July 23 2006 --- 7th Sunday after Pentecost ---- Ezekiel 2:1-5
Grace Mercy and peace from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The prophet Ezekiel is the type of man that I enjoy reading about. He lived during a time of international upheaval. The balance of power in the area we call the holy land was changing. The Assyrian Empire to the north was falling apart because of military action from the Babylonians. The Egyptians from the south were trying to re-assert their influence over the area. Battles were fought -- King Josiah of Judah -- all that was left of the former great Kingdom of Israel --- was killed in battle and Judah became a vassal state of Babylon.
Soon Judah rebelled and Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon sent forces to quell the rebellion . This happened 597 years before the birth of Jesus. Nebuchadnezzar took about 10,000 of the Judeans and exiled them in Babylon. This group of exiles joined a group that was previously taken. Ezekiel left with the second group. Daniel was taken with the first group. The exiles taken were generally the most capable of the citizens -- those most likely to rebel if left in the conquered land.
Zedekiah was made another vassal King of Judah. He too rebelled leading to the complete destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its Temple by the Babylonians. Even more exiles were take at this time and the former kingdom was laid waste. This occurred 586 years before the birth of Jesus. Babylon dominated the international scene until it was crushed by Cyrus the Persian in 539 BC.
Ezekiel received his call in 593 BC -- in Babylon and seven years before the destruction of the city and temple. He was thirty years old at this time and was active for 22 years.
Let’s read Ezekiel’s words again: 1 ( God ) said to me, "Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you." 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said: "Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. 4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ’This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.
Life for the exiles was confusing. They missed their city, their temple, their ritual. They were not sure they could even worship God in this strange place. They had little experience with public worship other than Temple ritual and sacrifices. This is the period in Jewish history when synagogues were established and other worship forms were developed.
Psalm 137:1 gives insight into their feelings --- By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
The temptation to give up the ancestral faith was strong. To assimilate into the local population was an attractive alternative. Those who turned their backs on the God of Israel and merged with the locals tended to prosper.
Ezekiel in one aspect was more fortunate than most of us. In the first Chapter of the book of Ezekiel he received a powerful vision followed by his clear call. Most of us get a gentle whisper --- a nudge from the Holy Spirit -- sometimes a daily nudge --that we manage to ignore.
Ezekiel was called for a difficult task. He could have avoided the assignment completely or just basked in the glory of the vision for awhile. His assignment was to make it abundantly clear that by turning their backs on God and worshiping the detestable gods of the pagans, they brought this national catastrophe on themselves. ------- Not a popular message. ------ For seven years he preached to his fellow Jews the bad news . Jerusalem will fall, the temple will be destroyed and they were not going home.. After the destruction of the temple, he preached consoling words of hope for his people. They would experience revival, restoration and a glorious future as the kingdom of God in the world.
Ezekiel was in many ways the glue that kept the Jews together. By answering the call he was permitted to experience the joy of working for the Lord. The Lord, however, was not dependant on Ezekiel, He could have called another prophet. ( Esther 4:14)
Enough history! Lets focus on the call.
The Bible is full of call stories, Saul of Tarsus also named Paul, and Moses are two examples of many. Moses did all he could do to try and talk his way out -- He pleaded ” O Lord please send someone else.” A similar situation occurs in in Acts 9: The Lord comes to Ananias in a vision and Ananias is sent to restore Paul’s sight. A clear call for Ananias -- He responds “but Lord” I have heard about terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem. He has arrest warrants for every believer in Damascus. I think we can safely use our “sanctified imaginations” here. Ananias was probably thinking please don’t sent me on this suicide mission.
Like Ananias, like Ezekiel, Like Paul, Like many others in the Bible and here on earth today we are called to serve the Lord. Jesus came to serve us. We are to serve him and each other. The description of Jesus washing the disciples feet in John 13 says it all.
By virtue of our Baptism we are living a new life with Christ Jesus. We, in a sense, have been re-wired. The sinful, self centered old Adam in us should not function as it once did.
We are called --- look at just a few examples from scripture:
Romans 11:29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
Acts 2:39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
2 Thessalonians 1:11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.
2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.
