Lenten devotions: April 3, 2014

April 3, 2014                           Psalm 130

Thursday                                 Ezekiel 1:1-3; 2:8—3:3

                                                Revelation 10:1-11

           

Take a minute to read the passages for the day. I did, then asked myself, “OK, where do I go from here?”, especially after reading the sections from Ezekiel and Revelation. What meaning can these have for me? Ezekiel dates back to around 590BC when the people of Israel were in captivity in Babylon and exiled from their homeland. Revelation dates from after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD. And both Ezekiel and John (the writer of Revelation) are instructed to eat scrolls that taste as sweet as honey (who would have guessed?).

I love honey. I buy my honey at the stand on Route 312 just south of I84. I eat oatmeal for breakfast twice a week just so I can dump big globs of honey on it and enjoy the flavor. Ezekiel and John here literally eat God’s word, and it’s like honey in their mouth. Living among God’s people and hearing his word, part of the baptismal promise. That’s the honey. But it doesn’t stop there. Ezekiel and John were both prophets. Ezekiel was sent to the people of Israel who had a hard forehead and stubborn heart (Ez 3:7). For John, what was sweet in his mouth was bitter in his stomach. Both were sent to what on the surface, seemed to be a defeated people. In exile in Babylon and after the destruction of Jerusalem, the people knew things would never be the same. And so here we are again. In the past 20 years, the number of ELCA Lutherans in the US has decreased by 20%. The average attendance reduced by 52%. The number of young people enrolled in Sunday School decreased by 61%. As in 590BC and 70AD, how we practice our faith will change, perhaps significantly. With hard foreheads and stubborn hearts we resist change. But God is always faithful. Our part is to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, serve all people following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.

Lord, out of the depths of our despair we cry out to you. Forgive out hard hearts and stubborn ways. Give us confidence in your steadfast love.    Amen.

Deacon Charlie Germain