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To know God in His healing compassion for wayward people
is the basis for loving Him in return (Hosea 6:3-6).
That same power in Jesus reaches out to call a sinner to
be His friend (Matthew 9:9-13).
A fickle
and shallow people
Reminding the people that their infidelity to God was
the cause of their downfall, the prophet Hosea urged
them to covenantal integrity. But even as he built an
airtight string of indictments against them, the
prophet’s assurances of divine love and forgiveness were
some of the most moving in all of the Scriptures (Hosea
2:18-25; 11:1-11). Still, Israel ’s repentance was so
inadequate in the context of their numerous
transgressions.
The
people said, “Come, let us return to the Lord” (Hosea
6:1). The people thought they could be sure that God who
attacked can heal, and as He wounded can bind up, and in
a short lapse of time (“on the third day”) raise them
up. The appearance of God to favor them is for them as
assured as daybreak and as refreshing as rain, in echo
of their dalliance with Baal, the Canaanite storm god
who was believed to control the rain and all life-giving
waters. Actually, the people were lacking in the one
basic thing in any true repentance and what they
themselves appeared to want—true knowledge of God. A
sincere knowledge of God would have taught them what God
really wanted of them: sincere love, humble recognition
of personal sin, renewed dedication to the covenant and
social justice and compassion for the poor and the
disadvantaged.
A
patient father
In
response to the people, God sounded like a father
lamenting the futility of helping a wayward son. “What
can I do with you?” The implied answer is “nothing.” In
sarcastic parody, the images of daybreak and rain are
turned on their heads to parade the people’s inept
attempts to gain divine favor: Israel’s piety and good
intentions were as unreliable and fleeting as the
ephemeral morning clouds and early mist that evaporate
at the first warmth of day.
Their
sacrifices, though often and many, were meaningless
without sincere commitment to God and to His will.
Because their covenant commitment could not be counted
upon, they were punished, hewed and cut down like a
tree. But the final statement offers hope. “For it is
love that I desire, not sacrifice.” Not a condemnation
of sacrifice, but a clarification that worship must be
based on moral authenticity. External conformity with
ritual obligations does not suffice. Covenant fidelity
demands a commitment of heart and soul, the knowledge of
God that flows into loving kindness.
The face
of divine compassion
Quoting
from Hosea above, Jesus differentiated Himself from the
Pharisees who despised tax collectors as certified
sinners because they were considered to be thieves and
also dealt with pagan overlords and money and,
therefore, are ritually unclean and ineligible for
worship. Jesus chose precisely one such public
sinner—Matthew, the tax collector, as a disciple. And to
the horror of the Pharisees, He even ate with a whole
pack of them, thus indicating close bonding with the
type.
Why was
He doing that? Challenged in His religious integrity,
Jesus declared that He came to help people who need
help, like a physician to the sick. Then He threw back
the challenge for his critics to study the Scriptures
because, already, God has said in Hosea that what He
desires is the covenant disposition of loving goodness,
not solely ritual fidelity. Jesus brushed aside their
repulsion from dealing with Him directly as he was in
contact with sinners, and invited them to recognize in
him God’s wisdom and truth at work. He gave face to
divine compassion and to covenant commitment, especially
to those who would close the door shut on others as
sinners.
Alálaong
bagá,
in the
narration of the call of Matthew we see divine
compassion at work in Jesus. God is a God who calls us.
It is a call to conversion, to turn our lives around and
open them up to God’s grace. As during Hosea’s time, it
may be a call to the people by way of affliction in
punishment of sin. Or, as in the case of Matthew, it is
a call for an individual from a life of
self-centeredness to one of dedicated service to others.
It is always a call to faith, to a covenant commitment
to live according to God’s will. It is a call never
deserved by anyone, but to us as sinners who should
easily recognize God’s graciousness, to the sick and the
impoverished who know how desperately they need divine
favor in their helplessness. This call to discipleship
has been given to us all in baptism. It is a call to
follow Jesus and to be His witnesses to the world at any
stage and under any circumstances of our lives. As our
life’s journey unfolds, we are invited again and again
amid all our failures and weaknesses to commit ourselves
anew to the gospel of Jesus as our way into communion
with God. The beauty of our Christian calling is that it
is always God’s initiative, and ever with divine loving
kindness.
For more of my reflections and works, visit my blogsite:
http://alalaongbaga.multiply.com. |
