Joel 3:10-21

Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble. (Joel 3:14-16)

The day of the Lord is near. This is the day.

Or, at least, this can be the day.

This can be the day when we choose to open ourselves to God, to strip away our defenses, and to allow our vulnerabilities to be known by others and sacrificed to God.

The Hebrew translated above as near can me close in time, place, or relationship.

When we invite God into relationship surely we will hear a roar and thunder as God accepts our invitation.

Joel 3:9-17

Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining. (Joel 3:14-15)

We are each and all in the valley of decision.

The Hebrew translated as decision is חָרוּץ or charuwts (sounds very similar to carrot).

This is to be diligent, sharp, to separate one from the other.

It can also mean to maim or mutilate.

Without God, our decisions are likely to mangle. With God our decisions can bring helpful clarity.

Joel 2:28-3:8

Then afterward,
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days I will pour out my spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)

Joel joins prophets across the ages in anticipating resolution, judgment, and redemption.

We anticipate -- hope for -- an end-time, even as we claim in believe in a God beyond time.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus taught us the kingdom of heaven is at hand, close by, ready for us to grasp.

The reign of God is almost certainly less a matter of time and space and much more a matter of experience here and now.

And my people shall never again
be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the
midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord, am your
God and that there is no other.
And my people shall never again
be put to shame. (Joel: 2:26-27)

To read this after the Holocaust is, perhaps, less reassuring than was once
the case.

But it was also read after the destruction of the second Temple.

The prophecy may originally have been preached to give meaning to the
Babylonian captivity.

We can quibble over "shame" and assert not every failure is cause for shame.
But in the context of whole prophecy this would, I think, be ignoring Joel's clear meaning.

There is purpose beyond earthly pride. There is joy beyond earthly success.
There is a kingdom beyond our current existence.

Joel 2:12-19

Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
“Where is their God?” ’
Then the Lord became jealous for his land,
and had pity on his people. (Joel 2:17-18)

Christians understand that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we have encountered the fulfillment of God's intention.

We are spared not because we weep and grovel and neither to preempt the mockery of unbelievers.

We are redeemed through the love of God symbolized in the self-sacrifice of Jesus.

Joel 1:15-2:11

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them in ages to come.(Joel 1:1-2)

A long drought is followed by a huge wildfire.

We perceive God's judgment in the terrible turn of nature.

It may well be a judgment we deserve, but it is wrong to see God's specific intent in the unfolding of natural events.

God creates. God frees. God is in relationship with all of creation.

But rain and fire are no more directed by God than you or me.

Joel 1: 1-13

What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten. (Joel 1:4)

I know a God of abundance and believe in a theology of abundance.

But we also know plague, earthquake, fire, and flood.

We have each experienced a cloud of locusts descending, darkening our days, and eating away all that on which we have long worked.

I know a God of new beginnings, of resurrection, and renewal.

But even Jesus spent three days in hell, why should I be surprised to find myself there for a time.

Sirach 51:13-22

I inclined my ear a little and received her,
and I found for myself much instruction.
I made progress in her;
to him who gives wisdom I will give glory.
For I resolved to live according to wisdom,
and I was zealous for the good,
and I shall never be disappointed.
My soul grappled with wisdom,
and in my conduct I was strict;(Sirach 51:16-19)

We start the path to wisdom by listening.

We make progress on the path by giving glory to God.

We ascend the path through discipline and resolve.

We continue on the path by ἐξεπέτασα: grappling, stretching, risking, spreading out, opening up.

Sirach 43:23-33

We could say more but could never say enough;
let the final word be: ‘He is the all.’
Where can we find the strength to praise him?
For he is greater than all his works.
Awesome is the Lord and very great,
and marvellous is his power. (Sirach 43:27-29)

How do we communicate with a dog or cat?

How do we communicate with a horse or cow?

They may perceive certain broad purposes: threat, affection, source-of-food.

But beyond these generalities, whatever wisdom we may try to share they will seldom understand and only with rigorous training will they even notice.

The gap in understanding between God and each of us is at least as broad. And God does not train us to obey but inspires us to seek to understand.

Sirach 50:1,11-24

And now bless the God of all,
who everywhere works great wonders,
who fosters our growth from birth,
and deals with us according to his mercy.
May he give us gladness of heart,
and may there be peace in our days...
May he entrust to us his mercy,
and may he deliver us in our days!(Sirach 50:22-24)

I know a self-restrained God who has given us the freedom to choose and will not forsake this gift.

