“Get Up and Get Going”

Scripture: Matthew 2:13-23

In case you haven’t noticed, life isn’t always fair! One minute, you are on top of the world, and in the next, you discover that you have become someone’s door mat. Your job is going great, but then you get a new manager, and everything changes for the worse. You are in line for a promotion, and when the award is announced, it’s the Vice President’s son who gets the nod, not you. That old illusive “fairness” always seems to bless someone else.
Remember Elijah and his battle of faith with the priests of Baal? (1 Kings 18:20-19:18) In one moment, God, through the faith of his one prophet, can do things that 450 prophets of Baal can only dream about. God succeeds, Baal fails; Elijah knows victory, but the 450 – only death. The king of Israel, King Ahab, flees from Elijah’s presence, but then, life begins to sour. The threats that Queen Jezebel flings at him instill fear in his heart, and he is on the run. Now it is evil that has the upper hand in the prophet’s life, and he doesn’t stop running until he reaches the mountain, where the Lord will once again restore his faith.
Fear can trump “fair” nearly every time.

The author Teri Worten writes:
Life can deliver some rough blows. However, we do not have the luxury of staying “down,” we must get up, straighten up and wise up for our own sakes and for the sake of our children ...

“Get up, and do not be afraid” (Matthew 17:1-13). After a marriage or relationship ends, the first emotion to hit us is usually fear. Fear can actually paralyze us and hinder us from moving forward with our lives. If we are imprisoned by fear, we won’t take the risks that will propel us to our future blessings. God hasn’t given us this spirit, but he has equipped us with love, power and a strong, sound mind. So, don’t let fear keep you down. Get up and don’t be afraid!
—Teri Worten, “Get up, single mom,” Christian-mommies Web Site, Christian-mommies.com. Retrieved August 13, 2004.

And what got Elijah back on his feet? What happened that conquered his “fear”? 1 Kings 19:9, 11 – “Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ … He said “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’”
Get up, go out, and wait for me! And the prophet did.

Read Matthew 2:13-15

Joseph and Mary had just come through the most incredible experience of their lives. The Incarnate God had come to rest in their arms and to depend on their care; shepherds had come to witness to his majesty; wealthy and wise men from the East had sought their child out, to bring him gifts that were fit for a king, for a priest, for a prophet. These new parents were reeling from the glory that had come into their lives, and nothing could dampen their spirit of overwhelming joy. Well, almost nothing!

“Get up, go out, and wait for me there.” And Joseph did.

There’s something about faith that lets us trust God so completely that no matter what he tells us, we know that it is absolutely the perfect word, and that we cannot delay in carrying it out. And that divine word has filled the world for many, many years, and faithful responses have followed in spite of the implausibility of God’s commands.
Remember Abraham’s response when the Lord told him to take his only son Isaac to the mountain and sacrifice him? Genesis 22:1-19 tells us that early the next morning, Abraham began making preparations, and when he was ready, he set out on the most horrendous of all tasks.
Remember Moses as he stood in front of the bush that was engulfed with fire, but didn’t burn up? (Exodus 3:1-4:17) He hesitated, certainly, and had any number of questions about his suitability for the job that God laid out for him, but once the Lord answered every fear that his servant could raise up, he immediately began to prepare for his return to the very place he had been thrown out of.
Remember the faithful disciples who waited with Jesus before his assentation? (Acts 1:1-10) First they are told to wait until the Holy Spirit comes to them, and then they are asked why they still stand there gawking at the sight! They waited joyfully for ten days, and then all heaven broke out on Pentecost.

And the memories continue throughout scripture, reminding us that when the Lord speaks to us, the only sane thing to do is to listen and respond. Whether we are to get moving immediately, or if, in our doubt, we need to receive further reassurance from the Almighty, or if he tells us to wait for a little while because something amazing is going to happen, it is all the same. The faithful response is never to ignore the call, to never reject the call, but to let the Lord’s plan begin working in our lives immediately.

I will always remember a particular weekend in my own life. I was in prison as part of a Kairos team when, without going into a lot of detail, I knew that God was affirming his call to me for pastoral ministry. When I returned home, I contacted my District Superintendent to begin the process, and everything began falling into place. At one point, I didn’t think that I was doubting his word, but apparently there was something going on in my life, because the Lord, on two successive days, reaffirmed the call in extremely unusual ways, and I could only respond “Yes, Lord – I get it!”

Get up, go out, and stick close!

Read Matthew 2:16-18

Joseph and Mary would come to understand that the urgency of God’s warning was absolutely perfect; their faithful and hurried departure to Egypt was the only thing that could save the Christ Child, but many babies and their families in Bethlehem would suffer because of Herod’s great wrath, which was probably founded in his own fear of the prophecy surrounding this new and glorious King.
Sometimes God’s call on our lives is about ministry, sometimes it is about a message that must be delivered to another person, and sometimes it is a life or death matter. Regardless, God never wastes words on chit-chat! When he speaks to us, it is important! Sometimes he speaks in a nighttime dream; sometimes in a daytime vision; sometimes in a word that is repeated over and over in our hearts; sometimes it is through an everyday event that is unmistakably God. But there is always a word, there is always a purpose, and there is always a mission attached.

Read Matthew 2:19-23

The time had come to return home, and how did the Lord let the family know? “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel …” Even their return to Nazareth was engineered by the Lord! Nothing was going to interfere with the revealing of God’s plan for the people of earth. Prophets, nomads, fishermen, shepherds, intellectuals, engineers, laborers, priests, the common and the not so common person – God is prepared to use us all, if we will just listen and open our hearts and lives to him.

What is the Lord saying to you? Is he saying “go”? Or “don’t go”? Is he saying “now” or “very soon”?

But Godly desires and plans seldom make any sense to us. Do you think that Mary and Joseph were completely on board with the angelic message? “This is God’s Son, and I want you to raise him and love him.” They both must have thought that this was one big mistake, but they never hesitated – they trusted Jehovah and went all the way with him just the same.

“Moses, I want you to go back to Egypt where you are wanted for murder, and I want you to bring my people out of slavery and lead them through the desert to this land I have promised to them.”
“Amos, I know that you are content to be a Judean shepherd, but I want you to go to the leadership of Israel and tell them in no uncertain terms that I am very displeased with their idol worship.”
“Nicodemus, you must be born again.”
“Zacchaeus, I know that you have gotten rich by cheating my people on their taxes and that you are a gross sinner, but I want you to come down from that tree so we can have dinner together at your house.”
“Peter, I know that you think the Gentiles are worthless, but I want you to minister to their needs, just the same.”

Not one of these calls on the lives of God’s faithful made a bit of sense, and to respond to some of them would border on being suicidal. But the call was there, and the response was, too.

Are you willing to put it all on the line for Jesus? He’s calling you – right now, this very moment. He has a place for you in his grand plan, and the time for your part to begin is very near. Will you be a Samuel and say “Here I am; you called me.” Will you be an Isaiah, who, when the Lord asked “Who will go for us?”, replied “Send me.” Will you be a Jeremiah, who even though he thought that his youthful understanding would be insufficient to serve his Lord, received the word of God and went just the same?

He has a great plan, and it includes this church, and it includes its people, and our involvement only requires faith and trust and the willingness to get up, and go out, and to follow closely in the Lord’s footsteps. Will you? Today? Great things are waiting for you!

“The Day Has Come”

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

I think that for every child, and for every child that is hiding within every adult (!), Christmas can be both a day of great anticipation and a day of disappointment. When I was growing up, my brothers and I had our Christmas list together a month in advance, and we hoped that Mom and Dad would actually refer to it when they went shopping for our gifts. We never listed socks and underwear though, but we always seemed to get them; and we always had one gift on our list that was beyond the resources available to purchase it. But regardless of what we received, Christmas always seemed to be a magical day.
I tried to remember what gifts I wanted desperately over those early years but didn’t get, but not a single one came to mind. Many came to mind that I did get, though – there were lots of books that I usually had devoured before bed time came, a bicycle that served me well for many years, a toy missile launcher that my brother and I aimed so well that from the opposite end of the room, we put a missile directly through a Christmas ornament that was hanging on the tree, and, of course, there was always the obligatory package of socks and underwear and mittens.

But the one “gift” that always came, but was never considered a gift, was the worship service that began at 11:00 on Christmas Eve. (Aren’t you glad it’s earlier now?) And even though I heard the message proclaimed every year, it would be many more years before I would come to appreciate the fullness of Christmas. The promise of the day has been with us since the earliest days of creation, but how many of us tend to live from one Christmas to the next, instead of from one end of eternity to the other?

But maybe we need to be reminded of the need for Christmas – of the story that goes back to the earliest days of Genesis, and what God has had to do about it.

