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Archives: June 2010
Aware...
Archives: June 2010
The price of real love...
By Dan Etheridge
If you hadn’t noticed the arrival of the 2010 Fifa World Cup then you must have been hiding in a big hole somewhere in Nevada where they think football or ‘soccer’ is a girl’s game. How wrong they are.
Here in the Soul Survivor office we’re getting pretty hysterical about the tournament, with all of us longing for the glory days of 1966 to be relived.
Still, there are dangers in getting too involved. Many of us have been pretty hurt by England in the past. I mean, who remembers the 1986 quarter final against Argentina where we showed so much promise only to be knocked out by ‘the hand of God’ and then one of the most incredible goals of history.
(if you don’t know what we're talking about just check the vid here)
1990 wasn’t much better with the semi final defeat by Germany. I can tell you it wasn’t just Gazza who cried that year. Then there was the disastrous 1994 USA World Cup where humiliatingly we didn’t even qualify.
Four years later in France the Argentine curse came back to haunt us and we failed to get past the second round being dumped out on penalties. In 2002 I sat in my pyjamas eating my breakfast and watched England nearly beat Brazil in the quarterfinal. We did nearly beat them. But as my maths teacher used to say, ’nearly is not good enough’. Just four years ago we were back to the quarterfinals, but Rooney saw red and the Portuguese knocked the wind out of our sails in a dreaded penalty shootout.
There have been ups and downs, good times and bad. As with any relationship you begin to question the commitment of your partner in the times of ‘heartache. You begin to wonder whether your loyalty, enthusiasm and passion has all been for nothing and whether the one you put your hope in is just stringing you along, building up your hopes only to shatter them.
Most seriously of all you begin to consider that your relationship is on the rocks and that you should just pack it all in and bring an end to the heartache. Unfortunately I know people who have been so hurt they’ve done just that, donning Brazil shirts and going with the ‘safe’ and ‘certain’ option instead.
But is that really love? Is it exciting? Does it draw out the best in us and those we have promised to commit to?
Interestingly enough, my dilemma has strong biblical parallels. Although we don’t know whether Hosea was a great football fan, we do know he was an awesome prophet, speaking God’s message of judgement, love, restoration and forgiveness to ancient Israel.
In a very strange and tenuous way that may only make sense to me, my painful relationship with England mirrors God’s history of commitment to the Israelite people (I hope that isn’t blasphemous). Hosea highlights that God had entered into a relationship with Israel, a relationship that had specific requirements and expectations. They had agreed to commit to God’s ways, but Hosea found himself in a time where his people had forsaken God, going after other religions, idols and beliefs.
In short God was let down and hurt and had every right to give up.
Speaking of God’s pain to the people, Hosea beautifully illustrates that God had quite maternally raised and cared for Israel since its childhood, teaching the nation how to walk, holding; healing and forgiving the mistakes of youth (Hosea 11v1-11). As the metaphor unfolds, God wrestles with the thought of giving up on Israel (v8), knowing that forgiveness and reconciliation were undeserved. However, in this passage he chooses to refrain from judgement and recommit to Israel
When he considers the history of his relationship with Israel, God refuses to give up and has compassion. His heart is changed and he commits to love, forgive and continue the relationship afresh, forgetting about the past and focussing on the future (v9f).
It’s easy to feel let down (by England as well as friends and family), but the images and illustrations that Hosea brings out about God’s relationship with Israel, and indeed Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, highlight the importance of commitment, passion and love that never gives up and looks for the best at all times.
It’s an attitude that puts us on the line. We make ourselves vulnerable, leaving the option open that we may be hurt, let down and confused… but then this is a love that is for the others sake and not just ours; it’s an attitude that forgets ourselves and invests in the other no matter what.
So, in the next few weeks I’ll be purchasing an England shirt and doing my best to put the past behind me, rekindle the relationship, and get lost in the vision of a World Cup victory, singing the songs and getting proper passionate. I’ll also be responding to God’s continual call to come back to him, accept his forgiveness and follow his ways.
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