8 July 2012
Ezekiel 2:1-5
Ezekiel was among the first
captives, taken from Jerusalem to Babylon as the spoils of war. He had been a
priest in the temple in Jerusalem. In Babylon, he experienced a calling to a
different ministry, that of the prophet.
It would be like the Chaplain of
the Senate being called to become Michael Moore (the film maker from Flint,
Michigan). That is how different are the roles of temple priest and prophet.
The role of the priest of court is
to make the king look good. Like the role of the Chaplain of the Senate is to
say a prayer at the opening of session, laying on a polished veneer of piety
over the unattractive process of governance. (Not that there’s anything wrong
with that. You know the old German saying—anyone who loves law or sausage
should see neither being made. What goes into the law, or sausage, could put you
off it for a long time!) Whereas, the role of the prophet is to speak the truth
to power, whether it is a convenient truth or not.
Michael Moore is a prophet like
Amos, the shepherd of Tekoa, the outsider. In some ways, I think Amos had it
easier than Ezekiel. Being an outsider, Amos had not developed personal
relationships with the people to whom he was speaking. He could say, on behalf
of the Lord, “I hate, I despise your solemn assemblies,” without ever having
led those solemn assemblies (Amos 5:21).
Ezekiel was an insider. He had led
the solemn assemblies and he had eaten from the king’s table. He was part of
the small community of exiles from Jerusalem, taken to Babylon as the spoils of
war, taken in chains, shamed and humiliated. These were a people who were
already down, and God was asking him to give them a kick. His calling to be the
prophet must have seemed a cruel joke. So, as much as I admire Amos, the
shepherd of Tekoa, with his ever-flowing streams of justice and righteousness,
and Michael Moore, the auto-worker’s son, with his passion for the least and
last, I think the insider Ezekiel had the greater challenge.
I also think that Ezekiel is an
important model for the prophetic church—especially for our prophetic church. Look
around us—are we not the insiders? We are the spiritual descendants of the
people who signed Mayflower Compact. We invented democracy (you could say, it’s
all our fault!). We are the heirs of the Declaration of Independence and the
Preamble to the Constitution. The theological language which was written into
these documents is the theological language of our Congregational faith. The
belief that all men (that is, all people) are created equal, and endowed by
their creator with certain inalienable rights: that is a theological position and
a goal to which we aspire, but (we understand) to which we never quite rise. (It
is a teleological statement—an end goal, a reason for being. Not a statement of
fact.)
Because we are so proud of our
heritage, we are often blind to our own faults. It is much easier to see only
our virtues and others’ vices. It is easy to play the victim, especially when
we have been victimized. The exiles in Babylon had much to grieve. They lost
their land and their temple, which were to them the signs of God’s presence. It
was Ezekiel’s job to tell them that they were not altogether innocent victims.
They too were guilty of offense, and if they ever hoped to return to the land
which God had promised to their ancestors forever, they had to live righteously
among their captors. And in this way, Ezekiel helped to create a landless
Judaism, a faith without the benefit of state sponsorship or royal headship.
Perhaps the most difficult role for
the prophetic church is not to speak the truth to power as an outsider, as an
Amos or a Michael Moore. Perhaps the most difficult role for the prophetic
church is to speak the truth to each other, even when we feel powerless. The
Spirit of God calls us to get up, get on our feet, and prophesy. Whether people
hear, or refuse to hear, prophesy. At least they will know that there has been
a prophet among them. At least they will know that they did not leave God
behind in Jerusalem. God is among them, even in exile.
Are we not, after all, in a kind of
exile? We were the mainline, now pushed to the sideline. Isn’t it ironic? But
we are not victims. We still have a voice. We still have a mission. We still
have the presence of God within us and among us.
Let the Spirit in. Let the Spirit
stand us up on our feet. Stand up for justice. Stand up for love. Stand up for
the outsider, and the alien in the land. Spirit of God is still with us, even in
exile. Thanks be to God.
