Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Hosea 8: 4-7, 11-13

Thus says the LORD:
They made kings in Israel, but not by my authority;
they established princes, but without my approval.
With their silver and gold they made
idols for themselves, to their own destruction.
Cast away your calf, O Samaria!
my wrath is kindled against them;
How long will they be unable to attain
innocence in Israel?
The work of an artisan,
no god at all,
Destined for the flames—
such is the calf of Samaria!

When they sow the wind,
they shall reap the whirlwind;
The stalk of grain that forms no ear
can yield no flour;
Even if it could,
strangers would swallow it.

When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin,
his altars became occasions of sin.
Though I write for him my many ordinances,
they are considered as a stranger’s.
Though they offer sacrifice,
immolate flesh and eat it,
the LORD is not pleased with them.
He shall still remember their guilt
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.

I have heard people say, “I cannot believe in a God who allows…” One of the biggest ways we worship golden calves in this day is by creating in our minds an image of God as we like to see him instead of the way he really is. There are many who turn their backs on Church teaching because they believe that God has changed his mind and that the teaching is outdated. There is a demand that the Church get with the times. Church has lost her relevance in so many lives because people have redefined God and therefore can redefine their relationship with him. When you conform God to your image you commit the ultimate idolatry.

The reading goes on to speak to our times about the multitude of “Christian” churches that have sprung up that preach God not as he is but how they want him to be. People desperate to have a relationship with God, on their terms and not his, flock to these ecclesial communities in vast numbers. They eat the bread made of fruitless wheat. They get fed but the food they receive is deficient. The body is what it eats and the soul is what it sees and hears.

Altars are made to offer God sacrifice, praise, and worship. Animal sacrifice was used to atone for sin. Today many altars are used as occasions of sin by people who have redefined the truth of God into their own truth. A prominent example is same sex marriage. God created marriage in Adam and Eve and defined it as one man and one woman for life. Jesus affirms this definition and condemns divorce during his ministry. Yet, in churches all across this nation pastors perform same sex marriages before these altars to people who have created for themselves a god who approves of their union. Even more prominent are the marriages performed to divorced people, all justified because people worship a god of their own creation.

When we sow wind, we will reap whirlwind. When we sow the ungodly, we will reap destruction. God will remember those who have turned from the true God for the golden calf of their creation. They shall receive his justice. But for those who know that God is God and they are not and do their best to live by his commands, they will be shown God’s mercy in place of the justice due.