I also know an attentive God who, if invited, is keen to work with us and will not forsake our invitation.

God fosters our growth with both freedom and help, inspiring gladness of heart in finding and knowing our way.

Sirach 44:1-15

But these also were godly men,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
their wealth will remain with their descendants,
and their inheritance with their children’s children.*
Their descendants stand by the covenants;
their children also, for their sake.
Their offspring will continue for ever,
and their glory will never be blotted out.(Sirach 44:10-13)

Three-thousand years after he died, a group of us were discussing King David.

He certainly accomplished righteous deeds.

He could also be vain, manipulative, cruel, and murderous.

Yet he is remembered with great glory.

David was bold in battle, in sinning, and in love of God.

Boldness -- be we right or wrong -- can clarify.

David was also bold in recognizing error and seeking forgiveness.

Sirach 43:23-33

Awesome is the Lord and very great,
and marvellous is his power.
Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can,
for he surpasses even that.
When you exalt him, summon all your strength,
and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough.(Sirach 43:29-30)

We are told to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise.

It is easy enough to do so, if we will simply choose to see and hear; if we will step outside the small world we have created and enter the universe of God.

To do so we must sacrifice our desire to be in control, opening ourselves to the greater creation of God.

Far beyond our control is astounding beauty, profound goodness, and ultimate truth. But God offers them for our joy.

Gracious God, thanks and praise, honor and glory be to you, now and for evermore.

Sirach 43:1-22

He pours frost over the earth like salt,
and icicles form like pointed thorns.
The cold north wind blows,
and ice freezes on the water;
it settles on every pool of water,
and the water puts it on like a breastplate. (Sirach 43:19-20)

Last night was to be the first frost.

I am not yet sure it happened.

Beneath my warm covers I did not feel the change.

In warmth and comfort it is easy to neglect God.

Discomfort most often arouses my attention.

Sirach 38:24-34

So it is with is the potter sitting at his work
and turning the wheel with his feet;
he is always deeply concerned over his products,
and he produces them in quantity.
He moulds the clay with his arm
and makes it pliable with his feet;
he sets his heart on finishing the glazing,
and he takes care in firing the kiln.
All these rely on their hands,
and all are skilful in their own work...
How different the one who devotes himself
to the study of the law of the Most High! (Sirach 38:29-30,34)

Sirach writes of the difference between craftsmen and those who would be wise.

But wisdom also requires deep concern, real work, heartfelt commitment, and careful attention.

It is the object and outcome that differs much more than the method.

Sirach 36:1-17

Have mercy upon us, O God of all,
and put all the nations in fear of you.
Lift up your hand against foreign nations
and let them see your might.
As you have used us to show your holiness to them,
so use them to show your glory to us. (Sirach 36:1-4)

We are in relationship with all, including foreigners, even our enemies.

What do our enemies see in us? Do they see holiness?

Are we prepared to see God's glory in them?

Sirach 35:1-17

Be generous when you worship the Lord,
and do not stint the first fruits of your hands.
With every gift show a cheerful face,
and dedicate your tithe with gladness.
Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
and as generously as you can afford. (Sirach 35:10-12)

How do we give to God? We give thankfulness and praise.

What do we give to God? We give thankfulness and praise.

Why do we give to God? We give thankfulness and praise.

In thankfulness and praise, we will also give of our time, creativity, cash, and other resources.

Whatever is most precious to us, we will give in thanks and praise for all that God has given us.

Sirach 34:1-8, 18-22

The senseless have vain and false hopes,
and dreams give wings to fools.
As one who catches at a shadow and pursues the wind,
so is anyone who believes in dreams.
What is seen in dreams is but a reflection,
the likeness of a face looking at itself. (Sirach 34:1-3)

The dreams referenced are dreams of sleep. But vain and false hopes that emerge while awake can be even more beguiling.

The danger comes from perceiving our own projections - our face looking at itself - as external reality.

These projections are a kind of potential, but for the potential to have any real hope of fulfillment vanity must be put aside.

To achieve a dream requires catching the light, not shadow; and riding, even guiding, the wind not pursuing it.

Gracious God help keep my face turned toward you and your light.

