Sermon: Pentecost 7 (July 12, 2015)
Ezekiel 2:1-3:4
The LORD Feeds Ezekiel
1) So Feed Others Yourself
2) But Feed Yourself First
“A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” So says Mary Poppins, the unconventional nanny in the Disney
film of the same name. And it only makes sense... when we’re asked to do something we don’t think we’ll like... or
eat something we don’t think will taste good... the familiar something sweet of a spoonful of sugar would certainly
make the whole process go a little easier. The promise of a long nap on the couch might entice someone to go for the
bike ride that would be good for them. The promise of all the ice cream you want has encouraged many a child when
getting their tonsils removed. And it was a pretty similar experience for the prophet Ezekiel as well.... he was given a
task, and it didn’t look like a particularly pleasant one. But how wonderful for him to discover, it was as sweet as
honey.
We see today how the LORD fed his prophet Ezekiel. And we see it’s the same way he feeds us... he feeds us on the
sweetness of the gospel, and he does so for the task at hand. And the task at hand is feeding others. So what we see
as we consider the way God fed Ezekiel, is that 1) we should feed others ourselves... but, as you set to that task, you
should 2) first feed yourself, to be ready for the task.
These verses from Ezekiel’s book are his calling as a prophet to God’s people. And the LORD doesn’t mince words
as he sends Ezekiel forth... he says it might not be so easy, as he says this, 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. There’s two lessons for us to
see here, one about going out as a prophet, the other about listening to God’s prophets. Now, God still sends out
prophets, since what a prophet does is simply share a message... he professes what he knows, what he has been
taught, or the message that has been entrusted to him or her. I think we sometimes think prophets are all about telling
the future, since the prophets of the Old Testament were doing just that... foretelling the coming of Jesus as the
savior. But he has now come, and God still sends out prophets with that very truth... that the Savior has come... that
Jesus of Nazareth, a man who lived some 2000 years ago, was so much more than just another man, or just another
moral teacher, or just an inspirational figure. No, he is the way and the truth and the life, he is the Savior of the
world. And it is this news of salvation in Jesus’ name that God entrusts to us to take forth to the world. Yes... that he
entrusts to US... ALL of us. Not just pastors and missionaries and teachers in the church, but all believers are called
upon to go into the world and preach the good news. And so that means you too.
Which could be a little intimidating, and so we need be reminded who sends us... whose message we bear... by
whose authority we speak. God said to Ezekiel, 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. If
we start sharing the truth of God’s Word, some people will welcome that... others won’t. God sends us to a stubborn
and rebellious people as well. That certainly describes unbelievers, who since they don’t know Christ yet, can’t
appreciate the gospel message about him. And it might seem like the world around us has very little time for our
message. It seems to be getting more and more hostile towards the message of the gospel and what God has to say
about right and wrong.
But this can also describe believers. God was speaking to Ezekiel about his own people, the chosen Jewish nation.
And yet, even thought they were God’s chosen people, they were rebellious and obstinate. Maybe that’s the
stubborn, obstinate child you’re trying to get to eat his spinach... or maybe it’s the older child who you’re trying to
share something far more important than spinach with. Maybe you’re sharing with them God’s will for their life...
and they think they know how life works, and they don’t need your input. Or maybe it’s your spouse, or even a
parent who is resisting the message of God’s Word. Speak lovingly, but confidently... it is the Sovereign LORD who
sends you, and for whom you speak.
Now, Ezekiel preached to the Jews in exile... they had been taken away into the Babylonian captivity by King
Nebuchadnezzar. And so maybe they were a little bitter... didn’t like the hand that God had dealt them. Well, the
stubborn, obstinate people we reach out to may feel the same way... maybe they’re just hurting more than anything
else, because they’re not sure why God has allowed the things he has in their lives, and they need us to speak the
truth in love to them... patiently, kindly. But never be afraid to share the message of God’s will about right and
wrong, or about God’s love shown in our Savior Jesus. The Sovereign LORD sends us.
