Day 167 – Ezekiel 1 – 6/ Why do we preach?; or, Why is Jimmy taking us back to Day 167?
https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/god-who-speaks/
Why! Because behind us and above us is a God who speaks to us intimately. And that phrase is unique to the Christian faith. As Paul noted, we Christians are either right, or, the most pathetic creatures that have or ever will walk the planet. There is no middle ground, place your bets – all chips in!
So, yes unplanned, but God directed me to this sermon on the TruthforLife.org website, under “sermons” search by biblical text. It is the only Ezekiel sermon , a sermon almost a decade old, and lo and behold, I find out it is a guest preacher, not Alistair. No matter, I see now how I was led to it.
This is a funny recounting in my own words of this preacher’s introduction to Ezekiel: Yes, Ezekiel was a mighty fine prophet by God’s grace, and that is in spite of his proclivity now and then to slip into these vivid descriptions of his lsd trips. I recall in humor the 60s joke about Timothy Leary’s lsd induced belief that after you die, your soul goes to a garage in Buffalo.
Who is God? Who is man? And , what is our relationship to God? This sermon is an excellent survey summary of this basic worldview foundation. We are given five main attributes of God with # 3 being the main point of Ezekiel 1. I list them below, with a gap, hoping you get them off the sermon audio directly. It is funny, I think we get caught up in : Ok, I have the list, good to go!
As this guest preacher points out, oftentimes what we get from a sermon is the preacher’s view of what God is like. I am recalling a book I saw on the christian bookshelves quite a few years ago titled: “Your god is too Small!” That comes off , at a minimum, as a momentary lapse into sinful arrogance. But I think true intimacy with God leads invariably to increasing humility, a marked reverence , and “awe”. I added the humility to the sermon point, even though marked reverence and humility go hand in hand with each other.
Blessings!
Love,
Jimmy
- “God is not like us!” – Do not give into our prediliction to make God into our own image. / Note Ezekiel’s obvious limitation in human words to describe what he is seeing, much like John in Revelation.
- “God is all-powerful and all-wise. (omnipotence / omniscience) / Note – recent memory – preacher claiming God does not see contingent events that hinge off of human will. Really ?!?
- “God is not limited by circumstances.” From Ezekiel’s personal experience – hope of resurrection driven from a hopeless exile experience – i.e. – losing land does not mean losing God. God does not need a temple.
- “God initiates!” / Francis Schaeffer book: “He is here and He is not Silent!” / God speaks , even after the amazing spectacle just witnessed. Side reflection – Not a passive God that created the universe via the “Big Bang” and then just sits back to view the action. / Even a ridiculous modern day heresy that God himself is subject to evolution. /Speaking to limitations of Thomas Jefferson’s note : Do you want to know who God is? Just look at creation – Psalm 19.
- “God communicates.” //He seeks an intimate personal relationship – Covenental Love!. / Let’s not get caught up with worshipful satisfaction hinging off of mere sensation. (Jimmy’s note – Entertain me!) Preach the Word and pray! (i.e. – liturgical), not leaving off the praise from song.
Is our soul led by our mental image of God? Is there a consequence to: What if God is just like me? Or what is God is not omniscient nor omnipotent, perhaps derived even unconsciously by an inability to reconcile evil in the world. (Einstein’s particular problem) etc, etc.