A Boy Named Sue

Names are a hard thing aren't they? Sometimes they can be the best part of ourselves, the thing that we are known by, but sometimes they can be the thing that gets in our way.

For the most part, strange names have a purpose and tell a story.  It's one of the things that I love about Johnny Cash's song, "A Boy Named Sue"

It's a goofy, strange song, but the point of it is to tell a story.  That's one of the things that Johnny Cash does so very well in his music. We can argue about the merits of why you would name your son Sue, but the story is good.

So often, it's those stories that are really important.  The names serve as a way of reminding us what those stories are.

Remember, we've been in this series called "Stranger Things." We've been telling strange stories from the Old Testament.  These are stories that we need to deal with because they made the cut into our scripture. If we don't use them, then we have to ask ourselves what we're doing.  In order to use them, we need to remember a few things.

The first is that we always take these stories in context.  The Old Testament world is one that is harder, harsher, more destructive, and more tragic than what we're used to.  We have to put them into that kind of context, otherwise they become almost impossible to understand.

That leads to the second point, which is that we can't get caught up on the strange parts of the stories.  Like we do today, we use strange things as a way of getting our attention, but they are very rarely the point of the story.  This is true back then.  It was true of Jonah and the Whale, and of the stories that we looked at in the last post about Balaam and his donkey, and Elisha and the bears.

What we need to be looking for, is to answer a big question with these stories.

This is what we're looking for as we tell these strange stories.

As an example, we can look to the book of Hosea. If you want to go a little deeper into it, you can find a great youtube video describing Hosea here.

Hosea was an Old Testament prophet in the northern Kingdom of Israel.  He was a prophet under one of the worst kings that Israel had. Because of that, and many other reasons, they had turned away from God, were doing many awful things, and were looking for protection from Egypt and Assyria (places that weren't really going to care about them or protect them).  All of this was leading them to disaster.

God calls on Hosea to go to the people and call on them to return.  To do that, and show a very real symbol of what God means, he tells Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomer, and then to have children and name them: Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah (no compassion), Lo-Ammi (not my people).

Hosea's family becomes the very real symbol of the broken relationship between God and his people.  Hosea takes on God's role, Gomer takes on Israel's, and the children (names included) show what happens when it is broken.

God is telling Israel this is what the consequences of your actions are.  In our time, we would say of course this is what happens.  That is what you deserve when you do wrong like that.  But remember, that we're dealing with God.  When we ask where God is, we have to remember that God is always leading to places that we don't expect, because God doesn't play according to our rules.

God works against our expectations to do something greater.  Take a look at Hosea 2.

On that day I will answer, says the LORD. I will answer the heavens and they will answer the earth. The earth will answer the corn, the new wine, and the fresh oil, and they will answer Jezreel; I will sow him for myself in the land; and I will have compassion on No Compassion, and I will say to Not My People, "You are my people"; and he will say, "You are my God."

--Hosea 2:21-23

 God is telling the people that there is always hope.  That what has happened isn't a permanent thing.  It may be hard for a while, but what was seen as insurmountable before can be overcome. The broken relationship can be restored.

But God doesn't stop there either.  When we look to Hosea 3, we can see that God is reaffirming the promise that was made a long time ago.

Similarly, the Israelites will remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred standing stone, without a priestly vest or household divine images. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; they will come trembling to the LORD and to the LORD’s goodness in the latter days.

--Hosea 3:4-5

Hosea is reminding us of the promise of the king who is greater than David. We know the fulfillment of that promise is Jesus Christ. We often tell stories, or hear stories told that remind us of hopelessness and despair, and we're worried that we will never get over it.  But Hosea is telling us that we can.

Back in our history when we said, “remember the Alamo” we remember the place where those who fought to defend it lost. When we hear those words that say, “A day that will live in infamy” we remember what was lost in Pearl Harbor.

When we talk more recently about the Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City, or the Twin Towers, we remember what was taken from us.

When we say school names like Columbine or Sandy Hook, we remember the young lives that were erased on those days.

When we remember the names of those that we have lost, that were close to us, but that we didn’t part on the best of terms, we wonder if ever could have been made right.

To each of these God says, I will have compassion on No Compassion, and I will say to Not My People, "You are my people";
and he will say, "You are my God."

This is the message we can take out to a world that remembers the stories, but does not remember the hope. God calls out to us, does not leave us alone, and the King from the Line of David still reigns, even to this day, and our Savior Jesus Christ walks with us, and wherever he steps, he brings hope. 

Go and share a message of hope this week, and do it in Jesus name.  Amen.