Sermonstudio

There is a wonderful device that all of us have in our homes that reveals to us the solution to all of the problems we have in life. Some of you may think I am talking about the Bible, but I am not. While the Bible does reveal to us the spiritual truths that will make our lives whole, there is another more fundamental device that shows us who it is who can solve all of the problems we face every day. The answer is simple. It is a mirror. If you gaze into it, you will have the answer to all of the problems you will ever face in life. You may think it strange to suggest to you that what you see in a mirror is the answer to all of the problems you will ever face. Yet, what I am doing, I believe, is illustrating the fundamental truth which God is trying to communicate through the prophet Ezekiel in our text this morning. The people of Israel to whom this text originally was addressed found themselves to be detainees, “guests” who couldn’t go home, exiles in a strange land. The armies of Babylonia had swept over their country and led them away into captivity. Now they were beginning to wonder who was responsible for their being where they were. They couldn’t see that they themselves had much to do with it because it had happened so quickly. They really didn’t have time to prepare for what was happening or even defend themselves adequately. Then it dawned on them. The prophets had warned their parents that this would happen, but their parents had not taken heed of what the prophets had said. They found a way of saying that which their captors didn’t really understand, but which they themselves understood very well. “The parents (our parents) ate the sour grapes,” they said, “But the children (that’s us) got the sour taste (it’s sour too -- we hate this place).” Woe is us. There isn’t anything we can do about it now. And a sorry lot they were. As long as they sat around and felt sorry for themselves and blamed it all on their parents, their situation became even more helpless. They was no one who could help them because the people who were responsible for their being in this strange land were all dead. If they would only have had a mirror, maybe they would have seen what a great mistake they were making. But they had something just about as good -- maybe even better. They had Ezekiel the prophet who could deliver God’s message. Their parents may have all been dead, but God was still sending his prophets to deliver his message. Ezekiel speaks the word of the Lord and minces no words in delivering his message. He tells them to stop blaming their parents for their woes. To be sure their parents had not listened at all to what God said to them: they deserved what their children got. But their children were not innocent babes. For one thing, in their woeful crying in Babylon, they had forgotten who they were. They were God’s children and he had promised never to forsake them, even when they were led off to exile. It was also true that they were not as innocent in this matter as they thought they were. Like their parents they had not listened to God very well either. They had had their opportunities to repent and save their land, but they found it easier to follow in the footsteps of their parents. And if they were ever going to get back to their homeland, they would have to take full responsibility for all of the sins that led God to allow them to be led into exile. Now we begin to see why a mirror is not merely a device of conceit. You and I ourselves are the answer to all the problems we face in life. By the way we manage our lives, we hold the answer to enough of the problems we face everyday to make the difference between a meaningful life and a life which might drive us to suicide. The reason you see is all summed up in this one verse spoken by the prophet for God, “The life of every person belongs to me (that is, God).” Someone has said that each of us is either a part of the problem or a part of the solution to everything we face in life. That is a very biblical statement according to the words which Ezekiel speaks for God here. We can choose, like the captives in Babylon, to blame all of our problems on someone else and then yve are part of those problems. Or, we can take responsibility for our lives, confess our sins, and seek to fulfill the purpose for which God created each one of us and then we become part of the solution. When Ezekiel started speaking straight for God, he angered the people and they started to blame God. “What the Sovereign Lord does isn’t right,” they said. Now they shifted the blame from their parents to God himself. But it was all for naught. They were doing so to use the common ploy of diversion so that the real source of their problems -- themselves and their sins -- would not be so apparent. God pleads with them through Ezekiel, “Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don’t let your sins destroy you. Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts… I don’t want anyone to die.” God’s promise to them is that once they turn toward him again he will forgive them and so not judge them on their past sins but on their new life of being faithful to God. God pleads with them to turn from being part of the problems they face and become a part of the solutions. When they realize that they are God’s children and that he really does want good for them, then they will realize they need to confess their sins and seek the help only God can give them so that they can begin to solve the problems that surround them. One of the famous last words which you and I hear repeated time and time again is, “I’m glad that’s not my problem.” But it is! Every problem is. That does not automatically mean that we interfere in other people’s private lives and try to become their savior. But it does mean that because we belong to God, we are called to care and show mercy. Then the phrase, “That’s not my problem,” will disappear from our lives. Think for a moment. Is there any problem in the world which could not become your problem? AIDS, homelessness, drugs, cancer -- these are some of the most feared situations of life today. While we may not personally be involved in any of them right now, we may know of persons we love and cherish who are. And who knows what tomorrow will bring? It could happen to us even as we think, “No, never, not me!” It’s that way too with all of the smaller problems we face in life. When you are having a difficult time in a relationship, it will go much better if you accept responsibility for your part of the relationship, admit your mistakes and do what you can to make it better. If things are not going well for you at work, if you change the things you can so that you do the best job you can do, more than likely you will make a difference enough so that your job will be better. Here at church if you are not satisfied with what is happening in our ministry, you can do your part to make things better by taking an active part in our ministry and making sure you say only things which will go to strengthen our life together as a congregation. When you become part of the solution, God becomes much more visible in your life. Today God invites each of us to daily take stock of our lives, confess our sins, not only to him, but those we have hurt by our sins as well, and then seek to find the ways we can become a part of the solutions to as many of the human problems which we encounter directly or indirectly as we can. Once again we are reminded that living as a Christian may not be the easiest life in the world, but when you think of what the alternatives are, you and I who know and love Jesus as our Lord know it is the best life. When you look in a mirror, you see there the person who holds the solutions to the problems you and those you touch face in life -- you, not as God, not as one lone superperson, but as God’s child whom with his Spirit in you can love, forgive, care, show mercy and share joy! May God empower you to be a part of the solutions to the problems of your life and those with whom you live each day. Amen.