Sermon for July 7, 2024: A Prophet Among Them based upon Ezekiel 2:1-5

Ezekiel 2:1-5
He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

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    In the Bible, stories about the rise of prophets are often really stories about nations in turmoil. That is certainly true about Ezekiel. In her commentary on this text, the scholar Marjorie Suchoki outlines some of the turmoil in Judah that made the calling of a prophet necessary. This story takes place in an era long after the glory days of King David. Under David, the northern nation of Israel and the southern nation of Judah were united. Suchoki notes that unification had fallen apart under the rule of the kings who succeeded him. Then, the power nation of Assyria conquered Israel. Babylon would eventually threaten Judah with a similar fate, eventually forcing Judah to become a vassal state.

     Judah would rebel against Babylonian imperialism but would be also defeated. Our choir sings a lovely arrangement of Psalm 137, a Psalm written about the aftermath of that defeat. The first part of the Psalm goes:

By the rivers of Babylon-
   there we sat down and there we wept
   when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
   we hung up our harps.
For there our captors
   asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
   ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’

     The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, opted to punish the Judeans by hauling the upper-class people and artisans away to exile in Babylon, leaving the poorest people in Judah. Ezekiel, who would become a prophet for his people, is among those exiled. The people who were taken have been away from their homes for five years. The temple has been destroyed, but God is still speaking to Ezekiel, even in exile.
Ezekiel the book is written in first person, as though the prophet is speaking directly to the listeners. In chapter 1, Ezekiel the prophet describes how he, when he was thirty years old and living by the river Chebar, began to see visions of God. Casey Thornburgh Sigmon, in her commentary on the text, notes that the Hebrew word “kebar” means “joining.” She also invites us to consider what it could mean for Ezekiel to receive these visions and this calling to become a prophet, a calling that often sets you apart from your community, next to a river that reminds them of the power of coming together. What would it mean to be reminded of “joining” if you are people who have been violently separated from your nation?

     Though prophets are set apart, perhaps the name of this river is pointing to one of Ezekiel’s, and God’s, great hopes: that those who have been taken can one day be reunified with their people and their land. The rest of chapter one is the first of many fantastical visions Ezekiel receives. There is wild weather, wild, shining, winged beings with multiple faces (both human animals) and wings and legs like cows. There were these wheels... you can see them in the cover art on today’s bulletin... turning and turning. There was a sparkling dome and divine thunder and a rainbow and “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God.” It is among the wildest visions of any prophet in the whole Bible. I encourage you to go back and read it all for yourself. All of that vision has such an emotional impact on Ezekiel that he falls on his face. Which, frankly, is fair.

      We meet Ezekiel on his face in fear and trembling. God tells him to get up. Marjorie Suchoki, in her commentary, argues that this is an important moment for reasons beyond the obvious- God isn’t just talking to Ezekiel. God is offering a measure of care for one who has been subjugated. Suchoki points out that God doesn’t ask Ezekiel to show respect by cowering.  Ezekiel is functionally a prisoner of Babylon. Powerful people often expect abjection and deference from those whom they have captured. Notice that God is not repeating the expectations of the ones who have taken people against their will. In inviting Ezekiel to rise of his own accord, God is reminding him of his own power. Suchoki says, “If Ezekiel can rise and stand before God, cannot he rise and stand before his captors?” And, Ezekiel does rise, with the help of Spirit.

     Spirit, “ruach” in Hebrew, also means “wind” or “breath” as Sigmon reminds us in her commentary. She argues that Spirit is somewhat of a character in Ezekiel, empowering, inspiring, and connecting the prophet to his God. In this sense, Spirit is breathing new life into Ezekiel, and energizing him for the work ahead. As you look at the world around you, where could you use some of this Spirit that carried Ezekiel into his great prophetic work? Where do you witness a nation disconnected, disjointed, and straying from God’s call to love and justice? How might the Spirit in this moment to be leading us to a time of restoration? What might Spirit help us stand up to do?

     I appreciate that God tells Ezekiel that the people might not listen. When doing something as confounding as trying to get a group of people to change their ways, it is good to have the appropriate expectations. Some people simply won’t listen. Entire governments may opt to ignore the truth, even when it is clearly and correctly lined out in front of them. It is not easy to change the course of a nation, or even part of a nation. But, it’s not impossible. If it were, God would not send prophets. Ezekiel shares with us an important reminder: you may not convince the nation to change, but you still are called to push them towards justice and righteousness. Whether or not they change, they should know that there has been a prophet among them.

     Ultimately, Ezekiel accepts God’s call to speak to his people. And he will tackle some significant questions throughout his time as prophet. Stephen Cook outlines some of the questions in his introduction to Ezekiel in the New Oxford Annotated Bible: Has God abandoned Jerusalem and the Temple? Does the suffering of the people of Judah have a purpose? How should the people understand their tragic history? Cook argues that the most important question is “how can God now move on with God’s people, in a transformed and renewed state?” Because the violence of the exile forever changed the people. Trauma will do that.

     The power of Ezekiel’s work with the people reminds us that to be changed does not mean to be separated from God. But, it might mean reorienting yourself towards what Sigmon calls in her commentary “God’s vision of flourishing and justice.” Challenging times demand changes in our posture, clarity of mission, and a willingness to embrace divine visions that seem impossible under the current circumstances. Ezekiel shows us that there is value in doing what we are called, even when we’re not sure of the reception. May the Spirit be with us as it was with him. And, may divine wheels carry us into God’s future of loving righteousness.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, “Proper 9 [14]” Preaching God’s Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year B Featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice, Ronald J. Allen, Dale P. Andrews, and Dawn Ottoni- Wilhelm, eds. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011)
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Casey Thornburgh Sigmon: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-14-2/commentary-on-ezekiel-21-5-6
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Stephen L. Cook’s notes on Ezekiel in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001