Today's entry is the sermon I shared in Chapel at Timbercrest this morning. It is rooted in the readings from Ezekiel thus far.
Message – Jan. 20, 2011
I write a daily blog called “Piety and Devotion.” It’s based on the old lectionary from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, which is the lectionary we use at our Church. Since Epiphany, the Old Testament Lessons have been in Ezekiel. Every day I’ve been reading and writing down my thoughts about Ezekiel’s prophecies and preaching.
To be honest, Ezekiel is getting to me. It’s not his messages… I really enjoyed the first chapter or two in which Ezekiel saw the glory of God, the six-winged cherubim, the amber fires and the glorious rainbow. Who of us isn’t familiar with the “wheel in a wheel way up in the middle of the air”?
It’s not even Ezekiel’s negativity. Ezekiel was dealing with heavy sins that needed significant repentance. The people had been violent, idolatrous, abusive, oppressive, immoral, and nearly every other violation of God’s commandments and general human decency. I understand that sin can become entrenched and there are times when you can no longer mince words.
I think what is getting to me about Ezekiel is the realization that he is preaching and preaching and no one is apparently listening.
That may be the message of this morning, for me and our community today.
I’ve been preaching for over thirty years. In college, I went with ministry teams around to various Churches in the Anderson area. Usually there were a couple who sang, someone else was worship leader and I was usually the preacher. Out of college, I preached in a different format, through Youth for Christ, with junior high kids. I’ve preached in Quaker churches of every kind and I’ve filled the pulpit in several different denominations.
The thing is, when I look through my files of sermons and re-read bulletins that I’ve kept over the years, I can hardly recall the things I’ve said.
I’ve preached and preached and I’ve wondered if I’ve even been listening to myself. I begin to find the ruts and preach where things are comfortable. Peace with God through Jesus Christ, deepening prayer life, living at peace with your family and neighbors, the holidays, and so forth.
Maybe you’ve felt the same way. Some of us here in the Chapel have been in Church and listening to sermons for many, many years. It’s likely that you have been where I’ve been. You like sermons about certain topics, you have expectations of what to hear and what not to hear, and when you hear certain passages, you already have formed ideas about what it means.
In many respects, this is Ezekiel’s message to the people of Israel: “You have stopped listening to God.”
When you or I stop listening to God, the consequences are almost immediate.
When we stop listening to God, we begin worshiping other things. This is the idolatry that Ezekiel preaches about. The actions of worship can become mundane and routine and the idea of God and what God has to say to us can become background noise. We don’t really hear because we’re not really listening.
When we stop listening to God, we turn to our own devices. This is the violence and pride that Ezekiel preaches about. Without God’s voice telling us to love our neighbors, we are left to our own devices. We are selfish, putting ourselves, our needs, our wants, and our priorities above those of others. Without God’s voice telling us what justice is, justice becomes a case of situational ethics, and what works in one place may not be just in another. What is right to me may not be right for you, and vice versa.
In Ezekiel’s day, religion had become the avocation of the “professionally religious,” the Temple keepers. The common man kept the Sabbath, circumcised his sons, made sure his boys were Bar Mitzvah, and kept the dietary laws, but little else. And the professionally religious had become corrupt through and through. Ezekiel gives a grim vision of their secret idolatry and creeping things and abominable beasts in Chapter 8.
In addition, the Israelites made unholy pacts with their neighbors. These treaties were good for the moment, but they depended on unrealiable neighbors to take care of the deficiencies of Israel’s character. The resulting compromises led to petty jealousies and broken trade agreements, skirmishes and border wars that epitomize Ezekiel’s words in Chapter 13 – “peace when there is no peace.”
This brings me back to my blog.
Toward the end of last year, I was feeling as if I had read and read, and preached and preached, but I was, in a sense, no longer listening to God. Most of the Bible reading I was doing was sermon preparation or Bible study preparation. Especially over the holidays, I had to devise ways to retell the story of Christ’s birth in a way, using Scriptures, that might make the time-honored account vital again. I knew that this would happen again, as we made our way through yet another cycle of the Church Year.
It dawned on me that it wasn’t the Bible that was in a rut – it was me.
Because I love to write, I decided a blog would be a good way to be accountable. A blog is simply like a journal that is on the internet. To one degree or another, others can read what’s in the blog, or it can be your own journal.
In order to shape the blog, I needed structure. The lectionary we have used at Peoria Church seemed a natural one. I’ve primarily used it for Sunday services, but there are daily readings for morning and evening, selections from the Psalms, and other holidays and special occasions.
The blog also provides me with accountability. I can’t write anything there if I don’t read anything.
Ezekiel and the other prophets were God’s method of giving accountability to His people. If they refused to listen to the prophets, they were refusing to listen to God Himself.
This brings me back to the realization of my own spiritual needs and the example set by many of you at Timbercrest.
I am motivated by the likes of Byron Miller, whose daily devotions and the use of the hymnal to guide his prayer life have led him to a deep and close walk with God.
I am challenged by the desire to teach, like Olden Mitchell, who affectionately and with truth talks about Timbercrest as a “graduate school” preparing the resident community for Heaven.
I am inspired by the joyful enthusiasm of Marie Willoughby who sees the bright side of everyone and the joy of the moment, even when things get tough.
I see the diligent works of faith of Don and Mary Ritchey and their quiet efforts simply to be brother and sister in Christ to each person they meet.
These are only a few examples. I could go on about most of the people who live at Timbercrest. But the point is this: the Christian life is and can be vital, dynamic, and life changing, even after many, many years of preaching.
In a way, I hope my blog does the same thing for others, what you have provided for me. I hope it helps others find a deeper, closer walk with God. I hope it teaches others in their pathway to Heaven. I hope it helps others see the bright side of life and encourages readers to be brother and sister in Christ to their fellow man.
And, selfishly, I hope that the blog will help keep me out of the rut that Ezekiel was preaching about, if I stay in a position to listen.
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