September 22, 2023

Today's Reading: Ezekiel 2:8-3:11 (OT for St. Matthew)

Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 2:1-18, Ephesians 4:1-24

And He said to me, ‘Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them." (Ezekiel 3:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. How do you feel about public speaking? A hasty search on “the Google”  informed me that 77% of people have some level of anxiety about speaking in front of a group of people. Statistically speaking, the odds are that you’re in that crowd. But here’s a question to consider: does the anxiety that accompanies such speaking fluctuate based on the audience? If you’re surrounded by your peers, is it easier to find your voice than if you were in a room filled with folks you don’t know? What if the room is filled with experts in the field that you’re discussing? I’m sorry if I just got your heart rate up. 

Ezekiel was called by God to preach to the house of Israel. His calling was peculiar, in that God gave him a scroll and instructed him…to eat it! God literally placed His Word into Ezekiel’s mouth. The words are sweet in his mouth, likely as a reminder that God’s Word is always good and right. It’s helpful to remember that when you see what was written on the scroll. There was writing on the front and on the back–words of lamentation, mourning, and woe. I imagine any degree of comfort that Ezekiel had when he learned that his audience was going to be his own people melted away when he saw the words that God was giving him to proclaim. On the one hand, his preaching would be simple enough: the people lived where he lived and they spoke the same language he spoke, but then God broke the news to him that if He had asked him to travel to a strange land where they spoke a foreign language, they would’ve listened to him. 

Israel wouldn’t listen. They hadn’t listened to God up to this point, and Ezekiel’s charge was to preach to spiritually deaf ears, hard foreheads, and stubborn hearts. Why? Because God is stubborn in the very best way. He is patient with His people. He will send prophet after prophet to call them to repentance. They’ll be carried off into exile and Ezekiel will go and tell them that God will raise up a New Temple, a New Israel, even a New Creation. In short, Ezekiel preached Christ to a people who had forgotten that God is their salvation!   In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

-Pastor Dustin Beck is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi, Texas.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.