Reflection for Sunday the 25th July 2010

Year C Proper 12 25 July 2010
Hosea 1: 2-10 Psalm 85 Colossians 2: 6-15, (16-19) Luke 11: 1-13

Every day we wake up and go about our routine, but I wonder what our motivation is. What or who is it that we depend on?

In reality there will be a variety of answers and probably lots of different “whos” and “whats” , but deeper down than the practicalities is a basic philosophy and belief set that shapes and drives our lives. For many people that basic philosophy and belief is mostly veiled and hidden in the sub-conscious part of our being. This can be dangerous as when we don’t really know what we believe we are subject to fads, opinions and societal peer pressure. But worse than these, if we are unaware of our beliefs, we are open to the deceptions that are deliberately designed to cause our destruction.
Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

There is only one way to ensure that we are living motivated by the truth of Jesus Christ and that is to stay so connected to him and his word that we can immediately spot deceptions. I’ve heard that there are people who are trained to identify counterfeit money. Their training does not consist of studying the counterfeits, as they may come across some that they’ve never seen before. But what their training does consist of is much study and familiarity with the real thing. We need to study the word of God!

The prophet Hosea had just begun to hear from God. I can imagine that some may think being chosen to be one of God’s special prophets would be a great honour. It surely is, but when we hear of prophets, evangelists and miracle workers being almost worshiped like the Christian version of a rock star we can know that something isn’t right. Many of God’s prophets had a very rough time and Hosea was no exception. God told Hosea to go and take an adulterous wife. It was a recipe for heartache and I’m sure many would have questioned that Hosea was legitimately hearing from God, but it was God’s call on Hosea’s life. Fortunately for us, Hosea trusted and fully relied on God.

The life of Hosea was to be a prophetic sign of the relationship that God had with his people. God loves, cares, provides and protects his people, yet they reject him and worship other gods. Many people think that God showed himself to be a cruel and punishing God in the accounts of the Old Testament, but if we actually read some of the absolutely despicable things that these people did you’d be surprised that God didn’t completely wipe them off the face of the earth. Sometimes I think God deliberately chose the worst of the worst so that we can know if He showed mercy to them then He will surely show mercy to us also.

Always, after God declares his wrath, He follows with the promise of redemption and the story of Hosea is no different.
We need to have a good look at Hosea’s wife. If you ever get the chance to read a book by Francine Rivers called “Redeeming Love” I would highly recommend it as it not only is an enjoyable delight but it gives amazing insight into the wife of Hosea.

The question was asked on someone’s Facebook status recently, “Why do people cheat?” What was it that caused Hosea’s wife to constantly stray when she had everything she needed where she was? I believe... and the book by Francine Rivers seems to also back this idea, that the underlying philosophy or belief that drives this kind of person is one of insecurity. There is a disbelief that one is truly loveable and on the flipside, a belief that the one you are with could not possibly deliver all that is promised.

What this tells us about the Israelites relationship with God is that they didn’t believe God would really be all and do all that He promised.

Are we any different?

Does our life reflect the faith that we have in God? We have a great summary of what Jesus has done for us in our reading from the Colossians2: 9 “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

There is quite a lot in that reading so I have underlined the key points to help.

To re-emphasize some points from last week, Christianity is a “Done” religion. In many other religions the people have to strive to achieve union or acceptance, but through the gift of Jesus Christ all our “doing”, or maybe what “should be done” is completed. It has already been achieved.

You will come across Christians, often, who are trying hard to “do” things to be acceptable – they’ve fallen victim to a hollow philosophy that depends on their actions. Maybe a hollow philosophy like that which is coined around Australian classrooms, “you can do it” – No! You actually can’t do it. Don’t feel bad when you fail – Christ knew that you would. He wouldn’t have gone through such a drastic death if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Can you discern what motivates you? Have you understood fully what Christ has done so that you can fully rely on God?

When Jesus disciples asked him to teach them how to pray he taught them not a set prayer – though we say it as the famous Lord’s Prayer. What Jesus taught them was to address God as father and to rely on him by submitting to him our daily needs knowing that as a father he will surely care for us. There is a bit more to the prayer than just this, but I believe our main message for this week is to fully rely on God.

It has always struck me that this Gospel reading ends with line about the Holy Spirit. Luke 11:13 “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Ever since our post Easter reflections I have been looking for opportunities to encourage us all to unwrap the gift of the Holy Spirit. St. Luke was writing his Gospel to a non-Jewish nobleman during the period of time when the gifts of the Holy Spirit were relied on. It has always seemed to me that Luke was trying to impress on his reader the importance, goodness and credibility of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We all have areas of our life where we are like the man who cried out to Jesus, “Lord I believe. Help my unbelief!” We believe God and then we, like the adulterous wife, put out trust in other things... other philosophies... I could get on my soap box and list a few – I am tempted to, but really the only way to know if you have taken on a deceptive philosophy is to let the search light of the Holy Spirit to find it out and make it clear to you.

We can pray as Jesus taught us, but we also need the help of the Holy Spirit for prayer, for discernment, for understanding, for interceding... and the list goes on. With the gift of the Holy Spirit teaching us as we read the scriptures we will more fully understand that we are free. We will have our eyes opened to the good things that God has done and we will know that we can trust Him. Now I’m understanding the letters that you can find on some Christian merchandise – FROG – Fully Rely On God!