Sermon: Rebels Redeemed

Preached on Ezekiel 2:1-5
Proper 9B/Pentecost 6
5 July AD 2015

Title: Rebels Redeemed (MP3 Audio)

Summary: We’re in no condition to stand in judgment upon the Ezekiel’s hearers. We are no less rebellious than was Israel when God sent His the prophets to His people. We are every bit as hard-hearted as were the most shameful sinners to whom Christ’s apostles spoke.

There’s no real difference between us and the Germans of Luther’s time, of whom he wrote in the Preface to the Small Catechism, “The deplorable, miserable condition that I discovered ... has forced and urged me to prepare this catechism.... Mercy! Dear God, what great misery I beheld! The common person, especially in the villages, has no knowledge whatever of Christian doctrine....

“Yet, everyone says that they are Christians, have been baptized, and receive the holy Sacraments, even though they cannot even recite the Lord’s Prayer or the Creed or the Ten Commandments. They live like dumb brutes and irrational hogs.”

We continue to need the rebuke and correction of the Law but even more desperately need the words of hope and promise proclaimed by prophets and apostles, that God sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins by winning full forgiveness on the cross.

We need pastors to preach the Word with power so that we will know that we have heard the voices of the prophets and the apostles — indeed, of God Himself. And hearing, we pray that we are convicted, cleansed, and comforted as the Holy Spirit works through the Word on our hearts and minds.

Text: And [the Lord] said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.” Ezekiel 2:1-5

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Martin Luther, “Small Catechism,” Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, ed. P. T. McCain (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House), 313.

Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Rebels Redeemed

NB: A few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio with Windows Media Player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.

Other Readings: Psalm 123; 2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Mark 6:1-13

Illustrations: The Call of Ezekiel from Die Bibel in Bildern by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Text art generated by the Visual Copy tool of Logos Bible Software.