Sirach 31:12-18,31:25-32.2

Judge your neighbour’s feelings by your own, and in every matter be thoughtful. (Sirach 31:15)

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

These are calls to self-awareness. Do we know our own feelings? Do we take responsibility for them?

These are calls to other-awareness. Can we discern our neighbor's feelings? Are we ready to engage them?

What is our task if we are disgusted by our own feelings or those of our neighbor?

We are still called to love.

Sirach 28:14-26

As you fence in your property with thorns,
so make a door and a bolt for your mouth.
As you lock up your silver and gold,
so make balances and scales for your words. (Sirach 28:24-25)

We have nearly forgotten these sources of wisdom.

We are often free-speaking and quick to accuse.

We do not carefully weigh our words or our arguments.

Instead of well-chosen words of silver and gold, we seek to bury our adversaries in a torrent of leaden claims, true or false barely matters.

Those who pay heed to slander will not find rest, nor will they settle down in peace. (Sirach 28:16)

Sirach 24: 1-12

Wisdom praises herself,
and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.
In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,
and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory:
‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,
and covered the earth like a mist.
I dwelt in the highest heavens,
and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
Alone I compassed the vault of heaven
and traversed the depths of the abyss.
Over waves of the sea, over all the earth,
and over every people and nation I have held sway. (Sirach 24: 1-6)

Is wisdom another name for the Word - logos - as in the Word made flesh?

Is wisdom another name for the Holy Spirit?

In the psalms and proverbs we read, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

In Hebrew this fear is יָרֵא or yare' and it certainly means to be afraid. It also suggests awe, astonishment, and to be poured out.

Wisdom begins with a sense of my own insufficiency. My pride is poured out. I stand in awe before ultimate Reality.

Sirach 19:4-17

Have you heard something? Let it die with you.
Be brave, it will not make you burst!
Having heard something, the fool suffers birth-pangs
like a woman in labour with a child.
Like an arrow stuck in a person’s thigh,
so is gossip inside a fool. (Sirach 19:10-12)

I expect gossip. I fully expect humans in groups to talk to one another in an effort to understand one another.

What I do not fully understand is the tendency to use such conversation to condemn or shame or sanction.

We are curious creatures, both in beholding and being beheld. Let us talk of and to each other, but in love, appreciation, and to truly understand.

Sirach 35: 12-17

Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
and as generously as you can afford.
For the Lord is the one who repays,
and he will repay you sevenfold.

Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it;
and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice;
for the Lord is the judge,
and with him there is no partiality. (Sirach 35:12-15)

Motivation or intention or purpose can be complicated.

The issues are often crystalized in our giving to God.

Do I give in thanks, in love, or in hope of repayment sevenfold?

Do I give to fulfill the need of the other or because giving is self-fulfilling?

Mostly we need to give more, both to address the needs of others and in thanksgiving. Worrying about intention can wait until the giving becomes truly self-sacrificing.

If you do good, know to whom you do it,
and you will be thanked for your good deeds.
Do good to the devout, and you will be repaid—
if not by them, certainly by the Most High.
Do good to the humble, but do not give to the ungodly;
hold back their bread, and do not give it to them,
for by means of it they might subdue you;
then you will receive twice as much evil
for all the good you have done to them.
For the Most High also hates sinners
and will inflict punishment on the ungodly.
Give to one who is good, but do not help the sinner. (Sirach 12:1-2,5-7)

Sirach is a so-called apochryphal book. Most Protestants do not consider it part of the canon -- or core -- of sacred texts.

The Catholic canon was formalized by the 16th Century Council of Trent. St. Jermome's Vulgate was adopted, with some adjustments, as the accepted collection of sacred texts. Sirach is part of the Catholic canon, but St. Jerome had raised serious questions regarding Sirach and six other books.

For English-speaking Protestants the canon was established by the 1611 publication of the King James Bible. In this, Sirach was included as part of a new section between the Old and New Testaments entitled the Apocrypha.

According to the 39 Articles of the Anglican Church the Apocrypha includes,"other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine."

It seems to me that the verses above justify the ambiguous status of Sirach. Jesus encourages us to recognize the difference between human wisdom and the wisdom of God.

(There was no liturgical reading for Sirach assigned for today. This selection falls between those readings assigned for yesterday and tomorrow.)

Sirach 11:2-20

Good things and bad, life and death,
poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.
The Lord’s gift remains with the devout,
and his favour brings lasting success.(Sirach 11:14,17)

In the grace of God I understand we may all find eventual "success." But God's definition of success is considerably different than what most of us typically consider success.

