ŇWhether they hear or refuse to hearÓ
Ezekiel 2:1-5
Today we focus on this short text from Ezekiel where we see God calling Ezekiel to be a prophet. And God is very honest with Ezekiel – He knows the job is going to be tough. "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 2:5, ESV) Ezekiel is going to bring GodŐs message to a people that are rebellious and will probably refuse to listen to him.
At first when we think of a prophet preaching to a rebellious group of people we think of pagans and foreigners. We think of people who have turned away from God or who may have never even heard the truth. We think of Jonah going to Nineveh or Elijah on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal. But usually prophets were sent to the people of Israel – and the same is true here. The rebellious un-hearing people are Israel. Not foreigners, pagans, or unbelieving people, but the very chosen ones of God. They who had the word of God, had seen His mighty acts and miracle, are the ones who need to hear the rebuke of God through the prophets because they had turned away.
So, what does that mean for us today? I would like for us to explore this text in two ways – first from the point of view of Israel and second from the point of view of Ezekiel.
First I would like for us to place ourselves in the text as Israel. You may be thinking – ŇIŐm not like Israel. I am here today in church. I believe in Jesus. I am not a rebellious person. IŐm not like Israel!Ó The stark reality is we are all rebellious people. Because of sin we all have turned away from God. We are the people who refuse to hear. It is not by our own strength or ability that we come to know God. It is a miracle of the Gospel that we hear who Jesus is and take to heart what He has done for us. It is the Word of God that softens our heart and opens our ears to the Gospel. We who are rebellious have been transformed by the blood of Jesus who died and rose again for us.
We just confessed it at the beginning of our service, as we do each Sunday, that we are sinful and are in need of GodŐs mercy. If we are honest with ourselves we know that we are the rebellious, un-hearing people talked about here in Ezekiel. And they only way out of our rebellion is to allow the Holy Spirit to open our ears and soften our heart to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To do that we need to constantly be in GodŐs Word. It needs to be in our lives in such a way that it continues to work on our hearts and minds.
It is like raising a child. We all know (since we were children ourselves) that children seem to have selective hearing. I encounter this with my children – I tell them to do something and they seem to not hear me. There is a task they have been given to do and it remains undone as if they hadnŐt heard a word I said. But do I give up telling them what they should do, or teaching them right from wrong. I love my children and know that usually the things I am telling them are for their own good. And so I continue to tell them, whether they hear or refuse to hear. It is the same with us and God. He is speaking to us, whether we hear or refuse to hear. Thanks be to God that He continues, in His grace and mercy, to speak to us, to open our ears and soft our heart to the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We need to hear, and God speaks.
But there is a second way we can approach this text and that is to see ourselves as Ezekiel. The Lord calls all His people to go and tell the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus did that in our Gospel lesson for today as He sent out the disciples two by two. We are called to tell the world about Jesus, whether they hear or refuse to hear. The same stark reality is there for us, as it was for Ezekiel, many that we will speak to will refuse to hear. But we donŐt give up – we go on tell!
There is a result to this telling for Ezekiel as he spoke GodŐs Words – the people would know that a prophet was among them. Basically what God was saying is that even if people refused to hear and rejected the message, they would still know that something significant happened. I believe the same is true today. It doesnŐt take long for us to see that Christianity is under attack today (not really any different from the rest of history, but we live in the present). The Di Vinci Code and its attack on the church and the divinity of Jesus. The lack of morals and even the rejection of many as being absolute. The rejection of many of the truth claims of the Bible and the viewing of GodŐs Word as mere myth. Why is the church being ŇattackedÓ? I believe it is because people know, even if they donŐt admit it, that something is important in GodŐs Word. Why would they attack it if it wasnŐt important? And so in a round about way it is confirmation that the message needs to continue to be spoken to the world.
It is all around us, a Ňrebellious houseÓ to the things of God. And we are to speak to this world the Gospel message. Many will refuse to hear, and yet we go. God calls us like Ezekiel, like His disciples, to speak the truth to the world. But too often we donŐt because we are afraid of failure. Why would we want to go when many are going to refuse to listen to us? But letŐs examine that fear to go and tell.
What are we afraid of? Failure and rejection. That is only natural; none of us wants to fail. But who are the people who refuse to hear rejecting. It really isnŐt us – it is God. Before we said that we are rebellious people too. How did we eventually hear the Gospel call? When God opened our ears and soften our heart. The same is true for the rest of the world. It is not us who will change their minds and soften their rebellion – only God can do that. So what are we responsible for? For telling the message of the Gospel. We are to tell over and over again. We are to tell at every opportunity. And then we are to allow God to work in the rebellious hearts of the ones we tell. And that takes patience. I am reminded of missionaries to India around the turn of the century. They didnŐt see results of their telling the Gospel for 15 years, and then it was only a few converts. Some would see that as a waste of time or even a failure. But in the economy of the Gospel it is wonderful. The angels rejoice over even one convert, one heart softened and ears open to the Gospel. So we too have to be patient and persistent. Persistent in the telling and patient in seeing the results of the Holy Spirit. DonŐt let fear keep you from telling about Jesus.
Whether they hear or refuse to hear – go and tell the world about Jesus. Amen.