The Mess. The Messenger. The Message.

A pastor recently had a conversation with a member that went like this. “Pastor, it seems that lately your sermons have focused on witnessing?  That makes me feel like I’m being pressured.  You have to understand that I’m not comfortable talking to others about spiritual stuff.”  The pastor replies, “I hope I’m not harping on that subject.  There are lots of other things God wants us to believe or do that I’ve tried to emphasize in my sermons – like worship, prayer, serving others, loving others, and using money wisely.  I just keep trying to communicate what the Word of God says on that Sunday.  Maybe you can help me.  What makes you uncomfortable about witnessing?”  “Oh, I could give you quite a list, like I’m not sure what to say, and what if I say something wrong.  But if I had to rank my biggest fear, that would have to be – what if the people I talk to could care less about God and, worse yet, what if they reject me?”  The pastor pauses for a moment and replies, “You’re not the only one who feels uncomfortable facing the possibility of rejection.  I’ve had those same fears.  But isn’t it good to know that our great and gracious God has something to bolster our courage and commitment to witnessing?  In fact, that’s what this Sunday’s lessons are all about.  Yes, today let’s take a look at the first lesson from Ezekiel.  God wants us to learn something from this prophet.  We needs to hear this message that will help us and all Christians as we proclaim his truth. 

God Wants Us To Learn Something

The Mess

Let’s say that your cousins were abducted, whisked from their homes and taken to the Far East but while there learned the native language, landed better jobs than they had here, and prospered by using newly acquired computer skills to start a company that made money hand over fist.  One evening you had a chance to speak to them, and you asked, “Do you think you will return to America soon, using your skills, prosper even more than before?”   They jumped in, “Sure!”  Then you told them that a report had just come out stating that Dallas would be attacked and bombed by the country they now live in.  They said, “No way!  That will never happen.  We’re coming home soon, and all will be well.”  But you had to tell them, “You’re wrong.  There was an announcement just minutes ago that secret codes were cracked, and Dallas will be bombed.  Not only that, but you won’t have time to get back here to save any belongings in your house – not your pictures, your China, your dog, nothing.  What a mess!  You are stuck where you are until it happens.”

That was Ezekiel’s job.  Because the people of Judah had rebelled against God, he used Babylon’s army to attack and deport people over a span of twenty years.  But the people of Judah who were living in Babylon for a couple decades were not slaves, nor peering through jail bars, or sweating in fields digging weeds in 100^o heat.  Many found jobs, prospered, and built new homes.  Some did very well and planned to bring their new-found wealth back to Jerusalem.  But, there was a problem.  It took one generation and they had nearly all forgotten God, refused to hear his Word and how important their relationship with him was.  God told Ezekiel to tell them, “Jerusalem will be destroyed, and you’re staying in Babylon till it happens.” God told Ezekiel to prophesy to his people,

“³ He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to disloyal nations, who have been disloyal to me. They and their fathers have rebelled against me to this very day. ⁴ These children of mine are brazen-faced and hard-hearted.” 

They had made a mess of their relationship with God.  Whether they cared about spiritual matters or not, a close connection with God is the deal breaker to avoid an eternity in hell.  It was a big mess.  Oh, it may not have looked like the lives of the people of Judah in Babylon were a mess, but their relationship with God was a mess.  It needed repair, or they would be messed up forever.

 It’s not hard to convince people whose marriage is falling apart that their lives are a mess.  It’s not hard to convince people who are floundering in a sea of credit card debt that their lives are a mess.  It’s not hard to convince people who have meds piled in little cups labeled with each day of the week or who have chemo treatments and therapy sessions on their weekly schedule that their lives are a mess.  But try to tell that to folks who seem to be living on Easy Street, who have a job they like, friends who party hardy with them, and plenty for retirement.  They don’t want to hear about spiritual matters and have a hard time believing that their relationship with God is a mess.  But God Wants Us To Learn Something. Sometimes God intervenes with a wake-up call for those folks – to convince them that their lives are a mess and that the worst mess is their relationship with God.  We need to be reminded that our sins have created this mess for us.  And sometimes God might ask us to be an Ezekiel to other people, to find the right time to point out the truth.  But he’ll have us do that only when we first take on the role of the people of Judah living in Babylon and listen to the Ezekiels God brings into our lives who are honest enough to look us in the eye and remind us that our own sinfulness has made our lives are a mess.  Yes, God Wants Us To Learn that we need

The Messenger

Moses didn’t want to do it.  Elijah didn’t want to do it.  Jonah didn’t want to do it.  Isaiah was afraid to do it.  Jeremiah was hesitant to do it.  What about Ezekiel? –

“⁶ But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words. Even though briers and thorns surround you and you are living with scorpions, do not be afraid of their words, and do not be intimidated by the look on their faces, for they are a rebellious house.”

