Hosea 10:9-15 (NRSV)
Reaping injustice
Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah?
I will come against the wayward people to punish them;
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are punished for their double iniquity.
Ephraim was a trained heifer
that loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck;
but I will make Ephraim break the ground;
Judah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
You have plowed wickedness,
you have reaped injustice,
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your power
and in the multitude of your warriors,
therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle
when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.
Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah?
I will come against the wayward people to punish them;
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are punished for their double iniquity.
Ephraim was a trained heifer
that loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck;
but I will make Ephraim break the ground;
Judah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
You have plowed wickedness,
you have reaped injustice,
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your power
and in the multitude of your warriors,
therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle
when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.
Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.
The first thing that I saw this morning when I got onto the internet was the announcement of the government shut down. And the next thing I read were these words from that voice of cheer, Hosea.
"You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your power and in the multitude of your warriors, therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people and all your fortresses shall be destroyed."
It isn't a stretch to read that through the the lens of what's happening in our nation's capital. Lies, injustice, power are all words that we often see associated with the leaders in Washington. It isn't hard to see the ruins of peoples' lives - mothers dashed at least metaphorically in pieces with their children. It's easy to see leaders in this country trusting their own power and then to feel rather depressed about it.
But our God lets us know that their is hope. God wants to rain righteousness, not sorrow.
We seek God not in the powers of this world. Not through government and strength. We seek God in the small places. The unexpected places. Hope comes through fallow ground. It comes when the powers of this world fail us, as they have today.
It comes because the power of the cross doesn't fail us. New life comes from fallow ground.
Seek God today in those places that don't fail.
Good and gracious God. We are reminded over and over again not to trust in powers and principalities. We are reminded also that through death you bring new life. Bring new life to us today. Give us hope and remind us ever to trust in you even when the ground before us seems fallow. Amen
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