B Pentecost25 2015
November 15, 2015
Hosea 11:1-9
(Mark 10:13-14)
Reader: Narrator 1,
Narrator 2
Narrator 1: When Israel
was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called
them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and
offering incense to idols.
Narrator 2: Yet it was
I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know
that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of
love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to
them and fed them.
Narrator 1: They shall
return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have
refused to return to me. The sword rages in their cities, it consumes their
oracle-priests, and devours because of their schemes. My people are bent on
turning away from me. To the Baals they call, but he does not raise them up at
all.
Narrator 2: How
can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make
you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy
One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
+ + +
The Holy Gospel according to St.
Mark. [Glory to you O Lord]
13People
were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the
disciples spoke sternly to them. 14But when Jesus saw this, he was
indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop
them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”
The
Gospel of the Lord [Praise to you O Christ].
Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
[Carter,
1 year old, stayed up front with his mom and dad, as our visual.]
When
Israel was a child,
I
loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
2The
more I called them, the more they went from me;
they kept
sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols.
3Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to
walk, I took them up in my arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.
4I led them with cords of human
kindness, with bands of love.
I
was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them
and fed them.
How old were you when you realized what
your parents had done for you? When did
you realize that these people actually taught you to walk, to eat and made sure
you survived childhood?
If you became a parent yourself, then,
maybe you understood something about their tired eyes in the morning, or their
flaring anger when one of you hurt your brother or sister.
All
parents are doing the best with what they have, and though we wish it were not
true, sometimes what we have as parents is not enough to change the course our
child has chosen.
Even
with the most loving of parents…Sometimes children grow into the hard way of
doing things… some of our children rebel … some of our children are crippled by
a mental illness for a while… or
struggle with addiction. I have known
many parents, who, with deep, deep love for their children had to make the
decision not to rescue them anymore. To
leave that child in the jail cell, or to not let them back in the house, to let
alone their child’s choice of relationships, no matter how destructive… Parents
that have had their hearts broken so completely, they reach a point of letting
go.
Have
you had your heart broken like that, to the point you had to let go?
Hosea’s
oracle here is the story of a loving parent, doing all they can to set their
beloved child up for success – for the real success of true joy and a life of
wholeness. And at every turn, that child
seems bound and determined to choose hurt, humiliation and blame.
God’s
children have separated themselves, they hold grudges against one another, they
turn away from the family values that have held them together. They offer up
sacrifices to false gods… which wouldn’t seem so harmful, seeing as they are,
indeed, FALSE gods. But those gods
demand our blood to pour, like the false prophets of Baal last week…
self-inflicting injuries… gods demanding captivity instead of freedom, even
human sacrifice. They really are not so
far off from the gods we turn to today… the idols of image that starve us, the worshipping
of personal security that leave us stingy, the god of opiods that drain our
life and community, the god of guilt that chains us to unhealthy relationships.
And
so the loving mother – God says to those she once nursed, “How can this be?”
The loving father – God says to those he helped to take their first steps, “This
is not who you are!”
The
emotion may be angry, but the root is love.
Think
about the last time you were bothered enough to be angry. Was it because you cared enough… because you
loved enough to want something to be different?
This
kind of love exists from parent to child and child to parent; from God
to Israel… and from God to us…God looks at God’s children, remembers the time
we learned to walk, remembers the child who nursed at God’s bosom, remembers
the time God lifted us up to rub noses…
That’s
where we enter the story today. The God who loves us so deeply that God’s heart
is breaking over the violence we do to each other, the sacrifice we have made
of our neighbors, the pain we have continued to bring into the world, and the
pain of others that we ignore. We are
all in this human family together. Today
God is angry along with us over Paris and Beirut and Ramallah and Bahgdad. God has fierce anger over these injustices. But
God promises in Hosea, just like in Genesis where the Rainbow came after the
flood, that God’s way is not one of destruction. God’s way is one of life. We may use the name Allah or YHWY, either
way, God’s call to faithfulness is about devotion to a way of life of service
in love, and that is the opposite of terror.
The
book of Hosea is really a very sad story.
Hosea is God’s faithful prophet in the midst of a very unfaithful people
– the northern kingdom, he calls them “Ephraim” for short – Ephraim, the
biggest tribe in the north. Hosea tells
us today that even though God has every covenantal right to kick us out of the
family, even though we humans have broken every promise and continue to choose
death and destruction over the far more powerful love and life, even though
God’s heart is breaking over us… God doesn’t let go.
Even
though there comes a time when we must let go of destructive relationships…
God
does not. God holds onto us, whether we
are the bullied or the bully, the abused, or even the abuser, the
brokenhearted, the addicted, the sober, the clean. God holds onto those who have broken our
hearts, and holds onto us, NO MATTER WHAT.
Calling
us sons and daughters at the font, Teaching us the way to walk with Jesus, Lifting
us up to God’s own face, Feeding us with God’s very self, and Binding up the
broken pieces of our hearts with love… God will not let us go.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment