Family Mirror
On a Buddhist podcast, a woman told a famous monk that she was concerned about her son; she does not know how to teach him. Whenever she sees him, it reminds her of her younger time. When she was in high school, she could not control her anger well. One day, after fighting with her friends, she went out of school before finishing the class. Her son does the same thing; he can't hold his anger either. Whenever she scolds her son, she feels ashamed because the son resembles her, and she sees herself in her son. She is worried it is pay back for her sins through the son. The Monk says 'Even though it frustrates you, do not let the frustration knock you down. When you are trying to renovate your life and have a better life, your son will see this and follow your behavior too. Your son will be a mirror of yourself." Do your children follow your behavior? When we have an objective perspective, we realize ourselves, what we have done, where we are now, and how we can restore ourselves for a better life. But it is tough because of human's finitude. Rather than realizing, we stick to a habitual lifestyle and think narrowly. If we have self-realization and see our faults every day, we might have a better quality of life now. Then, we can avoid hurting our neighbors and ourselves. Therefore, enlightening and self-realization are blessings and grace from God. Should I marry her? Today the Bible passage is Hosea 1:2-10, which invites you to have the blessing of enlightenment and a moment of grace. Oddly, God commands Hosea to marry Gomer. v.2 “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom.” How did Hosea feel when he heard this? If God asked me to marry Gomer, I would pretend not to listen. We need to understand Gomer and who she is. We used to interpret her asa professional prostitute. Scholars recently argued that she is not a prostitute based on the Hebrew word, zonah meaning prostitution. She was never labeled by zonah. Rather, she is "a woman/wife of promiscuity" (’eshet zenunim) because she is habitually promiscuous. That means that although she got married, she enjoyed sexual relationships with other men. Anyway, it is terrible too for Hosea. I assume that Hosea must be puzzled. But, he was a prophet who knows God’s desire and he followed it. And God continues to say, “for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” We need to interpret Gomer allegorically because she is linked to the land of Israel. At that time, Israel worshiped other gods, especially Baal. Baal is the god of rain and storm. At the season of rain, people believed that Baal has sexual intercourse with the land, and it produces rain. You may understand why the Book of Hosea uses the sexual image. In the agricultural society, water and rain are really important because plenty of water means prosperity and fertility. The Covenantal Relationship with God When God called Israel, God called them in the covenantal relationship like a married couple. God loved and blessed Israel, and Israel followed and worshiped God. While God provided them everything they needed, God wanted only one thing from them. God wanted to have an exclusive relationship with them. Among the Ten Commandments, the first one is, "You shall not have other gods before me." I want to translate this again. “You shall have nothing between your face and my face.” Idolatry is not about golden statues or icons. It is something put before your face and blocking you from seeing God’s face. God wants to see your face directly without any obstacles and have a close relationship with you. However, Israel put fertility and prosperity between their face and God’s face. They no longer see God. Thus, God sent Hosea and spoke through him. The relationship between Hosea and Gomer reflects the relationship between God and Israel. If I were one of Israel’s people at that time, I would blame Hosea and say 'What? How can a prophet marry a promiscuous woman? Does it make sense?’ Israel might have been insulted and blamed Hosea for the marriage with Gomer too. However, it means that they insulted and blamed themselves because they are like Gomer, but they did not realize it. Idolatry & Injustice Gomer also reflects us here, sitting in the church. We love prosperity and fertility too. We choose something other than God. But, we need to raise a question. If we stick to prosperity, does it really bring happiness for all people? A theologian, Landon Gilkey was captured by the Japanese army, and he was sent to the Shantung Compound in China during World War II. While imprisoned in the compound, he theologically pondered human nature and life. He says by borrowing Reinhold Niebuhr, “Injustice to other man, as Reinhold Niebuhr, has said, is the social consequence of an inward idolatry, the worship of one’s own self or group.” (Landon Gilkey Shantung Compound, 232) I agree with his theological observation. When you love for money, desire for material wealth, and worship for prosperity, it will eventually bring social injustice. Your neighbor will become a means of money rather than the purpose of love. You may see numerous examples from the newspaper. This is a critical observation from Landon Gilkey. But it is also an old observation because God says to Israel in Hosea 1:4, “I will punish the people of Israel for the massacre at Jezreel” (my own translation) The love for the material wealth made the massacre at Jezreel. In many passages, the Bible tells us the end of loving money. The Restoring Love Through Hosea, God gives an opportunity for Israel, who is de-humanized and violent, to repent. They must remember the covenantal relationship through Gomer and return to Holiness. What is Holiness? According to John Charles Ryle, “Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.” Holiness is like a couple who love each other. They have one direction to go together. When they remember the loving relationship, God again promises, “Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them “children of the living God.” (v.10) It is the moment of grace when you realize your wrongdoings and faults. When you see yourself from sin, it is God's invitation to call you again in love. Whenever I read the Old Testament, I see that God is not that powerful. Although God says 'I will punish you, and you will be devastated,' I see God is crying with us and eagerly wants us to come back like a mother. However, God is all-powerful because God's love is never failing. Here again, we see punishment and grace together. Although God says scary words in Hosea such as “I no longer have pity on the house of Israel” and “I will not save them by bow,” God’s love is hidden in it and waiting for you until you realize it. It is God’s love waiting for you, God’s love awakening you and God’s love enlightening you. The Unfailing Love Have you ever experienced falling in love? We know well that the earth moves around the sun because it is the center of the solar system. However, when you fall in love, your lover becomes the center of the universe. All your attentions move around your lover. That is how God loves you. Martin Luther knows this well, and he says, "Sin boldly!" What does he say? Should we commit sins more than we do now? His emphasis is not on sin. He continues to say, "Sin boldly, but believe even more boldly in Christ and rejoice." He relies on the never-failing love which is bigger than his sin. Paul says “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 8:38-39) As we live, we will be frustrated again by ourselves and our faults. But remember that God's love is bigger than your sin. Amen.
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