When the Lord Speaks

Hosea 1: 1-11, page 636
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:
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.”
So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
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. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”
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 in the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 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.”
After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, “Call him LoAmmi, for you are not my people and I am not your God.
“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 ‘children of the living God.’
The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.
Sermon
Hard to find anything good about this lesson.
I’ve been feeling sorry for our choir director, Jennifer Langley, and our organist, Mary Lynn Darden, who have had to pick out music to fit this lesson. There aren’t many tunes to fit the words: “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.”
Even the names are bad in this one. That’s the way it was supposed to be for the children, named to illustrate the adultery of the people, but you know, you don’t see anyone naming their daughter Gomer either.
And then you have Hosea, not exactly given an easy assignment – not that prophets are ever given easy assignments, but I’d rather have Jonah’s job than this one; even considering the part about getting swallowed by a whale, even that sounds easier than marrying a woman, not out of love but because God told you to.
But it’s not like Gomer liked him all that much either – and then there are those poor kids – How would you like being named, “You are not my people and I am not your God.” That kid didn’t do anything to deserve that name.
There’s really not much good about this lesson at all.
Not much good about it, until you get to the last verse, “the people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.”
None of the prophets presented themselves in a way that helped them fit in with society – their dress and their behavior was just as off putting to folks as the words coming out of their mouths – but no prophets behavior is as off putting as Hosea’s as far as I’m concerned.
It’s as though the package their message came in made it harder to receive – and maybe that’s just the way it had to be – or maybe these prophets were just a little crazy.
And you have to be crazy to go on believing what Hosea believed – that “the people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.”
Believing such things is never easy – especially when everything around you serves as proof that what you say will never be true.
The eyes of faith then can’t be the same as the eyes of pragmatism or science. The eyes of faith have to be able to see the data, hear the projections, and still believe that something else is possible.
The eyes of faith – believing that hardship we now face might just come to an end.
The eyes of faith – that the inevitable doom might just be avoided.
The eyes of faith – that two kingdoms divided will one day come together.
We know what this is:
The eyes of faith – that a preschool whose numbers have been dwindling would expand to such a degree that our preschool director, Pam McClure, would have to go out looking for teachers to provide for all the kids enrolled in the fall.
The eyes of faith – that a church, having lost their Director of Christian Education, been forced by financial strain to ask their Youth Director to take on the nurture and education of their children, would be able to pull off the best Vacation Bible School in recent memory thanks to the leadership of Katie Arnold and the dedication of volunteers willing to invest in the children of this church and this community.
The eyes of faith – that a church would not have to cut music programs when they’re only able to afford a half time music director, but because of the hard work of parents and volunteers, would continue on just as vibrant as ever.
The eyes of faith – that a church, who in its 35th year faced a financial crisis; that a church whose watched too many friends walk out the door; that a church forced to cut staff, trim budgets, and stare into the face of a $100,000 deficit.
Rational people would have advised us to pack it up a long time ago.
But you – you with your eyes of faith.
You who refused to give up.
You who believed despite all the odds.
Today I’m so thankful to tell you that we have not only survived an economic crisis, we just closed out the fiscal year with a $75,000 surplus.
Eight months ago, if Hosea were around he might have named us “bankrupt shepherd,” “cash-strapped shepherd,” but we just kept going with Good, trusting that God, who is always good, will unite two kingdoms once divided – would make the impossible possible – would find a way where there seemed to be no way.
You – who never stopped believing.
You – who never stopped working for the kingdom.
You – who never stopped trusting.
With eyes of faith you invested in this church, your time, your talents, and your resources – and you invested when sound advice would have told you to invest somewhere else.
With the eyes of faith you kept on and we are on the right path.
Now that doesn’t mean that the journey is over – that it’s time to rest – that our work is done.
A kingdom united isn’t ready for vacation – a kingdom united is poised to minister to the people, as God hasn’t delivered us just to deliver us.
We have made it to the place where we can stop worrying about closing our doors, which means we are now called to open them wider to people all around.
We’ve made it through a hard patch – and that doesn’t mean our work is over – it means our work has just begun.
I encourage you then – to think about how you might continue to make a difference here, and to get to work. I encourage you to think about who you know that needs a place like this, and to invite them as soon as you can. I encourage you to go on thinking about what needs to be done and to find a way to make it happen.
For we have made it through the storm, and now it’s time to build and to plant.
We have made it through the dark night, and are witnesses to the sun that always rises.
We have made it through, God has brought us through, and we must live as those who have a story to tell, as disciples who can lead the way, as followers of the living God who have refused to give up.
I thank God for you – for the great work that our God is doing through all of you.
What a joy.
What a gift.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.