Saturday, February 29, 2020
Hosea 5:1-15: Our Affliction
Hear this, O priests, pay attention, O house of Israel . . .
This is a sad picture – a people turned away from God in such a way that they have eliminated any possibility of return. In today’s Noontime, the leaders in particular are held to judgment since they have been given the gift of office – yet they abuse it. The priests celebrate their own harlotry. Arrogance bears witness against itself. There is political upheaval and insincere conversion. All appears to be lost.
O household of the king, give ear . . .
Hosea predicts an all-consuming whirlwind later in his prophecy, a coming storm that the prophet Ezekiel also predicts. It is fascinating that no matter how much we are warned of our own coming fall, and no matter how much we learn about ourselves, we continue to walk toward and even tumble over the precipice that is clearly labeled with warnings. There is something about us that wants to self-destruct.
And yet there is more to this story. We are graced to be New Testament people who know that God forgives us when we return to God’s call – even when this turning comes at the last moment. And so we look for salvation from our affliction. Do we know that what we truly seek is our own transformation? And do we know that we hold the key to this redemption and rebirth within?
As we move through our Lenten journey, we are called to return to God. Called to turn back to a time when we accepted God’s love with childlike glee. With this turning, we find an openness to change and possibility for healing from our own afflictions. We find a newness of change in Christ.
So although our leaders may have fallen into deep affliction, we need not follow. God’s persistent love – if only we open ourselves to its healing power – brings with it an invitation to wisdom, an offer of grace, a measure of humility, a taste of fidelity and strength, and the enduring gift of un-imagined freedom. Today we ask that God’s persistent love convert our deep affliction to the abiding hope and love that Hosea foretells.
Adapted from a Favorite written on September 8, 2010.
To find prayers for those who suffer during the Easter season, click on the image above or visit: https://newtonpresbytery.org/2019/04/25/prayers-for-those-suffering-in-this-season-of-easter/
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