Communion Sunday: Hosea 1:1-9

August 10, 2008

 

In March of this year, Beachwood Mayor Merle Gordon made national headlines by sending a letter to the parents of children involved in Beachwood’s Little League program stating the city was canceling the All-Star game based on information provided in an article written by the founder of the National Alliance for Youth Sports, Fred Engh.

Engh’s article (attached below) suggested that All-Star games take away from sportsmanship and hurt the self- esteem of the players. He states, "There's nothing like sticking a dagger into a youngster's self-esteem the first season he plays the sport by letting him know that he's not good enough or considered worthy to be part of this elite group of teammates. That's not the message we want to send to children who are already less active and more obese than any previous generation in history." (http://www.myfoxcleveland.com/myfox/ pages/ Home/Detail?contentId=6856475&version=8&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg =1).  However, if you read all of Engh’s article, you will see that most of his examples are geared to protecting children aged five and six, not 9-11.

 

This week entire cities will rally around and national coverage—ESPN telecasting games live from Williamsport, PA, Sports Illustrated talking about outstanding performances, etc—will be given to all star teams composed of the children the same age the city of Beachwood told they could not have an all star game. Do you think children 9-11 don’t already understand some 9-11 players are better than others? Can we not play and enjoy a sport unless we are an all star?

 

This morning, I would like you to recall the phrase we talked about a few weeks back: “We don’t live with the facts of our lives, we live with our interpretation of the facts of our lives.”  This is necessary if we are ever going to understand the book of Hosea and speak to our children about the realities of life.

 

After introducing himself in verse one, Hosea writes in the third person, “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).  

 

Many commentators have a difficult time accepting the easiest understanding of these verses.  There may be different reasons for their reluctance, but the most prominent one is their refusal to believe God would ask one of his prophets to do what the verses say. So they reinterpret these verses based on their philosophical or theological presuppositions.

 

The Hebrew says God told Hosea to marry what was more commonly known as a prostitute, and more specifically one who had conceived children outside of wedlock. God told Hosea to do this so that every time someone saw him or his wife of any of these children, they would be a living reminder and illustration of the true nature of the relationship the northern kingdom, referred to this morning as Israel, had with God.

 

Israel, at this time, saw herself completely differently from how God saw her. The extensive reign of Jeroboam II had brought great prosperity, wealth, and stability to the nation. During the reigns of Jeroboam II and the godly king Uzziah in Judah (or the southern kingdom) the united national boundaries had nearly equaled the boundaries of the nation under king’s David and Solomon. Assyria was weak and Israel was strong. From God’s perspective, however, the wealthy were getting wealthier by taking increasing advantage of the poor. Justice was at a premium, even widows and orphans were left uncared for. While Baal worship had overtly disappeared, it’s vilest parts had been synthesized into Israel’s worship of the golden calf set up by Jeroboam I to keep Israel from returning to Jerusalem to worship (1 Kings 12:25f). Only such a dramatic living illustration as God commanded of Hosea had a chance to shock Israel into repentance.

 

Three children, in addition to the children Gomer already had, were born of the union of Hosea and Gomer. God named each of the children in a final attempt to call Israel to repentance and warn her of the end result should she fail to listen and respond. 

 

“Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel" (1:4-5). God had chosen Jehu to destroy the union of Assyria and Israel under Ahab (2 Kings 10), but Jehu had gone too far in his “cleansing” of the land of the influence of Baal worship and Jezebel. Jehu’s bloodlust legacy of brutal slayings in the area of Israel known as Jezreel had led to his rise to power, but now God would punish the his kingly line for Jehu’s sin and its influence over the nation. Israel would be destroyed in the same way and in the same place that Jehu, the great-grandfather of Jeroboam II, had come to power.

 

The nation remained unrepentant by the time Hosea and Gomer’s second child was born. "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them” (1:6). The loving nature of God responds with forgiveness when we call upon him.  God now tells Israel they have reached the unrepentant point where he will no longer withhold his wrath and yield to His compassionate nature. They have reached critical mass. So when a third child is born to this union, “the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God” (1:9).

 

Open and unrepentant sin leads to acts of violence, social and moral disintegration, and ultimately God’s judgment. One reaps what one sows. That is God’s interpretation of the facts.  The nation of Israel saw only the good times.  It was in this conflux of interpretations that God asked Hosea to do the hard thing and let his marriage signal God’s final call for repentance.  By living a life that visibly demonstrated both Israel’s brazen breaking of their covenantal relationship with God and the loving and forgiving nature of God’s character, Hosea offered hope at a time when the nation of Israel thought hope was the last thing they needed. 

 

Today, we need to understand living as a Christian in an increasingly non-Christian America may require us to live in relative hardship. Being “salt” and “light” as Jesus demands of us in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), requires our lives to speak clearly in an unclear world. If the toughest challenge to our children’s self-esteem faces is not making a little league all star team, we and they must consider ourselves blessed. Understand, we have an enemy who wants to destroy not only our self-esteem, but “your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Every day is important. We must prepare ourselves and our children for the realities of life in the 21^st century. Interviewing for a job while unemployed and having hungry children requires not only a healthy self-esteem, but the proper preparation and job skills. Doing things right the first time is not even enough. Sacrificing personal pleasures and coordinating schedules and time to go back to school to stay current in this job market is often required. This can mean giving up vacations, doing homework beside your children, and telling them “no” they can’t have that item they desire. At the same time we must teach proper values and what a sacrificial life means. 

