(Please read this Scripture passage first, before the homily.)
I think Hosea must have liked Lebanon, its cedars and its wines, because he mentions Lebanon three times in this reading. Cedars are tall pines, native to Lebanon and very useful for building and very much appreciated for their aroma and beauty.
Perhaps God’s people could learn a lesson from Lebanon’s land. How the dew of God’s love must have dampened the ground so that Lebanon yielded its fruitfulness for the trees and vines of the land. How the plants of Lebanon must have accepted the blessings of water God had given it. Perhaps the luxuriant plants of Lebanon are in contrast with the luxuriant vines that described Hosea’s people in Wednesday’s reading. Perhaps we have to ask ourselves what kind of plant we are, today, in the land the Lord has given us.
The more God gave Lebanon, the more the cedars grew tall and the vines produced excellent wine. The more God gave the people of Hosea’s time, the more they turned to idols and false gods. The much that the Lord has given us: has it led to productivity for God or for construction of idols.
Hosea’s people had turned away from God. They turned to foreign alliances for protection. They bought more horses, which were the tanks of their day. The vines and cedars of Lebanon, however, continued to produce fragrant wood and delicious wine. Where are our alliances today, our personal alliances, the ones we rely on because we do not trust in the Lord?
Now, as we prepare to say goodbye to the prophet Hosea, it is time for words, sincere words expressing the sincerity of our conversion back to God. “Lord, forgive all iniquity, receive our offerings. We shall stop making the work of our hands into our god.” Now is the time to listen to the Lord as the Lord promises us a fertility that will surpass even the fertility of Lebanon. We bear fruit because of God; God does not bear fruit because of us. Let us be a Lebanon in response to the Lord.