Proper 12 C + Love First + 7.24.22

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Hosea 1:2–10; Psalm 85; Colossians 2:6–15, (16–19); St Luke 11:1–13)

 

“Dear White Evangelicals, I need to tell you something: People have had it with you.” Thus began a letter I read this week by Pastor John Pavlovitz of N. Carolina. In it, Pavlovitz showed how, from his perspective, white evangelicals have abandoned their Christian faith and that “pigmentation and party are [their] sole deities (Published on Facebook).” As I read the letter, I agreed. Yes, I thought, those people have really messed things up for the rest of us Christians. Because of them the word Christian is less esteemed in many circles, and is even feared. Christians are taking away women’s rights, gay rights, and are continuing to make the world worse for immigrants and people of color.

Those people- that is when you know the devil is working. Because of course, while I am not “that kind of Christian,” I am European-American Christian. And I cannot separate myself entirely from my siblings, even as I name that my way of living my faith is distinct from theirs. I have thought of this often lately as we prepared another young person to receive their grand communion in the Spanish service today. What is this church we are forming people into? How can we lift up the parts of our faith which we celebrate?

In the gospel reading this week, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray and here we receive the gem that is the Lord’s prayer. We are gifted with the one prayer all Christians know. I have visited sick and dying people who can’t converse with me any longer, who, once I start to recite the Lord’s prayer, will join in! This prayer is the fabric of our belief. That God is holy. That God’s will be done here just like it is in heaven. That God sustain us with the food we need for the day. That God forgive us, even as we promise to forgive others. That God protect us from temptation.
Jesus’ purpose in teaching that prayer was so that the disciples could be better representatives of God in the world. And yet, how are Jesus’ representatives doing now? It is easy to put the blame on others. But often when something is happening in society, we have a part in it. It is personal.

What is also very personal is the reading from Hosea today. Here, it is helpful to remember that we are just at the beginning of the story. Hosea is a prophet, and as such this scripture is written as a prophetic text, a metaphor for God’s relationship with Israel. And yet, how does Hosea get to proclaim this, but by marrying a woman whom is identified as a prostitute, and by naming the children that they have together “God sows” or Jezreel, and Lo-ruhamah, or “Not pitied” to remind of God’s punishment and judgment. So the general statement just became very, very personal. Take a moment to feel, if you will, some pity for Gomer, Jezreel and Lo-ruhamah. That just stinks. Even if you know it is a metaphor, that can’t feel good. Perhaps that is the point.
Because what happens later, but God and Hosea reclaim their family- “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’ (Hosea 1:10b)” and later- Say to your brother Ammi (which means my people) and to your sister Ru-hamah (which means pitied… (Hosea 2:1). Even before the people have fully repented, God has claimed them back. And Hosea and Gomer’s children’s names change, and they are claimed and blessed.
How much more are we claimed and blessed in Christ? We who are Jesus followers know that the world has seen some of the worst of us lately. We are too quick to judge others based on our scriptures rather than try to understand why they make the choices they make. What person really wants to use abortion as birth control? Can we not see that the world is broken? And that rather than judge first, we must, as Jesus showed us, love first? We must. Because this way is not working.

We have been held captive by a philosophy, as Colossians calls it, a philosophy that states that God would have us legislate others’ lives because we have somehow been made the moral arbitrators of this nation. But the truth is, this country was founded on religious freedom because certain Christians persecuted other Christians and those of other belief systems.

We have confused God’s judgement for our own. God will judge us if people die as a result of our policies, or if the climate crisis continues to wreak havoc on lives and ecosystems. But our laws should be separate from religious beliefs. Our ethics should be about what is for the common good of those who are already here on this land, not on hypothetical people that may come into being. God cares about all of us- those who are here and those who have been here and those who will be here. God cares about all of us! God knows the good things to give us, as Jesus affirms in the passage we read today.

But God does not need us to legislate religious morality- that would be the modern-day equivalent of stone throwing at the woman caught in adultery. Why? Because Jesus sought out the last and the least, the most vulnerable, to bring them into the kingdom and welcome them. As such, if there are those who are vulnerable in society, such as the immigrant, the queer person, the person of color and the woman, we as Christians should first strive to welcome. We should first strive to make life better for them. Then, when we have helped, then if we see choices happening that may hurt others, we must protect the others who might be vulnerable. I suspect that when we address the needs of those who are vulnerable, when we bolster and protect them, a lot fewer will make choices that seem unchristian.

Are there always those who would transgress and hurt others? Yes. But do we all always need to be mindful of our own sinfulness, yes again. We must each repent of our own role in the destructive patterns around us. With repentance comes healing.

And with healing, we are renamed and reclaimed again! God knows our true beloved identities, not just as Christians, but at the core of our beings. God says- you are my beloved! I have mercy on you! Just as God said to the children of Hosea and to Israel. God delights in each one of us as if for an only and beloved child. God will never reject us. Let us love one another and pray to reflect God’s love in the world. Amen.