The Festival of Holy Trinity – Pr. Anderson sermon
Ezekiel 18:30-32 “The God of the Living”
May 26, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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O God, the Creator and Savior of the world, who made Yourself known in the work of man’s redemption as the mystery of the ever adorable Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Three in One and One in Three, we humbly ask You, reveal in us the full power of this faith, into which we have been planted by Baptism, that, being born of water and of the Spirit, we may by a life of holiness be formed into Your image here and rise to Your blissful presence hereafter, there to join, with the song of the seraphim, in praising You, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 134)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 18th chapter of the prophet Ezekiel. We read the verses once more in Jesus’ name:
“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.”
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, coming to you in the Means of Grace with forgiveness of sins, life and salvation so you will live forever, dear fellow redeemed:
When it comes to being religious, you may have people ask you, two things. What kind of church do you go to and what kind of god do you have? Let’s explore those questions by starting with the easy one. What kind of church do you go to? From the world looking in, you most likely have heard that you are at one of those “strict churches.” Maybe you have heard that your church is one of those last remaining ones that still preaches fire and brimstone. From there we can hit that second question. If you go to a church that reigns down fire and brimstone from the pulpit, then of course you have a god who must be mean and nasty. In the climate of today, no one wants a god who is going to judge everything they do. While the world thinks that we have this god who would rather wish us all dead, that is simply not the case. Of course, the enemy who disguises himself as an angel of light would love for us to be in the prison he has been sent to. God did not create you to die, nor to have an eternal death. The God who is with you, who you put all your trust in is the God of the living.
All through Scripture we see how merciful our God is and He does in fact want us all to live. The thoughts of the world are not new. Our Old Testament text takes us to a time where it looks like God simply abandoned His people. The prophet Ezekiel is living out his days with the people who are being held captive by the Babylonians. Jerusalem was destroyed for her disobedience. As the years go by, the exiles are growing restless. We all love being at home. If we are taken away from our homes to live in a foreign land for the next seventy years, we would also probably grow restless. The exiles believe that they are in this position because of their ancestors. Why would God make them pay for their sins? This is the common thought that people have when problems arise in their lives. Does God exact revenge on those who don’t deserve it?
As the people are pointing out all of their problems, thinking that it shouldn’t be this way, the prophet Ezekiel puts to bed all of these excuses. He prophesies to the people that they are going to be judged according to their own deeds. The deeds that they are committing happen to be the same deeds that their ancestors committed. “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD.” God isn’t showing favoritism, or exclusion. The people have problems because of they created them. Problems that they want to pin on others or simply pin them all on God. They have been trying to outrun God’s judgment for a long time, and even when it finally caught up with them, they still tried to escape.
Of course, there is no escape from a God who can see all things. Even when you have already been taken from your home and exiled. Those echoes of long ago still are heard around the world. The supposed “God who runs it,” clearly is letting it all fall apart right? There are wars, natural disasters, and people we love die from diseases. Even these things that happen in the world are not God’s fault. Like Job we are tiny in the eyes of the Almighty! Job exclaimed, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). A confession that is so hard and most of the time never made. How can the Lord be blessed when He takes things away from us? There are times it can be easy to think like the world does, that God is vindictive and unfair.
As our thoughts go to anger, God comes back and says, “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” God sees our excuses and He says those excuses will never cut it. If we don’t turn from our wicked ways, then our sins will be our ruin. We will return to the earth naked. We will return to the earth with nothing. Our death will be eternal. This isn’t a message of fire and brimstone; this is a warning for our souls. God calls for a new heart and a new spirit that beats for Him. In our fallen state our hearts will only beat for what our flesh wants. It will name God as our enemy. So, God gives us all the command to repent, and when we do that as hard as it is, He says “I will do the rest and you will live.”
The people during the time of the exile were given a message that is fitting for us today. It is a message that points us to the work of God and how much He loves us. Mankind is His prized possession, and He does not want to condemn it. He is not the villain of the story but the Savior. He could have chosen to destroy everyone because of sin. Instead, He points the people away from their excuses toward His ultimate love for them. Ezekiel prophesied, “Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” This is the second time that He tells the people this. One of Satan’s great lies is to convince the world that God does not care. We read and hear in Scripture how wrong we are. To turn from our ways means to turn and live because God is the God of the living.
This is the Lord’s declaration, that all would turn and live. The people in exile are holding onto this promise. The way in which they will live is through the promise that God made, that He would send His Son. This promised Son allows all to live through Him. Holding to the promise, this exile will turn into a remnant. A remnant for this promised Son to be born for. We know this promised Son. The Son of God was named Jesus.
As we heard at Christmas, the feast of the Father, the name Jesus is very special. Joseph was told, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). So, God comes together and throughout the feasts of the church year we see how glorious He really is. For God to be the God of the living and to save us, He has to carry out the promise. This promise brings us salvation with the triune God working together. The Father sends His Son. The Son follows the will of the Father and gives up His life. The exiles had the sign of Moses and the serpent. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). The iniquities and sins that God demands we turn from are taken away by the Son who is lifted up and dies on the cross.
The cross takes away the transgressions and iniquities that bring you to ruin. The cross is what makes a new heart and gives you a new spirit. A sweet message that is revealed to you that no matter what sin is committed, one where you have called out God for being unfair, or falling for the lie that God doesn’t care, these sins are wiped clean with the precious blood of Christ. The work is outside of you. You cling to this cross, this Gospel message and it gives you life. The life of Christ is what God sees. He then regards you clean. You are no longer spiritually dead as Christ takes away your sins. With you alive and well in Christ, God then reveals to you how you know you receive this blessing of life.
God told the people and He still tells the world today He wants to see it live. He does not want people to die to their trespasses. So, He sends out the message that changes hearts. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17). The world is already condemned so He doesn’t need to bring down more fire. The fire is there and waiting. So, with mercy and love the Son comes down from heaven and the Father says, “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” This blessing to live is brought to you in externals that you hear and see. God the Holy Spirit comes from Christ to place in you a new spirit through the Means of Grace. Through hearing the Word and receiving the Sacraments, you live. You live forever with the God of the living.
Now while there will be times you feel you can’t stand in the presence of the holy and triune God; it is because God is triune you know the mercy He has. The world will try to disagree and get rid of His holy judgment entirely. They falsely believe He is the villain. The real villain is defeated and with him so are his allies of sin and death. The sins are put on the Son of God. Death is destroyed by Him revealing God certainly is the God of the living. The blessings of life and salvation are brought to you in the Word and Sacraments. With the iniquities confessed, the new heart and spirit are created by God. A gift that is undeserved and necessary. There is no pride in your death, only that you would turn and live. You live because He is the God of the living. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:36).
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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