Don't Be Afraid When The World Turns On You
But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words. Even though briers and thorns surround you and you are living with scorpions, do not be afraid of their words, and do not be intimidated by the look on their faces, for they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 2:6)
Ezekiel had a hard job. God called him to be a prophet in exile to a people in exile. His job was to speak what the Lord told him to a people who were in exile because they turned away from the Lord. Ezekiel was sent to call the Israelites to repentance and to turn back to the Lord.
As God called Ezekiel to serve him, God also told Ezekiel not to be afraid when the Israelites refused to listen to him. This was nothing new. They had not been listening for many generations. They refused to worship God and worshipped the gods of the people around them instead. They did exactly what God had told them not to do. It was in their nature to not listen to God, and that meant that they wouldn’t listen to Ezekiel.
Not much has changed since Ezekiel’s day. There are still many people who do not want to hear what God has to say. they don’t want to hear that they are sinners in need of a savior. They don’t want to listen to the voice of the savior who calls them out of darkness into light. They would rather live in their sin and take pleasure in whatever their sinful nature desires. And we need not be afraid when they do not listen to us proclaim the gospel of forgiveness to them. We have the truth that we are forgiven in Christ Jesus. And the world’s hurtful words and actions can’t take that away from us. Amen.
The song for today is “Don’t Be Afraid” by Brandon Heath