The created man Adam had been told that he was responsible for everything in the Garden, and that it all was for his good, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was off limits – and if he ever ate it’s fruit, he would die. (Genesis 2:15-18, 20-22) Then the woman Eve is brought into the picture, and shortly thereafter, the Satan appears. He quickly deceives the woman into thinking that the fruit was forbidden only because God didn’t what them to have knowledge like he has, and both the man and the woman eat some, and the deed is done.
And even though they try to hide from God - something that they have never done before - they are found out. The man blames the woman, and she blames Satan – and no one takes any responsibility for the downfall. Then the Lord speaks to them all:

Read Genesis 3:14-19

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;”. This means that they will have hatred and antagonism for each other for the rest of this time. But God knows that the woman’s hatred for the evil one can only go so far in setting all things right, and that the man can never work off his debt, so some definitive measure must be taken by God to allow humanity – the woman and her offspring – to get back in the good graces of the Almighty. And so the Lord continues in proclaiming his curse on Satan: “he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
He – a singular offspring of the woman – will be Satan’s demise. Note that this particular “offspring” isn’t from the created man – it is only the woman who will bring this Divine Condemnation into play. Satan and his minions will antagonize the people of earth, and will, at some point, cause a minor wound to the singular Avenger. But in the end, this Righter of Wrong, the One who would bring retaliation on the cause and source of all death, will put all things right.

Does the story sound familiar? It should – it hasn’t changed a bit in these last several thousands of years! But the retribution against Satan is yet to come, and one day, it will come. But in the meantime, the woman’s great pain in childbirth will continue, and her domination by men will continue, and the man’s unreasonable toil will also have to continue. None of these curses existed prior to the sin – Childbirth would have been pure joy, the man and woman would have lived as equals, and toil? Not in the Holy Garden! All would have been provided by God. And there is nothing that humanity can do about our “curse”, except to live with it until Christ comes to deal, once and for all, with the unholy Accuser.

But didn’t the One already come? Didn’t the Offspring who will crush Satan come, and then, tragically, die as a common human thief on a Roman cross? Yes, but that wasn’t the end – there is still so much more to come! Christ would rise from the grave, and his resurrection would be the death toll for Satan – but he is only staggering for now, and is in the process of being counted out, and he will continue to show his hatred for humanity until his last moment of existence. But his final day will, most assuredly, come.
And us? What about the woman’s offspring? We still have time left to serve on our sentence, but the day of our release is drawing closer every day. Easter announced Satan’s impending demise, but what about us? What about Christmas?

Christmas is the day when the angelic announcement proclaimed that the sentence of eternal toil will soon be lifted, that the pain of childbirth will be soothed into blessed joy, that the struggle in subjugation will be no more, and that the gates of God’s Garden will once again be thrown wide open for all who will turn to the Holy Offspring for hope. The promise had been made almost as soon as the sin was committed, but the message has had to be repeated over and over for eons by God’s faithful.
Isaiah was given word upon word, sign upon sign to share with the people of earth, but how many believed them? Micah would offer the age old hope in his prophecy, but how many would listen? John the Baptist would clarify the word in John 3:36 , when he said “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on [them].” The promise of relief is sure and certain, and assurance of its truth has come to us over and over. But do we listen? Do we believe? Do we really live as Christmas people?

What do you believe about Christmas?

Do you see it in the light of John 3:16-17? Listen to the words! Jesus’ humble birth in that stable out behind the Bethlehem hotel was the offer of salvation for all of humanity. But it is only an offer, only an invitation - it is not guaranteed until you have accepted it. We need to be Christmas people!

Do you see Christmas in the light of Romans 8:1-4? Listen to the words! There is no hope in doing good – not even in following God’s Law perfectly! The only hope we have is in the One and Perfect Son – the Offspring, the Avenger, the Destroyer of sin. We need to be Christmas people!

Do you see Christmas in the light of Matthew 7:21-22? Listen to the words! It isn’t enough to say the name of Jesus, it isn’t enough to come to church and do all of the religious things of faith. It isn’t enough to say that we are Christians! We need to do God’s will and be Christmas people!

Do you see Christmas in the light of Zechariah 3:1-9? Listen to the words! There isn’t a single thing that Joshua, or we for that matter, can do to merit God’s mercy. Only the command of Jesus can do that. There isn’t a single thing that we can do to break Satan’s hold on our lives. Only Jesus can rebuke him. We can do nothing to cleanse ourselves of the condemnation of sin – only Jesus can forgive it and destroy it. And he will remove the blight of sin from all who are Christmas people!

Are you truly a Christmas person? Nothing else about your life matters any more – not your religiosity, not your good works, not your spoken words, not your age, not your ancestors, not your church membership (don’t let the Bishop know I said that, though!) – the only thing that matters anymore is whether you have claimed the Child of Christmas for your Savior, and have committed your life to following him. The Birth in the Christmas stable changed everything, and in that, everything has been made new through the Holy Child.

Is it any wonder that the angels proclaimed “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” God’s favor rests on those who live as Christmas people. The day of decision has arrived, my friends. Are you ready to decide?

“Immanuel: Healer for the New Day!”

Scripture: Isaiah 7:1-6, 9-17

As we have been journeying through Advent with the prophet Isaiah, we have discovered that he has been pointing Israel’s way toward Christmas. It would be hundreds of years before Christ would establish his earthly presence, but God never waits until the last day – he gives us plenty of warnings, and those warnings come through many of his servants.

Winston Churchill had planned his funeral, which took place in Saint Paul's Cathedral. He included many of the great hymns of the church and used the eloquent Anglican liturgy. At his direction, a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul's, intoned, after the benediction, the sound of 'Taps,' the universal signal that says the day is over.

But then came the most dramatic turn: As Churchill had instructed, as soon as 'Taps' was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of 'Reveille' - 'It's time to get up. It's time to get up. It's time to get up in the morning.' That was Churchill's testimony that at the end of history, the last note will not be 'Taps,' it will be 'Reveille.'
-John R. Claypool, The Worst and the Last, St. Luke's Episcopal Church,
Birmingham, Alabama.

The last note of human history is not going to be a mournful note – it will be one of resurrection, one of incredible joy! But what will we discover when we awake to that new day? Will we be welcomed into glory, or will we be excluded from it?

Read Isaiah 7:1-7a; 9b

The Lord has a plan that is unstoppable, except when he steps back to allow human plans to unfold. Israel and Aram were plotting against Judah, and God is warning the nation, through the prophet Isaiah, of the devastation that is coming. Remember that Judah is a very small nation, and Israel is much larger, and with their alliance with Aram, they would be quite powerful. But God says “it will not happen”, but he also adds “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”

These words are specifically offered for King Ahaz of Judah, but they could have been just as pertinent if given to Israel. But the Northern Kingdom was already too far gone – too deeply immersed in their own sinful ways, and no prophetic word was going to change their course. God’s final word in this passage – without faith, you will be unable to withstand anything – is a word that the world has continued to need for the last few thousand years! And yet, even as it has been offered time and time again, many have still preferred to align themselves with the world. Faith means very little to them, and at best, it is seen as an impediment to their life.

Why can’t people accept God’s truth, his warnings, his word for their lives? He tells us “This is what is in the works, and it won’t be pleasant! But everything can turn around, if you would put your trust in me! If you will have faith in my word, just a little faith, victory can be yours! But if your misplaced faith continues as it has been, I won’t be able to help.”

But why can’t God help, even if our faith fails? After all, isn’t he all powerful? Can’t he do everything? True, but God is self-limiting because of that old "curse" that we know as “free will”. Over and over again, God gives the people warning upon warning, chance after chance, prophet after prophet, word after word, and only a very few people ever listen. Remember that Jesus’ power was limited, simply because the people didn’t believe. (Matthew 13:54-58) It wasn’t that he didn’t want to heal them, to forgive them, to renew them – he couldn’t, because they wouldn’t receive him.
We get to choose whether we receive life or death, victory or defeat, grace or condemnation. And the Lord knows full well that many will choose poorly.

Read Isaiah 7:10-17

Jehovah tells Ahaz “If you don’t believe the word I give you, then ask for a miraculous sign – do something, do anything, if it will help you to believe!”
And the king says no – he won’t test the Lord! He won’t test the Lord? You’ve got to be kidding! God gives him permission to ask for a sign, and the king of Judah declines the offer? The only conclusion that we can draw from this is that he doesn’t want to believe! He has heard Isaiah encourage him with “Be careful, keep calm, and don’t be afraid.” He hears the Lord tell him that if he stands firm in faith, victory will be his. The Lord even tells him to ask for a proving sign, and the only firm stand he takes is to ignore his Jehovah God?

But the Lord doesn’t take his reluctance to ask for a sign as a final answer, and he gives the kingdom of Judah both a word and a sign of victory. If the king won’t ask for it, Jehovah will offer it to the entire nation. But will they listen? Will they understand? Will they receive it?

The interesting thing about verses 14 to 17 is that the context is mixed. Isaiah offers the promise of Jesus as a sign to the nation, but this won’t come to be for another 700 years or so. But he also prophesies about the coming of Assyria, who would conquer both the Northern Kingdom and Aram in only 10 or 15 years! Is the prophet confused? Is the message misunderstood?
Think of it this way - God is giving Judah two signs for the price of one. The first is that even though God has been with you throughout the centuries, he is on his way to be with you in a whole new and unexpected form. So watch for him! Don’t miss him! This first sign is a word of hope.
But the second sign is one that contains a dire warning – that the power house known as Assyria is also on its way - not as a savior, but as a means of destruction of Israel. So watch for this one, too, and don’t miss it, because when it comes, it will be proof that the first sign is also true.

