2011-01-16-pm Sermon Ezekiel 2
|
110116pm Ezekiel 2:1-3:4 John 1:43-51 If you wanted an example of the power of the Word of God and the compulsion to hear it and speak it, you couldn't do much better than look to Ezekiel, and particularly this passage which stands near the opening of the book to describe God's calling to be a prophet, a speaker of the Word. God tells him, first, I will speak to you, and second, you then speak for me. v.1 Stand up on your feet and I will speak to you. As he spoke, the Spirit raised me to my feet and I heard him speaking to me. God tells him to stand up – because in the previous verse he has fallen on his face, overwhelmed by the vision of God's glory. But God says, enough grovelling, now buck up, stand up, let's get to business. It's very much like the experience of Daniel 10, when Daniel saw a vision of a man dressed in linen with a belt of the finest gold round his waist, his body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like burnished bronze, his voice like the sound of a multitude – can you guess who it is yet? I had no strength left... I fell into deep sleep, my face to the ground. A hand touched me ans set me trembling on my hands and knees, he said, 'Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up for I have now been sent to you. And when he said this to me I stood up trembling. Or think of Paul when he saw the Risen Jesus, Acts 26:16 Now get up and stand on your feet. To hear the Word of God requires mental alertness, readiness of mind and heart. 1 Peter 4:7 says be clear minded and self controlled so that you can pray. It's not a stupor or a trance, not the self-induced or drug-induced mindlessness of some pagan religions and spiritualities. John Wesley wrote: “I want to know one thing, - the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has condescended to teach the way: For this very end he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: Here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri. Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone: Only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his book; for this end, to find the way to heaven. Is there a doubt concerning the meaning of what I read? Does anything appear dark or intricate? I lift up my heart to the Father of Lights: - "Lord, is it not thy word, 'If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God?' Thou 'givest liberally, and upbraidest not.' Thou hast said; 'If any be willing to do thy will, he shall know.' I am willing to do, let me know, thy will." I then search after and consider parallel passages of Scripture, "comparing spiritual things with spiritual." I meditate thereon with all the attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable. If any doubt still remains, I consult those who are experienced in the things of God; and then the writings whereby, being dead, they yet speak. And what I thus learn, that I teach.” The Word of God is rational, not just emotional. Are we willing to apply our minds to it with determination? Are we willing to do as the old Collect says, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest? 'Stand up' also implies physical alertness, readiness to get up and go, and be about God's business in the world. Hearing from God, our relationship with God is not about lying around in self-indulgence, but being equipped by the Word to go and do what it says – as Paul says in Eph 6:14 stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled round your waist and... with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. I think it's a mistake to imagine that Christianity, prayer, church worship etc are mainly about getting away from the complexities and confusions of the world and finding a 'bubble' of private peace. We do all need to get away to concentrate on God – in private prayer and study, in church, maybe on retreat – but we don't stay there, we stand up and go forward. Hearing the Word of God is so important, and the public reading of God's Word in Scripture is right at the heart of our worship. The job of the vicar was originally to read – to read out the prayers of the service and the lessons – because he was supposed to have the training to do so with clarity and understanding so as to make them understandable to the people. It's interesting to reflect on how in most churches this is the first thing that has been delegated to the laity. I wonder why? Who ever is doing it, the reading should never be unprepared, unclear or uninspiring, monotonous, feeble or (worst of all) full of mistakes which contradict the meaning. It should never be treated as a nod-off point. It should be accurate, clear, strong, nuanced – it should be as fresh and urgent as if we were hearing it for the first time. The same is true when we read the Bible on our own. This year we celebrate 400 years since the publication of the so called AV or KJV of 1611. That translation became a bedrock of English culture and language ever since, and it was the last in a long line steeped in the blood of martyrs who wanted God's word to be in the people's hands in their own native language. Do we take it as seriously as they did? Do we read it with the alertness it requires? So God says stand up and I will speak to you. Then God says, you will speak for me, v.3 Son of Man, I am sending you... The word of God is a gift to be shared and communicated. Taking in the Word is only half the job, giving it out and living it out is the other half. But what about the audience? Well, what about them? I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation...they are obstinate and stubborn... do not be afraid of them... you must speak my word to them whether they listen or fail to listen… The church is always in a hard place between staying faithful to God's Word and translating it so that people can grasp it. It's like building a bridge between the ancient text and the modern world. For many years the church has mostly emphasised modernising. We have been trying hard to be relevant, but his has pros and cons because they are a rebellious house, human nature fights against God's Word. Since the 1960s especially we have tried to modernise our language, our liturgy, our music, and buildings,decor, seating. We have fought worship wars between the 1662 BCP and 1611 KJV, hymns and organ and robed choir versus modern translations, songs and guitars. The Prayer Book Society paints a picture that everything was fine until trendy vicars started trying to modernise and drove everyone away. I think the truth is people had already gone, and vicars thought they had to be trendy to try to reach new ones. But some went beyond modernising the wrapping to modernising the content, the doctrine and moral teaching. On the one hand you have to preach God's pure Word, but on the other hand you have to speak in people's language. If the culture around you is very anti- the old, as it was in the 1960s, you have to address that. The danger has been that when the culture swung back, older Christians were still trying to be trendy when others were lighting candles and listening to monks chanting as chill-out music. It's tempting to be like the Eastern Orthodox churches and not try to run after the changing culture. As the tide of fashion ebbs and flows they stand still. Every so often they are in the right place – like a stopped clock is right twice a day! We have to try to speak the language people understand, but we can't tailor the message to suit them. Whether they listen or fail to listen, you must speak my words to them. The only way to do that is to devour the Word, to get the input so that there can be an output. So God gives Ezekiel a scroll on both sides of it were written words of lament and woe, and he said, Son of Man, eat this scroll, then go and speak etc. Ezekiel's message was a bitter one, but when it comes to the NT the message is 'sweet and sour'. John echoes these words in Rev 10:9-10 I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach turned sour. The message is of sin, righteousness and judgment: it's God telling us what's wrong with us and what he has done to put it right, through Jesus Christ.
|