It is not my experience -- nor my understanding of the gospels -- that good and bad, poverty and wealth, or even life and death -- come from God directly.

God has created the potential for all these things and in the structure of God's creation there are pathways more or less suited for that structure. We are free to choose and our consequences are much more the outcome of human choice -- and often the choice of others -- than God's specific intervention.

In many translations of Sirach the two verses listed above are sequential, nothing comes between. But in a few of the ancient manuscripts is found:

Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the law come from the Lord;
affection and the ways of good works come from him.
Error and darkness were created with sinners;
evil grows old with those who take pride in malice.

These two insertions are much closer to what my experience and reading of the gospels tell me of God and my relationship with God and neighbor.

Sirach 10:1-18

The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord;
the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.
For the beginning of pride is sin,
and the one who clings to it pours out abominations.
Pride was not created for human beings,
or violent anger for those born of women.(Sirach 10:12-13,18)

The orignal Greek translated above as pride is ὑπερηφανίας or huperephania.

Like the Eskimo have many words for snow, the Greeks have many words for pride.

This particular kind of pride is to appear, to show, to light up, to make visible, there is the suggestion of uncovering.

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus is quoted as saying, "But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile."

In this New American Bible translation huperephania is translated as arrogance.

Last night I was reading Martin Heidegger's Being and Time. With close attention to the Greek, Heidegger argues:

"Phenomenon, the showing-itself-in-itself, signifies a distinctive way in which something can be encountered. Appearance, on the other hand, means a reference-relationship which is in an entity itself, and which is such that what does the referring (or announcing) can fulfil its possible function only if it shows itself in itself and is thus a phenomenon."

Huperephania is the appearance of light, but not light itself. Our pride suggests our relationship with and points toward or refers to the more fundamental phenomenon: "Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father."

Sirach 7:4-14

Do not seek from the Lord high office,
or the seat of honour from the king...
Do not grow weary when you pray;
do not neglect to give alms. (Sirach 7: 4,10)

In the verses assigned for today there are three "Do not seek..."

There are seven, "Do not..."

Seeking and doing are related, but crucially different.

Seeking is intentional. Doing is often unintentional.

Seeking may be nothing more than a dream.

Doing has clear consequences for ourselves and others.

We are to take responsibility for both our seeking and doing, but even more care is needed in regard to what we do.

Sirach 6:5-17

Let those who are friendly with you be many,
but let your advisers be one in a thousand...
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter:
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price;
no amount can balance their worth.
Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
and those who fear the Lord will find them. (Sirach 6:6,14-16)

We are to love God and all our neighbors

Yet Jesus had Mary, Martha, and his apostles. Paul had Timothy and Luke. David and Jonathon were great friends.

Too often love of humanity in general seems to detract from our love for specific men and women.

We are not called to exclude, but we are called to celebration and faithfulness for the particular loves that bless our lives.

The picture is of David and Jonathon.

Sirach 4:20 - 5:7

Never speak against the truth,
but be ashamed of your ignorance.
Do not be ashamed to confess your sins,
and do not try to stop the current of a river.
Do not subject yourself to a fool,
or show partiality to a ruler.
Fight to the death for truth,
and the Lord God will fight for you. Sirach (4:25-28)

What is real? Find it and keep it.

I am ignorant of many things. That is reality.

I am a sinner. That is reality.

There are forces beyond my influence. That is reality.

I have the ability to recognize truth, choose truth, and speak for the truth. That is also reality.

Sirach 4:1-10

Give a hearing to the poor,
and return their greeting politely.
Rescue the oppressed from the oppressor;
and do not be hesitant in giving a verdict.
Be a father to orphans,
and be like a husband to their mother;
you will then be like a son of the Most High,
and he will love you more than does your mother. (Sirach 4:8-10)

It is wise to recognize our relationships.

It is especially wise to recognize our relationship with the poor and the oppressed.

To be in relationship is not just an abstraction, it is not just to return their greeting politely.

Earlier in the passage we are admonished, "Do not... delay giving to the needy... Do not avert your eye from the needy.

I not only avert my eye, I walk on more quickly. I do not even return their greeting.

Sirach 3: 17-31

When calamity befalls the proud, there is no healing,for an evil plant has taken root in him. The mind of the intelligent appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the desire of the wise. (Sirach 3:29-29)

A regular aspect of pride is to not listen, not really. The proud person hears with specific self-interest which discounts much of what is said.

