Bible
Facebook: Hosea, Not Knowing
Hosea 4:1-6, Ephesians 1:15-21, John 8:54 – 59
When daughter Anna was a teenager, a popular pet reply to a question
she couldn't answer was “I'm not knowing.” Have you seen the
remote? “I'm not knowing.” What's your brother doing? “I'm not
knowing.” It's a comfortable easy answer that generally works. But
what if I were to ask you this morning, “Where is God in your
life:?” what would you answer...Truthfully?
Meet Hosea, the last “friend” in our Bible
Facebook series. It takes only 15 -20 minutes to read his book –
but a lifetime to ponder. Hosea was a prophet living in the north
country, Israel. Things on the surface looked good. There was peace,
prosperity, security: alot like our nation before 911. But God saw
the heart of the nation and called Hosea to demonstrate to the
people the spiritual infirmity that was destroying them from the
inside out. The Lord instructs Hosea to marry Gomer, the local
prostitute. Hosea, being a faithful man obeys the Lord, and loves
Gomer. They had three children in rapid succession. After the third
child was born, Gomer had her fill of family life, packed up and
picked up her former profession. Hosea literally buys her back for
thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave, and a little food.
Hosea, faithful and deeply sensitive to
the Word of the Lord, sees in his beloved Israel the same failings
as in his unfaithful wife Gomer. God tells Hosea, the deep dark
issues, the contention, the controversy, the charge He has against
Israel whom He has loved like a spouse. Look again at Hosea 4:1
Hear again the word of the Lord, you Israelites because the Lord has
a charge to bring against you who live in the land. There is no
faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
We're talking about Israel of Hosea's time, right? I mean today in
our society, people are faithful - to what takes their fancy.
There's lots of love around. Many folks can't stay married to the
same spouse because they love somebody else. Even through the heat
of God in public controversies of our culture, once in a while we
still tip our hat to the “Man upstairs, right? “
The King James reads there is no
truth, no mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. We're still
talking Hosea's Israel, right? Hosea isn't talking about how
the media slants the news, TV portrays scripted unsavory scenarios
as “reality shows”, and politicians and national leaders say one
thing but do another, right? And surely he isn't addressing the
“let's-sue-everyone-for-everything-we-can-get frenzy in this
country, right? And don't we know God well enough that
we don't have to mention Him in school, or in the pledge of
allegiance, for that matter, lest we offend somebody? Is Hosea not talking to us this
morning? Let's read on.
Hosea 4:2 There is only cursing,
lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds and
bloodshed follows bloodshed. I enjoy swimming at Little Sioux
Park. Most often it has been a quiet place with only a few people on
the beach: some teenagers, a family or two, young lovers. But this
year, because of the flooding of the Missouri, Little Sioux Park
sparked to life with families of many backgrounds. Having been
raised in New York and educated in Chicago and Kansas City, I really
enjoyed the variety of people and the energy of a mixed crowd. Until
I hear one boy, somewhere between 10 or 11 shout to his sister,
“you're a b----- begins with b, rhymes with witch. His parents were
just behind me watching, and they didn't seem to mind a bit. The
flesh in me wanted to acquaint the boy's taste buds with a bath bar
of Ivory. By the way, he was Caucasian.
There is only cursing, lying, murder,
stealing, and adultery. Lying for convenience is so common, it's
socially accepted as the way you get around life. Get around the
truth. During Hosea's lifetime four kings, one after another, was
usurped, assassinated and succeeded by the next. Murder was no big
whoop - remind you of our inner cities? Adultery, well, there are
a myriad of excuses people have for being unfaithful to their
spouse, but only one reason not: God forbids it. If you can hurtle
that, you can do whatever you can justify in your own imagination,
never mind the consequences. This is what Hosea sees in Israel. The people
lacked integrity. Do we see it in us?
God gives the reason for the moral morass
Israel is in. Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed from lack of
knowledge. Not terrorism or global warming, but lack of
knowledge! Lack of knowledge, ok. now we know He's talking
only about Hosea's Israel. One thing we do not lack in this
generation is knowledge. You want to know something, just Google
it. You can Google and find out anything you want to know on the
internet. Want to build a barbeque? Google it. What is the fair
price on a 2002 Hum V ? Google it. What is the capital of Tanzania,
how many eggs you put in souffle? Knowledge is a commodity we have
plenty of. Even history textbooks omit what used to be full chapters
because there's just too little time for so much knowledge!
But the knowledge Hosea was talking about
was not about anything in this world. It it's not about
anything at all. It is knowledge of God. Not facts and figures, but
the infinite Heart, eternal Spirit and perfect will of God. In that
his people were woefully lacking – as we are today.
