Truth or Consequences?

RWorkowski/ July 24, 2016   TRINITY 9 Morning Prayer TED FALLS, Lector

Homily:  Truth or Consequences?

OT:  Ezekiel 14:1--11

NT:  1 Thess. 4:1--12

In the 1950’s ---up until the 1970’s, there was a zany, wacky, hilarious game show called Truth or Consequences.  The host would call up 2 people from the audience---& they had to tell something or answer a question truthfully---or pay the consequence.  BUT, since the questions were Trick Questions, the contestants found out (to their shock & dismay) that while they thought they were telling the truth, their truth had been cleverly hijacked--& now they must suffer the Consequences. They had to perform the silliest stunts---like searching for a $100 bill---but the bill [they were told] was placed at the bottom of 1 of the 50 lemon meringue pies on the stage—& they had to find the $100 bill with their hands tied behind their back, doing all the digging thru the lemon meringue with their tongue & nose & face. It was quite a scene.  

What made it especially humorous was that the audience, before the contestants were brought out, were informed that the $100 bill was not in the pie at all, but on the back shirt of the contestant.  The show was harmless & fun for the TV audience.  But the premise was quite realistic----if you don’t tell the truth, there are consequences.

When it comes to telling the truth---whether in Religion or Politics or Medicine or Education or in any other area of life, there are Consequences.  And there are consequences as well, if we tell a lie.

Ezekiel was telling the people of Judah the truth---the truth about Babylon, about Nebuchadnezzar, about what God was revealing to him.  If they acted on the Truth of God, there would be 1 outcome; & if they preferred their own pathway, the outcome would be deadly & filled with misery.

Ezekiel was not only a prophet, he was also a priest---& these 2 strains (Prophet/Priest) run throughout all 48 chapters.  As a prophet, he was not only a PREACHER of what God told him to preach,---but he was also a PREDICTER of unseen future events.  Some have even called him a psychic---for he was able (from Babylon) to PREDICT an instantaneous death of a particular man in Jerusalem---- even though he (EZEKIEL) was 700 miles away from that person.   

And as a PRIEST, his zeal was for the proper worship of God----a properly made altar, a properly proportioned Temple,--& a properly made people---holy, prayerful, zealous for the Lord God Jehovah, offering to him the sacrifice of not only their lips, but their lives. And these 2 stands are woven throughout the Book.  But there is more to the Book.

Every book of the Bible has a story, a theme, a message.  The immediate context of EZEKIEL (& Jeremiah) is this:  the prophets of God warned Israel in the north, & Judah in the south, that they must repent & turn to the Lord….or face the consequences!  

They tried to rouse the people because the Lord was preparing Assyria,--- like a pack of wolves, -- a vicious & consuming pagan army.  They would rip & tear & devour & impale.  They would skin their victims alive, & then drape the human skin drapery from the city walls as a warning to other resisting cities.

Until the advent of WW2, there has never, in the annals of history, been a more vicious & annihilating army---& the grisly record of what they did is still, to this day, carved in stone.  They wanted their deeds to be remembered by everyone --& for all time!  

ISRAEL & JUDAH heard these truths from God’s Truth Tellers—Jeremiah & Ezekiel---but these warnings fell on deaf ears.  TRUTH or CONSEQUENCES!  The disastrous consequence was that for all recorded history, the Ten Tribes that constituted “Israel” disappeared from history & were never seen again.   In time, Assyria was defeated by the Babylonians, & it was now JUDAH’s turn to face the Babylonian war machine. There would be 3 successive invasions.  

Ezekiel sees himself as a Watchman; someone on the tower of the city wall.  He’s elevated & from his vantage point can see the danger.  It’s in the distance, but it’s coming with an alarming swiftness.  YET,--- the princes & the false prophets & the priests & the people doze on---all is well, all is OK, all is peace.  Our security is behind these thick walls, our security is that we are Jerusalem & God would never destroy his own Temple; our security is listening to OUR voices, our soft & reassuring voices.      

Ezekiel was living in interesting times---we certainly could say “Disturbing Times”. We too are living in interesting times---we might say disturbing times—as we notice the erosion of Judeo-Christian values & ethics & morals & standards.  

Until recently, the European & American “way of life” has not been challenged by Islamic forces since their last defeat in the Middle Ages.  But now those forces, seemingly inconsequential a decade ago, are now very evident.  Murders & massacres & bombings, & even overthrow of governments----is before our very eyes. Yet, many doze on.

In addition to this, we have “interesting times/disturbing times” on the political scene as well.  If you’ve been keeping up with the political climate in the Democratic & Republican camps there is much that is not only disturbing, but decidedly against our cherished Judeo-Christian values.  And this erosion has been going on for a long time.  