The wise have an attentive ear. They listen to hear what is intended, they look for analogies and meaning even when there seems to be no personal connection.

Pride narrows our concern. Wisdom widens our relationships. In and through these relationships we are fulfilled and become whole.

Sirach 1: 1-10

All wisdom is from the Lord and with him it remains forever. (Sirach 1:1)

The writer uses the Greek Σοφíα,or wisdom. In many Greek Bibles Sophia is the name of this book. This is the same sophia found in philosophy (love of wisdom).

Sirach - or sometimes Ecclesiasticus - is a very Greek book of scripture. It was almost certainly written under the influence of Hellenistic notions of wisdom as developed by Socrates and Plato.

In the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible sophia is the typical translation of חכמות or chokmah. This is a very different notion of wisdom as skillful, shrewd, and prudent.

This wisdom (chokmah), as found in the book of Proverbs, is much more the wisdom of the Sophists than Socrates. But Sirach makes a significant shift toward a wisdom that exists on its own and for its own purposes.

Jonah 3:1 4:11

But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry... O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. And the Lord said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"... But God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?" And he said, "Yes, angry enough to die." (Jonah 4: 1,3-4,9)

Jonah wants to be the center of his universe. He wants to be in charge. When Jonah's plans are frustrated, he is angry.

God has other plans. God pushes Jonah into relationship with his neighbors. In relationship with the people of Nineveh Jonah's relationship with God is transformed.

Our own sense-of-self is most often what separates us from God and neighbor. Our desire for control contends with God's intent.

In serving others, we serve God. In loving others, we love God. In loving God and neighbor we can claim our true self.

Jonah 1:17 - 2:10

You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, "I am driven away from your sight; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?" (Jonah 2: 3-4)

God did not cast Jonah into the sea. Jonah went to sea trying to escape God.

Jonah was not driven from the sight of God, he ran away of his own free will.

Too often we separate ourselves from God and then blame God for not being close.

Jonah 1: 1-17

Then they said to him, "Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" (Jonah 1:8)

When trouble comes we wonder why.

Why me, why the one I love, why now, why in this way?

What have I done? What have they done to deserve this?

Jesus brought trouble to pigs, moneychangers, and evil spirits (including those in the pigs). Otherwise, I cannot recall him causing trouble. Instead, he healed troubles.

There were, however, those who even Jesus could not heal. They had chosen to separate themselves from God.

Micah 7:1-7

But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. (Micah 7:7)

John Milton wrote, "They also serve who only stand and wait."

But not just wait, they stand expectantly, hopefully, carefully as watchmen.

We are not passive in waiting for God. We watch for the time and opportunity to respond to God's approach.

Micah 6

With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? ... He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6: 6,8)

I am to come before the Lord with justice. How do I engage my neighbor? How do I serve my community? How do I contribute to fulfilling God's intention for each and all?

I am to come before the Lord loving kindness. I am to "do" justice, but love kindness. I am to identify with the struggle and weakness of others. The Hebrew translated as kindness is checed which is identified with the Greek agape. We can hear that we are to love love. we are to be faithful, engaged, and self-sacrificing in serving God and neighbor.
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I am to walk humbly with my God. I am to go where God leads. I am to listen to what God says. I am to be self-critical in my understanding.

(This is not assigned for today's liturgy, but it falls between the liturgical readings for Micah from yesterday and for tomorrow.)

Micah 5: 1-4

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labour has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
and he shall be the one of peace. (Micah 5:2-5)

Our species survived and thrived by predicting the future. Because we perceive time we can anticipate, plan our next steps, and create -- or at least try to create -- an outcome of our choosing.

This essential and wonderful skill -- the source of our imagination, art, science, and nearly all that distinguishes human from non-human -- is also the source of personal worry, social anxiety, competition and conflict. Which vision of the future will prevail?

Those who encountered Jesus disagreed over whether he fulfilled the even-then ancient prophecy of Micah. Would Jesus establish the secure future anticipated? Did Jesus match the plan the set out?

If the life and teaching of Jesus tells us anything of time, surely it is to recognize the sacramental potential of the present moment. God is here, now; the reign of God is at hand; we encounter God in how we engage the relationships unfolding around us.