How many signs – how many warnings – is God willing to send before he gives up on us? The answer is that there is no limit to his grace or his patience! (Matthew 18:21-22) He will continue to try to win us back to his way until our time has run out and it is too late. And even then, the signs will continue to come for those who still have time! And not only will they keep coming, but the signs will continue to be more and more unavoidable as time goes on and the Day of Glory approaches.

And I believe that Jesus’ first coming was the ultimate sign for the world and its people. After all, how much more unmistakable can the prophecy be than to have God Himself come into the world, to live and teach as one in his created order, to set his throne aside for many years of human existence, and to allow himself to become the sacrifice for humanity’s sinful ways. How could the Almighty provide a sign that is any greater than that? He can’t, and there aren’t!

Even though humanity refuses to seek the Lord’s goodness, he sent the ultimate invitation to us just the same. Imagine – Immortal God being born to mortal flesh, coming in person to share the desires of Divine Hope with the masses of hopelessness - to teach, to heal, to love, to sacrifice, until all of his human breath was taken from him, and then to offer one last glorious sign, that of resurrection into new life and ascension into glory.
These signs aren’t given for nothing, you know! They are offered as God’s one last great attempt to convince this hurting world that there is more to life than what we know. Jesus didn’t leave earth and return to heaven just to get away from the likes of us! He went as an example for us, to prepare the way for us, to show the way to us, to let us know that his coming was a Godly way of saying “I came to experience your life, so that you can come and experience mine!”

Is it any wonder that the angels were rejoicing on that night out in the fields? They knew that Jesus would be the perfect sign for the world, the perfect invitation for us to join him in eternity, the perfect means to ensure the worthiness of worthless people. And all that we would have to do is to accept the invitation. How much easier could it be? God’s plan for his created was perfect, and all that the people have to do is to choose glory over desolation, light over darkness, truth over lies, righteousness over sinfulness, healing over infirmity, life over death.

But would they? Will they? Will they choose before their time runs out? Will they choose Jesus, or will they opt for themselves? Will they choose the Holy Way of heaven, or the one that leads to a dead end? Only time will tell.

“New Life in the New Day”

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10

A man goes to a fortuneteller who looks into a crystal ball and tells him, “You will be poor and unhappy until you are 48 years old.”
“Then what will happen?” asks the man.
The fortune teller replies: “Then you'll get used to it.”
- Homiletics Online

A rather dire prediction, wouldn’t you say? No hope of improvement for your life, only the realization that this is as good as it gets, and the expectation that you will, eventually, learn that this is what life is really all about! But for the Christian, God has promised a totally different opportunity – one that leads to a way that gets better and better all the time. Oh, our financial outlook may not improve, the condition of our health may not improve, even our most prized relationships may still come and go, but we also will come to know that the truest form and purpose of life is ours in Christ, and that it can never be held back by the trials of this world.

Read Isaiah 35:1-2

Have you ever felt as though you were spiritually and emotionally “parched”? Thirsting for some relief from your struggles? Fully aware that unless you find a source of refreshment very soon, that you will be beyond hope? Praying that a rescuer will come along to give you that drink?
This passage is about the relief that you are praying for. It is about rescue – about renewal – about new life – about redemption. The analogy of the wasteland being renewed is one that those who live in or near arid areas are familiar with. After the desert receives one of its rare and generally skimpy rainfalls, life springs up almost immediately. The grasses blossom, the cacti flower, wildlife emerges from their burrows, and a radical transformation occurs in the land. And as long as the moisture lasts, so does the new life. But for the Christian, the “moisture” is always present, always renewing, always refreshing. It is known as The Living Water, and it will never fail. With that Water, life returns, joy returns, glory returns to the parched life, and renewal can begin to grow and bless once more. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:

In the child of Bethlehem, the life of the world that is to come, has come into the life of the world that is.
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

That new life is the glory of God in Christ Jesus.

Read Isaiah 35:3-7

It is about not only a new life, but rather a whole new way of life. Consider some of these new “strengths” that the prophet describes.
Fragile hands will be made stronger, and shaky knees will become steady again. Some commentaries imply that these references refer to our ignorance and lack of understanding, and not just physical limitations. If that is so, this could be just about the worst thing that a “spiritual wilderness” experience can bring into our lives. Could anything be as debilitating as “weakness and infirmity” in faith? There is no power, no growth, no trust, no hope! But when our life is placed in the promise of Christ, ignorance flees and understanding blossoms, our lives are empowered, we become spirit filled and awakened to the glory of God.
And fearful hearts are just as bad as shaky knees. If we are to be in service with our Lord, we can’t be hobbled by fear. But if our heart is turned, we doubt and hesitate and fail at every turn in the road, and our walk with Christ becomes a crawl at best, and in all probability, will be condemned to stagnate. Isaiah tells us that we need a strong heart if we are to be Christ’s, and that with his “divine retribution”, we will be saved from failure.
But retribution? Against whom? Against us because of our weak hearts?
No! His vengeance will be targeted against that which has sapped our strength, against that which has caused us to be afflicted with fear, against all that has devastated our spirit. And he will save and refresh and renew our lives.

The prophet also speaks about blind eyes and deaf ears, about lameness and mute tongues, and how each one will be healed. The analogies are quite obvious, so we really shouldn’t have to spend much time on them. But just to make the point, blindness and deafness keep us from discovering the glory of God, and lameness and the inability to speak keep us from celebrating the Lord’s goodness with the people of earth. And these maladies will also be refreshed and renewed in the glory of the Lord, and the redeemed will once again be freed to serve, and to be served, in faith.

Read Isaiah 35:8-10

What is there about a highway, especially one that is Holy? Remember the days when “highways” were few and far between? When it was narrow 2 lane roads that took you wherever you needed to go? They were slow, they took you through the stop signs and traffic lights of both small towns and large cities, and you needed to plan your trip carefully to avoid excessive delays.
But now, 4 and 6 lane highways are nearly everywhere – or at least within a fairly short drive of any place you may live. They speed up our trip, make travel somewhat safer (believe it or not!), and get us to our destination with less frustration and exhaustion.
And the Holy Way is even better - it is direct and true and safe, and takes us away from the ways that we have to map out on our own, which, incidentally, will NEVER take us to glory! But this Way is unique, in that it has a special limited accessibility – only those who are in the Lord can journey on it.
The “unclean” and “wicked” will be barred from it – they will never be allowed on the Holy Way. If they want to try to make their own way, more power to them, but their way will always fail. Those things that cause spiritual death and destruction will also be denied entrance, because the Holy Way is all about Life, and death can have no place on it.
Only the “redeemed” and the “ransomed” may walk this way – only those who have been bought back from slavery, those who have been freed from a burdening and devastating debt that can never be repaid, those who have had their sentence repealed through the sacrifice of another – this is a divine freedom, and those who have been freed will find their way to the Holy Highway. But those who are still held in the grasp of sin, those who still have an unresolved debt to God, those who are still imprisoned have no place on the Holy Way.
The Way of Holiness will be covered with the singing of a new song and with basking in a new glory. The prophet tells us that “Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Does this sound like a whole new day to you? You had better believe it is!

As we have been walking through this season of Advent, we have seen promise after promise, sign after sign, and all have pointed toward this new day. But this newness is nothing that we can create and nothing that we can even adequately describe, except to say that it is the gift of God’s grace and mercy, and is designed exclusively for those who will put their whole trust in him. And when God makes a new day, it means that all things have been made new! Our old perceptions, our former understanding, our previous ways
cannot exist in this new day, and if we think that they can, then we are sadly mistaken. In our way, redemption and ransom will never be ours; death will continue to haunt us; our song will be a forlorn funeral lament; and the parched wilderness that we call life will never blossom.

This New Day is the hope that is found in Jesus Christ, and without him, there is no new day. He is the beauty of life, he is the promise of eternity, he is the destruction of death, he is the author of hope. Christmas is the day when we celebrate his setting glory aside for 33 years so that he could offer that same marvelous glory to each of us; it is the day when he began his journey toward the one and only sacrifice that could satisfy our debt; it is the day when he began his Passion that was necessary if we were ever to be redeemed and justified as worthy.

Christmas can never be just another day to celebrate. Remember the words of the angels? “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people! Today … a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. … Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace” (Luke 2:10-14)
Jesus is the Good News;
Jesus is the Holy Way;
Jesus is redemption;
Jesus is glory –
and he is all these things just for us. And this isn’t even the half of it - there is so more to come. Praise God.

"The Sign of the New Day”

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10

Before there was GPS, we relied totally on maps and road signs. Remember those days? Some signs were helpful for our trip, such as road names and route markers, others were informative in more general ways such as billboard ads, while others were both advertisements AND entertaining. Remember Burma Shave?

- His cheek was rough - His chick vamoosed - And now she won't - Come home to roost. Burma Shave!
- When Super-shaved - Remember, pard - You'll still get slapped - But not so hard. Burma Shave!

And of course, there were many more like these, and no matter where we went, my brothers and I were always on the lookout for the Burma Shave signs. But think about the actual purpose of the signs – were they to entertain the kids when they were on their way to Grandma’s? No! They were to sell more shaving cream! They were for the male adults, not the rest of the family! But as all good marketers know, before you can sell, you need to catch the attention of your intended audience. And these signs always did.
But entertainment without the information is rather hollow and short lived – very much like coming to worship on Sunday, but not hearing any scripture or any message! Signs are important for our lives, but only if we gain something of significance that helps us.

