The Parable of the Prodigal Spouse

This Sunday’s lectionary reading excluded several verses from the second chapter of Hosea. Our pastor preached about how the first and third readings conveyed an image of God passionately in love with us. While this was good, I wondered what he might have been able to preach if the lectionary had not omitted some of the verses.
    The second chapter of Hosea depicts God as in love with Isreal – an unfaithful spouse. Here is Hosea 2:9-16 with the omitted verses shown in italics

9. If she runs after her lovers, she shall not overtake them; if she looks for them she shall not find them. Then she shall say, "I will go back to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now."
16 So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.
17 From there I will give her the vineyards she had, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt.
18 On that day, says the LORD, She shall call me "My husband," and never again "My baal."
19 Then will I remove from her mouth the names of the Baals, so that they shall no longer be invoked.
20 I will make a covenant for them on that day, with the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, and with the things that crawl on the ground. Bow and sword and war I will destroy from the land, and I will let them take their rest in security.
21 I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy;
22 I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the LORD

Our pastor preached about how Hosea and the gospel readings conveyed an image of God passionately in love with us. While this was good, I wondered what he might have been able to preach if the lectionary had included the italicized verses.
        Setting aside the question of how a homilist might have preached this passage to a group of adults and children, consider what points he might have made.

1. Here is a God so passionately in love that he cuts off his beloved’s access to her former lovers
2. He allure’s her (the New Jerusalem bible translates it as seduces)
3. He showers gifts on her so that she responds as in her youth
4. He espouses her and rejoices that she will once again call him “Husband”

This is a powerful image of love and forgiveness. Properly preached, it would be a message of consolation to anyone who has betrayed a trust – be it a financial, ethical, parental, political or spousal trust. Preaching on the entire text, including the omitted passages might provide healing and repentance for many.

We might call it the parable of the prodigal wife. That could lead to some interesting preaching. I'm reminded that one of my pastors used to start his preaching on Luke 15:11-32 by saying that it should be the parable of the crazy father - so crazy with love that he will forgive us no matter what we have done - or not done.

Comments

[Fred K.]

Thank you for this thoughtful post. Since Luther, Catholics have been a bit gunshy about the theme of the church as redeemed prostitute.

In vol 2 of "Explorations in Theology: Spouse of the Word," there's an essay by Hans Urs von Balthasar, "Casta Meretrix," which examines this imagery in the church fathers. It's a moderately accessible article and one doesn't need to have read the sources in order to benefit from it.

Have a splendid lent!