Micah 3:9-4:5

He shall judge between many peoples,and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away,they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,and no one shall make them afraid;for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.(Micah 4:3-4)

In relationship with God pain can be redemptive. Outside relationship with God pain ends with death.

In relationship with God suffering can be a path to courage. Outside relationship with God suffering frequently travels with fear.

In relationship with God pain can unfold into new understanding. Outside relationship with God pain often results in despair.

Micah 3:1-8

Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have acted wickedly. (Micah 3:4)

It is time for the rulers of Israel and Judah to know justice, to understand how their choices have had terrible consequences for others.

The rulers have perverted their relationship with the ruled, oppressing them rather than serving them. Instead of seeking justice, the rulers have been sources of injustice.

The rulers' experience of justice will be painful, similar to the pain they have caused. They will cry out to God for help.

God will turn away. It is not suggested, at least here, that God is the source of pain. But in this case God will not intervene. There will be no mercy. The relationship with God was broken when the rulers' broke their relationship with the ruled.

Micah 2: 1-13

Alas for those who devise wickedness and evil deeds on their beds! When the morning dawns,they perform it,because it is in their power. They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and take them away; they oppress householder and house, people and their inheritance. (Micah 2:1-2)

What is translated as wickedness is more literally trouble or sorrow. Woe to those who intentionally cause sorrow. Woe to those who plan distress, misery, injury and wrong.

There is a particular concern for the nature of our economic relations. We have the power and ability to abuse others. We have the power to fulfill our desires on the backs of others. We will often do this unintentionally, even accidentally. We should be mindful of such unintended harm.

The greatest evil, though, is when we are entirely conscious of the harm to others we cause in fulfilling our plans and do not care or even celebrate. We are to love God and neighbor.

Micah 1:1-9

For this I will lament and wail; I will go barefoot and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals,and mourning like the ostriches. For her wound is incurable.It has come to Judah;it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. (Micah 1: 8-9)

While Hosea was prophesizing in Samara, Micah was active in Judea. Both focus on the spiritual promiscuity and perversion of the Northern Kingdom. Micah writes of Samaria:

All her images shall be beaten to pieces,
all her wages shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols I will lay waste;
for as the wages of a prostitute she gathered them,
and as the wages of a prostitute they shall again be used. (verse 7)

But while Hosea is preaching to the people of Samaria, Micah is preaching to the Judeans and especially the people of Jerusalem.

Hosea 14: 1-9

I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me. Those who are wise understand these things; those who are discerning know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. (Hosea 14: 8-9)

The same ways that serve the upright cause transgressors to stumble. Without further study I perceive that traveling God's way without stumbling depends on a particular kind of understanding and discernment.

I am intrigued by the first line, the final sentence of verse 8. I would think faithfulness must begin with me and be extended to God. But there is something in how God's character is like an evergreen cypress that originates my faithfulness in God.

The original Hebrew translated above as faithfulness is peree meaning fruit or offspring or figuratively any creative outcome. To me this more literal meaning is much clearer than "faithfulness."

The wisdom referenced is chakam. This is a practical, skillful, even shrewd ability at problem-solving. Understanding and discernment are the same Hebrew word meaning to very carefully observe. The transgression referenced is pasha which is a prideful, expansive rebellion.

My creative abilities come from God. In creating I am - or can be - closest to God's intention for me and all of creation. But I will be tempted to create beyond my understanding and beyond God's intention. Such pride will cause my creating to separate me from God.

I am to be an acute observer and a careful listener. By focusing on that outside myself - God and neighbors - rather than on my own ambitions and fantasies, I am much more likely to create with wisdom and understanding.

Hosea 13:16

Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against God; they shall fall by the sword, their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open. (Hosea 13: 16)

The fertility - the increase - sought through idoltry will be destroyed.

While the destruction is clear and awful enough, the immediate cause is not specified.

Is the cause an angry God or the absence of a loving God? Does the angry God intervene directly to destroy or is the loving God absent because of our failure to open ourselves to God?

Very bad things happen to very good people. I do not read in Hosea or elsewhere in scripture the possibilty of a sure-fire security contract.

But there is a recurring suggestion that our troubles are amplified by our self-chosen separation from God.

This verse is not assigned for the Sunday lectionary, but it falls between the Hosea passages assigned for Saturday and Monday. Above is a fresco of Hosea and the Delphic Sybil by Pinturicchio.

