Jump Start # 1853

Ezekiel 33:32 “Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.”

Ezekiel is a tough book. It’s a tough book to understand and even a tougher book to relate to all the things that the prophet experienced. Written from Babylon to the exiles of Judah who were taken away in captivity, God was trying to reform and change the hearts that made Him punish them.

In our passage today, God is telling the prophet about how he is viewed by the people. They love him, but they won’t do what he tells them. In a few verses before this, Ezekiel is told that the people talk about him and they love to hear him. In fact, the people encourage each other to hear the prophet. “Come now and hear what the message is…” No one had to plead with these people to come. They wanted to come. They loved to hear the messages of Ezekiel.

Our verse illustrates how the people viewed Ezekiel. He was like a musician singing and playing before them. It was like going to a concert. Listening to Ezekiel was like listening to one who had a beautiful voice and played well on the instrument.

I’ve been blessed to be able to hear some incredible singers preform live. I saw Andy Williams singing his famous, “Moon River.” I got to see Paul McCartney sing the most recorded song of all time, his “Yesterday.” From Dan Fogelberg, Chicago, America, Styx, Gordon Lightfoot, Don McClean, Billy Joel, Little Richard, even the Zombies, I have sat and heard some amazing pop singers.

Ezekiel was like a concert on stage to these people. It was a show. They loved the show but they didn’t do anything with what he had said. There was no changing. The words pleased them but didn’t move them. From a preacher’s perspective, we don’t want to be the singer on stage. Our desire isn’t to fill the audience with people who adore us and flatter us with kind words. We are not about us, but the God whose word we are preaching. Ezekiel’s audience didn’t get that. Their hearts would not change. What is interesting is that they would continue to come and they even liked listening to Ezekiel, but they weren’t moving.

This is frustrating. This is not the goal of preaching. This is not the purpose of a sermon. It is not to like the preacher, but rather to persuade people, as Paul told the Corinthians.

The “Ezekiel complex” is alive and well today. Congregations want a “good preacher.” They want someone who is “interesting” to listen to. But in all of that, many do not want to be pushed, changed, challenged or moved from where they are. We are comfortable. We like where we are. We don’t want to have to do more than what we are already doing. Just preach nice sermons, we’ll pay you well, and all will be great. For those who see preaching as just another job, that is appealing. Loved. Paid well. No bumps in the road. Sounds like a cushy job. And, it is. However, that’s not our call as preachers. We are not to merely preach “nice sermons.” We are to preach the word. We are to preach in season and out of season.

Ezekiel’s audience mirrors those who came out of Egypt. For forty years they wandered through the wilderness, funerals nearly every day, until finally only Joshua and Caleb where left as the original adults who came out of Egypt. A whole generation died in that wilderness. They died because they complained, they were faithless and they wouldn’t change.

Now, all these years later, Ezekiel’s people are in Babylon. They will be there for 70 years. Most of the adults who were taken captive would die in Babylon. Those that came back, were young when they first entered Babylon. A generation died in captivity. A generation that loved to hear Ezekiel preach, but who would not change.

The “Ezekiel complex” reminds us that there are two parts to Sunday’s sermon. The part we notice immediately and often focus most of our attention upon, is the preacher’s part. He writes the sermon. He delivers the sermon. We judge that sermon has being good, or, ok, or, one of the best we’ve ever heard. We go home and another week passes. We gather the next week and do the same thing all over. Week after week. Year after year. We listen to hundreds and hundreds of sermons in our lifetime. A few we will remember. We may recall a story or two. We may remember a joke. We might write something in our Bibles. But for the most part, all those words pass through us.

The other part of Sunday’s sermon is more complicated. It’s the heart of the listener. He hears the sermons. He may even like what he hears. But once the sermon has been preached, what then? What happens after the sermon? This is the part that only the listener can decide. Will he be changed by the sermon? Will he get closer to the Lord? Will he walk in righteousness? Will he be motivated and challenged to do more than what he is doing? Will there be any noticeable improvements after the sermon?

Or, as in Ezekiel’s situation, will the people love to hear the message, but they have no intention of changing. For them, it’s like sitting in the audience and listening to a concert.

Sunday isn’t a show. It’s worship. God isn’t upon a stage, He is upon the throne. The best sermon may not be constructed well, delivered well, or even outlined well, but it will be one that changes my life. It will be one that makes me step up as a parent or a spouse. It will be one that provokes me to go across the aisle and forgive someone. It will open my heart to reach others. It will show me the value of having others in my home. It will get me to put Christ first in my life. It will lead me to walk in righteousness.

“Love your sermons, preacher.” Really? Why? Is it because it’s making you into a better person and building character, or is it because you simply like my style on stage? Performance or production—that’s the difference. Listening or becoming? Watching or changing?

Poor Ezekiel. How heart breaking to be told what we read in our verse today. People love you but they are not going to listen to you. You are not going to change these hearts. Preachers don’t want to be loved, they want to make a difference.

The sermon has two parts: the preacher’s part and the listener’s part. Together, they build faith and commitment to Christ. But it takes both parts.

Do you have the “Ezekiel complex?” Work on it. Allow sermons to be a powerful tool to help you in your walk with the Lord. Do more than thank the preacher for a good sermon, live the sermon. Become what God wants you to be. That’s the purpose and the point of the sermon.

It’s not a show on stage, it’s about salvation in your heart!

Roger