Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri
Morning Worship · August 9, 2009
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Prayer of the Day
Loving God, this morning we pray for your tender presence. For your compassion, we are grateful. Today, and everyday, unite us as one in Spirit. Through Christ we say together, Amen.
Scripture
Hosea 11:1-11
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.
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.
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 Most High they call,
but he does not raise them up at all.
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.
They shall go after the Lord,
who roars like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west.
They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria;
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.
Message
Cheek to Cheek
Jacob Thorne
Over the next several weeks, we are going to spend some time focusing on the major issues in the Minor Prophets. For centuries now, the last 12 books of the Old Testament, beginning with the prophet Hosea and ending with the prophet Malachi, have been called the Minor Prophets, because the Minor Prophets are short in length, not because they don’t deal with tough issues. Each of these Minor Prophets has their own characteristics and its own traits. Today we are going to spend some time looking at the book of Hosea.
The book of Hosea is a meditation on the love of God for God’s people. But it is not your typical love story. The prophet Hosea is commanded by God to marry a prostitute Gomer and have children with her. The first three chapters of Hosea describe the relationship between Hosea and Gomer. This relationship is analogous to the relationship between God and Israel. Hosea and Gomer have a difficult and, at times, a bitter relationship. There is a lot of mistrust, betrayal, and confusion. For some reason, despite all of the difficulties, the relationship endures.
But in the 11th Chapter of Hosea, there is a shift in perspective. The story moves from an image of husband and wife to the image of a parent and child. The shift takes place, because in the ancient world, the people of Israel were chosen by God. They had been rescued from Egypt. Hosea compares the people of Israel to being God’s children. Because they had been saved, because they had been chosen by God, we might think the natural response would be one of gratitude and thankfulness. Instead, the people of Israel, the children of God, begin to worship other gods.
Even though this is a story of ancient Israel, it is still a story for us today. The life of the prophet Hosea happened and still happens today. We, too, sometimes despite all of our blessings forget to give thanks to God. All too often we turn to other idols, whether it may be money or fame, whatever it may be. All too often we find ourselves coveting what our neighbor or our family members might possess. All too often, we view our blessings as burdens. What does this say about our relationship to God?
In the 11th Chapter, our text for this morning, God, speaking through the voice of the prophet Hosea, is confused and hurt. God says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him. Out of Egypt, I called my son and my daughter. The more I called them, the more they went away from me. The kept sacrificing to other idols and offering incense, but it was I who taught them 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.”
God says, “I was to Israel like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down and fed them.”
When you listen to the words of God, “I loved my children. I called them. I taught them to walk,” you can heal the hurt. The people of Ephraim, whom God keeps referring to, represented the northern kingdom of Israel. They were God’s own people, but they left to the country of Assyria. They returned to the land of Egypt where they had been slaves. God can’t understand why all this takes place.
I think when you read these words, you hear the voice of a parent, the voice of a parent who loves his/her child. But what do you do when your child doesn’t recognize you? What does God do?
For the last year or so, I have been following a blog on the Internet. It is called the “Nienie Blog.” The “Nienie Blog” is authored by Stephanie Aurora Clark Nielson. Last year, Stephanie and her husband were in a near-fatal plane crash. For months on end, covered in burns, Stephanie lay in a hospital bed attempting to recover and praying that she would live. Several days ago, reflecting on her experience in the hospital and the passage of time, Stephanie wrote these words:
It was so cold last night as I put my little Nic to bed. The a/c downstairs is working overtime… All my other babies were successfully in dreamland but Nic. He wanted my head close to his and he also wanted me to do "chichchie" which is another word for "chickie" which is a Jones tradition. Chickie is where you softly pinch chubby skin and in a very relaxing and lovable way you pretend to nibble what you pinched…
Remembering back to my hospital room I lay eager and anxious because it was the day my sisters were bringing my children to see me for the first time in five months. How would they see me? Would they accept the new me? Would they still love me? I had more emotions that day then I ever had in my life. Lucy (who is her sister) walked in my room holding my baby – except he wasn't a baby anymore. In fact, I had missed his second birthday – asleep in a coma. He had on a red shirt and a little black cap. His hair was parted over nicely and he looked so much older.
My first thoughts were, "Oh my little baby, come here and let me chickie you!" He held on to Lucy clutching her hair around her neck. He wouldn't let go, and all I could do was lay a hand on his shoes. It was one of the hardest moments of my life. He didn't recognize me and called Lucy mother…
Nicholas visited me a few other times after that – always confused, and so was I… All I could do was talk to him and try and convince him that… I was mother and always would be.
I used to talk to Nicholas while he lay sleeping begging him to remember me. "I had you." I would say… “You used to sleep with me a lot. I used to read 'Goodnight Moon' to you every night before you went to bed. We would nap together… I used to… hold you on my hip every second of the day... remember son please, please, remember me. "
It wasn't until I began doing chickie on him that he started coming back. He realized that I was his mother and that our spirits are very recognizable… that we share the same blood. My touch was the same, my voice the same and my heart the same. I loved him more than ever. The eternal bonds of motherhood and children are sacred and very real.
In a sense, these words of Stephanie’s are the same words that God speaks to us this morning. They are the same words that God spoke to the prophet Hosea, the same words that God spoke to the Israelites. God says to us, “I had you. I hold my cheek against yours. Our spirits are recognizable. I love you now more than ever.”
