Devotion - Tuesday, November 11

I referred to the verses from Hosea when my lectionary had me reading from the early chapters.  The story contained there is of God's instructions to the prophet to marry a cult prostitute, in the hopes that his faithfulness to her would result in her faithfulness.  The analogy is to God's faithfulness to the chosen people; and their repeated unfaithfulness to God.  While the story is of painful events, the nature of a good story is we enjoy reading it and find pleasure in it.  We are also left open to thinking the story is about someone else, not us.

I am now in the latter chapters of Hosea.  Here, we read of the accusations being made against those whom God has invited to become His people.  These chapters are less enjoyable, particularly when we make the links between the unfaithfulness of the immediate hears of the prophesy and those who are open to receiving the prophet's words in our own day.

The transgressions with which God confronts his chosen people are those which turn a blind eye to the plight of others.  The transgressions which God delineates are those in which the privileged fail to recognize their privilege.  

When we hear talk about "living a Christian life," we most often think of morality.  We think about lying, drinking, sex.  Surely, following Jesus means we won't deceive our neighbor, or abuse the body God has given us, or exploit another for our own pleasure.  But the life to which God calls us is also concerned with feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, setting free the captive.  Like the latter chapters of Hosea, understanding our role in these types of issues requires more work than telling a few simple stories.

Our First Lesson from this past Sunday spoke of God's desire that justice would roll like a mighty river.  Those same verses acknowledged that is it simpler for God's people to engage in dramatic and impressive "worship."  But that the worship God asks is to do mercy.  

I have a few more verses from Hosea to read over the next couple of days.  I may return here.  Not because I enjoy such difficult questions, but precisely because it is way too easy to avoid them.  Israel ignored them; and God sent Hosea to speak of God's displeasure.