Let Not Our Hearts Grow Fat
Michelle Ferguson
February 2006
Psalm 23 is a beloved prayer in the church because it reminds us of the ways in which God is faithful to provide: green pastures, quiet waters, restoration, paths of righteousness. In times of trouble, when more often than not God’s provision is less apparent, David’s psalm encourages us to hope in the ever-present God in times of trouble, even in the shadow of death. We receive direction, protection, sustenance, and purpose to the point that our cup overflows. We find hope in the promise that goodness and lovingkindness will follow us all our days and that we will dwell in God’s house for all eternity.
As churchgoers if we’re not praying Psalm 23, we’re often praying the Lord’s Prayer. We acknowledge God respectfully and ask that he provide: bread, forgiveness, deliverance.
Much of our relationship with God is about asking him to give us something. If we’re honest, most of what we ask for has nothing to do with need; we ask for what we want, what we feel like, what would be nice. And most of the time what would be “nice” has to do with something we wish to possess. Many “praise reports” detail people who believe God “gave” them new (fancier, bigger, better) RV’s, furniture, houses, etc. These three examples come straight from Mennonites, those who enjoy the title “quiet (simple) of the land.”
This should not surprise us if we actually listen to the prevailing notion of the gospel our evangelistic programs advertise. Many of us would never say we believe in a “health and wealth” gospel, but how true is that when the gospel we hear week after week is being packaged with titles such as “The Benefits of Salvation” and images such as “salvation as a ticket (or blank check) to heaven”? We try to appeal to the consumer in us: evaluate the cost-benefit analysis of the gospel and make a decision today to buy into our program of salvation. Even salvation becomes something we own, something we possess. This is not a biblical picture. Somehow what started out as something good (God’s provision) turns into something false (our manipulated version of the gospel).
I am amazed that a tradition that was borne out of its insistence on following the costly way of Jesus even unto death has capitulated to the Americanized gospel. But, as Derek Webb sings, “Everything’s for sale in the 21st century.” We work pretty hard to sell the gospel. It is no wonder that in order to do so we have to use marketing skills learned from the market society in which we live. We use sex, drugs and rock n’ roll to sell the gospel. Accept Jesus and he will give you a fulfilling marriage… Come to Jesus and find relief for your guilty feelings… Come to our church; we’ve got the best worship band in town! Oh, of course we’ve “spiritualized” everything, but when it comes down to it, following Jesus has been turned into trading the currency of morality for possessions of personal satisfaction.
How does this happen? How do we get so far off the path (the road Jesus traveled)? Hosea 13:1-14:10 is a vital passage to consider in answering this question.
God’s people Israel whom he had “taken in his arms” and led out of Egypt was caught up in worshipping the gods (idols) of the surrounding peoples. Since coming into the Promised Land, Israel knew great abundance. However: “Israel is a luxuriant vine; he produces fruit for himself. The more his fruit, the more altars he made; the richer his land, the better he made the sacred pillars” (Hosea 10:1). Israel was sated and his heart grew proud; therefore, Israel forgot God (13:6). Imagine a grotesquely obese man eating - shoving food into his mouth by the fist-full, half-chewed pieces oozing out of his mouth and dripping down off his chin. Imagine what his heart looks like – arteries clogged, blood barely squeezing its way through, tired ventricles and atrium pumping irregularly. This is Israel’s heart. They ate of the land until they were fat hearted, and then they forgot God. They prostituted themselves with other gods.
God declares his intent to destroy Israel: he will dry up the land, plunder their hoards and slay them. By this they will know that he is God: “Only I the LORD have been your God ever since the land of Egypt; you have never known a [true] God but Me, you have never had a helper other than Me” (13:4). The so-called sustenance they have gorged themselves with will be taken away from them; they will be stripped and exposed to the fact that God is their only true source of life (Fishbane 41).
As is the pattern in prophetic oracles, alongside the declaration of God’s intent to destroy Israel, is God’s disclosure of the way of deliverance. “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him: ‘Forgive all guilt and accept what is good; instead of bulls we will pay [the offering of] our lips. Assyria shall not save us, no more will re ride on steeds; nor ever again will we call our handiwork our god, since in You alone orphans find pity!’” (Hosea 14:2-4). These words remind me of Jesus’ message to the towns and villages of Israel: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). If Israel repents, God promises: “I will heal their affliction, generously will I take them back in love; for My anger has turned away from them. I will be to Israel like dew; he shall blossom like the lily, he shall strike root like a Lebanon tree. His boughs shall spread out far, his beauty shall be like the olive tree's, his fragrance like that of Lebanon. They who sit in his shade shall be revived: they shall bring to life new grain, they shall blossom like the vine; his scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim [shall say]:‘What more have I to do with idols? When I respond and look to Him, I become like a verdant cypress.’ Your fruit is provided by Me” (Hosea 14:5-9).
The first image we see is Israel’s fatness. The next image is God stripping the land bare: it becomes like a desert, dry and withered (see fig tree in Matt. 21:19). The image we end with is God’s promise of fruitfulness and nourishment. In the end, Israel may receive sustenance from her God, the only true source of provision, if she confesses her adultery and returns to her first love.
“He who is wise will consider these words, he who is prudent will take note of them. For the paths of the LORD are smooth; the righteous can walk on them, while sinners stumble on them” (Hosea 14:10).
In our American lives of wealth and comfort we are hardly ever confronted with our need. We often insulate ourselves from being aware of other people’s need. What if we reoriented our lives so that we were always aware of need? What if we lived in a way that created dependence on God? What if we lived constantly trusting God’s provision, knowing him as our only source of sustenance and walking with him as if we believed he is our shepherd?
Throughout the Bible God’s holy name is connected to Israel’s faithfulness to him. Our holiness glorifies his name. That is why so many psalmists pleading for God’s deliverance urge God to act on behalf of his “namesake.” When the early church prayed, “Your name be made holy,” they had in mind the sanctification of God’s people. When all things are made new, when the people of God are gathered into his kingdom, God’s name will be confessed and his “glory will be revealed.”
Now is the time when we are called to prepare ourselves, to be ready for the return of Jesus. Living confessionally must include living with hearts dependent on God. That means we have to order our whole lives to that end. Let us examine ourselves, repent where we find our hearts fat, and turn to our source, our God. Let us live lives of true abundance and refuse to settle for lives filled with the artery clogging possessions of the peoples that surround us.