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Pentecost 9
1 August 2004
Hosea 11:1-11; Ps. 107:1-9,43; Col 3:1-11; Lk. 12:13-21
Retired ministers don’t get to Baptise many children so when it happens it’s very special. My last Baptism was a Samoan child, Salani. Now that she is toddling around, I can pick her up and ask, “Give me a hug, Salani.” She looks me straight in the eye and then, very gently, places her cheek against mine. It is the most intimate gesture and I am touched.
Hosea 11:1-11
A change of heart moves me,
tenderness kindles within me.
I am not going to let loose my fury,
I shall not turn and destroy Ephraim,
for I am God, not a mortal;
I am the Holy One in your midst.
I shall not come with threats. (Revised English Version)
This passage shows a remarkable turn in emphasis. Here God describes the relationship with Israel in the first person, an especially close relationship from God’s side. It is one that goes back to the Exodus.
Israel here is no longer a faithless wife but a rebellious son. What is being described is the opposite of what could be expected. Here is great intimacy and tenderness, a totally different picture from that of an avenging God.
Are verses 10 and 11 always read? “When Yahweh roars like a lion, it is not in anger but as the clearest summons to the people. The people do react, but they do so in response to God; they now come trembling from all directions. The passage ends with God and people reciprocally in their proper places. People seeing God as holy means that they recognise a way totally different from theirs, but which can give them their own legitimate way. In Aotearoa New Zealand it is not unusual for its various peoples to acknowledge the different ways of others, but, when they do, they find they are much clearer about their own way.” (The Old Testament in Aotearoa New Zealand. Maurice Andrew)
Psalm 107:1-9,43
A psalm of thanksgiving over the hesed of Yahweh. There is no other word for it. It is a song about God’s steadfast love — an appropriate companion piece for Hosea 11. The language may apply to many experiences of alienation — lostness, hunger, thirst, weariness. “In contrast with our culture Ps. 107 teaches us that there is finally no such thing as self-sufficiency. Human life depends on God; and the good news is, God can be depended on.” (J. Clinton McCann.)
Col. 3:1-11
Why is it that people outside the church see its teaching as dour, restrictive and inappropriate for our times? Why are Christians so often depicted as people with long faces? Why is it that, in conversations about attracting people to Church, the comment is often made, “Oh but I couldn’t invite anyone into what we have here”, meaning that it is boring and dull? I wonder if it is because we find it so! Maybe we need to hear a call to change (repent), move in a new direction. Perhaps we should look up and out more instead of looking down and around ourselves. It could be that we would see a new landscape.
The reading from Colosians today offers another perspective. Here everyone is defined by Christ. Here Christianity is resurrection in the here-and-now. There is no word about suffering now for the sake of bliss later. The call is to put away distorted attitudes and actions. Sure, specific things are mentioned and maybe we should take careful notice of them. But I think we should include despondency where the church is shrinking, and the failure to challenge the common attitude of so many by illustrating in our living how much confidence we have in God who is good and love and faithful.
Luke 12:13-21
I wonder what the greedy farmer would have done in today’s booming property market. I bet he wouldn’t have sat back and taken his ease. He’d have been out and about buying up “investment properties”. Our culture puts a high premium on expansion and growth. I’ve often wondered what would happen if we concentrated more on people’s welfare first, and the economy second. I have been moved and challenged over the years by the writings of Jane Kelsey and Susan St. John who seem to me to place a Godly emphasis on economic and social matters.
This parable raises another question for me: “Why do we have so much bother talking about money in Church, and why are so many people upset by it?”
“The Gospel texts are not immediately addressed to the broader culture, to provide an economic system that is peculiarly Christian. They are in fact addressed to the disciples and would-be disciples, who have little or no leverage to change economic patterns but who want to live faithfully to their calling as believers. Jesus’ words make sense only in the circle of faith where the intrusion of God into the lives of people (as with the rich man in the parable) is taken seriously.” (Charles B. Cousar)
Like many parables, no answers are offered here. There is only a simple “So it is......” As a good story should, the fortunes and misfortunes of this farmer will stick in our minds and offer us a way of living and of reacting to the way others would have us live.
1 Here we bring, small or great, gifts to offer on this plate what we’ve earned, what we own tithe or token, bread or stone.
2. Food and drink, things obsess, drug us to false happiness, what we keep, what we give tells the truth of how we live.
Jesus said: “Have a care - your hearts will always be where your riches are, where your riches are.”
3. Moth and rust breed decay thieves break in and steal away love and trust need no hoard, richest treasure can’t be stored.
4. Wild flowers grow, birds find seed, God attends to each one’s need as we share, all can live, as we love, we learn to give.
Shirley Murray “Alleluia Aotearoa 62.