St. Margaret's Sermon Archive
Pentecost 10 - Rev. Caron Gwynn - 8/5/2007
In the name of the one God, creator, redeemer and sanctifier.
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?...My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender…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.”(Hosea 11: 8-9, NRSV)
Hosea, a prophet from the Northern Kingdom of Israel prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II from 755 to approximately 715 BC. During this time people enjoyed peace and prosperity. However, the people held to a mixture of worship practices that consisted of making sacrifices to the false gods of the land, Baalim and worshipping the one true God. The king and local priests endorsed these worship practices. Following the death of Jeroboam II there was nothing but anarchy in the land, which lead to destruction and enslavement by Assyria in 721. In short, the people were living in utter turmoil as they consistently embraced a wayward manner of living by turning further and further away from the covenant entered with God thus shunning the love God had for them. They failed to honor God and no other image.
On a personal note, Hosea knew what it was like to feel betrayed because of a wayward lifestyle. He experienced disappointment and knew the sting of sadness because of not receiving heartfelt love anchored with loyalty from someone he cared for deeply. Hosea endured actions of an unfaithful and wayward wife whom he took back publicly and had three children with her who were daily reminders of their troubled marriage covenant and what was to happen to his people. However, through his grief, humiliation and tension he still loved his wife. His actions were not the usual practice within the culture of his time. Hosea embodied the compassion of God and there by displayed the immeasurable love of God to his unfaithful wife.
Hosea’s ability to reconcile with his unfaithful wife makes him the perfect prophet to profess the love of God in this scripture reading signifying that is possible to work toward reconciliation with God. God wanted nothing more than the wayward Israelites to return to him with love in their hearts. This is the ultimate wish and desire of God for all people.
The prophet paints for us a picture of a very tender and caring God who in spite of all that we may do to pull away, stands ready to embrace us with lovingly open arms and unending compassion. “I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst,” says the Lord in that the anger of God is not like that of humans. Hosea shows us that through the tension and agony God experienced witnessing the suffering of the wayward Israelites God stopped short of having them endure slavery again and vowed to bring them back unto the covenant fold with an heartfelt open invitation without giving up them. Although the Israelites tasted God’s anger previously for not maintaining their honor they nevertheless also experienced the divine compassion of God within their mist.
Here and now, God stands in our midst with the invitation of compassion, love and reconciliation for everybody because God does not give up on us during our own waywardness during the course of our lives. Shortly you will be invited to the feast of the Lord with love. The Holy Eucharist reminds us as we pray, “But we failed to honor your image in one another and in ourselves…Yet you never ceased to care for us, and prepared the way of salvation for all people.” (EOW, Eucharistic Prayer I). Keep in mind and remember that God’s compassion grows “warm and tender” for you with every prayer to God, the almighty.
Let us pray that by the working of the Holy Spirit we may be the example of unending compassion and love with one another and others as Hosea who served as an instrument of God’s care and tenderness in the world. As a community of faith, let us in our hearts express our gratitude to God for the immeasurable love and unending care that is ours as a gift from the one true God our creator who always stands ready to welcome us back when we have strayed with open arms to embrace us. Amen.
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?...My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender…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.”(Hosea 11: 8-9, NRSV)
Hosea, a prophet from the Northern Kingdom of Israel prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II from 755 to approximately 715 BC. During this time people enjoyed peace and prosperity. However, the people held to a mixture of worship practices that consisted of making sacrifices to the false gods of the land, Baalim and worshipping the one true God. The king and local priests endorsed these worship practices. Following the death of Jeroboam II there was nothing but anarchy in the land, which lead to destruction and enslavement by Assyria in 721. In short, the people were living in utter turmoil as they consistently embraced a wayward manner of living by turning further and further away from the covenant entered with God thus shunning the love God had for them. They failed to honor God and no other image.
On a personal note, Hosea knew what it was like to feel betrayed because of a wayward lifestyle. He experienced disappointment and knew the sting of sadness because of not receiving heartfelt love anchored with loyalty from someone he cared for deeply. Hosea endured actions of an unfaithful and wayward wife whom he took back publicly and had three children with her who were daily reminders of their troubled marriage covenant and what was to happen to his people. However, through his grief, humiliation and tension he still loved his wife. His actions were not the usual practice within the culture of his time. Hosea embodied the compassion of God and there by displayed the immeasurable love of God to his unfaithful wife.
Hosea’s ability to reconcile with his unfaithful wife makes him the perfect prophet to profess the love of God in this scripture reading signifying that is possible to work toward reconciliation with God. God wanted nothing more than the wayward Israelites to return to him with love in their hearts. This is the ultimate wish and desire of God for all people.
The prophet paints for us a picture of a very tender and caring God who in spite of all that we may do to pull away, stands ready to embrace us with lovingly open arms and unending compassion. “I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst,” says the Lord in that the anger of God is not like that of humans. Hosea shows us that through the tension and agony God experienced witnessing the suffering of the wayward Israelites God stopped short of having them endure slavery again and vowed to bring them back unto the covenant fold with an heartfelt open invitation without giving up them. Although the Israelites tasted God’s anger previously for not maintaining their honor they nevertheless also experienced the divine compassion of God within their mist.
Here and now, God stands in our midst with the invitation of compassion, love and reconciliation for everybody because God does not give up on us during our own waywardness during the course of our lives. Shortly you will be invited to the feast of the Lord with love. The Holy Eucharist reminds us as we pray, “But we failed to honor your image in one another and in ourselves…Yet you never ceased to care for us, and prepared the way of salvation for all people.” (EOW, Eucharistic Prayer I). Keep in mind and remember that God’s compassion grows “warm and tender” for you with every prayer to God, the almighty.
Let us pray that by the working of the Holy Spirit we may be the example of unending compassion and love with one another and others as Hosea who served as an instrument of God’s care and tenderness in the world. As a community of faith, let us in our hearts express our gratitude to God for the immeasurable love and unending care that is ours as a gift from the one true God our creator who always stands ready to welcome us back when we have strayed with open arms to embrace us. Amen.