Sermon: You Dun Stomped on My Heart

You Dun Stomped on My Heart
"The Power of Love" series, sermon 3
Hosea chapters 1, 3, 11
Rev. Cynthia O'Brien
September 25, 2005

HOS 1:2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD." 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

HOS 1:4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel."

HOS 1:6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them--not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God."

HOS 1:8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

HOS 1:10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, `You are not my people,' they will be called `sons of the living God.'


HOS 11:1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.

HOS 11:2 But the more I called Israel,
the further they went from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.

HOS 11:3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.

HOS 11:4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love;
I lifted the yoke from their neck
and bent down to feed them.


There is one kind of music that I just don’t understand, and that’s country music. Well, two kinds, as a club owner once said, “We play both kinds of music here – country AND western.”

Just look at the titles of some of these songs. They frighten me, because the subjects are really serious but the images are so strange:

* Mama Get The Hammer (There's A Fly On Papa's Head)
* You're the Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly
* Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger (When You Go Out at Night)
*Thanks to the Cathouse I'm in the Doghouse with You.
* You're Out Doing What I'm Here Doing Without
*I Don't Know Whether to Kill Myself or Go Bowling.
*I'm Going to Hire a Wino To Decorate Our Home.
* You Stuck My Heart In a Old Tin Can and Shot It Off a Log
* She Made Toothpicks Out Of The Timber Of My Heart
*I've Been Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart.
* I Got Tears in My Ears From Lying on My Back Crying on My Pillow Over You
* You Done Stomped on My Heart
That last one is the one I actually know. John Denver did that one as one of his comedy songs. I may hate country but I LOVE John Denver. He had a great sense of humor and this was one of the sillier ones

You dun stomped on my heartAnd you mashed that sucker flat
You just kinda sorta stomped on my aorta

I try never to miss an opportunity to make fun of country music. Of all the jokes I tell, this is one I can actually remember past Sunday:

What happens when you play a country song backwards?
You get your girl back, you get your truck fixed,
your mom gets better, and your dog is raised from the dead.

One thing you have to say about country music is that it has a good sense of humor and can poke fun at itself. And here’s something else good about it – It really does get into the salt and pepper of daily life in the Heartland. Songs about your dog and your vehicles, love and loss. Maybe we need these songs. And maybe we need them to be so over-the-top and ludicrous that we laugh. Because the pain that the songs describe is so great.

The story of Hosea and his wife Gomer would make such a bad country song that I’ll bet even my boot-scootin’ friends wouldn’t listen to it.


the LORD began to speak through Hosea,
I don’t think any of these Old Testament prophets really wanted to BE prophets. It’s not a glamorous life like being a television preacher. It’s not warm and inspiring like pastoring a nice church. Prophets had a hard life. And of all the prophets, I think Hosea got the worst deal.

the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness,

In chapter 3 Hosea must not only marry but also love a woman who has another lover and who is an adultress.

Nobody wants to marry someone who’s going to cheat on you. It will ruin your life and you probably won’t even get a good country song out of it.

It also ruins your reputation. Every minister looking for a job, every church member whose name is put up for elder or deacon, knows that your spouse reflects on you. The character of your spouse can boost your credibility, or it can trash you. I am very surprised we don’t have a record of Hosea protesting, “No, Lord, don’t make me do this.”

God wants Hosea to marry a loose woman who is going to break his heart.

Most prophets are spokespersons for God and they actually speak. They receive a message from the Lord, and they broadcast it wherever people will listen – in the Temple, in the marketplace, in the streets. But in Chapter 1 Hosea doesn’t speak at all. This isn’t going to be a ministry of words. It is all action.

3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim,

Everyone in town knows him and everyone knows Gomer. This is shocking. Can you see the best man taking Hosea aside before the wedding and saying, “Get a grip, man, you can’t marry her, she’s no good.” But the Lord is making him do it, and this is the reason:
because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD."

This is not about Hosea and Gomer’s marriage. Marriage is about joy and mutual love and commitment. It’s too bad that Hosea won’t get to have the joy of marriage. This will be something completely different. It is going to be a dramatic way to tell the people of Israel about their unfaithfulness to God.

They had three children. Children are supposed to be a blessing, but here there’s another plan.

HOS 1:4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel,
the place where there was a brutal massacre. God will punish Israel for slaughtering those people

Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, which means literally “she is not pitied.” and means that God will not have compassion on the people.

This is sad. Children’s names are important, and especially in that day, your name meant everything. These kids’ lives will be ruined by these names.

Gomer had another son.

9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, which means, “not my people,” for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

This is like after saying “I do,” and you process down the aisle to joyful music, your new husband or wife turns to you and says, “I don’t.” Remember God had made a covenant, saying “You will be my people and I will be your God.” Read it in Exodus 6, Leviticus 26, Jeremiah 11 and so forth. “You will be my people and I will be your God.” It is an exact nullification of the covenant that God had with Israel. “Not my people.”

The three children’s names are God’s threats to Israel.
-I will destroy you
- I will not have compassion on you
- You are not my people.

Yet there is a note of hope
I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them-

So Hosea is trying to hold a marriage together with a woman who couldn’t care less about his feelings, who stays out all night and comes home with her shirt on backwards, who takes care of the kids when it suits her and just leaves them when she’s got something better to do. It’s horrible.

So what does Hosea? What are his prophecies all about? They are desperate words as he tries everything to get her back. In chapter 2 he says he will punish her, or build a wall around her so that she can’t pursue her lovers. He tries to set her straight on who’s providing for her; She thinks all her bread, wool and silver come from her lovers, but he says that he is her provider and that they all come from him.

Before we know what’s happened, this is not about Hosea and Gomer at all. It’s about Israel, the people, the chosen people, who have been unfaithful to God. It’s about God as a desperate husband who loves a slutty wife and still wants to give her everything, if she will only come home.

Now Hosea feels what God feels. Hosea’s bitter experience of his wife’s unfaithfulness gives him insight into God’s relationship with Israel. God said, “You will be my people” but then they were unfaithful.

God made them free to receive his love, but they made some crazy looking idols and loved them instead.
God provided for their needs, but they gave false gods the credit for providing for them.

That was a long time ago, halfway around the world, but people for the most part haven’t changed. Unbelievers may ignore God, but when believers turn away, it breaks God’s heart. Think of a time that you turned away from God. It could be when you were a young adult, or it might be now. You may have felt far from God, or you may have been busy, wrapped up in your own concerns. Did you ever think of how God felt? God cares about you, God weeps for you, and when you turn away from God it’s like a kick in the teeth.

God wanted us to know how he felt, that’s why he made Hosea suffer. God wanted us to know that he is always faithful to us. God wanted us to know that there are consequences to our unfaithfulness to him. One of those consequences is the pain and hurt God feels.

Are we unfaithful to God in the way we live our lives? In our work, in our family, in the way we use our money, in how we spend our time? God weeps over you and wants you back.

Leslie Brandt wrote some contemporary reflections on the prophets in his book Prophets Now. ... [page 74-75]

Let us pray.

Faithful God, forgive our unfaithfulness. Thank you for Hosea, who suffered so that we could understand the depth of your sadness and the extent of your love. Thank you for pursuing us, and for your never ending quest to bring us back to you. Amen.