So it is with God’s word.

Read Isaiah 11:1-5

These are the signs that God offers to the world regarding the coming of Messiah – there is no entertainment value in these, but there is a wealth of information in each and every word. And note that the Lord doesn’t give just one sign – he gives many. It would seem that Messiah’s arrival is far too important to trust to just one word.

But I think that there is generally some confusion with this passage. Is it about Jesus’ first coming, or his second? Is it about the Virgin Birth, or about his Return for the Day of Judgment? If you are looking to me for an answer, then the only valid one must be a resounding “Yes!” Whether first or second, they are inexplicably linked to each other. The Second Coming, with its resulting judgment that leads to new life, must be based on the First. And without the Second, the First one falls flat and has no purpose.
These 5 verses reflect the righteousness of God, revealed in Christ Jesus. They establish both his human lineage and his Divine Character, and taken together, they can never define any other person in all of human history.

So what are these signs?
First, he will be a descendent of Jesse, or more specifically, he will be of the same lineage as King David.
Second, he will be blessed with God’s Spirit, and this attribute shapes his entire character. And these items aren’t normal human traits in any conceivable way!

Wisdom and understanding are vitally important for any ruler or administrator, but our humanness limits their quality and effectiveness. The Spirit’s Wisdom, on the other hand, is perfect and it understands all things.
Counsel – the ability to lead in times of peace - and power – a necessity in times of conflict - are important for everyone who governs and leads others. But human power is unreliable and will fail us at the worst possible time. And our counsel? Imperfect, at best. But Spiritual power is infinite and its Counsel is flawless, and neither will fail.
And I believe that “knowledge” and “fear of the Lord” are put together for a specific reason. They are not intended to be two separate and distinct issues, but rather one and the same. Human knowledge will, one day, fail us and our love of God is iffy, at best, but when these are combined in the Spirit, they imply a perfect and total understanding, not just of the things of earth, but of the Lord God Almighty, and as such, will always be trustworthy and absolute. And in the Spirit, these gifts, as well as the ones that follow in verses 4 & 5, will never be used for personal gain, but rather for the benefit and gain of others.

And his judging of what is righteous and just, and his use of counsel and power, and his knowledge and love of God, won’t come through the normal avenues of human perception – they won’t be based on what is observed or heard or touched or smelled. Humans depend on their 5 senses to gain understanding and to convey justice. But this Branch of Jesse will use none of these. So what will be used?

This Fruitful Branch will gain his understanding and wisdom and power and might from the Holy Spirit. His life and instruction will be righteous and just, his advice and power will be a blessing to all, his knowledge and love of God will inspire and teach – and they won’t be given for just a select few, but for all, and in particular, for the poor and needy who seldom receive justice or honor or righteous advice.

This Branch will be anything but limited by his human nature. He will never be self-serving, he will never misuse his authority, and he will teach the world how to love and honor God. And for those who refuse to learn, who refuse to submit to this perfect authority and Spirit led voice? They will suffer the consequences.

There’s a story about a physician who was driving between hospital calls one evening, exceeding the speed limit rather shamelessly in an attempt to make up for lost time. Suddenly a police car pulled up behind him and turned on the lights. Having some considerable experience in both speeding and getting caught, the doctor picked up his stethoscope and held it up for the policeman to see in hopes of communicating that he was on a medical emergency.
Yet the police officer continued in pursuit with no regard to the physician's signals. Once more the doctor waved his stethoscope in the air, this time more dramatically, in hopes of conveying the importance of his mission. But when the physician looked into his rear-view mirror to see whether the police officer got the message, he saw a smiling officer waving his own symbol of authority in the air -- his revolver.
- Source Unknown

You may think that you have and are the perfect authority, but the real signs always seem to point to another who has even more.

Read Isaiah 11:6-9

And as with any sign, any prophecy, any proclamation, it has to show, or at least promise, that there is a true benefit to our following and believing that sign. The Fruitful Branch of Jesse is, in and of himself, that very promise.
And what is that promise? It is one of perfect peace – peace from fear, peace from hatred, peace from mistrust, peace from need. Consider the relationships that are depicted by the joining together of the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling and the child – none of these are normal in our world. These relationship are truly Spirit filled and are the proof of the "signs".
That is what the word “Shalom” means in its fullest context – it implies a transformation by the Spirit – it is a rest, a freedom, from all that the world can throw at us, and a restoration to the things of God. It is one that we can only imagine, one that we can only anticipate, but one that is promised and sure.
“They will neither harm nor destroy … for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” Here is that Spirit given knowledge again – all of earth’s creation will know of the Almighty. No longer will humanity have to depend on the mercy of inexact human judgment, or a misplaced trust in human counsel, or a limited view of the love of God. Life will finally be Spirit led, and with this, we have now moved from Christ’s characteristics in his first coming to the results of his return in the second. And the extent of glory has only been touched upon in this passage.

In 1968, at the Ecumenical Council of Churches Meeting at Uppsala, Sweden, one of the delegates, Metropolitan Ignatios, [offered] these words:

“Without the Holy Spirit, God is far away - Christ stays in the past; the gospel is a dead letter; the church is simply an organization; authority, a matter of domination; mission, a matter of propaganda; the liturgy, no more than an evocation; Christian living, a slave morality.
But in the Holy Spirit: The cosmos is resurrected and groans with the birth pangs of the kingdom; the risen Christ is there; the gospel is the power of life; the Church shows forth life of the Trinity; authority is a liberating service; mission is a Pentecost; the liturgy is both memorial and anticipation; human action is deified.”
--Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens, A New Pentecost? (New York: Seabury Press, 1974), 19-20.
That is a true Spiritual transformation, and it awaits all who will follow the sign of Jesus!

Read Isaiah 11:10

And the signs all point to that glorious day when Jesus will be our banner, when Jesus will be the focus of every person on earth, when Jesus will be our perfect peace and rest.
All the signs are there – see them for yourself, and then help others to know them, too.

“A New Day Is On the Way!”

Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-5

We’ve all heard the expression “Tomorrow is a new day.” It’s a great thought, but it’s usually offered in a situation that is anything but encouraging. Your business loses out on a new and very lucrative contract, and someone always says those words. Your engagement to the love of your life has just broken off, and your friend tells you those exact words. You have just lost the competition that you have been training for over the last 4 years, and your coach repeats those words.

And they don’t help. The truth is that everyone wants today to be that new day – a day filled with all kinds of good possibilities, a day that fulfills our dreams, a day that is truly new and wonderful. Of course, this saying goes right along with the other one – “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!” And that doesn’t bring much encouragement, either!

We want to think that this day is the best one of our life, and that tomorrow will be even better. But that seldom happens. We want today to be the new and best day, and that means that we want it to be the ideal and perfect day now, and it never seems to come.

It’s a matter of relativeness. We know that the illusive new day is coming, but we also have to know that we will never experience it in this life – that this life will never be perfect, but the day of the Lord will be exactly that – perfect and glorious and new in every way.

Read Isaiah 2:1-4

Think about the “new day” that the prophet is describing – quite something, isn’t it! This is the day that we want now, because the word is a prophecy of perfection.

Verse 2 begins with “In the last days”. It doesn’t say “On” the last day. It is plural, it is a range of days. I believe that these words refer to the millennial reign of Jesus. So let’s consider the words themselves – there are 4 of them.
First – the mountain of the temple (Mount Zion) will be raised up so that it is above all others.
Second – All nations will be drawn to that new mountain.
Third – The God of Jacob, Yahweh Himself, will teach from that place, and the people will learn his ways
Fourth – There will be peace.

Let’s take each of these individually.
First, Mount Zion was seen as the home of God, and for that reason, the temple was built there. It is not currently the highest in that area, but apparently, the Lord will see to it that one day it will rise above all the rest, and not only above the ones surrounding Jerusalem, but above every hill and every mountain on earth.
And you are wondering why God would do that! Because God is supreme, and if it is true that Jesus will be returning to earth at Temple Mount, the physical properties of the place must reflect the majesty and grandeur of the Lord.

Second, “all” nations, all people, all nationalities, will come to this place, for the express purpose of worshiping the one true God of heaven and earth. After all, if you heard that Almighty God, your Redeemer and Savior, had established himself someplace on earth, wouldn’t you drop everything, leave everything behind, and head out to see him? Of course you would, and so will everyone else.

Third, the great and glorious Lord will become our teacher again, just as Jesus was during his first time with us. But for Israel, the priests had been their teachers in ancient times, and subsequently, the rabbi’s had assumed that role, along with the Pharisees during Jesus’ first days. But IN THE LAST DAYS, Almighty God in Jesus Christ will become our immediate authority, and no one will have to speak on behalf of him.
He will be the judge who settles every dispute and will judge every wrong – no more human intervention to interpret the meaning of the law, to decide both punishment and vindication. He will speak his holy laws, and there will be no question as to what they mean.