And the other lesson, is simple... don’t be that stubborn and obstinate person yourself. Recognize the person whom
God may send to you as Ezekiel went to his people. If someone is directing you to God’s Word for correction about
some aspect of your life, let God’s Word guide you... listen to them. If it’s the truth, it’s the truth... no matter how
you may feel about the messenger. And don’t listen to the world around us, or what everyone else is doing, or even
your own heart if it is a different message than the one God’s prophets have shared with you. As Paul wrote in our
epistle lesson, hold to the truth of God’s Word.... that Word that is useful for correcting rebuking and training in
righteousness. Listen to the Ezekiels that God sends you.
But here’s the other part of our text’s message... as we see how God fed Ezekiel, let’s learn to feed ourselves first.
And God taught this lesson in a most interesting way. Let’s note that Ezekiel was seeing these events in a vision, he
didn’t really have to eat a scroll... but that was the picture God used. When it was time for Ezekiel to go forth and be
God’s prophet, here’s how God equipped him. He said to him But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do
not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you. First of all, he called him ‘son of
man...’ a designation that God uses some 90 times in the book of Ezekiel to refer to his prophet. In the New
Testament, Jesus sometimes called himself the Son of Man, stressing his human nature... the fact that he became one
of us. And here I think it’s sort of the same, as God pointed out to Ezekiel... “you’re going out among sinful human
beings... stubborn and rebellious ones... and in case you forget it, you’re one of them. And just to remind you of that,
I’m going to call you son of man some 90 times.... to remind you, you’re going out with the life-giving gospel among
sinful humans who need it so badly... just like you need it.” What do they tell you to do when you’re on an airplane,
with children, during that safety instruction speech that they give? In case of the loss of cabin pressure, oxygen
masks will deploy, and if you have a child with you... what are you supposed to do? Put your mask on first... why?
...so you don’t pass out and then can’t help your child at all.
Same thing when trying to carry the message of the Sovereign LORD to sinners... eat it yourself first. Ezekiel was
given a scroll... he was told to eat it. The message on it, on both sides, was words of lament and sadness... of
mourning and woe. But when it passed Ezekiel’s lips, it was as sweet as honey. Sometimes God’s Word might seem
that way at first... there’s parts that are hard to hear... Paul tells us “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God.” The prophet Ezekiel himself says later in chapter 18... “the soul who sins is the one who shall die.” Words of
lament and mourning, aren’t they? Meant for sinful human beings, of whom Ezekiel, that son of man was one. We
need to see our sin before we preach to anyone else about there’s. We take the plank out of our own eye to help
someone with the speck of sawdust in theirs, just as Jesus taught us to do. So let hear God’s Word, digest it, and let
the power of the law work on your heart first. Then you will be speaking in love and humility.
But you know what else God’s word tells us? There is the message about someone who loved us enough to live and
die for us. It tells us of that long-awaited Savior, the one who came some 2000 years ago. It tells us about Jesus, who
came and lived a perfect life in our place, and whose innocent death on the cross paid for all our sin. Paid for all the
times we failed to listen to God’s word, when we read it in the Bible... or as his prophets shared it with us. For all our
sins, someone loved us enough to die for us. And when we believe in him, when we trust what the apostle John tells
us... that “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our
sins.” Then we have forgiveness, and we are right with God, and how does that taste? Sweeter than honey. Knowing
how God has loved us, moves us to love others. And nothing is more loving than sharing the gospel with someone.
They might not like the looks of the message at first... God’s Word tells us of our sin... words of lament and
mourning. It’s the equivalent of Brussel sprouts... or mushrooms... or bleu cheese... or whatever you or your child
don’t like to eat. But the Word pointing out of our sins is simply the call to repentance, that can lead us to look to
Jesus for forgiveness and to rejoice over our Savior. But you have to know that yourself to tell someone else... you
have to taste and see that the LROD is good... yourself. So eat this scroll... be fed like God fed Ezekiel. Hear God’s
Word, and taste the sweeter than honey message that tells us of God’s love. And then tell someone else.
AMEN