Forgiven ...and Loved
Hosea 1:2-11, Col 2:16-19, Luke 11:1-13
There is so much in this weeks readings, I hardly know where to start…
We find Hosea told to mary Gomer. A wedding that seems to make no sense to us, let alone the Israelites who would have expected holiness from their prophets. Yet God wanted to have a physical concrete example, of what his relationship with Israel looked like. A holy man, married to a harlot. It's true for us too…we are about as Holy as a slug when compared with God aren't we.
Then we read in Colossians about how we ARE each called to a forgiven life, that we are freely forgiven of all that we have done. Every one of us. Amazing.
We read about Jesus teaching us how to pray.
And we read about how we are to be persistent in prayer. That we are called to pray, and pray, and expect an answer. That certain friend who went out at midnight, went out not to bother his neighbor, but in the expectation that his request would be answered.
I think I like the very last bit of the Gospel best though.
Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
What a promise. We are loved children who can COUNT on an answer from God. Yet we sometimes pray for the craziest things though don't we.
I was reading about "a mother [who] was listening to her son say his prayers one evening before bedtime. "Thank you, Lord, for mom and dad, and please make Oshawa the capital of Canada." The surprised mother interrupted him and asked "Why did you pray for Oshawa to be the capital of Canada?" "Because that's the answer I put on my test!"1
From our Father's point of view many things we pray for don't make much more sense than praying for a capital city change. For great riches. For great power. For so many things that in the long run will harm us in one way or another.
But Jesus promises our prayers will be answered. He says:
One of the things that I noticed when I was studying the Lord's prayer from Luke is the tense to the forgiveness bit. I will read it again. "And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us." This is a bit different than the translation we all know so well, even though it can mean the same thing. "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." What we usually say, can have a now and a future meaning. And that is right. We are called to forgive, and forgive, and forgive. Sometimes though, the future meaning swallows up the present. It's like we are promising to forgive in the future, and it has nothing to do with the NOW. Remember as we come to God, we are to be in forgiveness at that very moment too. Forgive me my sin for right now, I do forgive now those that have wronged me.
A young girl [who] grows up in the country. Her parents, a bit old fashioned, tend to overreact to her nose ring, the music she listens to, and the clothes that she wears. They ground her a few times, and she seethes inside. "I hate you!" she screams after an argument with her father. That night she acts on a plan she has mentally rehearsed many times. She runs away. She just disappears.
She goes to the city. Her second day there she meets a man who drives the biggest car she's ever seen. He offers her a ride, buys her lunch, arranges for a place for her to stay, gives her some pills, and even though she is underage, gives her a job (I think you can imagine what kind of job it was).
The good life continues for about a year and then she gets sick, and before she knows it she is out on the street. She finds herself sleeping in alleys and under bridges ("Sleeping" is the wrong word because a young girl on the street can never relax her guard.) The nights get cold, her sickness worsens, dark rings encircle her eyes, her cough is constant, her need for another "fix" is unceasing.
One night as she lies awake, frightened and cold, her pockets and her stomach empty, and with newspapers tucked under her coat to keep her warm, something jolts a memory. The farm with its blossoming trees. Her golden retriever chasing a ball. Sitting on her dad's knee as he told her stories that made her laugh. The smell of something delicious coming from the kitchen. Her bed with sheets and blankets.
"Why did I ever leave", she says to herself. "My dog back home has a warm place to sleep, is fed well and is healthier than I am". She's sobbing, and in a flash she wants to go home.
She rings home three times. The first two times she gets cold feet and hangs up before it is answered, the third time her call connects to an answering machine. "Dad, Mum, it's me. I was wondering about, maybe, coming home. I'm catching a bus out your way. It'll get there about midnight. If your not there, well, I'll just keep on going.
The bus ride takes several hours. All the way she is worried. What if her parents didn't get the message? What if her parents had written her off as dead long ago? What if they never wanted to see her again? She rehearsed a little speech that she would say, if her parents are there, "Daddy, I'm sorry. I know I was wrong. It's not your fault; it's all mine. Dad, can you forgive me?" She says the words over and over, her throat tightening even as she rehearses them. She hasn't apologized to anyone in years.
The bus finally arrives and she walks into the terminal not knowing what to expect. Not one of the thousand scenes that have played out in her mind prepares her for what she sees. Standing in front of a homemade banner that read "Welcome home!" are her brothers and sisters, several old school friends, a grandmother, even a great grandmother. Out of the crowd step her dad and mum. Her eyes begin to water and she begins her memorized speech, "Daddy, I'm sorry, I know…" He interrupts her, putting his fingers on her lips, "Shhhh, child, no need for that. Welcome home." He holds out his arms and she is wrapped in his embrace and her mum hugs the both of them, tears of joy streaming down her face.2
Forgiveness and Love. This I think is the story of Hosea and Gomer, the story that Paul is conveying in Collosians, and the great promise of Jesus. We are a forgiven and loved people. Forgiven and Loved. Ask and it shall be given to you. Let us go tell the world.