Both Stephanie and the prophet Hosea demonstrate the love and the compassion of God. God will never leave or abandon us because our God – the God we know as disclosed through Jesus Christ – is a God who represents a covenantal love.
Biblical scholars note that the book of Hosea contains one of the most impressive examples of the covenantal love of God for Israel. In ancient times, a covenant conveyed the idea of a treaty where two parties were bound by it. If one of these parties failed to fulfill its obligation, the other party would be excused from fulfilling the contract. But divine love, God’s love, which is known in Hebrew as the word hesed, is an unfailing love of God that transcends normal legal expectations.
There are six types of covenants that are mentioned in the entire Bible. Five of these covenants are found in the book of Hosea. There are references to the Davidic Covenant, the Adamic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, and the New Covenant. In each of these covenants, Hosea insists that there is a bond that cannot be broken between God and humanity, and a bond that cannot be broken between one human being and another. As children of God, the prophet Hosea proclaims that we are united as one. If we take the notion of covenant seriously, if we listen to what Hosea proclaims, then, as Christians, we really are called to live our lives differently.
Last week, Paulette and I had the opportunity to join more than 6,000 other members of the Christian Church – Disciples of Christ at the General Assembly. Each night there was a two-hour worship that included a variety of music, and prayers, and Scripture. Now, I hadn’t been to the General Assembly for quite some time, but there is nothing like it. If you get the opportunity to worship with 6,000 other people who share the same beliefs and diversity in faith and tradition of our denomination, then by all means, do it.
On Saturday evening, the preacher was Sharon Watkins, the general minister and president of our denomination. You may have heard Sharon preach before. Several months ago, she gave the message at the presidential prayer service following the inauguration of President Obama. Last week, Sharon shared a story with us about a recent trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. For the past several years, our church, our denomination – the Disciples of Christ – have been in a global partnership with the churches in the Congo. When Sharon was there last fall, she had the opportunity, along with a group of Disciples from Indiana, to travel up and down the river in a log canoe visiting churches that are in partnership with us.
At one church along the river, Sharon knew that the minister of the church was planning to have a dedication for his new-born baby son. When they arrived at the church, the minister of the Congolese church insisted, because we are united as one and because he said we share a covenant with one another, that the regional minister from Indiana, who was traveling with Sharon, that he should dedicate and do the baby blessing for his child. As the child was held in the arms of our colleague from Indiana, and being blessed with the words taken from the voice of God – the same blessing that we have when we hold our babies and bless them in the spring – Sharon reflected on what it means that a baby is not only part of the church in the Congo but also our church.
As I sat and worshipped that evening, I reflected on how we need to think about what our responsibility is in regards to the poverty and to the oppression that baby and his family live in. It seems to me that if we are going to truly attempt to follow the words of God, it is time to stop being so concerned with ourselves and our own well-being and start paying more attention to others. It seems to me that if we are going to claim that we are a people bound to God and bound to one another in covenant, then we are going to have to start giving some serious attention to how we lead our lives. It seems to me that if we are going to claim that a baby in the church in the Congo is part of our own church family, then we are going to have to spend some time together on how families unite with one another and how we provide adequate healthcare and education for children everywhere in the world. I say these words this morning knowing that I, as much if not more so than anybody else, need to change.
The human side of a covenantal relationship is directly related to the hearts of the people. The prophet Hosea symbolized the human heart by comparing two types of ground – the unplowed ground and the plowed ground. The plowed ground offers a chance for a seed of righteousness to produce a fruit of abundant love, and the unplowed ground, claims Hosea, can only receive seeds of wickedness that will bear evil and their fruit.
The two types of ground, the plowed and the unplowed, are meant to demonstrate the relationships that occur from one individual to another. Our relationships with others are either dead or alive. When our hearts are dead, just like the people of ancient Israel, we, too, experience an abandonment of God and broken relationships. But in the midst of the unfaithfulness, there is the opportunity for redemption and the opportunity to be healed. You see… A plowed field is the heart that has been broken open. A plowed field allows us to say, “I once was lost but now am found.” A plowed field is healed by God, who is portrayed by the prophet Hosea as a lover, a parent, and a physician.
A heart that is broken open is one that is healed both spiritually and emotionally. A plowed field receives the shower of rain, the water of life that sustains us and the water of life that Hosea says is for sure to arrive.
At Broadway Christian Church, we have heard it numerous times. We are a people of the covenant. We have the covenant that we share with one another when we are born, when we are baptized, when we are married, and when we inherit the gift of eternal life. It is the covenant that says these words spoken directly to you from God, in the words that say this:
I have called you by name from the very beginning. I know you. You are mine, and I am yours. You are my beloved, and my favor rests upon you. I have molded you in the depths of the earth. I have knit you together in your mother’s womb, carved you in the palm of my hand, and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness. I count every hair upon your head and care for you more than a mother - a father for a child. Wherever you go, I go with you. We are one. You are my beloved.
The prophet Hosea, the words of God, the voice of the Psalms, all proclaim that life begins and ends with those who dare to make and keep the promises. So, it is time now, as we worship with one another, as we go worth to serve others, to remember the promise that God has made to us, and the promise that we have made to God, and the covenant that we all share with one another.
Through Christ, we all say together… “Amen.”
Benediction
God, thank you for your prophet Hosea. May his life and covenant with you inspire our relationship with you. May we be your hopeful and comforted people, because we are your faithful ones. Amen.