And fourth, there will be true peace – a peace that convinces the nations to destroy all their weapons of war and hatred, and the people will be able to get on with everyday life without any fear of what may be coming tomorrow. There will be no more national pride, no more national aggression, no more offense, no more defense, no more misunderstanding, no more terror! It will be a time of peace unlike any other time in the annals of history.

Read Isaiah 2:5

“Let us walk in the Light of the Lord.” Notice that the previous 4 verses are written in the future tense – “The Mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established”; “it will be raised above”; “He will teach us his ways”; “The law will go out”; “They will beat their swords into plowshares” – These are the things that will happen “in the last days”.
But when we read verse 5, it is in the present tense – “let us walk”, not we will walk. Come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

This is what Advent is about – not just anticipating the Lord’s arrival, not just celebrating his coming as an infant, not just celebrating the fact that “one day” there will be peace. It is about walking in his light – his peace - today. Israel still waits for Messiah’s arrival, but Christians wait for Jesus’ return!
Jesus has already been here, and his glory has already established his supremacy above all others, and he has already taught us his truth and his law, and in his grace, we already have his peace in our hearts. And if we have all of those things in our life, we can, with the utmost confidence, walk in his light.

Remember that grand song – “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine”?
“Hide it under a bushel, NO! I’m gonna let it shine.”
“Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine.”
“All around the world, I’m gonna let it shine.”
“Don’t let Satan blow it out, I’m gonna let it shine.”

The New Day of Christ is on its way, but until that glorious day arrives, we’re going to walk in the Light of the Lord, and we’re going to carry that glorious light wherever we go! Amen?
The Light of Advent is our witness to the world that a new day is coming, and that this New Day’s name is Jesus. Don’t let his light go out.

“Thankful Beyond All Measure!”

Scripture: Colossians 1:9-20

Thanksgiving is an American tradition that is as old as our heritage. It has always been taken seriously and it was never given a secondary position in early American lives, but over the years, it has lost its significance of thankfulness, and is now just another holiday to justify our overindulgences.

When the Plymouth settlers feasted, they had just come through a devastating first year in their new home. The winter’s cold had been brutal, illness had ravaged the colony, hunger was an everyday thing, and even though their dream of religious freedom had come true, they had paid a heavy penalty for it. But with the new spring came healing and hope and promise of a far better life, and when the harvest came in, how could they NOT give thanks to the One who had brought them such a blessing.

In 1789, during his first year in office, George Washington proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving with the following notice:
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor;
and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Consider that first “whereas” again – it is our duty to acknowledge the “providence”, the wisdom, of Almighty God; it is our duty to obey His will; it is our duty to be grateful for all that he gives and does; it is our duty to humbly seek his protection and favor!
And did you notice that it wasn’t just the President who ordered this – it was also the joint will of both houses of Congress!

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed an annual Day of Thanksgiving, to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. In his address, he offered a considerable list of items that we should be thankful for, including community and industrial growth and peace with other nations; that all of our blessings have nothing to do with our own strength and wisdom, but solely due to the gracious nature of Almighty God; a call to every citizen, regardless of whether they are within the boundaries of the nation, or at sea, or in a foreign land, to offer God praise for his “singular deliverances and blessings”; to pray for forgiveness from “our national perverseness and disobedience”; commend to God those who have suffered the most during the Civil conflict – “widows, orphans, mourners, and sufferers”; and to pray for healing and restoration of our nation.

Powerful calls and powerful prayers!
Could these great leaders of our nation have been familiar with our text for this evening?

Read Colossians 1:9-14

Do you see some similarities between this passage and the thoughts of Washington and Lincoln? Thankfulness for good things that come from God; growth and strength that God has given; great endurance and patience; an inheritance in the kingdom of light; and we are told that we should be giving joyful thanks to the Father. But at the end of this passage, the writer adds a reference to Jesus, which the early proclamations didn’t, and as we read further, he expands his praise and joy in the Son of God.

Read Colossians 1:15-20

What a joy filled hymn of praise to our Gracious and Glorious Lord! But when we consider the circumstances under which all of these praises are being offered, we must be humbled.
The early church was beginning to experience persecution, and it is felt that this letter was written around the time of Paul’s execution. And yet, the church is told to be thankful for all that they have, and not to focus too much on the trials that were coming their way.
The Pilgrims had come through a very difficult year. Friends and loved ones had perished; everyone had suffered from inadequate nourishment; the winter had been bitterly cold, but they still found sufficient reason to have a 3 day celebration to rejoice in the Lord’s goodness and bounty.

In 1789, the nation had just recently been formed. The revolution had been devastating for both sides, and the colonists had lost, not only family and friends, but also property, possessions, and wealth. The new nation still had a lot to work out before they could even begin to be united, and yet, there were all the reasons in the world to rejoice for all that God had given them.

In 1863, our Civil War was still raging with no real end in sight. Brother against brother, father against son, families torn apart, homes and communities destroyed, and Lincoln still had the presence of mind, and the faith, to suggest that we should give thanks and seek the Lord’s forgiveness for our “perverseness”.

Today, we aren’t just experiencing political differences, but civil divisiveness and the fear of terrorism! We are in a struggle that is no less harmful to us than it was for the people of the 3 eras we have considered this evening. And still, we are to give thanks – not for the strife, but for God’s goodness and glory in the midst of it all. Tomorrow isn’t just a day to watch parades and football games, and to stuff our bellies nearly to the bursting point! It is a day to give thanks to Almighty God for his many blessings and the goodness that he has won, and has paid for, and gives so freely.

Our Colossians passage isn’t just for tonight – it’s for tomorrow and for all of our tomorrows. Give God his due, and praise him to the heights, regardless of what your mortal life is experiencing. There’s so much more, you know!

“Grateful for the Manna”

Scripture: John 6:25-35

Last week, we heard the Lord tell Israel to go and serve their false gods is they really wanted to, but that one day, they all would come back to him. “You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices” (Ezekiel 20:44) This would be the evidence of the new covenant that he was creating for them, and he tells them that they will see it, and know it, and will not miss it.
But it would be several hundred years before this new way would come to be, before the new covenant would be put in place. There would be several hundred years of struggle, of sinful ways, of continued reliance on the old covenant, of defeat and occupation, of an exodus that wasn’t in a physical wilderness, but one that was surely in a spiritual one. In our text today, Jesus is reminding the people of that first wilderness experience, and uses it as an analogy for their present state.

Read John 6:25-29

This is a time that immediately follows John’s telling of the feeding of the five thousand, but interestingly enough, he offers nothing of the sermon that Matthew spends 3 chapters on. It appears that for John, the truth of the sermon lays in the miracle of the 5 loaves and 2 fish. Think about it – Matthew’s version of that day, laid out in detail in chapters 5-7, are all about how to live in this life. And while that is vitally important for us to understand, John focuses on how the Lord feeds us, and not just in a physical way.

The story isn’t just about Jesus’ caring for our existence, but rather how he cares for us. Jesus recognizes the fact that the people are hungry. There is no place nearby where they could buy food, and even if there was, Philip tells him that there is no way that they could afford to buy all that food. And at about that time, Andrew brings a young boy to the Lord with a meager fare of 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish.
The people can’t feed themselves, the disciples can’t even begin to meet their needs, but the meal will come to be through the working of both the generous faith of a boy and the power of God. Jesus could so easily sustain us and nourish us without ever using physical food, and yet, he doesn’t. And he doesn’t use just any food – he blesses the poorest food. 5 barley loaves – a poor person’s meal, and 2 little fish – probably the size of sardines.

It wasn’t the generosity of a wealthy man who says “I’ll sponsor the meal for every one here.”
It wasn’t a score of women who humbly offer to go to the kitchen and prepare the meal for everyone else.
It was a young boy who had nothing to offer except a paltry amount of food that would barely be significant for his own needs.

Did Jesus tell the boy to go away because he had no concept of what feeding thousands and thousands of men, women and children entailed? Did Jesus announce to the crowd that they were going to take up an offering, and if it was enough, the disciples would go over to the town of Tiberius and buy lunch for them? NO! Jesus received the scant offering, and it was enough. It was more than enough, for there were 12 heaping baskets of food left over!

And in this follow up to the miracle, Jesus reminds the crowd that they follow him for no other reason than because he can fill their stomachs, and not because he can satisfy their souls. “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life." Jesus is the Bread of Life; Jesus is the Living Water, and all we need to do to receive it is to follow the example of a young boy who has little to give, and yet he gives it all – to believe without hesitation that Jesus can work wonders through a faith that knows without question that while we can’t, he can.