But Disturbing Times are not just on the world stage or in the political arena, but most frighteningly in the holy Catholic & Apostolic Church---the people of God, the flock of God, the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

It is not just in general society [where it might be expected] but in the CHURCH that the Bible is disregarded & devalued.  

Mainline Protestant denominations have led their people so far astray, that they now endorse (& vigorously promote), as Church Policy, same-sex marriage (clergy & laity), abortion, rejection of Creation & wholehearted endorsement of evolution, ----and since the Bible is not true & Jesus is NOT the Way/Truth/Life---but only 1 of many ways of reaching harmony & brotherhood & happy days-----then it is, to my mind (& perhaps to your mind as well), that our departure from God & God’s Word & God’s Son----has brought us to his low degree.  

A similar moral & spiritual erosion was taking place in the days of Ezekiel, & the end result was the TOTAL destruction of Israel & Judah & Jerusalem---including the Temple.

I suggest that a good Bible verse to remember in these troubled times is PROVERBS 14:34—Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

The Book of Ezekiel is informative in any number of ways….& I’ve titled my homily/sermon “Truth or Consequences” because that’s part of what Ezekiel is saying to the people of Judah----either you listen to TRUTH---the Word of the Lord---as it comes from my lips; OR, if you don’t & continue on your present path, you will pay the consequences.

Just as the moral erosion in our country & in the Church has taken quite a while, step by step, a mild denial here & there, --or a rejection of ONE truth, & then a 2nd & a 3rd ---so it was in Ezekiels day---& in the days & generations before him.

We’ve all heard of King Hezekiah, & under his reign there were good times & bad times, but during his reign there came a period of refreshing.  There was a revival.  The gods & goddesses were put away, the prostitution groves were closed, the practice of witchcraft & Spiritism was abolished. There was a cleansing, a purifying.

Temple worship was restored. The Bible was read & memorized & given 1st place.  The land prospered & there was emotional & spiritual healing, & that peace that passes understanding.  

But in time, with the death of the King, his son Manasseh came to rule.  His reign was the longest in the history of Judah, ---& also the most evil & corrupt.  All the old practices were revived---pagan temple prostitution, child sacrifice, denial of Jehovah as the One True God, & compromise at every level.    In turn, other Kings came & went---some evil, some holy & exemplary (like Josiah), but all in all the trend was a steady downhill descent.

Ezekiel & Jeremiah & other prophets tried to turn the King & people around, but these godly voices of TRUTH were banished or tortured or mocked.  False prophets had the Kings ear (& his nobles)-----& when Jeremiah or Ezekiel said NO, don’t listen to those siren voices---they were mocked & treated roughly & rebuffed, & the Word of the LORD was not listened to or obeyed.  

Their trust would be in political alliances, intrigue, plotting, massive brick walls & forts, chariots, a handsome portfolio,---- & trust in man & things, but not in God, or in God’s prophets speaking God’s WORD.

To this very day, this very hour, like Ezekiel on the watchtower who saw the danger & trumpeted the truth,---- we are to be a city set on a hill, a light in a dark world,----and we contest against the Kingdom of Darkness & all its principalities & powers.  

But, at the same time, we are confident that He dwells in us & we in Him.  What better place to be than in God’s care & keeping.  In Psalm 121 we hear David say----I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills: Where shall my help come from?  My help cometh from the LORD, who made heaven & earth.

So, amid many fears, we are not fearful, but rather, CONFIDENT, for as the Scripture says in 1 John 4:4: “…greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

The ending chapters of the Bk of Ezekiel are not so much an ending, as a beginning---a prophecy of Truth, --a wonderful word of Assurance & Promise:  there will be a new, radiant, glorious Temple, and a glorious city with streams of living water.  And the very last words of the book are these:  “…the name of that city shall be THE LORD IS THERE.” [Yhwh shammah]

There he stands----the Preacher of Truth---700 miles from home; the people exiled---foreign culture, foreign language, foreign gods,---and yet, so far from home, YHWH Shammah---the Lord is there….just as he was with Ezekiel’s other fellow-exiles---the 3 young men thrown into the fiery furnace; Daniel in the lions den. Their dwelling place was in that holy city, whose name is The LORD IS THERE.

The LORD IS THERE is the city where Ezekiel & all God’s people (stranded in Babylon) have their real & true & permanent dwelling place.  And today, & until he come again, even at this very hour, stranded in our own Babylon, we have our citizenship in heaven & have our abode in HIS City:   THE LORD IS THERE. He is with his Holy Church forever.

And I saw a new heaven & a new earth, the holy city coming down from God out of heaven,…& a great voice saying God is with his people…& he will dwell with them; God himself shall be with them. In these disturbing times, may we rest in this blessed assurance:  Jesus is LORD, & we dwell in his city---Jehovah shammah, the LORD IS THERE!

+ In Nom Pat/Fil/SS. Amen

(REV. 21:1—4, selected)