Thus Says the Lord God!

 

Ezekiel isn't a prophet we hear from very often in worship, but on this 6th Sunday After Pentecost, in the Year of Mark, a piece of Ezekiel's earliest vision is our First Reading.  It is found in 2:1-5.  Preceding this text is the description of an awesome throne room with "something that seemed like a human form" seated on the throne. (1:26).  In the presence of this glorious one, Ezekiel falls on his face, and the words we have are the first instructions given to the prophet.  It will be the preacher's task to bring these instructions to bear upon the listeners as well.

(The following questions have been developed to ferret out the function of the Word in the text, a central concern of Law and Gospel preachers.  These questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but are best used with other fine sets of questions available to exegetes.  For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  The Word functions as a summons to the prophet, but there is more here.  Clearly the summons to preach to a rebellious people functions as Law, revealing the need for the Israelites to repent.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  There is no word of Gospel here.  One could perhaps find Gospel in the fact that God is yet sending a prophet to these rebels, so perhaps God's forbearance is in evidence here, but that would be the only good news present.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  The Word is addressed to a rebellious people. "Thus says the Lord God" comes to the people, and so I must identify with these rebels.

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  The summons to the prophet is definitely a call to obedience.  The call to repentance, implied by the text, is not.  This is a call to faith.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  The most obvious couplet is from the text itself:  refusing to hear/hearing God's Word.

6.  Exegetical work:  A few verses later in this chapter, the voice from the throne room gives Ezekiel the words he will speak in a scroll.  On this scroll are words of "lamentation and mourning and woe." (2:10) This is an important detail.  It indicates that God takes no pleasure in afflicting God's people.  This is a hard word.  It must be spoken, but it is spoken in love.  John Taylor, in his commentary, parses the description of Ezekiel's hearers:  "The people are further described as impudent and stubborn (4, RSV; lit. 'hard of face and firm of heart').  The first phrase suggests the shameless attitude of the [one] who will not lower his [or her] gaze, but prefers to brazen it out; the second describes the stubborn, unyielding will that refuses point-blank to give way even when found guilty."  (Tyndale OT Commentaries, Ezekiel, p. 61-62).  St. Jerome, in his writing, says that "it is a mark of great mercy that God sends [Ezekiel] to such as these and that [God] does not despair of their salvation."  (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, OT, vol. XIII, p. 17).  

7.  Consider the insights of the pioneers of the New Homiletic?  Eugene Lowry often said that the task of the sermon was to move listeners from disequilibrium to equilibrium.  It will be an important task to find that equilibrium in this unsettling text.  

Blessings on your proclamation!

Open Wide Your Heart

 

II Corinthians 6:1-13 is the end of the Apostle Paul's defense of his ministry, which began back in chapter 2.  Now Paul is listing what he has in mind when he says that "as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way."  Indeed, every way is listed! This text requires some finesse from the preacher because it can be conceived of as a text of self-commendation.  That, clearly, would not be an option for a preaching strategy!  Rather, when we hear Paul's pleading, we hear it as a call to obedience from our Lord.

(The following questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but are best used with other fine sets of questions available to exegetes. These questions facilitate discovery of the function of the Word in a text, a central concern of Law and Gospel preachers.  For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com and amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  The opening verse and the closing verse show us clearly how the Word functions here:  as a call to obedience.  In verse 1, Paul says, in effect, "Do not be recipients of God's grace in vain."  In verse 13, he says, "Open wide your hearts [to us, as we have to you]."  Paul is lifting up his own life, to be sure, but only to say, "Be as Christ."

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  A word of Gospel, where the Word proclaims what God has done in Christ, immediately precedes this text:  "For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (5:21).  A word of Law, where the Word functions to lift up our need for Christ is also not present here, except in the idea that we can receive the grace of God in vain.  Even that is far from a call to repentance.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are clearly those whom Paul is addressing.  Our hearts are not open wide.  Our propensity to neglect the day of deliverance is ongoing.  Our need to live out the grace given to us in Christ is ever before us.

4.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  We can employ some of the vocabulary in this text to create couplets:  closed/open; restricted/free; vain reception of God's grace/fruitful faith.

5.  Exegetical work:  Ernest Best, in his commentary, notes the presence of four specific sections in Paul's strategy of self-defense:  1) (vs. 4b-5)  "through great endurance"; 2) (vs.6-7a)  "inward motivations"; 3)  (vs. 7b-8a)  "weapons"; and 4) (vs. 8b-10)  "contrasts". (Interpretation series, Second Corinthians, p. 60-63).  Best also notes that this list fills out Paul's definition of being a good ambassador for Christ (5:20).  Paul is concerned that the Corinthians understand that he has rigorously eliminated any stumbling blocks to their faith.  "The whole intent of the passage is to demonstrate that any supposed obstacles are unreal.  The good ambassador smooths away obstacles.  If they are  still there, then Paul has failed in his ministry of reconciliation and has not brought his coverts to God." (Ibid., p. 60).  Fourth century bishop, John Chrysostom, in preaching on this text highlighted the love Paul has for the Corinthians:  "[Paul] holds nothing back and suppresses nothing.  Nothing is wider than Paul's heart, which loved all the believers with all the passion which one might have toward the object of one's affection."  (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT, Vol. VII, p. 260).

6.  Consider the insights of the pioneers of the New Homiletic?  As usual, this non-narrative text will offer challenges to the preacher.  Fred Craddock would ask, "What is the experience of the text?"  The preacher seeks to capture that.

Blessings on your proclamation!