Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2005 : September 25, 2005

Theme: The Discouraged Discover New Life in Christ

Church year occasion: Pentecost 19

The words before us were recorded in one of the darkest periods of Old Testament history. The Northern 10 tribes had already been destroyed by the Assyrian Empire. Now, the Babylonians had taken control and had taken many of God's people of Judah into exile -- one of these was the prophet Ezekiel. But the worst was yet to come -- Jerusalem and the temple were about to be destroyed because the people had turned away from the Lord. At that dark time in their history, God sent them Ezekiel as his prophet.

The Israelites that Ezekiel preached to were far from their homes and living in captivity. This was what they were thinking: "I don't deserve this. I'm being punished for what my forefathers did. My forefathers complained in the wilderness; my forefathers worshipped the golden calf and Baal. But I didn't do any of those things. Yet, here I sit in exile being punished for something I didn't even do! God you are not treating me fairly! It looks like my father ate the sour grapes and it's my teeth that are set on edge, like fingernails on a chalkboard. My forefathers sinned, and I'm being punished for it."

But God had a very different point of view as to why they were in exile. He said, " 'As surely as I live,' declares the Sovereign LORD, 'you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.' " They wouldn't quote the proverb any more because God would show them that they had no reason to call God unjust. And then he explained why. "For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son -- both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die." God's justice is always just because it is based on one simple but horrifying fact -- if you sin, you will die eternally.

The sin that God focuses on here resulted from discouragement -- blaming others. The Israelites were blaming their forefathers and even God for their troubles, when they should have realized that they were to blame. So the Israelites are guilty of a sin that has been around from the beginning of sin itself. It's the Blame Game -- "Did you eat the fruit I commanded you not to eat, Adam? Yes, but it's not my fault. It's the woman's fault. Is this true, Eve? Yes, but the devil made me do it." Adam and Eve were good at the blame game. The Israelites were adept at it as well. But we have perfected it over thousands of years now. We have the blame game down to a science. Society does it. A murderer or child molester's defense is: "I was brought up in a bad home." Let's blame my upbringing for how I treat others like dirt. At home we do the blame game. A husband and wife argue about something -- "I'm not going to apologize. She started the argument." You might hear the blame game in the church. "The church isn't growing fast enough, so it must be the Evangelism Team's fault." The Evangelism Team says, "We've been the ones doing evangelism work on behalf of the congregation for years and no one seems to notice or care or offer to help." Both groups are discouraged, so they blame others.

Does that seem to hit the mark with us? Are we so intent on blaming others for why our society or our home or our church isn't what we think it ought to be that we go round and round in the blame game? Then we need to realize two things: Realize that discouragement leads to the blame game, but that discovering Christ leads to a new life.

How does the Church grow, both by adding new members and by strengthening the ones already in it? By using the gospel. When we use the gospel, we are kicking Satan in the teeth and releasing people from his grasp. But we can't use the gospel on others effectively before we use it on ourselves. And before we can use the gospel on ourselves, we need to see our need for the gospel. Oh, and do we ever need the gospel! Just think of how often we complain about others and blame others. The next time we want to complain and blame others for something, whether it's true or not, let's look at ourselves. Jesus said in Matthew 7:3-5, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Instead of saying, "My spouse should apologize first," or "Others should do more in the church," let's compare ourselves to what God wants from us everyday -- undivided devotion to him and his gospel and putting every person on this earth in front of ourselves. But how often do we do that? It's pretty sad, isn't it? It's discouraging. In fact, it's damning.

Something has to happen. And in verse 30 God himself tells us what that something is: "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall." We need to repent. What is repentance? Not just feeling sorry for our sins, the sins that Jesus bore in our place on the cross. But also not wanting to do them again. Turning from them to God. It isn't easy. Some of the sins we carry around with us are ingrained in us and have been for many years, even before we can remember. The blame game is like that. It's like a boy who got his hand caught in a precious vase. His parents did everything they could to get the boy's hand out, from soap and water to cooking oil, but it wouldn't budge. Finally, when they were about to give up and simply break the vase to free the boy's hand, the boy said, "Would it help if I let go of the dollar I am holding?" Sometimes it's hard to let go of the sins we've become accustomed to -- like blaming others. But when we see our own shortcomings, the times when we haven't served our God with a faithful and undivided heart, then we can't blame others. The blame is ours.

We need to go to the only place that can help us -- Calvary. Jesus looked at how many times you and I would play the blame game, and he still picked up his cross and walked to Calvary, until his bruised and beaten body couldn't carry it anymore. He went up that hill of shame and disgrace and punishment and death. He did it to save you. He didn't complain when the crown of thorns was driven down on his head. He didn't complain when the nails of iron were driven into his hands and feet. He didn't complain when insults came flying from all sides or even when his own Father abandoned him to the torment of hell itself. He suffered it all -- for you, for me, for every sinner who has ever sinned, playing the deadly blame game or any other sin. That and every sin has been forgiven. When we repent of those sins, we receive the forgiveness Jesus has already won on the cross and given us through faith.

Now, as Christians, we strive to leave those sins behind us. We make the first move at mending fences with our spouse; we realize it's our responsibility to reach out to others and share the gospel with others instead of relying on someone else to do it. The result? We just kicked the devil in the teeth. He knows that when we serve God and each other because of what Christ did for us, then he's a goner. Ezekiel sums it up nicely for us: "Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.... Repent and live!" God gave you a new heart and a new spirit. Repent and live. How simple! Instead of being discouraged we are discoverers of God's grace, not demoralized but determined to serve our Savior, not disgruntled but those who want to dismantle Satan's power over others by sharing Jesus' gospel with them.

Columbus discovered America yet died a discouraged man. You have discovered Jesus and his forgiveness. That means you've discovered a new world in which you can serve Jesus by serving others. Amen.