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LIFE PROSPERITY Doing the Word Sunday School Curriculum Ezekiel 3:1 – 3 March 16, 2014

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LIFE PROSPERITY Doing the Word Sunday School Curriculum Ezekiel 3:1 – 3 March 16, 2014 LAUNCH: LIFE PROSPERITY Doing the Word Sunday School Curriculum Ezekiel 3:1 – 3 March 16, 2014 Introduction I used to travel a good bit for a variety of reasons. Being on airplanes and running through airports gradually became a part of my life. If you’ve spent any amount of time flying, you know there is a sort of flow that goes along with the experience. You rush to get to the airport on time, then have to wait in line at security when you get there. You quickly unpack everything you packed and dump it into a plastic bin in a frenetic pace, only to have to repeat it seconds later, repacking after passing through security. Then, you wait at the gate. The boarding call for the plane comes and everyone crams around the door, no matter their boarding priority, then wait to squeeze through the door. It’s a relentless cycle of hurry then wait, hurry then wait. One of the standard parts of the experience are the in-flight announcements prior to takeoff. As someone that teaches and trains, I always feel a little bad for the person making the announcements because absolutely no one on the plane ever listens. They are concentrating on how long it will be before they can turn on their approved portable electronic devices. The maddening part of it is that announcements actually include information that can save your life. So why does no one listen? Because they think they don’t really need it. They are sitting on the tarmac, the plane is about to push back, and needing the floatation device that is also their seat cushion is a totally irrelevant concept. How much do you think that would change if cabin air pressure actually did change? When those little masks drop from the ceiling, I guarantee that anyone on that plane would gladly listen to a brief review of the safety guidelines with rapt attention. What does that have to do with our sermon topic this week? Sadly, more than it should. The natural outflow of spending time in God’s Word is life transformation. Life transformation manifests itself in the ways in which we interact with others and make decisions. It changes the way we view the world. However, if we only pay attention to God’s Word when we feel like we really need it, then transformation is a much more sporadic process. In the Life Prosperity portion of our LAUNCH series, our focus is on the external evidence that reveals our growth in Christ, both individually and as a church. Earlier in our LAUNCH sermon series as we discussed our passions, we studied what it meant to value biblical truth. Part of that week’s lesson stated that we act on what we value. Logically then, if we value biblical truth, it will shape the way we live, work, make decisions, raise our families, and every other area of our lives. This week, we return to biblical truth by considering how we value it and what it looks like when we do. In doing so, we find a wonderful illustration in the call of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:1 – 3. 1 Biblical Background Ezekiel stands apart from the rest of the Bible in its grand and majestic visions of God. The visions frequently include bizarre images and creatures. Because the occurrences and manner in which God chose to reveal himself to Ezekiel, the book bearing his name is regarded by many casual readers as too difficult to interpret. However, knowing the context of Ezekiel’s prophecy makes Ezekiel more understandable. Ezekiel is initially introduced as a priest, though not having formally taken on his priestly role. He was part of the first Babylonian deportation of Israel in 598 BC, which is why he sits on the Chebar canal at the opening of the book. His prophetic career is a challenging one, as his audience is a deported, dejected people. Oddly, in spite of their plight, the Israelite people in exile still struggle with unrepentant hearts and prideful spirits. The first three chapters of Ezekiel detail his vision of God in which his call experience occurs. The specificity of detail, even though bizarre, leads up to Ezekiel’s vision of the presence of Yahweh. As so often happens throughout the Bible, the nature of God’s call on one of his servants is such that it prepares the one being called for the type of ministry they are to have. Ezekiel is no different. The unusual imagery and the supernatural magnitude of how God reveals himself foreshadows the difficulty of the ministry that lay before Ezekiel over his 22-year prophetic ministry. At the beginning of chapter one, God reveals himself in a storm that begins as a strong wind from the north and then explodes into the grandiose vision. The wind coming from the north is a crucial element at the outset of Ezekiel’s ministry because it confirms that the Babylonians, whose armies arrived from the north, are in fact God’s chosen instrument to judge his recalcitrant people. Within the parameters of Ezekiel’s call narrative, we see the importance of knowing God’s word and, as a result, walking in obedience with power. Prior to our passage for this week, God calls to Ezekiel using the title, “Son of Man.” Then in the beginning of chapter 2, Ezekiel reveals that as God spoke to him, the Holy Spirit entered him. Ezekiel is commissioned to go to rebellious Israel. Even at the outset, though, God prepares Ezekiel that his words will go unheeded and the road ahead of him will be difficult. At the end of chapter 2, beginning in verse 8, Yahweh addresses Ezekiel with a written scroll in his hand. God opens the scroll and allows Ezekiel to see that it is written on front and back. The contents are words of lamentation, mourning, and woe for this rebellious people. The Text At the opening of chapter 3, God continues to address Ezekiel regarding the scroll containing the words of God that Ezekiel is to take Israel. At the close of chapter 2, before introducing the scroll, God tells Ezekiel to eat whatever God gives him. In a moment that reminds us of God’s conversation with Peter before he goes to visit with Cornelius, Ezekiel is likely expected some unclean thing that he would have never before eaten. Instead, a hand extends a scroll to him and allows Ezekiel to read the words from God that were on the scroll. As chapter three begins, Lord again directs Ezekiel to eat. “And he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel.’” (Ezekiel 3:1) 2 This is an odd request, no matter which way you slice it. Scrolls would have been made from papyrus, which is a reed-like plant. The idea of eating it would have been extremely unappetizing. Adding the ink to it would not have helped. There is no way for sure to know if the scroll was an actual scroll or part of Ezekiel’s inaugural vision. The experience of the occurrence was extremely real, so much so that it fueled Ezekiel’s prophetic work for over two decades. The wording from God is incredibly important. First, he tells Ezekiel to eat whatever he finds. This is not conditional obedience for Ezekiel. The word of God is authoritative and does not return to the Lord void. Ezekiel’s ingesting it is not contingent on whether or not he likes what the scroll says. He most assuredly will not. Second, God repeats himself as he establishes a pattern. Eat the scroll and then go to speak. Notice that God did not say “read the scroll.” He instructs Ezekiel to eat it. When we eat something, our bodies process it, break it down into its individual parts, and allow it to nourish us. The nourishment causes us to grow and develop, to be stronger. Such is the clear implication for the word of God on this scroll of Ezekiel. He is to ingest it so that it strengthens him and grows him. It becomes part of him. It is not merely reading and memorizing, it is applying it to his life in such a way that it compels him to act. Third, when God tells Ezekiel to “go speak to the house of Israel,” Ezekiel is carrying out exactly what the scroll said. Remember, it was full of words of lamentation, mourning, and woe over rebellious Israel. That’s what Ezekiel was sent to Israel to tell them. He ingested the word and the word shaped his action, which was commanded by God. Verse 2 is Ezekiel’s response to God’s command, which is surprisingly nonchalant. “So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.” (Ezekiel 3:2) Just like that. God told him to eat the rolled up, ink-stained papyrus scroll and Ezekiel did it. No argument about it not being on the Jewish food law diet. No pushback over it being dirty and unsanitary. Just obedience. Now, it would be short-sighted and simplistic not to realize that, given the magnificence of the vision Ezekiel was experiencing, he would have done anything that God told him to do. That’s exactly the point. Worship and intimacy with God increases not just the ability, but the desire to obey and follow after God. The ability to trust God in obedience, even when costly or difficult to understand, is inextricably linked to the personal encounter with God.
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