Resting On God's Shoulder; Sermon on Hosea 11:1-9

Rev. George Miller
November 10, 2019
Hosea 11:1-9

Last Wednesday I had a much-needed magical night. I took my ‘Lil Brother Cornelius and his sister Carmela to Highlands Lakeside Theatre to see “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”

Last time I took Cornelius to the theatre he was young enough to be captivated by the Wicked Witch of the West, and to fall asleep on my arm during the 2nd Act of “Always, Patsy Kline.”

But now he’s a 16-year-old with hair on his chin and a Learners Permit in his pocket, and his sister is 15.

I was unsure if they even wanted to go. Would they enjoy live theatre? Would they be bored and roll their eyes the entire time?

We had a great time. The experience was everything theatre is meant to be.

They got Shirley Temple’s in the lounge; candy from the concession stand.

They laughed throughout the show, spending just as much time laughing at the show as laughing with.

They also spent a lot of time laughing at me.

Over the months I’ve moved into the Awkward Uncle status, the beloved elder in which what I wear, how I walk, what I say, and how I shoot them the “Be Quiet” look makes them giggle.

I get it, but sometimes it’s hard to know how they really feel about me.

Do I still matter in their lives? Does my presence really make a difference?

By the 2nd Act, “it” happened, and I got my answer.

Something funny happened on stage that made the audience laugh, which made me laugh, which made Cornelius laugh, which made me laugh even more, and Carmela, in a fit of hysterics, leaned her head on my shoulder…

She lifted her head up to laugh more, then she rested her head back onto my shoulder, then she really laughed, and laid her head on my shoulder…and kept it there for as a long as a 15-year-old could.

…It was exactly what I needed.

The validation that although these kids are grown and growing, I still mattered, and that deep down, no matter how goofy they thought I was, they truly cared for me…as I do for them.

For now, these 2 kids are the closest I’ve come to being a parent.

With Cornelius, over the years we’ve had “the talk”-

-the sex talk
-the “you’re funky and need to use deodorant” talk
-The shaving talk
-The “how to respond when a cop pulls you over” talk, twice
-the “I’m scared for your safety” talk

Last Sunday Cornelius sat behind the wheel of my car and drove us from Arbuckle Creek to 66 to 27.

Such a myriad of emotions I’ve had the honor to experience with this young man and his sister-

The innocent joy of getting to share things with them for the 1st time, like theatre and Disney.

The measured wisdom of sharing knowledge from life’s experiences.

Fear of knowing that they are old enough to make choices that can affect their entire lives.

That everything has been worth it the moment they rest their head against your shoulder or send a text to see how you are, or simply say “Thank you” after a long day.

The only things I have not experienced from them is abandonment, disappointment, and seeing them make disastrous decisions…yet.

That’s what we see in today’s reading from Hosea.

Today’s scripture is not just an emotionally moving one, it is also a theologically important one.

Hosea 11 may be the earliest recorded expression of God’s love in the Bible.

What we have here is perhaps the first articulation that God loves us, and it’s not a love based on a promise to an ancestor, or a covenant made 1,000 years ago, or because God has to.

It’s an articulation of love as a verb in which God wants to love us.

This love that Hosea writes about is a parental kind of love, but it is deeper than that- it’s the love of a parent who has adopted their child, who has chosen to love their child out of their own free will.

Today’s reading is about God as the Heavenly Parent who chooses to adopt and love the Earthly Children, not because God has to, but because God wants to.

That’s deep.

But for anyone who’s been paying attention for the last few weeks, you know that choice wasn’t always reciprocated.

God wants to be the King of the Kingdom but the people say “No, we think we can do better with a human.”

God bestows wisdom upon Solomon, but he builds shrines to other gods.

God sends lightening down during a 3 year drought and still the people follow baals and corrupt kings.

God says “Come, walk humbly with me” but the people say “Na…we’d rather pledge our loyalty to the Assyrians.”

Today’s reading not only captures the parental love of God, but also the parental heartbreak of God.

This isn’t about God being seen as goofy but still headrest worthy…this is about God not even being seen at all.

Hosea 11 shows us a very vulnerable, emotional, wounded side of God.

It asks the question- what does it cost God to be God?

What does it cost God to be in relationship with us?

What does it cost God
-to create?
-to hear?
-to be vulnerable?
-to allow us the freedom to choose?

What does it cost God to adopt us, to raise us, to care for us?

It is interesting to think of all the things we want from God.

Many of us want to be blessed by God.

We want to be assured a place in Heaven.

We want to be forgiven.

We want to be helped, rescued, saved.

But do we ever think what God wants?

After all, if our relationship with God is a true relationship, it can’t be all one sided, it can’t be all about us.

What does God want?

If we read Hosea 11, we can say that what God wants is

-to love us
-to call us son and daughter
-to teach us how to walk
-to lift us up in God’s arms
-to heal
-to lead
-to feed
-to hold onto
-to not see us suffer.

So, why do we often act like we’re deaf? Or that we forgot?

Why do we continue to stumble over the same things we’ve been stumbling over?

Why do we turn away from God’s nourishment?

Why do we pledge loyalty to earthly powers or foreign kings?

Why do we still long for the land we were enslaved in?

Why do we do things that make God’s heart recoil and cause God great hurt?

I don’t know. After 3-4,000 years of this relationship you’d think we’d get things right with the Lord.

Thankfully God forgives; thankfully God waits; thankfully God loves.

As we end today’s message, you are invited to participate in a little exercise.

Imagine, that right here, right now, in this sanctuary, that God is literally sitting right beside you.

Let that reality be absorbed.

Now, no matter how goofy you may think God is, no matter what issues you two may have had in the past,

You invited to imagine that you are resting your head against God’s shoulder.

How does that feel?

How does that feel for you? How does that feel for God?

Do you think God’s heart is recoiling, or do you think God’s heart is filled with gladness?

Think of this week-

How can you welcome God lifting you up?

How can you allow God to nourish you?

How can God lead you, walk with you, guide you?

We are never too old to be young; we are never too old to be children of the Lord, Sisters and Brothers in Christ, related by the Holy Spirit.

Amen and amen.