Read John 6:30-35

Remember the story regarding the manna? (Exodus 16) The people were complaining that out there in the desert, they didn’t have enough to eat, but if they had stayed in Egypt, there would have been plenty to eat! So God tells them “I will rain down bread from heaven.” You would think that this would be enough, but when the food comes, gratitude only lasts a short time, and the nation begins crabbing all over again – “How come we don’t get any meat? We had lots of meat back in Egypt!” Now personally, I think their memories were a bit clouded, because they were slaves back there, and the food would never have been quite as good as they seemed to remember it!
But the Lord remembers their grumbling, and tells them that he will send them plenty of meat in the form of quail – so much, in fact, that they are going to get sick of it. (Numbers 11) But they never quite got the point that it wasn’t about the filling of their stomachs, or even about wandering aimlessly for 40 years! It was about discovering the glory of all that could be theirs if they would but show an all abiding faith to the God who lead them and cared for them and loved them. (Deuteronomy 8:3) “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

What is there about God’s benevolent and generous nature that we can’t seem to appreciate? He gives us manna where there is no food at all, and it doesn’t make us happy. He feeds us with a never ending supply of barley loaves and sardines, and we complain that it isn’t angel food cake and salmon. He gives us his word for the living of our lives, and we decide that we can rewrite it and make it better. He dies at Calvary and only asks that we believe in him to receive his salvation, and we decide that salvation should be for everyone regardless of what they believe.
Why can’t we see his goodness and grace as being enough? Probably because we don’t fully understand what it can do for our lives. We don’t trust him enough; we don’t depend on him enough; we don’t surrender enough of ourselves to let his grace even begin to work in our lives!

The Apostle Paul had prayed over and over that the Lord would relieve him of some unnamed trial in his life – he called it “a thorn” - but God’s only reply was “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9)
Jesus never told us that it would make sense – only that it was true.

“You must be born again” didn’t answer a single question that Nicodemus had that night – it only created more. (John 3:1-8)
“Whoever comes to me and does not hate his father and mother … cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) I have to what??
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44) You’ve got to be kidding!
“Power is made perfect in weakness” – shouldn’t that be the other way around?

We need to be grateful for manna, not because it is so delicious, but because it keeps us from starving to death.
We need to be thankful for simple meals like barley bread and sardines, simply because it cares for our need and we don’t have to pay for it or prepare it.
We need to rejoice in his word – not because it is easy and exactly what we want it to say – but because it is what our Lord wants us to know
We need to trust in his redemption and salvation – not because it saves everyone, but because it welcomes everyone.


There’s a great old hymn that sums it all up!
1. When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way.
While we do his good will, he abides with us still,
And with all who will -- trust and obey.

3. But we never can prove the delights of his love until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor he shows, for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will -- trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus,
but to trust and obey.

The Almighty will provide blessings that sometimes are big and sometimes are small, but they will always be the right size for the moment. If we are to feed 10,000 people, the manna will come is huge amounts. If we are to provide a word of grace to one person who is struggling, the word will be just right. If we need the power to slay a giant, it will be there. If we need the wisdom to calm a troubled soul, it will be there, too.
That’s the promise of the new covenant – that no matter how great or how small our wilderness may be, no matter how wonderful or how tasteless our manna may be, God’s giving grace will be sufficient in all ways - and through it all, we need to give thanks to the Lord for every one of his perfect blessings.

“Repentance and Restoration”

Scripture: Ezekiel 20:39-44

The prophet had been given God’s word for the people of Israel and Judah, and, for the most part, they weren’t to be words of grace and love, and they wouldn’t be words given once and then forgotten. They would be words that were hard to hear, difficult to accept, and almost impossible for the nation to live within. They would be warning after warning, dire prophesy after dire prophesy, words of condemnation after even more words of condemnation! The covenant that God had made for Israel was broken – the Lord had kept his part of the promise, but Israel had failed over and over to keep even a little of their part. So last week, we heard that the Almighty would make a new covenant – one that had three important provisions.
First, it would still offer eternal life, but it would no longer be based in the law. “Right” living had never been conceivable OR achievable by God’s people, so this new covenant would bypass all reference to the people having to earn “righteousness” all on their own.
Second, there would still be a penalty for failure, which would most assuredly come, but the cost would be paid up front, before the covenant would ever be put in place, and it would be God who would pay the penalty. Human sacrifice, human payment, human redemption had never been sufficient, so it would be replaced with Godly sacrifice, Godly payment, Godly redemption, which would always be more than enough.
Third, and this is a provision that Israel would never understand and never acknowledge - the covenant would now be open to all people from all nations, and that the only action required on their part would be to either accept it or ignore it.
And just so there would be no misunderstanding, no possible claim that some human and imperfect prophet got it wrong, God would leave his heavenly glory to come in human form to introduce the covenant to the world and to teach the people just what it meant.
Could it possibly get any easier?

Read Ezekiel 20:39-40

“You may choose to continue in serving false gods if you want to, but know this – as far as your relationship with me goes, it will do nothing except show disrespect and contempt to me, and now you know that I will not accept it.” They will have to choose, just as everyone else will, and this time, they must choose wisely!

Their separation from God and Promise will, one day, come to an end, and they will be reunited, not only with their Lord, but with the land that had been promised to them. And when they choose the Lord as their one and only hope, they will be able to meet the Divine One on truly Holy Ground, and they will become the new temple, of the new covenant, in a new life.

But all things would have to be made new. No more prideful righteousness, no more exclusivity in faith, no more exclusion of others, no more self-centeredness, no more trust in self. And if they will do this, a great healing will occur – one that will astound and bless them, one that will bring peace and power to them, one that will give a glorious hope to them, not only for today, but for every tomorrow. In 2 Chronicles 7:14-16, Almighty God promises that if the people humble themselves, and seek him, and turn away from evil, they will be forgiven and all will be right again. The Lord offered these words on the occasion of the dedication of the first temple, but as we read these words, they ring true, not for the old ways, but for a totally new way that God is laying out for the people.

Read Ezekiel 20:41-44

Yahweh lets them know that in this new relationship, in this new covenant, he will be pleased and honored by them once again. And they will know that he is the Lord, because they will see that the promises have been kept and that they have been restored to his glory, and when they truly know him again, they will remember their sin and will hate it and will repent of their old ways.
And they will know that he is their Lord, every time that he acts solely in his way, and not in response to theirs.

We are in the day of the new covenant, the day of new life, the day of the Lord’s way. In John 14:13-14, we read “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” No longer does God demand that we attain righteousness, that we become sinless and worthy, that we somehow achieve acceptability in God’s sight before we come to him, but that anyone may come to him, at any time, in any condition, as long as it is in his way and in his name.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” The Lord Jesus’ eyes are open to our plight, his ears are open to our prayers, and these new temples of the new covenant are consecrated to his honor.

In full confidence as the people of God in Christ Jesus, come and lay your plight and your burdens and your prayers before him. He is watching, and he is listening to you.

At this point, a HEALING SERVICE was held.

“Betrayal of the Covenant”

Scripture: Ezekiel 16 (Selected)

The word that God had been giving Ezekiel had not been good. Condemnation, abandonment, frustration, finality – this was Israel and Judah’s future, and the more that every prophet shared with the people, the more they rejected their message. They would tie them, but the Lord would untie them; the people would try to muffle their words, and the Lord would give them a new voice and a new word. And it would continue to get even worse before it got better. Captivity for Israel would continue, and Judah’s fate was that they would soon join their brothers and sisters in a foreign land.

And yet, Yahweh was with them through it all. He prodded them, he chastised them, he left them to their own means, and even as they fell further and further into the morass of their own making, he continued to love them.
Why? Why would the Lord want to stay with such a miserable bunch? They had condemned themselves through their unholy actions and false worship; they had given up all hope in the God of their past and future; they had turned their backs on the only one who could save them; and still, God kept after them to come back. Why?

Read Ezekiel 16:1-8

In our text, God speaks of Israel’s birthright in him. The nation had been given no hope for a future, but Yahweh had seen great beauty in this life, and rescued her from certain death. This passage is an analogy of courtship that develops between a man and the love he has suddenly discovered in a young woman. In verse 8b we read “I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.” A covenant – a binding pledge – had been declared by God, and he would never break it. He had chosen Israel as his own, and as far as he was concerned, it would be forever.
In John’s Gospel, 15:16, Jesus tells his disciples “You did not choose me, I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” But just who was the intended audience for these words - was it the 12 who followed him, or was he simply reaffirming the covenant that had been made to Israel thousands of years before?
Israel had been chosen as God’s own. There is nothing in Ezekiel 16 that could possibly be construed as God being chosen by Israel! The choice was God’s, and Israel had nothing to say about the arrangement. The relationship had been sanctified by God’s oath, and the people should have stood in awe at this incredible honor, but apparently, they didn’t. They were not only derelict in their call to live faithfully within Yahweh’s covenant, but they had failed to live up to the Lord’s call to bear good fruit, lasting fruit, righteous fruit!
So why did the Lord continue to try to get them to come back to him? Why not just cut them off?

Have you ever read the book of Hosea? Chapters 1&2 are about God’s call to the prophet to “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD” (V. 2) Israel had prostituted herself with other nations and other gods, and the Lord would tell them over and over again that he was not about to let them go, regardless of what they did. In Hosea 3, the prophet is told to keep loving his adulterous wife, and to buy her back from her many lovers, and to take her back as his wife.
God would, one day, buy Israel back from the lovers she had taken to her side, and his love for the people would never die.

Christian theologian and speaker Jim Wallis writes about the plight of Christian faith today:
"We have forgotten we are God's people, and we have fallen into the worship of American gods. Now God's word to us is to return. Church historians may someday describe our period as the American captivity of the church. It is no less real than the Babylonian Captivity in the history of Israel. Trapped in our false worship, we no longer experience the freedom that is our birthright in Jesus Christ."
--Jim Wallis, The Call to Conversion (HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), 31.

