Our reading today brings us face to face with Western Christianity. Ezekiel is called to a stubborn people, people who will not hear what he has to say as long as it is God's word. Paul points to the foolishness of man who has created gods for himself in his own image, gods of his own size, in order to suppress the truth and righteousness of the true God. These charges may be leveled against many societies and cultures throughout history. I won't say that the United States in the start of the 21st century is unique in any way. I won't say that we are more guilty of such wrong-headedness than other cultures. But it's clear there is plenty of what the Holy Spirit describes through Ezekiel and Paul in our culture.
What is the calling God has given Ezekiel and, by extension, all who trust him and know his word? We are to carry the Word of God to our culture, exposing the truth of God, even though it is quite likely that our culture will continue to reject the Lord. As we strive to do that, let us take courage in two things. First, that our Lord, in his sinless life, death, burial, and resurrection, understood exactly what it means to bring God's message and be rejected. He knows all about our human struggles. He knows all about the challenges we face, the difficulty of speaking the truth simply because it is the truth and will be rejected. He knows and cares about all that we endure for his name's sake. And he reminds us in Romans that he is not a man-sized God, but that he is ever so much greater. The great God of all has revealed himself and he is beyond our description. He has no valid competitor. He alone is worthy. The second thing in which we take courage is that while the message of the Gospel may be rejected by our society, it is wholeheartedly embraced by others. As God reveals to Ezekiel, if we were to bring the Gospel to a far-off people, one with a difficult language that we don't understand, the Gospel would be accepted. We see this is the case in different places at present, as it has been in various places in times past. As we read earlier in Romans 1, the Gospel is the power of God to salvation. And it is active in this world.
Are we ready to bear the Gospel where it will be rejected? Are we ready to walk with the great and mighty God where mockers have set up gods in their own image? We have that opportunity this very day, all around us. Let us look to the Lord in faith. Let us pray that we may be faithful stewards of God's word. Let us seek to bring God's words of hope to those who have no hope, even though they may reject the hope they have in the risen Savior.
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