Puke it on up…."The task of preaching"
Ezekiel 3:1 “The voice said to me, “Son of man eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.”
Israel is in exile and while there a vision comes to Ezekiel; it is a call from God to deliver a message to His people. As God calls Ezekiel to this prophetic work, God also reminds Ezekiel that this message may fall upon deaf ears. Its as if God is saying that Ezekiel’s success is not tied up in whether or not the Israelites respond to the message. Ezekiel’s success is defined by whether or not he delivers the message God calls him to deliver. Moreover, if Ezekiel preaches a different message other then the message of God Ezekiel will be held responsible for the sins of the people. Ezekiel is to speak the word of God and put the ball in Israel’s court.
What a great reminder for me this morning. I find myself trying to find Jesus’ voice in me when it comes to preaching at this new church. I am not completely at peace with my delivery, style, and conviction. I find myself knowing inside what it looks like but yet getting there is a different story. I am reminded today that I need to be about pleasing Jesus in my preaching regardless of what happens in the midst of the congregation. I find myself asking the question, “Am I more worried about pleasing people or Jesus when it comes to my preaching at Crossroads?” I know that the gospel is the best news there is and yet in communicating this good news there is the necessity to speak from the heart of Ezekiel. I come today wanting to only please Jesus and to let everything go from there. I come this morning wanting to digest God’s word and communicate it to His people in its raw form regardless of how they respond.
Lord Jesus, give me the peace in you to digest your word and may it take root in my life and bubble up inside of me that I may be a vessel for you to communicate to your people. Give me the grace not to tame down your message or to take it easy on the folks but trust that the word you give me is the one to be rawly preached. Help me to digest the word and then throw it up into the face of your people. Amen.
I am called to puke up God’s word upon His people regardless of how it is received and this is the measure of successful preaching.
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