Is our nation any better off than adulterous Israel? Captive to the bright lights and easy lifestyle of false faith? Blindly following the god of worldly mindlessness? Teetering on the brink of destruction? Worthy only of God’s condemnation and judgment? I think we are just about there, but the good news is that Jesus Christ will never give up on us! Even though the unfaithful continue to quietly slip away into the night, the light of Christ will continue to be a beacon, calling all of us back.

Read Ezekiel 16:59-63

Rev. Dr. James Wallace Hamilton wrote:
"Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present."
--J. Wallace Hamilton

The chosen people had no faith in either the past or the future – how could they possibly have the power of faith now? Both Israel and Judah had broken the covenant that God had made on their behalf, and there was nothing that they could do to reestablish it. But even though it had been damaged beyond repair, the Lord tells the prophet to spread the word that a new covenant is being prepared – one that is everlasting, one that will shame the nations, one that will humiliate, one that will be made in a divine atonement for the sins of the world.

What? God’s beloved had completely turned away from him, had done everything that they could to ridicule the relationship that God had with them, had prostituted themselves with foreign gods, and yet the Lord was going to begin again with them? He was going to give them another chance? Didn’t he know that if they betrayed him once that they would most certainly betray him again?

Of course he did! But note what scripture says about this new covenant – it will be eternal and it will be based in atonement. So what would that mean for the nation?

First, it means that it will be unbreakable. The new covenant will be able to withstand any betrayal, any sin, any faithlessness, any foolishness, any failure on the part of the people, and it will never even bend, let alone break. Oh, some will deny the covenant, some will walk away from the covenant, but it will remain firm for both those who remain in it as well as those who choose to return to it.
And why will this covenant be stronger than the first? Because in the first one, it was the people had to pay the price for the failure, and human payment, human sacrifice, is never sufficient to heal a Godly break. The new one, therefore, would be established in Godly atonement – a Divine sacrifice that would establish it, a penalty that would be paid right at the beginning, with no requirement for any additional cost on the part of anyone.

But this wouldn’t make much sense to Israel and Judah. They had always been immersed in the need for sacrifice – continuous sacrifice, daily sacrifice, insufficient sacrifice – and now the payment, the compensation, the restoration will be made up front! But by who?
The prophets had spoken about this new covenant, the perfect atonement, for hundreds of years. The prophet Isaiah spoke of it in Isaiah 9:1-8, the prophet Micah spoke of it in Micah 2:12-13 and 4:1-5 and 5:1-5; the prophet Malachi spoke of it in Malachi 3:1-5 and 4:1-3, and there were others. But it would still be hundreds of years before the covenant would be put in place, and hundreds of years without another word from God on the subject.

By now, I hope that you’ve been able to put a name on this covenant – that of the most precious name in all of heaven and earth. Jesus would be that covenant and would become the one and only atonement that could anchor it for all time – unbreakable, unbending, eternal and perfect. The failure of the people of earth to give honor and glory to God – not only that of Israel and Judah – would be put right once and for all.
And the Lord tells Ezekiel to let the people know that when this new covenant is made, they will ultimately remember all that God has done for them, and they will be ashamed of their opposition to his ways, and they will be humiliated and humbled for all time.

But the people would still have to make the decision for themselves. The covenant will be in place, solid and unshakable, but humanity – each and every member of it – will have to do as Joshua said – ‘choose for themselves … whom they shall serve’. (Joshua 24:15)

Some would have us believe that our nation is Godless today. Well, I don’t agree with that statement. Ezekiel tells us that the Lord’s covenant – his promise to us – is everlasting and prepaid, and that it can never be taken from us. And if his promise is firm and sure, then Almighty God must be ready and must be willing to accept any commitment that we might make in his name. It isn’t that our nation, or our world, for that matter, is Godless – it’s just that many people today have yet to accept the love of Christ that stands ever ready to be the means of their salvation.

Have you accepted the covenant that has been made in the Blood of Christ? If not, will you do that today? The old covenant couldn’t stand, but when you claim the new one that is made in the name of Jesus, it will never fail.

Choose Christ for yourself this very day, and walk with him all the way to glory!

“Judgment, But Still a Remnant”

Scripture: Ezekiel 14:12-23

From what we have seen in the past few weeks, it’s obvious that God’s judgment is on Israel in a powerful and all-consuming way. He is angry with the faithlessness of the nation in general, but it isn’t a general condemnation that is coming down. Its specific for each and every person - men, women, leaders, prophets – they have all denied the majesty of their God and have, instead, chosen to glorify the false gods of other nations. They look to fertility gods and look away from the true gift of fruitfulness. They show honor to the gods that come and go, seemingly at their own whim, while the faithful and omnipresent God is seen as inadequate and irrelevant. They put their trust in the gods of stone and wood and earth, and rebuke the only God who truly is trustworthy.
Judgment has come upon the “nation of the chosen” – not because their Yahweh God has desired it, but because the chosen people have caused it. The relationship is broken and a penalty must be paid if it is ever to be healed. The day would come when God Incarnate would become that penalty for all of humanity, but that day was still a long way off.
Judgment could not be avoided, and now Ezekiel was to learn just how severe it would be.

Read Ezekiel 14:12-14

You may remember that many passages in this book begin with the words “The word of the Lord came to me.” The prophet wants the people to know without question that the message is not his – that it comes directly from the Lord God of Israel, and that the word that is about to be given to them is God’s and his alone. And the people should be justly nervous, as the Lord never wastes words – it will be a message that will make a significant difference in their lives, and by now, they knew that it would not be a message of blessing. And even though God doesn’t specifically call out the names of Israel and Judah, they knew that the words were for them.
And they knew the three names that were offered as examples of righteousness. The faith of Noah had been the reason that 8 people were saved from the Great Flood; the captive Daniel, whose great faith the people may or may not have already heard about, would be an example that they had not lived up to; and Job who, even in the days before Abraham, had suffered unspeakably at the hand of Evil, had endured in faith right to the end of his ordeal. Even these men, each of whom had a faith that allowed them to endure the absence of God in the poverty of a sinful world, could do nothing to convince God to spare these people from the consequences of their judgment. And of the three men who Yahweh mentions, only Daniel is a Jew – both Noah and Job precede the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Could this mean that the Lord actually looks beyond the “chosen” people to show where righteousness really abounds, and where his grace is at work?

Israel had grown up knowing that God’s mercy knew no bounds. In the 2nd Great Commandment (Exodus 20:4), they had been told that Divine Mercy would extend for a thousand generations from those who loved the Lord. The faith of Rahab, the prostitute of Jericho, saved not only her own life, but the lives of her entire family (Joshua 2; 6:24-25). The faith of Esther would save all of the captive people from the hatred of Haman (See the entire book of Esther). A few faithful people had always been the saving grace for the nation. But no longer – now, each and every person must look to the depth of their own faith for salvation, and they weren’t prepared for this.

But how bad could it get? After all, hasn’t God chosen them over others, and doesn’t he love them more than all the rest?

Read Ezekiel 14:15-20

How bad? Not just one judgment, but now there were 4!
No food, bringing about a famine that would be death for humans as well as their animals.
And wild beasts would come to prey upon the weak and young and helpless, and would continue to scavenge the countryside to the point that no one could even journey through it, let alone live there.
And conflict – either that from outside the nation or from some internal strife – would devastate the populace.
And if all of this wasn’t bad enough, a plague would come that would wreak havoc on anyone who had survived the first three.

And the faith of the righteous few would be insufficient to save any others – even the lives of their own children would be lost.

That’s how bad it could get when God steps back and allows humanity to take care of themselves and to make their own way in this world. And one way or another, God will, one day, make himself known to all people, - and whether they get to know his grace and mercy or not, they will know.

Read Ezekiel 14:21-23

How much worse could it possibly get! And yet, as bad as it will be, some will be saved. Note that the Lord doesn’t say that the righteous won’t have to suffer along with everyone else! They will be subjected to the same judgment, but they won’t succumb to it.

Was this talk only about Israel? Or was it about the calamities that had come upon the earth in years gone by? Or is it about the Godly Wrath that many expect will come on the nations of today? Or could it be about the judgment that will, one day, come upon the entire earth? Or is it a commentary on the power of God, intended to bring all nations into his fold?
Maybe the answer is a simple “Yes” – all of the above! Israel had forgotten just who their God is, and the Lord is in the process of reminding them of the fullness of his Being – that he is the All Mighty, the All Powerful, the All Consuming, the All Knowing, the All Giving, the All in All, and there is no other like him. No one is forced to worship the one true God, no one is required to give him the honor that is due him, human existence will never be abruptly jerked into compliance with God’s nature! But there will always be consequences! And Israel was beginning to understand this is a rather dramatic way.
Their judgment would last 70 years, and would only come to an end when their Lord would work his Will through the life of the Persian King Cyrus (2 Chronicles 36:22-23). 70 years of captivity. 70 years of occupation. 70 years of oppression. 70 years of exile from their homeland. 70 years of relearning about Yahweh and his glory. A harsh lesson, to be sure - even worse than 40 years of wandering in the wilderness! But it had to be. Israel had to understand that a fulfilling relationship with the mighty Yahweh had to be personal, and that you couldn’t depend on the faithful life of a friend to see you through.
No longer could the righteousness of one suffice for the thousand generations to come. But it would be equally true that the sins of one would not be carried through to the succeeding three to four generations (Exodus 20:4-6). Every person’s faith would be judged by its own depth, and not by that of others.
But this would never mean that the righteous would never have to suffer, that faith would preclude judgment, that trust in God would spare them from pain. It only meant that the two outcomes of judgment – life or death – would now hinge on the life in faith, or its absence. Nothing else would matter.

