Richard Davenport
July 7, 2024 – Proper 9
Ezekiel 2:1-5
The seminary in St. Louis has a symposium every year. They gather a number of different speakers who all give presentations around a chosen topic. The last one they held centered on the topic of hope in the modern world. The topic is usually left a little vague, so there’s some room to play with the idea and ensure people aren’t all just saying the same stuff over and over.
One of the presentations was given by Dr. Joel Biermann, one of the professors there at the seminary. His presentation focused on the church’s job in society. He talked about all of the major political issues that have cropped up, the redefinition of marriage, abortion, LGBT lifestyles, the conflict in the Middle East, immigration, the economy, and all of the rest.
You may not have big opinions on all of these issues, but you can’t help being immersed in them. In the year of a presidential election, these kinds of discussions are everywhere. Some get more or less attention depending on the news cycle, but they’re all in there, churning around together. Different senators and congressmen really go after specific issues with a laser focus. When they get some new bit of information to chew on, that issue drifts to the top for a little while. Likewise, when one of these issues comes before the Supreme Court in some form, all of the commentators chime in to give their opinions on how this will affect that particular issue.
The church, too, has a voice. It is unfortunate that all of us who call ourselves Christian don’t always speak in unison. Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, and all the rest all see our interaction with the world in slightly different ways. Still, we speak, we act. We engage with society on the various issues that come up because we are citizens of this neighborhood, of this country, and 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th commandments all direct us to care for our neighbors in the ways we are able. To cut ourselves off from the world, as the monks do, means not caring for others, not seeing to their needs, and not acting the way Christ acts toward us.
So we have to be involved. We have to be active. We need to be informed about what is going on around us so that we know how to act and respond in God pleasing ways, as good stewards of the land, of ourselves, and of the gifts God has given us. It can be hard to know exactly what we should do about all of this. Our Lutheran church has a small group of people called the Committee on Theology and Church Relations, that studies these issues and gives Biblical guidance on how to address the modern problems of the world around us.
What are we to do about all of these things? Back in Cincinnati there were regular rallies outside the Planned Parenthood building. They were always peaceful and most of the time there were only a handful outside, praying, offering assistance to women who were going in, and so forth. Occasionally the Catholic church would organize a big rally. Since we Lutherans view abortion the same way, we make common cause with them in opposing this great evil and invite Lutherans to participate in the rallies as well.
Thankfully, that seems to be a bit less of an issue around here, but it is still there if you look for it. Protests in support of LGBT issues are also less prevalent around here, but they still exist and crop up in public spaces from time to time. Just because an evil is less prevalent doesn’t change the fact that it is evil.
So what are we to do? This was the question Dr. Biermann addressed in his presentation. He pointed out how there are always problems going on around us. There are always evils cropping up. Like a big game of whack-a-mole, you smack one down only to have another pop its head up out of the hole. They need dealing with, because we must care for our neighbors. Yet, the church must also remember to never lose sight of its primary purpose in the world. All sorts of organizations can work to combat these various evils, even false religions will sometimes work to bring an end to one evil or another. But only the church can proclaim the Gospel. Only the church can tell people about how the Son of God became man and died to save the world from sin and rose again to save the world from death. If the church spends all of its time in political activism, it never gets around to giving people the one thing that carries eternal significance.
If you read the book of Ezekiel from start to finish, you’ll find it one of the strangest books of the Bible. The book of Revelation usually gets top billing as the strangest book of the Bible, but I think Ezekiel is even more so. Revelation is almost entirely one long vision, from beginning to end. It does have a lot of wild imagery and things that are difficult to understand, but you go into it knowing that. You know there are truths there, things God is trying to teach, but they aren’t real, they aren’t physically there.
Ezekiel does see some visions, and they are just as convoluted as what we find in Revelation, but there are a lot of other things that take place in Ezekiel that aren’t visions at all. They really happen; things that go on around Ezekiel or things that he is told to do. It’s the fact that we can’t just write it all off as a vision that makes Ezekiel a difficult book to handle.
We get some of that right here at the beginning. These first couple of chapters tell us all about how God is calling Ezekiel to be a prophet. The Bible explains where Ezekiel came from, who is calling him to be a prophet, and what message he is being sent to give. As a prophet, he will be calling the people to account for their actions. There is greed, laziness, and callousness throughout the land. People care little for others and are only looking out for themselves.
Ezekiel addresses many of the same issues we face in our society today. The times may change, traditions may change, cultures may change, but people and the sins they carry are the same as they’ve always been. Ezekiel has to address these problems going on around him. If people hear Ezekiel and come to see how their callousness hurts those around them and vow to be more compassionate, that’s a good thing. The community has been made a little better. But, that doesn’t really fix the problem.
A doctor who prescribes some cough medicine when you have pneumonia might help you feel a little better, but the medicine won’t cure you. To actually be cured, you need something that’s going to attack the root of the problem, that will purge the disease from your body so you won’t just feel better, you’ll be better.
We face the same problems in our world, in our lives. There are so many issues that vie for our attention. There are injustices of all sorts all around us. There are so many worthy places that we can give our attention. If we bring some relief to someone in need or bring an end to some abuse of power or any other issue we might face, then we have been a help and done someone necessary to care for our neighbor.
That excitement we feel when doing something good and being successful at it can be a good motivation, but it can also lead to pride in your accomplishments. “Look at all of the good things I’ve done! Look at how many people I’ve helped! Look at how much I’ve cared for others!”
They are good things. They ease the world’s grief just a little bit, but none are the cure. None of that brings the forgiveness, life, and salvation that comes only through the Gospel of Christ Jesus, through his redemption and sacrifice, through his death and resurrection.
We are called to be kings and queens in this world, to care for the world, to bring justice and order wherever possible and to the extent to which we are able. But we are also prophets like Ezekiel, sent to call the world to account for its sins, not just to keep the sins from happening, but also to bring the people who commit them to repentance, so that they may receive forgiveness and be saved. We are also priests, called to bring God to the world and the world to God, not with a bludgeon, but with a promise, the promise of forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.
Our power and efforts cannot bring about lasting change. Only Christ can change the world as it is into the world as it was intended to be. Only he can take us poor sinners and give us eternal life through baptism in the water and the Spirit. Only he can make us new. Our good works, helpful as they might be, can only do so much. Sometimes our drive for works ends up being a distraction, drawing us away from the God who brings salvation, and focusing everyone’s attention on us and our work.
At some point in your life, perhaps when you were having some kind of crises, perhaps when you were younger, perhaps even before you were born, someone proclaimed the Gospel of salvation through Christ to you. At some point, you heard and believed it. Someone took the chance. You might reject it. You might hear all of this savior nonsense and dismiss it. You don’t want it and you don’t need it. But you might not. You might hear and believe. You might believe and be saved. Either way, God’s work would be done.
There is good work to be done in the world. There are many ways to care for our neighbor. There are many injustices that need addressing. But, just as we must not get lost in our own good works, trusting in what we have done, rather than in the grace of God who forgives sins, we must also not get lost in our works in the world. Faith comes through the Word, and through faith, forgiveness, life, and salvation. You are saved because God sent someone to share that promise with you. God sent someone to invite you here, to his house to offer the forgiveness he died to win. God sent someone here to bring you to the font where you would mark you as one of his own. God sent someone to bring you to his table, to share a meal with him face to face, to see now what it is you look forward to, to see what awaits all those who trust in him.