This lectionary passage for me speaks of a God who has given up on the people. A God who has turned His back on those He has chosen. Yet, at the end of the passage he continues to extend mercy to those he has rejected. For many of us this flies in the face of God's love and mercy and wanting to call us to righteousness. As the author of "Awakenings" states it is one thing to love a spouse who has been unfaithful and quite another to purposely go out and seek someone who intentionally prostitutes themselves. Even if one would look at this as a metaphor for Israel, still it seems to portray God as arbitrary. But if we read the entire book of Hosea, one would read that God never gives up despite the fact that Israel has acted as a prostitute toward God. Hosea no matter how many times Gomer goes back to her profession Hosea is to go and love her. What a message of hope for us to hear today. If God is willing to forgive Gomer, how much more is He willing to forgive you and me.
The tension exists in that it seems unfair that if I act righteously that somehow I don't earn more gold stars than someone else. In "Awakenings," "Where do you (personally or corporately) draw the line in the sand? Does God embrace drug dealers? Pedophiles? Terrorists (whether government-sanctioned or free agents)? Slum landlords? Does God actually forgive those who abuse their children? Who embezzle their employees' retirement funds? Who spew pollutants into air and water and land, bringing disease and death to their neighbors?"
Hosea begins to call us to reflect on who our God is. I had a seminary professor once state to us, "How big is your God?" By that statement he wanted us to think about how we want to place God into a neat package and not struggle with God's grace. I would encourage everyone to read Hosea completely. We need the balance from a viewpoint of God always loving and forgiving. We need to hear the God of Hosea who loves us despite our "whoring around." Yet, know that there is a time of justice. Where are you willing to draw the line?
1 comment:
Good evening
This post was interesting, how long did it take you to write?
Post a Comment