And the prophet would be consoled in his task by those who would be plucked from the flames of refinement. The next chapter of this book will be left to you as homework, as it is about the fire that will consume the wicked of Israel.

Is faith enough to save us from that all-consuming fire? Jesus says that it is (John 3:16-20). But it is up to each person as to whether they will be the refined into perfect gold, or become the dross that is separated out and rejected. That’s what our 5 day revival event next week is all about. It is the opportunity for the righteous to bring our friends and family into the Light of Christ. John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world that he send his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world though him.” And John 3:21 – “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

Israel thought that it was all about what they did – right living, right sacrifice, right lineage. But God sent his prophet to let them know differently. So just maybe salvation can come through the efforts of others! Not that we can save, but we can bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We can be part of the salvation process!
Remember Philip’s words to Nathaniel? “Come and See.” (John 1:44-46) Remember the Samaritan woman’s words to her neighbors? It was basically the same witness – come and decide for yourself! (John 4:39)
We do not save, but we all know the One who does. Invite your friends to come and see and decide for themselves. “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15) They just might choose to become a part of the remnant!

“False Prophets, False Hopes”

Scripture: Ezekiel 13:1-12; 17-23

The Lord has been preparing Ezekiel for his mission to the captives. God has told him that he will give him every means of support that would ever be needed. The right words will be placed in his heart and his mouth, the timing of the message would be given, the sins of the people have been laid out, the faithlessness of the nation in general has been revealed, and now, it’s very possible that the worst of all transgressions are about to be brought into view.

It’s always bad enough when the people take steps that deny and betray the one and true God. During the exodus, the people were constantly complaining about their situation even though they were being led to a new and wonderful homeland; since the time of Solomon’s sons, the nation had become divided in administration as well as in faith, and had turned to the gods of the surrounding nations; and their faithlessness had not only led them into defeat in war, but it had brought about a period of occupation for most and captivity for the few who were the best and brightest of the nation. Ezekiel had been told that it had come about because of the people’s transgressions. But what could have happened that allowed the people to stray so far from the Lord’s truth?

Anytime that an organization wanders from their true purpose and path, it will always be safe to put the onus for that failure upon the leadership. If the leaders remain faithful to their call, they will keep their charges under control. If they don’t, there isn’t much hope for the rest.

Read Ezekiel 13:1-7

The leadership of any entity – whether it is a government, a civic organization, a family, or a religious body – must have a vision of where the group is headed. Without any vision, they will never have a firm direction to travel in, and the organization will stagnate and very possibly fade from memory. But on the other hand, if the leaders have a vision that is against every ounce of their foundational principles, they will not only find it difficult to carry out their assigned mission, but they will find it nearly impossible to grow and serve. If a volunteer fire department should suddenly change their emphasis from emergency services to advocacy, the community will begin to lose confidence in their ability to provide fire, rescue and EMS protection. If a government changes the nation’s vision from their founding precepts to one that is new and untried, the people will become confused and will begin to doubt the truth of their existence. If a faith community begins to deviate from their traditional belief structure, they will, most assuredly, loose their way, and those they wish to convert to their faith will resist out of uncertainty over what the community stands for.
The leaders of Israel and Judah would soon discover that they were in this very struggle over who they were and who they actually served and followed. They had not spoken God’s word, they had not spoken out against the lies that were being told, and they had, by default, even encouraged the lies that were being spread. The leaders of the nations would not be pleased to hear that the present circumstances of the people were on their shoulders, and the people would not be pleased to hear that they had been listening to lies. But that is the very message that the prophet Ezekiel was being given. The self-ordained prophets had been offering words that came from their own imagination, and not from Yahweh. But they had never attributed these thoughts to their own being and purpose – they said that it was God who believed these things! And the Lord was not happy.
In James 3:1, we read that “those who teach will be judged more strictly” than those who receive instruction. Teachers in the church can fall into any number of categories – they could be Sunday School teachers, Bible Study leaders, counselors, preachers, people who serve in elected or appointed positions, and in the case of Israel, prophets and the priesthood. The point of the James passage is this – it is bad enough if someone falls away from the faith, but it is many times worse if they take others down with them. Think about it – a Sunday School teacher who intentionally teachers the children false ideals - those that are not of God - can do irreparable harm to a young person’s faith. A Bible study leader can do the same to an adult class, and a trusted pastor who preaches an ungodly message can turn an entire congregation away from Christ.
Leaders can make or break a nation, an organization, a family, or a church, and one day, they will have to answer for their failure to lead faithfully.

Read Ezekiel 3:8-12

The Lord offers a pretty intense judgment against the lies that the leaders of Israel and Judah spoke to the people. God states emphatically that the words they spoke were false and the visions that they had received were lies, and because the leadership did not correct them, he – the Lord – would be against them. I don’t know about you, but I hope that God never turns against me! That would be a certain career ender!
In Jeremiah 23, we read that this earlier prophet had been given a similar message for the nation. In verses 28-29, the Lord says “’let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?’ declares the Lord. ‘Is not my word like fire ... and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?’” The point is that straw isn’t grain, and that the word of the Lord will one day destroy the lies that are told in his name. He had sent warning after warning to the leaders of Israel, and every one had been ignored.
God compares the lies of the false prophets to flimsy walls that had been whitewashed. The lies would never stand up under the glare of God’s truth, and when the lies were finally revealed, all will see them for what they truly are – Godless hypocrisy!

He continues to speak to Ezekiel, and goes on to outline what this condemnation will mean for these prophets and leaders. They will be ejected from God’s community, they will lose their citizenship in the nation of Israel, and they will never be allowed to reenter the land that had been promised to the Lord’s chosen. They will, in essence, be ostracized from God’s grace, and will realize too late that the path that they had been promoting was far away from the Lord’s, and was leading the nation in a direction doomed to failure.

Read Ezekiel 3:17-23

And even the women who had lead others astray would receive their own words of condemnation! They had begun to follow the beliefs of their new home, by making charms and veils, and wearing them to encourage others to follow the gods of this new land. In Leviticus 20:6, we read “I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritualists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.” And the effect that their magic accessories had? Many righteous people had been discouraged and had become confused in faith, and many who had been caught up in the evil that these women were promoting were being falsely encouraged to believe that they were in the right.
And this false faith would also be revealed. Their bracelets and veils would do them no good, the false visions would no longer come to them, and they, too, would be cut off from the faithful.

And I think that this passage is just as much about the church as it was about Israel and Judah. False teachers and prophets have existed as long as faith has been displayed. There have been Gnostics and Mystics, Philosophies and monasticism - every side has condemned the other side, and false teaching has, at times, nearly torn the church apart. When people didn’t like the theology that was being taught, they left what was, and went elsewhere to celebrate their own brand of “truth”. And today isn’t much different.
The problem is, I believe, not so much that there are many differences in opinions as to what is true and what is not, but rather that people are reluctant to stay and take a stand for God’s truth! I have had many friends leave the United Methodist Church because of divisive issues that they were unwilling to stay and stand against. From the earliest days of Methodist societies, there have been contentious disagreement over theological issues. Today, some of that disagreement continues to concern us over questions regarding universal salvation, and the consistency and extent of creation, and homosexuality, and the significance of baptism, and the character of communion, and any number of other issues – all of which only serve to divide us. And every single issue has an answer in scripture, but folks don’t seem to want to advocate for those answers. All too often, it’s just easier and safer to remain silent, or to move on to a place that is more to our liking – until the next question arises.
And we decide to just wait and let the Lord sort it all out, instead of offering the truth and making waves that might swamp our boat. Remember that the Lord doesn’t tell Ezekiel exactly when these corrections would occur for Israel, just that they would. How long are we prepared to wait for that day to come, and are we prepared for the means of that correction?

God sent Ezekiel with his message long before the corrections would begin, and he never hesitated. People of faith can no longer wait for someone else to speak the truth, either. It’s time for the people of God to take a stand against those “false prophets and teachers”, and to name them for what they really are – not as alternative understandings, not as other possible interpretations, but rather as advocates for “white washed flimsy walls”! They don’t offer any hope whatsoever – it is only false optimism, and one day it will be exposed for what it is. And unfortunately, our silence will also be exposed.

Ezekiel had been told that many would not like the message that he carried, and that many wouldn’t even listen to him, but that he was to spread the word, just the same.
Be an Ezekiel – forget what others will think of God’s words - just listen for what the Lord would have you say, ask him for the direction that you are to take his words in, and who you are to share them with. Then let the silence end and your service to the truth begin.
It is time that the false prophets and the false hopes that they offer are exposed. Be an Ezekiel, and begin today.