Hosea 11: 1-9

I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man — the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath. (Hosea 11:9)

I will not flare my nose. I will not contort my face.

I am power among you, yet I am set apart. My purposes are not the same as yours, yet I am part of you.

When I come it cannot be as into a closely guarded place.

Translation and interpretation are two closely related but very different skills. In working across cultures we usually want a good translator who will give us what we need to intrepret meaning ourselves.

But there are times when even the best translator may have to explain what is being said is different - even the opposite - of its meaning.

I am amazed at what the Hebrew, translated above as, "I will not come in wrath", might also mean. The verb is bow' meaning to go in, come in, enter. It is different than arriving. There is a strong sense of merging with.

The noun is 'iyr which is derived from the word for a place that is guarded, defended, shut off.

What I hear is God will not enter into a place without being welcomed. God will not enter into a heart and mind that resists.

God is trying to seduce us. But God will not force our acceptance.

Hosea 10: 1:15

Sow for yourselves righteousness;reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12)

Scatter, produce, become pregnant with tsedeq: righteousness, justice, your true self, the self that God intended.

Harvest, gather, be impatient for checed: goodness, kindness, faithfulness, self-sacrificing love

Plow, shed light, open up your niyr: darkness, hardness, dryness, or anything that resists the seed, light or love of God.

Seek - darash - keep company with, consult, enquire of, pray to, study, follow, investigate question, call.

God will offer rain, light and love. But we must be open to God and active in our seeking. We must be ready and willing to receive what God intends

Hosea 5:8-6:6

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgement goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings. (Hosea 6:4-6)

Instead of occasional ritual and sacrifice, God seeks perpetual love and knowledge.

Love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness - the Hebrew is chesed - is a recognition and honoring of relationship.

Knowledge, perception, discernment, understanding - the Hebrew is da'ath - comes only from an intimate relationship.

The context here emphasizes the relationship between God and Ephraim and Judah. But in other places - especially in the gospel - we are told this is also how we should engage one another.

Hosea 4: 11-19

Harlotry, wine, and new wine take away understanding... A people without understanding shall come to ruin. (Hosea 4:10,14)

In the tenth verse the Hebrew translated as understanding is leb meaning the inner person, the mind, reflection, determination, heart and soul.

A people without biyn - understanding, discernment, consideration - shall come to to labat - be thrown down, thrust away, cast aside.

Our appetites are directed -- or should be directed by - by understanding.

Understanding is more than just observation, it is the result of careful consideration and reflection.

Understanding is more than knowledge, it is a disciplined ability for action or restraint depending on what we discern.

Without both forms of understanding we cannot stand. To achieve such understanding, scripture strongly suggests, requires being in a meaningful relationship with God.

Hosea 4: 1-10

And they have eaten, and are not satisfied, They have gone a-whoring, and increase not, For they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.(Hosea 4:10_

We eat. We may eat too much. Are we satisfied? Does our consumption fulfill us?

We indulge our senses. We surround ourselves with the sounds and sights of our choosing. We may be sexually adventuresome. We travel to exotic places.

Zanah translated here as a-whoring, literally means highly fed. Consuming too much fast food is not the only way to be highly fed.

What are the outcomes of our over-indulgence or self-indulgence? Is there "increase"? The original Hebrew is parats meaning to break through, burst, breach, overflow, break out, or transcend.

Unless we pay heed (very careful attention) to Jehovah - the existing one, that which exists, ultimate reality - these choices are a dead end, quite literally.

Hosea 2: 14-23

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her... I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord. "In that day I will respond," declares the Lord — "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.(Hosea 2:14,19-23)

The judgment of God on the whoring of Gomer and Israel is entirely unlike what we read in Exodus or Jeremiah. Hosea's God will seduce the whore.

God will seduce by responding. The Hebrew is 'anah to hear, answer, speak, or sing. This is usually the way with seduction. To be truly heard is so unusual and so validating that we are entirely enamored of the good listener.

In being truly heard distractions and obsessions are quieted. We recognize our relationships: with sky and earth, grain, wine, and oil, with one another, and with God.

Hosea 2:10-15

So now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers; no one will take her out of my hands. I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days—all her appointed feasts. I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lover. I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot," declares the Lord. (Hosea 2:10-15)

Gomer is the personification of Israel: lewd, preoccupied with the superficial, disloyal, self-indulgent, and dismissive of her relationship with God.

