I can’t remember most sermons, even soon after hearing them. But I do recall almost verbatim one meditation given over thirty years ago by David Hubbard, then president of Fuller Seminary, on "The Most Surprising Word in Scripture." Not a noun or a verb, not even an adjective or adverb, the word Hubbard proclaimed that day was the lowly conjunction therefore! His text was the second chapter of Hosea, where the word is used three times. Therefore links cause with effect, antecedent with what follows. It recognizes the logic of life. Stay out in the sun, therefore you’ll burn. Eat two pieces of chocolate pie, therefore you’ll feel bloated. Such logic is found in the book of Hosea as well. Called by God to marry the prostitute Gomer, Hosea discovers that the mother of his children has remained promiscuous. She has gone after lovers who would lavish on her oil and wine, wool and linen. In this regard, she is like the nation Israel, a living parable. Living a life of economic luxury, Israel too was in the midst of an "adulterous affair," adding to her worship of Yahweh her worship of Baal, the God of the harvest. And so in chapter two, Hosea speaks God’s word of judgment with two strong, preliminary "therefores." Gomer (Israel) has been unfaithful; therefore, Hosea, like God, will hedge up his beloved (v. 6). She is promiscuous; therefore, he will strip her naked and destroy her vineyards (v. 9). Violence is deserved; therefore it is declared. But it was not these first two "therefores" that David Hubbard preached on that day. In Hosea, judgment and violence are announced but superseded by God’s loving embrace. After Gomer’s sin (after Israel’s sin and our sin), God speaks through his prophet Hosea a third, surprising, and transforming "therefore." It is not based on our actions; it lacks any antecedent. Instead, this "therefore" comes solely from the character of God. Speaking through the prophet Hosea, God says,
Here is a "therefore" that defies all human logic, one rooted solely in God himself. I can hear Hubbard’s words ring out: "To the logical word of judgment, Hosea adds the illogical word of God’s grace." Rather than have Gomer stoned (something according to the law of the day that was within his rights), Hosea is to woo Gomer back by the strength of his continuing love. He is to create in her a new affection by his relentless, extravagant, illogical love. As I read Randy and Joyce’s book, I am reminded of God’s (il)logical command to Hosea. In a post-9-11 world, is it not our right to hem in terrorism and destroy it? Such "therefores" make all the sense in the world. But just as Hosea’s contagious love shows us a better way, so the Klassens remind us how inspired we become by the illogic of nonviolence, how moved we are by the redemptive role of forgiveness, how alluring and inviting are examples like those of Martin Luther King or Christians in the Philippines. Hosea’s name is a variant of "Joshua," from which we get the name "Jesus." What God revealed to Hosea, he fully incarnated in Jesus: "Love your enemies." "Turn the other cheek." Forgive as you would be forgiven." Last week, while driving home from Santa Barbara, I smiled at the bumper sticker on the car ahead: "MAKE CUPCAKES, NOT WAR." It was from a bakery in town. "Absurd," you say. Yes, but no more so than God’s command to Hosea to woo Gomer back. "Illogical," you say. Surely, but so too, thankfully, is the love of God. Now, just as in Hosea’s day, it is not the logical word of judgment that is needed but the surprising word of God’s grace. I invite you to read the prophetic, yet humble words of the Klassens—two "Christ-ones," two Christians, who would have each of us imitate Jesus/Joshua/Hosea. —Robert K. Johnston |
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