Sermons

"Legacy of Hope"

Delivered from the Pulpit of First Congregational Church by The Reverend Mark E. Long on January 18, 2009

Lections:  Ez. 2:1-3:3; 43:1-9

                  Eph. 1:17-19

                 Mt. 12:15-21

Most laypersons and even more than a few preachers avoid getting too chummy with Ezekiel.  He is an odd sort - the images of later George Carlin or that professor on "Back to the Future" come to mind - and his "visions" might fit well with those talked about around Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  His descriptions of these visions are long, tedious, and more than a bit redundant.

Yet I choose him in the lead this morning to guide us through a legacy of hope that reaches to our present day as we inaugurate yet another on Tuesday who we hope will bring with him the peace and prosperity we crave but find so elusive, in our country and in our world.  As things stand now, our hope needs to be realistic and our objectives achievable.  It took us some time to put ourselves in need of hope; we should not expect soon we will no longer need it.

But times have been bad, real bad, much worse than we have seen here and now, according to the literary history of, well, the Jewish people for instance.  How does it get any worse than having you're god, YHWH, get so fed up with you that his presence takes flight and leaves the temple and the city around it to the advancing Babylonians?  How does it get any worse than being packed off to slavery for so many years that the slaves begin to live in the ways of their captors and worship their group of gods instead of the one who has demanded their attention?

Ezekiel, a priest during Israel's exile in Babylon, spends the first half of his writing looking backward telling how it got so bad, why it got so bad, and why it might be a good idea to pay attention from now on - twenty plus years in slavery is a steep price to pay for poor listening skills.

He is told by God's representative (who makes clear with his address who is the "alpha dog" here); "O mortal" go to "the people of Israel, a nation of rebels" and tell them their rebellious natures do not serve them well for their future.  Ezekiel is told to not be afraid of his audience, or their words, even if they do intend to sting him with their barbed words and wither him with their looks.  Just speak for YHWH and don't worry about the consequences - easier said than done in a time when getting on the wrong side of things could cost you more than a job.  But at some point someone has to do it; Ezekiel was such a man.

Oh yeah, said the messenger, and to ensure you speak the words, swallow this scroll and eat the words upon it. [Remember - this is a vision]  Ezekiel does so and his stomach is not only full but the taste in his mouth sweet.  He seemed to like what he ate.

This vision marks the commissioning of Ezekiel to speak the Lord's words to the Israelites in exile.  The words are harsh; they are judgmental but give the people a clear idea of why what happened to them - happened.  The people would probably have preferred someone tell them how to get along with the Babylonians better - compromise some of the details the Lord commanded them, attend some of their parties, and share a few of their gods.  It certainly would have made Ezekiel more popular around town, but apparently these were not the points that YHWH wished to make and Ezekiel could speak only those points and nothing else would come out of his mouth.  It seems the Lord before anything else saw the exile as a "teaching opportunity" or at least the historical Ezekiel did.

For a time Ezekiel could speak only of destruction, harsh consequences, and collective sin, but then finally beginning in Chapter 40 for the next several chapters we read a different sort of vision.  Ezekiel tells of his vision of the construction of a new temple for Jerusalem in excruciating detail.  Something new is to be resurrected from the ruins of what the Lord's presence abandoned to the Babylonians which will once again be filled with the "glory of the God of Israel."  The presence announces this time the Lord's anger has abated, and if the people will be faithful, YHWH will live among them forever.  What a glorious image of restoration built on the foundation of hope.

It took Ezekiel a long time to get there but he made it and when he did he captured in his many words the power of hope to bring out of the ruin of choices something new and better than before.  Ezekiel could not have announced restoration before he got the deflated Israelites in exile to hope, and he could not have gotten them to hope for a new temple as sanctuary for their "on hands" god if he had abandoned them to the paths they preferred.

Tomorrow we celebrate the accomplishments of another man who follows centuries and centuries later to instill hope by offering a new vision - this one for America.  Martin Luther King was a man for his time, just as Ezekiel.  King was commissioned to speak words which made many angry, frightened others, and inspired, at first, only a very few to be hopeful.  Most thought King probably a bit odd, out of step, and especially out of place - an upstart in a community that was not to be allowed to get started.

At first, as I remember, hardly anybody paid attention but then his emphatic but peaceful oratory of hope brought more out to listen . . . more words . . . more to listen; reaction organized against the words.  Incidentally, there is nothing that will sear words in the collective consciousness quite as effectively as reaction - get it in the news, more words, more listen, more reaction; a movement is born.

King's words at first ignored by much of the country became a "lightening rod" that drew the nation to it.  His words eventually ignited a firestorm of liberation for a minority people who had been too long oppressed because they had not the hope to see anything better and so settled for the ways of their oppressors.

It is not just the liberated that owe King a "thank you," however, it is also the rest of us who stand on his broad shoulders to stand firm against whatever form of injustice or tyranny would extinguish or prevent our hope from rising.  "Thank you" Dr. King for your faithfulness to speak words not that America wanted to hear but needed to hear, words that (sadly) cost your life in exchange for more life for so many others.

Were it not for Martin Luther King I am not sure that we would be celebrating the historic occasion this week of seeing our first African-American President.  Barack Obama owes a sure debt to Dr. King when he puts his hand on the "Lincoln" Bible this Tuesday.  But he must learn from King as well the lesson passed on by Ezekiel, the legacy of hope comes through prophetic voices that will speak to their audiences what they need to hear rather than what will make them popular or, in Obama's case, cause his poll numbers to rise.

America finds itself on the cusp of Obama's leadership in a deep trough economically which unfortunately says something about its values as well.  Ravenous appetites for greed across its institutional life are mirrored by individual grabs for more by too many who do not assess or show willingness to pay the eventual bill to come.

Into this situation comes Mr. Obama soon to be President Obama to bring us hope in the throes of the mess we have made.  But before he does, Obama must not only tell us how things are and how they got that way but also call for America's collective repentance to turn from its evil ways and adopt priorities that serve a nation not one part or another of it.  Only then, can hope be given on which to begin restoring what has been lost or building something new and enduring.

Temples get rebuilt, caste systems crumble, and historic opportunities come when men and women will speak with prophetic voices in whatever age.  They need not speak loudly; they need not take or encourage angry actions in support of their words . . . they just need to speak as servants who seek to proclaim the Spirit of justice to the people and continue to speak until the words take root in the souls of their listeners and justice comes to live among us.

Say something along the lines of "Paul's prayer" in Ephesians but only for the public square.

This is how I see it giving thanks to Dr. King tomorrow for the historic opportunities beginning on Tuesday, may the legacy of hope be a light unto our new president's path.  Amen.