She - both the woman and the Northern Kingdom - has worshiped false gods. The Baals were local deities worshiped across the ancient Near East, broadly sharing common characteristics, but each particular to its locality. Most Baals were somehow associated with fertility.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the great I AM, Jehovah or literally "that which exists", God as ultimate reality. We are called to be in relationship with what is fundamentally real.

The Baals offer to bend reality, magically shifting local conditions to favor some and disadvantage others. The Baals claim, "give us what we want and we will give you what you want." The Baals ritualize worship of what we want.

But what we want too often excludes what we need and the reality we share with others.

(This is not the lectionary reading assigned for Sunday. This is a passage that falls between the assigned readings for Saturday and Monday.)

Hosea 1:1 - 2:1

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord." So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. (Hosea 1:2-3)

Hosea is a contemporary of Isaiah, living eight centuries before Christ in the generation just before - or the generation of - the conquest of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians.

Many commentators on Hosea argue that Gomer as an Israelite, a proto-Samaritan, a resident of the Northern Kingdom, is ipso facto adulterous. The Hebrew is zawnuwn.

In this reading, Gomer is not necessarily a sexual whore. Much worse she is a spiritual whore. The religious practices of the Northern Kingdom tended to be syncretic, combining the Levitical tradition with rituals drawn from non-Jewish sources.

The case is also made that Gomer was a cult prostitute, a priestess of a fertility goddess such as Qedesha. As such she would have been both spiritually and sexually promiscuous.

Gomer is a Hebrew name meaning "to end, come to complete end." The name serves to reinforce the consequences of being unfaithful.

Judith 13:1-20

She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes’ head, and took down his sword that hung there. She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, ‘Give me strength today, O Lord God of Israel!’ Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head. Next she rolled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the posts. Soon afterwards she went out and gave Holofernes’ head to her maid, who placed it in her food bag.(Judith 13:6-10)

Except as the object of prayer, God does not appear in the book of Judith. There is no angel or other external encouragement.

Rather, Judith conceives, plans and executes the action of her own volition. If God is seen, it is in the courage and conviction of the human hero.

Would God have intervened to stop Judith? Would God have withdrawn her courage? Was her conviction of God, or despite God?

Judith 12: 1-20

Then Judith came in and lay down. Holofernes’ heart was ravished with her and his passion was aroused, for he had been waiting for an opportunity to seduce her from the day he first saw her. So Holofernes said to her, ‘Have a drink and be merry with us!’ Judith said, ‘I will gladly drink, my lord, because today is the greatest day in my whole life.’ Then she took what her maid had prepared and ate and drank before him. Holofernes was greatly pleased with her, and drank a great quantity of wine, much more than he had ever drunk in any one day since he was born. (Judith 12:16-20)

Judith's plan is to come to the Assyrian commander, posing as a traitor, but finding an opportunity to kill him.

"She removed the sackcloth she had been wearing, took off her widow’s garments, bathed her body with water, and anointed herself with precious ointment. She combed her hair, put on a tiara, and dressed herself in the festive attire that she used to wear while her husband Manasseh was living. She put sandals on her feet, and put on her anklets, bracelets, rings, ear-rings, and all her other jewellery. Thus she made herself very beautiful, to entice the eyes of all the men who might see her." (Judith 10:3-4)

With prayer and the approval of the besieged town, she and a maid convince the Assyrians to take her to their commander, Holofernes.

She had criticized the town's leaders for giving God only five days to act. In response, she undertakes to act for God.

Judith 10:1-23

You are putting the Lord Almighty to the test, but you will never learn anything!You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? (Judith 8:13-14)

The enemy has surrounded the city. The people are in despair. A deadline is offered. To placate the people's complaints the leaders agree: without divine intervention of some sort in five days the town will submit and surrender.

Judith protests that this decision limits what is possible. She argues that in seeking to define our situation we unnecessarily constrain our opportunities. Rather, we must remain perpetually open to the way of emergence, the unfolding of reality and see in this the intention of that which is ultimately real: Jehovah, literally "that which exists."

Given her advocacy of radical openness, Judith offers a paradoxical prayer,"Look at their pride, and send your wrath upon their heads. Give to me, a widow, the strong hand to do what I plan. By the deceit of my lips strike down the slave with the prince and the prince with his servant; crush their arrogance by the hand of a woman." (Judith 9:9-10)