This weekend, we mark Remembrance day and Indigenous Veterans Day. We remember historic wars, people who were killed, people who returned—changed forever. We remember families impacted by these losses and changed loved ones. We gather to pray for peace so that no one will ever experience such devastating violence again.
We look around our world right now and see so many places where war continues to happen. We watch as communities are destroyed. We see refugees fleeing and seeking safety. And we hope and pray for a changed world. Psalm 91 reminds us of God’s presence and the ways we can rely on God as a rock and a refuge in the midst of violence and destruction. The psalm reminds us of God’s presence in the midst of violence and everything that entails. The psalm offers a very graphic image of a battlefield, including the death of friends. The psalm doesn’t gloss over the very real consequences of war.
The other reading comes from the prophet Hosea. (if you want a great overview of Hosea, check out the Bible Project.) We don’t hear from Hosea very often, but Hosea speaks to the war-torn world in which we find ourselves. Hosea writes about the relationship between God and God’s people. Hosea’s premise is that when God’s people break the covenant, they are destroyed by violence and war. Hosea brings hope in reminding people that God is a God of love, compassion and faithfulness even when we humans head off in our own direction.
The book of Hosea goes something like this. Hosea begins by telling the story of his marriage to Gomar. According to the story they had three children, but Gomar was unfaithful. Hosea has a choice—let Gomar go or do whatever it takes to win her back. Here’s the thing. Hosea isn’t talking about his own marriage. Hosea is using this as a way of describing what’s happening between God and God’s people. God and God’s people have entered into a covenant by receiving the Ten Commandments, committing to a just society and being faithful to God. But what’s happened is that the people have forgotten the Ten Commandments, they have forgotten to create a just society and they have chosen to worship Ba’al and other gods. According to Hosea, when the Hebrew people entered the promised land, they took what they wanted, enjoyed their new life, prosperity and abundance and forgot about the God who brought them out of Egypt.
We saw last week how the worship of Ba’al resulted in drought. Even though Elijah was able to end the drought, people returned to worshiping God, but it was a temporary blip and in Hosea’s time, the people have forgotten God again.
Hosea is forecasting the dire consequences of continuing the path of worshiping other Gods. Internally, the nation is in disarray because of the injustices and the breaking of the commandments. Externally, the nation is dependant on the military might and support of Assyria and Egypt. Rather than place their trust in God, the people have chosen to place their trust in military might and in keeping the peace with unjust and more powerful neighbours. Thsi backfires as Assyria invades and destroys Israel.
That’s the context for the passage we heard this morning. Throughout history, God has called and called to the people. God has expressed love and compassion and yet people turn away. There’s an image of God as a parent—loving a child, teaching them to walk, caring for them and providing everything they need to flourish. And then God watches in anguish as the child does their own thing. God can see the destruction of war coming.
And then we hear God crying out:
How can I abandon you, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is aching within me; I am burning with compassion! No, I can’t do it! I cannot act on my righteous anger! I will not turn around and destroy Ephraim! For I am God—no mere mortal— the Holy One who walks among you!
Hosea 11:8-9
All of the places God is lamenting over were violently destroyed. Ephraim and Israel are the kingdoms made up of the tribes of Israel—destroyed by invading forces. Admah and Zeboiim were collateral damage when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed—and no one remembers them. But God does. God remembers all who are destroyed by violence.
And then we hear God’s aching heart, the heartbrokenness of a God who loves the world. God is burning with compassion. That compassion will not allow God to walk away from a world that is self-destructing. God will not complete the destruction.
God is God. God is the Holy One who walks among us. And so, when we look at the wars unfolding in our world today, we remember that these wars are not happening in isolation. Wars are a natural consequence of humans forgetting the commandments to love and serve God, and to love and serve each other. We’ve forgotten to create just societies and have come to rely more on military might, and the power of greed rather than being faithful to the covenant with God. But God hasn’t forgotten the covenant. And God refuses to walk away.
God has been present throughout human history, sending prophets to call us back to God’s covenant. We see the prophets all through scripture reminding us again and again that a broken covenant with God leads to destruction. Being faithful to the covenant leads to life.
I don’t see the destruction as punishment but as a consequence of human behaviour. People caught up in wars—like in the Ukraine, Russia, Palestine, or Israel are not being punished. The consequences of human decisions to worship wealth, violence, and power continue to create situations where people and communities are destroyed.
And God does not abandon us to ourselves. God stands firm in the face of violence and is the rock and refuge in whom we place our trust. Living into the covenant with God requires knowledge of God. In the Hebrew, knowledge is not primarily intellectual. Knowledge requires a relationship. It isn’t enough to say that we have read the Bible or thought about God. That’s a good start but unless learning about God draws us into a relationship with God, we cannot fulfil our part of the covenant.
God has committed to keeping the covenant, so again, it is our turn to return to the covenant. It is our turn to keep the commandments, create just societies and truly worship God in doing these things. That is where we find hope in a world that is often overwhelmingly filled with violence.
We remember all those who live with the reality of war. We remember people whose families and communities are torn apart and destroyed. We remember soldiers experiencing the horror of war. We remember that war and violence are not God’s intent for the world. We remember that God’s intent for the world is love, compassion, and justice. We remember that we are called to be full participants in knowing God and living into the covenant established so many generations ago. We remember that God will not abandon us.
Twirling Jen 