Sounds like Ezekiel probably didn’t want to do it either.  Who were those guys?  Superheroes of the Bible?  People up on a pedestal whose spiritual insights and witnessing skills were perfect so that they could draw the sword of God’s word and slice up any argument, who could wield the hammer of God’s word and knock sense into any skeptic with their speaking skills, who could charm a conversion out of the most stubborn and rebellious people?  No!  They were ordinary folks – frail, afraid, human, hesitant, weak, weary.  The LORD addressed Ezekiel as “son of man”not once but 7 times in these verses, drilling home, “Ezekiel, you are not a child of God on your own.  You were born like all sons and daughters of humans.  You’re a sinner.”  Ezekiel was nothing special.  He was just like you and me.  He needed a messenger and he was called by God to be a messenger.

But God wanted them to learn something to make Ezekiel and all those others special.  Actually, he did two things.  He did for them what he did for old Abraham and King David. 

“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit”

Psalm 32:1-2

That’s the first thing God did.  He made them special by declaring that the righteousness of the promised Savior covered them.  Then, secondly the LORD stood behind Ezekiel and braced up his spiritual backbone. 

“He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.” ² The Spirit entered into me as he spoke to me and brought me up to my feet. Then I heard him speaking to me…. Son of man, I am sending you…. they will know that a prophet has been among them.” 

God called Ezekiel to be his messenger.

God did those two special things for you and me, too.  He called us to faith and called us to be his messengers in this world.  You do not have to hang your head in shame.  You do not have to run and hide.  You do not have to worry about your weaknesses or cower in fear.  God Wants Us To Learn Something!  You are God’s messengers with the clean slate of forgiveness and confidence from his call to share

The Message

 If the boss called you in and said, “I am sending you,” and then fell silent, you’d have questions, “Where?  To whom?  To do what?”  Moses didn’t want to do it.  Elijah didn’t want to do it.  Jonah didn’t want to do it.  Isaiah was afraid to do it.  Jeremiah was hesitant to do it, and Ezekiel was afraid to do it, not just because each looked in the mirror and saw a sinner but because they didn’t want to be a messenger without something to say.  God supplied for each of them what he supplied for Ezekiel in the verses just after out text  

“8 But you, son of man, listen to what I am telling you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you. ⁹ Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out toward me, and in it there was a rolled-up scroll. Son of man, eat what you have received. Eat this scroll, and then go, speak to the house of Israel.” 10 He unrolled it in front of me, and there was writing on both sides. Written on it was: Laments, Groaning, and Woe. ² I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. ³ Then he said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I am giving you.” I ate, and in my mouth it was sweet like honey. ⁴ He then said to me, “Son of man, go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them”

Ezekiel 2:8-10, 3:3-4

Read the book of Ezekiel, and you’ll discover that God called him to do some rather unusual things, sort of play-acting so that the people of Judah living in Babylon would not only hear God’s message but see it.  As food is assimilated by the body, so the words of God need to be assimilated, taken in, internalized, eaten, and devoured by every messenger of God.   True, his initial message included Laments, Groaning, and Woe, especially for those who were indifferent or who refused to acknowledge the mess they created in their relationship with God.  But the message of God’s Law didn’t end there.  For those who recognized their mess and longed for relief, Ezekiel had a message as sweet as honey – “God loves all sinners, even sinners like you, and he can clean up the mess you’ve made, sweep the road to heaven, and usher you in.”

One of the greatest joys for those God calls to be his messengers (and by baptism he has called us into that role), is that we don’t have to worry what to say, we don’t have to make things up, we don’t have to guess at what people need to hear.  All people need to hear the same thing.  All people need to hear about the mess their lives are in without God, and all people need to hear the sweet, honey-tasting message of the Savior’s life and death so that they won’t ever be without God.  God gave Ezekiel directions to start with the announcement of the mess before announcing the Savior’s clean-up work.  That’s the typical way we messengers start, too, especially if we are speaking to someone who says, “I don’t really care.”  Tactfulness comes into play, of course, as the apostle wrote,

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that is in you. ¹⁶ But speak with gentleness and respect”

1 Peter 3:15-16a

But just like Ezekiel, God is not calling us to produce the result.  He simply wants us to be his messengers, proclaiming his message.  There is no promise of glee and gladness by those who hear us, but also the possibility of rejection and resentment.  However, if people don’t want to listen, that’s not his fault or our fault. They’re the ones who have to answer to him.

Pastors preach lots of sermons.  Some you like and some not so much—kinda like eating a scroll.  But, every Word of God is vitally important and we need to preach it, believe it and live it.  It’s like a farmer.  Next spring he is not going to say, “In 2024 we had so much rain I had to replant my garden three times! So, I’m not going to plant anything this spring.” No!  He’s going to plant seeds whether it’s cool or dry or hot or wet.  That’s what Ezekiel did, and that’s what we will do, too.  We are called to have a Meaningful Ministry to meet the needs of people that will make a difference for their eternal life.  Because God Wants Us To Learn Something and Share it with others—the Mess, the Messenger and the Message is all about Jesus. Amen.