 

We must constantly reevaluate and reinterpret the events enveloping our lives. That’s what Jesus did on the cross.  He took the greatest symbol of shame his society had—death on a cross, symbolic of complete rejection by God—and turned it into something people wear around their necks and tattoo on their bodies.  I cringe every time I hear someone say, “That’s a beautiful cross you are wearing.”  But, if a symbol of death and rejection can become a symbol of beauty, anything can be reinterpreted. Not making a little league all star team cannot destroy a life. I’m not even sure I would want a professional athlete for a child given the world in which they live.

 

Remember, Israel thought they were doing better than they ever had. Instead, God and Hosea showed them judgment was coming.  No one, not even the king, Jeroboam II, stood up against the moral and social depravity of Israelite society. Hosea was called to be salt and light. Rich bellies continued to be fed, crops continued to flurish, and no enemies were apparent—all seemed good.  They thought, “God would never ask a man to marry a prostitute. He can’t be speaking for God. Even if God did ask him to do that I don’t want to serve that kind of God. I know what is right for me.  I’ll keep on being the moral judge of my universe.”  The prophesied destruction came in less than 30 years.  

 

 

 

 

 

Bench All-Star Games
Kids will thank you for it

By Fred Engh

The familiar sights and sounds of spring are just around the corner--birds chirping, flowers blooming and millions of parents cheering on children participating in organized baseball and softball programs nationwide.
Yet alarmingly, many kids’ experiences will be sabotaged when that nasty storm cloud--the All-Star selection process--rolls through. That ridiculous time of the year when ego-driven coaches and parents begin puffing their chests out a little more at the ballpark, and talks shift to how their child is All-Star worthy because of their ability to throw harder or hit better than their teammates.
Granted, there are endless issues that today’s parks and recreation professionals must deal with while orchestrating programs, but it has baffled me for decades that this topic continues to be ignored season after season.

A Bruised Ego
There’s nothing like sticking a dagger into a youngster’s self-esteem the first season he plays the sport by letting him know that he’s not good enough or considered worthy to be part of this elite group of teammates. That’s not the message we want to send to children who are already less active and more obese than any previous generation in history.
Just think for a moment how preposterous All-Star games are, especially in T-ball or beginning-level programs. In kindergarten classrooms across the country, do we take the kids who are learning letters and numbers quicker than their classmates and announce that these kids are special and give them extra attention and cool extracurricular activities to participate in? Of course not! That would destroy the others’ confidence and make them feel insignificant.
So why do administrators continue to allow these senseless games to be played at their facilities? Just because they’ve been conducted for decades doesn’t mean that’s the blueprint for the future.
All-Star games make about as much sense as taking a vegetarian to a fancy steakhouse, or hitting an all-you-can-eat buffet with a friend who is struggling to stick to a diet.

All-Star games should be benched for several reasons:

• It doesn’t take much to figure out that kids who mature quicker than others are going to be stronger, faster and probably more productive on the field. So, we’re simply recognizing players whose bodies have developed faster in many cases.
• The entire process is twisted. I’d love to know the percentage of kids who are chosen for these All-Star teams who have a parent involved in coaching. Mom or Dad justify choosing their own child--even if he’s clearly not one of the better players--because they’ve surrendered a lot of their free time to volunteer to coach.
• The injury factor. Stress fractures, trips to specialists and surgeries come into play when these seasons are extended with extra games and practices. They take a toll on young bodies and lead to an avalanche of overuse injuries.

On top of all this, the National Standards for Youth Sports state that leagues should not engage in choosing post-season All-Star teams. The standards were put together by some of the nation’s top recreation professionals and are the true voice of reason when it comes to youth sports.

Take The Initiative
The solution is clear and simple--ban All-Star games. Singling out players for these teams smothers the purpose of recreational youth sports leagues, where the emphasis should be on participation and learning.
Yes, many parents nationwide will no doubt cringe at this stance because All-Star games are a great source of pride when a child earns that distinction, but the kids could care less. What 5 year old, who can’t even tie his shoes yet, gains any extra satisfaction from being chosen for these teams?

I’ll bet your recreation department is involved in All-Star games in some way. If you don’t step forward to push for change, who will?
If you’re feeling reluctant to do something, consider all the children who feel hurt, left out and embarrassed by being passed over every season.
Youth sports aren’t meant to single out only a handful of kids; they’re about making every child feel special, including those who won’t make the All-Star team.

Fred Engh is founder and CEO of the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) in West Palm Beach, Fla., which has been advocating positive and safe sports for children since 1981. He is also the author of “Why Johnny Hates Sports,” which is available on Amazon.com. He can be reached via e-mail at fengh@nays.org.

 

 

http://www.northstarpubs.com/PRB208_Engh_AllStar.php