lumanog has planted, revitalized and pastored churches, traveled internationally to teach pastors and church planters and was a denominational leader for 7 years with executive level oversight for over 1,000 congregations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Additionally, Bishop Lumanog is an Associate Member of The Anglican Union for the Propagation of the Gospel, an international confraternity of oratories, which is under the patronage of seven bishops from the worldwide Anglican Communion.