Word to the Wise
Wednesday, July 9, 2014 - Wednesday in the 14th Week in Ordinary Time
[Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 and Matt 10:1-7]Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety; break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain down justice upon you! [Hosea]
The prophet Hosea today offers a wonderful image: a newly plowed [and planted] field, ready for rain to make it productive! I realize that many of the Beloved Congregation do not live in an agricultural area, but I hope you have the chance to experience the sight at some point. It is an image of hope and new beginnings. Hosea offers it after challenging the "northern kingdom" in regard to their abandonment of their faith in God and their adoption of the fertility-based "gods" of Canaanite culture. This was in no small part due to the cultural change brought on by moving from a mostly nomadic shepherding lifestyle to a stable agricultural society. Hosea warns them that their agricultural success is not due to those false gods and that they would lose it all to external enemies if they did not repent. Ultimately they did lose it to the Assyrian invaders!
The seeds of a warning are there for us as well. Our North American culture of "success" tempts us to believe that the "gods" of science and the economy are the ones who account for our "blessings" and we forget the God who created us and sent his Son to redeem us. If we expect to reap the blessings of God's justice and mercy, we will have to "break up a new field" and present ourselves to God as ready for rain! AMEN