Re: Engaging

James Cathcart January 10, 2025 3 1

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Hosea 11: 1-11 (NRSVA)

11 

“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.

2 

But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
    and they burned incense to images.

3 

It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
    it was I who healed them.

4 

I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed them.

5 

“Will they not return to Egypt
    and will not Assyria rule over them
    because they refuse to repent?

6 

A sword will flash in their cities;
    it will devour their false prophets
    and put an end to their plans.

7 

My people are determined to turn from me.
    Even though they call me God Most High,
    I will by no means exalt them.

8 

“How can I give you up, Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
    How can I make you like Zeboyim?
My heart is changed within me;
    all my compassion is aroused.

9 

I will not carry out my fierce anger,
    nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man—
    the Holy One among you.
    I will not come against their cities.

10 

They will follow the Lord;
    he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
    his children will come trembling from the west.

11 

They will come from Egypt,
    trembling like sparrows,
    from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
I will settle them in their homes,”
    declares the Lord.

In this heartbreaking reading we can re-engage with the tenderness of God’s love as through our imaginations we can picture God taking us by the hand and teaching us to walk. For all sorts of reasons and at all sorts of times we find ourselves coming back to God in this place of tenderness.

Prayer:

We come back

whether it’s for the first time in a long time

or the first time since yesterday

whether at a headlong rush

or an inch at a time

but we come back.

We come back 

whether we know the way fondly

or the path is overgrown and strange

whether we know what to expect

or are clutching at straws

but we come back.

We come back 

whether in tears or laughter

gratitude or sorrow

whether we feel hopeless 

or hopeful

either way

we are coming back.

Amen