People say, “ I believe in God.” That's
nice. Here's a cookie! I believe in Warren Buffet. But I've never
met the man, don't know him, wouldn't even know him if I passed him
on the street. “Well”, you may argue, “Warren Buffet is a flesh and
blood person. You could meet him if you wanted to.” First I think
that is unlikely because why would Warren Buffet ever want to meet
me. Secondly, God is also a flesh and blood Person, by the name of
Jesus. God redeemed us through the shed blood of His Son Jesus
Christ, who was sold at the price of a slave, thirty pieces of
silver, and a little food:, a chunk of bread and a sip wine. Jesus
really wants each of us to meet, love and know His Father.
Paul writes in Ephesians 1:17 I keep
asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father...
The King James version that says it this way: that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory...There is a subtle
but important difference between “glorious Father,” and “Father of
Glory.” For example, my Dad was a wonderful man, but he was not by
any means, a man of wonders. To say Father of Glory refers back to
Christ. Christ is the Glory of God in human form. When we look at
His character, His sacrificial love, His wisdom, His courage, is
strength, we are looking at the face of God; Jesus is hands down
the single most outstanding “friend” in our Bible Facebook. Through
His obedience to death on the cross, and His resurrection, Christ is
seated at the right hand of His Father, the Father of Glory, our
God, over all powers, principalities, rulers, titles, everything and
everyone in this world, in heaven above, and below the earth, and
the age yet to come.
My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge. What does that speak to us in this information crazed
world if we do not know, personally know God, the Father of Glory in
Jesus Christ? Destroyed! A nation destroyed because they turned
their back on God, His love, His law, His heart like a wayward
adulterous spouse. The people lacked intimacy with their God. What
does that say for the USA?
Beloved, wherever you are with the Lord,
He's got so much more for you. So much more! Let me show you. I'm
not wearing my robe today. I am wearing one of my mother's favorite
outfits. She made the blouse from large identical scarves. She wore
this three weeks before she died. As you know I spent last summer
with my mother, ministering to her through her illness and her last
days. By daily, and sometimes hourly, even moment by moment, turning
to and trusting the Lord, God gave the strength, patience and grace
to do what I in my flesh could never do: Love my mother through
Jesus. On this date last year, August 21st, 2010 I stood
up in the pulpit of First Lutheran Church in Bemidji Minnesota
before some 100 mourners and gave Mother's eulogy. Just this
morning, someone asked me what the words in French were on the hem
of the blouse. I never read it before. “Pour toujours, pensez de
moi.” For always think of me. I do think of Mother often, but more
than this, those words are at the heart of this mornings message.
The Lord imploring us in our wayward adulterous generation: “For
always, think of Me”.
Beloved, God is infinite in love, wisdom,
and power. Jesus has all authority to lead us to the heart of our
gracious giving God, if we are willing to yield to Him: yield our
hearts in love, our energies in service, our time in prayer, study,
and reflection on His Word. Prayer is best offered when you seek God
in silence. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He will. Then look for
Jesus. When the disciple demanded, Show us the Father, and we will
be satisfied, Jesus answered, “Philip how long have I been with
you?” Jesus tells us this morning that He knows the Father and the
Father knows Him. If we would truly know God, we come to Jesus.
Don't just read the Bible like an
assignment: “Oh, I read three chapters in the Old Testament and two
in the New today. It was Leviticus yet!” Well, good for you! But
it is not about our goodness, our achievement or our endurance. It
is about our communion with God in Jesus Christ. Being with Him. The
prayer is not, “Lord I want to read the whole Bible in a year”, but
“Lord I want to meet You even if it is only in one verse, even if
only in one word.” One day, the Holy Spirit set me down and taught
me straight from one word. It was out of Psalm 24. You want to know
what the word was? It wasn't “love” or “faith”. It was “Vanity.” -
pride He wanted to humble.
The word Hosea speaks to us this morning
is not “Vanity”, but “Return”. This week students have returned to
school. They are giving up the last lazy crazy hazy days of summer
to resume the disciplines of their education, daily meet with their
friends, and learn of the world what they will need to know. Return
to God, to desiring to love God more than you do this moment. Leave
the lazy hazy days of self satisfaction which accomplish nothing of
eternal value, and return to the discipleship of growing in Jesus
Christ, an resume the disciple of being taught His ways, daily meet
with the greatest and dearest friend in Bible Facebook, and learn
from Him what you need to know through this world to the next. Seek
not to know not more about Him but to experience more of Him. Then
witness about the Jesus you know and cherish. When the day comes -
it will - that you see Jesus face to face and He asks, “Do you love
me?” You will never, never, no ever even think of saying, “I'm not
knowing.”
