Raised Up By the Spirit
July 7, 2024
Raised Up By the Spirit
Text: Ezekiel 2:1-5
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The hymn we just sang, Jesus Lead Thou On, was written in the mid-1700’s by Nicholas von Zinzendorf. You’ll be happy to know that in its original form it contained 26 stanzas, but by the time it began to be included in hymnals in the late 18th century it was reduced to the four that we have today. It’s listed in our hymnal under the heading of trust, but it also speaks to the faithfulness we strive for, as well as the strength of the Spirit which lifts us up when times are the hardest. The second stanza of that hymn has always reminded me of Mark’s account of Jesus facing His temptation in the wilderness.
If the way be drear, if the foe be near,
let not faithless fears o’ertake us;
let not faith and hope forsake us;
for through many’a woe to our home we go.
Mark chapter 1 tells us of Jesus baptism and then immediately following, His temptation in the wilderness. “The Spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And He was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to Him.” God, our heavenly Father, knew exactly what Jesus was in for in the coming three years of His ministry and eventually in the suffering He would face as He went to the cross and His death. So, before He even began this ministry, He was given a preview of the hardships He would face. But not only that, Jesus was also led by the Spirit and ministered to by the angels. This picture of Jesus and the support for the ministry He was beginning is not unlike the three pictures we get from our readings today.
In our first reading we have Ezekiel being called by God to deliver an unpopular message to the house of Israel who is rebelling against God. “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are also impudent and stubborn”…and He goes on and on. Much like Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth, speaking to a people who refuse to hear Him and in fact reject Him, Ezekiel has a long road ahead of Him in being able to deliver God’s message to a people who simply don’t want to hear it. Much like how we might feel when God’s calling on our hearts is to speak a word of truth into a world that just doesn’t want to hear it. And that’s the world we live in today, isn’t it? A world that rejects God’s Word and those who speak it. A world full of sin and despair. And we can’t exclude ourselves from that description because we’re often a part of the group that finds it easier to go our own way as opposed to hearing what God wants us to hear.
But like Ezekiel, we’ve been called to speak an unpopular message into this world of sin and rejection. The consolation we have is that God promises us, just like He did for Ezekiel, that He will be the one to stand us on our feet. That He will send His Spirit to enter into us and give us the strength to stand and say that which the world doesn’t want to hear. He promises to give us the strength to press on even in the midst of the fear of rejection.
And then we have Paul, who in speaking to the Christians in Corinth, tells them of the thorn that has been given him in the flesh. He calls it “a messenger of Satan to harass me.” There are many theories about what this particular thorn in Paul’s flesh may have been, but the Scriptures simply don’t elaborate. Regardless, we know that Paul saw this as Satan’s work. And it was meant to derail him from the work that God would have him do. So how did Paul overcome this temptation, this thorn in his flesh? He says that in his pleas, God’s response is, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Power perfected in weakness is explained as Paul says, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” It seems counterintuitive. To be strong I must be weak? It doesn’t at first glance make a lot of sense. But what Paul is saying, and what we as Christians know, is that we have no power in ourselves that allows us to stand up to the evil one. The only way we can overcome the thorns in our flesh. The only way that we can speak a word of hope and comfort to others, is to realize that we can’t do it on our own. Just like Paul, our ability to speak, and act, and live, according to our calling, relies on the strength that God gives us. It’s only when we realize that we’re weak and in need of God’s strength that we can do the things He calls us to do. Just as Ezekiel was stood up for His work by the Spirit, Paul also relied on the strength of God to do any good he did in His life.
And so, we get to our Gospel lesson. Jesus faces rejection at His hometown synagogue in Nazareth. But there’s more than just that to this section of Mark 6. We’re told that even as Jesus went out among the villages teaching, He also sent out the twelve disciples. He sent them two by two. Some have said that this is kind of like a reversal of the flood. At the time of great wickedness in the world, when Noah was tasked with building the ark, all God’s creatures, including Noah, his sons, and their wives, came to the ark two by two. And now Jesus is sending His disciples out into a world of wickedness, two by two. In order to proclaim the need to prepare and repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And to proclaim to all the salvation that He’ll win for them through His death and resurrection on the cross.
This scripture tells us about what the disciples were tasked with doing, but it’s also a charge to each of us. To proclaim that message of repentance and deliver the message of the salvation that’s been won for us. But the way the disciples were sent out gave me a little pause as I read this passage. “He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in their belts – but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.” Nothing – just a staff, sandals and a tunic. Maybe they should have reminded us about this charge as we left seminary. As a family of 10 I can only dream of being able to leave for a trip with just what’s on our backs. I was reminded yesterday as I was cleaning the garage how much stuff goes along with us wherever we go. And yet, we know that Jesus’ command to the disciples really isn’t about the stuff at all. Rather it’s about a willingness to be wholly reliant on God for our provision on a daily basis. If we take nothing with us, then we have no choice but to allow God to be our provider. The fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer and Luther’s explanation of it makes this perfectly clear. ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ As the Israelites relied on the manna each morning and the apostles relied on the hospitality and generosity of those who welcomed them, we too need to remember that everything we have and everything we’re able to do is only because God, through His great provision and strength, has stood us on our feet like Elijah. He has made us strong in our weakness like Paul. And He gives us everything we need to be His disciples today.
The final stanza of von Zinzendorf’s hymn tells of the reward God has in store for us as we navigate this world of hardships and rejection as Christians.
Jesus lead thou on till our rest is won,
Heavenly leader, still direct us,
still support, console, protect us,
till we safely stand, in our fatherland.
As God has raised up His people in the past He continues to do so today. There will be days when our walk feels a lot like Jesus in the wilderness, or perhaps that God is asking the seemingly impossible, like Ezekiel thought. But we remember that He is our strength amidst the difficulties of this world. And He is our salvation. And we can’t forget what Christ, our Rock and our Redeemer, has done for us, and the eternal life He won for us through His great sacrifice for the sake of the whole world. Amen.
The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
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