Galatians 1:6, 15 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—15 But when God, who set me apart from birth[a] and called me by his grace, was pleased
We are called to function by working together as a church. Listen to Paul’s words starting at Ephesians 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
There are many calls not listed here -- there are many duties and acts of kindness done in the name of Jesus that we are called to perform for the glory of God in this congregation and community.
We are called to train and equip people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Tim 2:2)
We are told that our attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus. Attitude is important. If the attitude is right skills can be learned.
This is the time of the year that the nominating team meets and will be calling people to function in various offices and action teams in the congregation. This is not a game of fill the spots -- serious prayer and thought goes into the process.
What keeps us from answering God’s call to serve: I can think of several things:
Fear of failure --- Does this kind of fear come from God or Satan?
Selfishness -My time is my time -- Did we learn this in Satan’s school? We didn’t learn it in Sunday School
Laziness -- Enough said
Too Busy -- Who are we busy serving -- who makes us too busy to serve the Lord -- re-think priorities
Don’t know how to do that -- Attitude is what counts -- skills can be taught. God
qualifies the called.
Bad experiences in the past --- First go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:24) In other words get over it!!
We are all called to pray for our congregation, our Pastor and his family and for our Vicar and his family and all of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We all hear the call -- we just ignore it in many cases. Or we drown out the call by the noise of the world.
Many have asked about Stephen Ministry training. Just asking the question shows that you have heard the call. We need to form a new class of Stephen Ministers. Some have moved away, some are taking a short leave from active care giving. The requirements of training necessitate a class size of at least 6. This makes timing and planning critical -- to achieve these numbers we have partnered with Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in the past.. It just isn’t possible to have smaller classes. The training is extremely beneficial and helpful for Christian growth. This ministry needs to expand it’s care giving capacity by training more care givers. Those of you needing one on one confidential care can help this ministry by receiving the care offered.. Everyone can pray for Stephen Ministry and all of the ministries functioning at Mt. Olive. If you feel the call, see Doreen or come to the picnic this afternoon at Prince of Peace for more information.
Right Now we need a President for Church council. -- this job requires leadership and excellent people skills.
Right now we need a Church Treasurer --- plenty of details and deadlines
Right Now we need a Church council secretary.
We need team members for publicity, Hospitality, Stewardship, pre-school board, Education, Youth.
We need “handy man” types to do little odd jobs on the property.
W need some “green thumb” types to plant grass.
We need Sunday school teachers.
Pray about how you might serve the Lord at Mt. Olive
There are jobs for everyone. If you are not contacted, call Janet Frisch director of Volunteer ministries -- she can find you a task. If you don’t know what your spiritual gifts are - see me -- we have tools available to help discern spiritual gifts. .
Why answer the call? ---- It’s about our relationship with our savior.
We respond to God’s love because of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus for our sins.
We read in 2 Tim 1:9 ( God ) who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
Or Titus 3:5: He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
Or Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Pro Football is a spectator sport ---- Church membership involves active participation.
We are called to give God the best of our talents, a fair amount of time and a tenth or more of our gross income. The world laughs at this. Are we of the world? Do we worship false pagan god’s. Have we turned our backs on the God of the Universe? Will we get to mourn our misfortune along the banks of a foreign river?
God will accomplish His goals -- He can do it with or without Mt. Olive Church --He has told us “if we endure we will also reign with Him.”
Illus. Toby Powers Sermoncentral.com (slight modifications)
A man called a pastor’s office at a church one day to inquire into membership in the church. He stated that he would not be able to get involved or anything, but he felt it was important to have some religious affiliation. ---(Maybe he thought it would make his obituary look better.) The pastor advised this man that the church he pastored might not be the best fit for him, but he knew of a place where he would fit in quite nicely.
The pastor gave him the address. On Sunday morning, the gentlemen followed the directions and pulled up into the yard of a dilapidated building. The roof was falling in, the doors were locked, and vines were growing into the windows.
This gentlemen called the pastor and told him that he had given him the wrong directions. "Oh no," the pastor replied. "Not at all. That is the place. That church has a membership roll filled with people who did not want to get involved or committed.
If we neglect our calls, God will call others and they will experience the joy of serving the Lord.
