PENTECOST
7
July
6-8, 2024
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Ezekiel 2:1-7
“THEN THEY WILL
KNOW THAT A PROPHET HAS BEEN AMONG THEM!”
(Or how you continue
to be a blessing to the USA!)
So, every so often I get asked this
question: “When did you know you wanted to be a pastor?” My very quick and
honest response is, “After my first year as a pastor.” That surprises people,
maybe you too. See I always thought I wanted to be a pastor. My parents
held up being a pastor as a noble way to live. Not realizing what a sheltered
life I had I thought, “What could be easier than being a pastor? You tell God’s
people what God says and they do it because that’s what God’s people do,
right?” And then I became a pastor. And on the very day I was ordained I became
embroiled in the most messy marriage counseling disaster I have ever
experienced. I met with him. I met with her. I met with them. I told them what
God said. But they didn’t do it! I was shocked. I was flabbergasted. So I kept
meeting with him, with her and them. Nothing I tried worked. On top of that her
dad was breathing down my neck constantly. He was a strong, aggressive gun
toting native Texan. What was I going to do about that bum of a husband? When
would there be relief for his sweet little darlin? It got to the point I
dreaded seeing him on Sunday and did not look forward to checking my messages
or answering my phone. I wasn’t sleeping well. I perseverated on this problem
constantly. I remember thinking, “I didn’t sign up for this. All that time in
school and now I don’t want to be a pastor if this is what it’s like.” And then
God did His God thing. He dropped some information that had been hidden into my
lap. I found out that not only do God’s people not always do what God says,
they will lie to you too. The marriage was broken. And I learned something that
day. I learned to stay in my lane. God had made it clear that He had never
asked me to fix marriages other people had broken. He had called me to proclaim
His word to those who like it or like it not. And from then on I knew I wanted
to be a pastor. And for any of your boys here that God might use as pastors
some day, I get paid good money to do this. I feel like I’m double dipping,
getting paid earthly treasures while I store up heavenly ones. It’s a fun way
to live--as long as you stay in your lane.
That was something the prophet Ezekiel
needed to remember and will be a great source of comfort and peace for you as
you continue to be a blessing to your country. Let’s revisit God’s marching
orders for Ezekiel. “He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the
people of Israe] to disloyal nations, who have been disloyal to
me. They and their fathers have rebelled against me to this very day. 4 These
children of mine are brazen-faced and hard-hearted. I am sending you to them,
and you are to tell them that this is what the Lord God says. 5 Then,
whether they listen or do not listen—for they are a rebellious house—then they
will know that a prophet has been among them.” And to think I was throwing
myself a pity party! Up front Ezekiel was told that the people he would serve
were disloyal, rebellious, brazen and hard hearted. His job was simple. Tell
them what the Lord said. And did you notice the goal? It didn’t matter whether
the people listened or did not listen. God had one goal. Then they will know
that a prophet has been among them. The people would know what God had to
say. It was not Ezekiel’s job to make the people listen. He would not be the
one to work repentance. That was God’s work. He needed to stay in his lane, do
the work God gave him to do, no more and certainly no less. Tell them that this
is what the Lord God says. Pretty simple. If he caught on, I’m sure the work of
being a prophet was fun. If he didn’t, like the early version of me, he was
frustrated.
Brothers and sisters, a similar thing
is true for each of you and what we do together as a congregation. I’m sure the
heart of every person here is the same. We love our country. We are saddened as
we see the direction it is going. We want better for her. Also like our good
and gracious God, we want souls saved! All of them. We especially want our
loved ones, our family members, our friends, those people we actually know, to
be saved. But we can’t do that. Only God can save. Only the Holy Spirit changes
hearts. That’s not our lane. But we so want it to be, so we get frustrated. We
train our children in the way of the Lord, we have the home devotions, we bring
them to church and then they stray. They don’t care. They start talking like
Americans instead of Christians and the loyalty to Jesus does not seem to be
there. We wonder “What was the use?” Our youth get pulled into to thinking they
should be a different gender, or explore same sex relationships. That’s not
what they were taught! We get frustrated. Pastors try to fix broken marriages.
It doesn’t work. Teachers try to clean up the messy homes and poor parenting of
their students. It doesn’t work. We get mad. We get frustrated with others,
with God. Why? We are out of our lane. We have stepped on God’s toes and told
Him, “Move over, let me take care of this, my way.” What is our lane as
individual Christians, as a Christian congregation? Same as Ezekiel’s! “You
are to tell them that this is what the Lord God says… You are to
speak my words to them whether they listen or they do not.” It glorifies
God when, you His people, faithfully proclaim His word, His truth, to your
family, to your friends, and when a congregation like St. Jacobi continues to
proclaim His truth in this community. It gives glory to our God and shows His
grace that He has his message of sin pointed out to people and salvation freely
given through Jesus to those who listen and to those who don’t.
And here, friends, is how you are a
blessing to our country and will continue to be if you don’t frustrate
yourself. Stay in your lane! It is not your job to change the behaviors of your
wayward children or grandchildren. It is not your job to make your fellow
American citizens love Jesus like you do. You can’t make people believe. You
can’t save them. Only Jesus does. Stay in your lane! Maintain a faithful
presence to God and His word where you are at. Every family gathering does not
need to include a discussion of the blatant sins going on in the family. Somewhere
along the line a loving conversation expressing concern and pointing to Jesus
needs to happen. After that your very presence will be reminder of what God
says and they will know that a prophet has been among them. God is glorified by
you. You are a blessing in those people’s lives whether they listen or do not
listen.
And the same thing is true for this
congregation. You, the people of this congregation, need to insist adamantly,
that we hold to God’s truth in all its parts and proclaim it whether people
listen or not. The dwindling desire to be in a right relationship with God that
we see in our country is not a reason for us to hunker down and fortress up but
all the more reason for us to be bold about being the happy people the Lord has
chosen, to be examples of people who rejoice in each day that the Lord has
made, in showing people by our words and actions and weekly worship habits that
we follow Jesus because we want to, because He loves us, because we are
forgiven. That’s what this nation needs. You, your presence as the faithful
people of God. Then they will know that God has sent prophets among them. And
that is how you will continue to be a blessing to the country you love.
And who knows what the Lord will do
with our faithful presence? That marriage that I told you about failed. I don’t
know where those people are anymore. But that strong Texan man, Dad, who kept
pressuring me, breathing down my neck with veiled threats and constant
questioning? He became one of our greatest friends and biggest supporters and
is now enjoying the lasting peace of heaven. We’ll have a great reunion and
laugh about our first relationship some day. God can do the same for you, your
family that you are worried about and for our country. Don’t judge by what you
see happening right now. Be faithful, not frustrated, and you will continue to
be a blessing to our nation. Amen.
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