“They Will Know That a Prophet Has Been Among Them”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

How do you know that God is here? Many people wonder about the presence of God in our midst, and how you can actually know that God is here. Furthermore, even if you know that God is in your midst, for what reason is He here? Does God come to bless and to give love and life, or does He come to judge and condemn and kill? How can you know? By His Word, in which the Lord reveals Himself and His will for you and for all mankind.

Ezekiel reports in today's Old Testament lesson that “The Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet.” He was called by God directly and immediately to preach the Word to the people of Israel. In Ezekiel's time, the people of God were in exile in Babylon, and many had given up the faith of their fathers – however weak that had been – and settled into a sort of sad agnosticism, some paying lip service to the gods of their pagan captors.

But here comes the Holy Spirit, who invades Ezekiel and picks him up bodily and stands him on his feet. Then the voice of God speaks to him and charges him to go out and preach the Word of the Lord to the people of God. He was to preach the Law of Moses. Teach the people the commandments of the Torah. Instruct them with the light of the counsels of God. Bring them to the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.

Likewise, when you leap forward a few centuries, Jesus gave much the same charge to the Twelve when He sent them out into the towns and villages of Israel. Mark records that, “they... proclaimed that people should repent.” They proclaimed the coming of the Christ.

But, in both cases, the message was not well-received. It was never expected that the preaching of the Word of God would be popular, but nevertheless it must be done. People do not like hearing that they are sinners. You do not like your faults, failings, and sins pointed out to you in detail. You can generally assent to the Law of Moses, and you can claim to try to live a good life, but when faced with the question “Do you love the Lord your God with your whole heart?”, you squirm and complain, but the answer is no, and you know as much.

God told Ezekiel right out of the gate that he would be shunned and his message ignored. He said, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’” Rebellion against God is nothing new in this generation. You may try to fool yourself by thinking that there were some bygone days when everyone went to church and the world was holier and more innocent and less corrupt. Repent. That is a lie. People have been wicked since the day of the Fall.

The people of Israel, whether in Ezekiel's time or in Jesus' time, marvelled at the preaching of the Word. They marvelled because those whom God calls speak with His authority. His Word has a strange ring in the ears of men. Men speak without authority of their own. The words of men have no real power of their own, but rather cause action when received by the hearer. By contrast, the Word of God has the power in itself to do what it says. The Word of God is God Himself, and that Word has taken on flesh. Therefore, those who proclaim the Word proclaim a living, breathing, active person who actually does what He says.

In every age, in every place, God has called His servants to preach His Word across the globe. And He has given them the authority so to do, by His command and promise.

Ezekiel was called directly by the Holy Spirit and charged with the prophetic office. The Twelve were called by our Lord Christ and sent out by Him to preach His Word. In both cases, these men of God preached what they had been given to say. They preached a powerful, life-changing, cosmos-altering Word, but it was not their words or thoughts. Rather, it was supplied to them by the One who is the Word Himself. They preached the Word of God because the Word of God dwelt with them.

St. Paul charged the Galatians never to listen to another word besides the Word of God. His counsel to them stands yet for you: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (1:8). The servants of God preach only what they have been charged. They preach to you the Law of God and the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They preach to convict you of your sins, to kill you with the sword of the Spirit, to bring you to repentance. They preach Christ, the power of God, who hears your confession and forgives your sin for the sake of His blood shed upon the cross.

The servants of God do not exist to preach to you a message that is nice to hear. The word of the cross is foolishness, a scandal, a treasure hidden. It does not tickle itching ears, but it does soothe aching hearts and calm fearful minds. When the servants of God preach to you this Word, then you know that God is here and that He is here for you.

And because they preach a message of such immense weight and value, the servants of Christ are charged to receive their living from the Gospel. A worker is worthy of his wages, and a servant of God makes his living from the Word of God. Therefore, the Twelve were charged to go out with a tunic, sandals, and a staff, but not extra clothes, no bag, no money hidden in their belts. They were to preach to those who would receive them, and shake off the dust of their feet as a witness to those who would not receive them. And they preached repentance to all people.

“They are a rebellious house.” That is how God described the people of Israel to Ezekiel as He gave the prophet his office. The people of this world do not want to hear the Word of God. It does not matter whether it is 500 BC or 2012 AD. Even those in so-called Christian lands are people of a rebellious house and a stiff-necked people. Jesus marvelled at the unbelief of His own people. They scoffed at Him in the synagogue, and then they tried to run Him off a cliff. They regarded His person – a lowly carpenter – and despised His message. And so He sent His apostles to other towns and villages, and they were received with joy by foreigners and strangers.

Sometimes the servants of God get discouraged. Ezekiel was rejected by his people and despised by a nation. His beloved wife was stricken by illness and was taken from him the same day that Jerusalem fell to her conquerors. He was forbidden to mourn for his beloved, because the people would not mourn for the loss of the House of God.

Preachers of the Word in every age get fed-up, frustrated, furious even, at the unbelief which meets the preaching of the Word. God's Word falls upon deaf ears and stony hearts. It is strangled by weeds and snatched by birds. People reject the Lord's Word and His messengers. Or, worse yet, they pay lip service to the Word, but their hearts are inwardly empty. And they mourn for those who are lost, who do not or will not hear, for those who forsake the Gifts of God.

But for both preacher and hearer, God promises that “My grace is sufficient for you.” Just as the grace of God was sufficient to sustain St. Paul through all his trials and tribulations, so also His grace is sufficient for you.

His grace is sufficient because He is sufficient. Our Lord Jesus Christ has been offered up for you, as the one and only atoning sacrifice which bore your sins and brought you salvation by the forgiveness of your sins. He alone is sufficient to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

His death was sufficient to take away the sting of death for all people, for all who would believe in Him. His resurrection is sufficient to give life and salvation to all who look to Him. He is sufficient to be your God and your savior and to forgive your sins.

You cling to the Word of God, which proclaims that, for the sake of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven and your life is secure. That Word of God, which is preached by the mouths of feeble, sinful men, is sufficient because by that Word, the Word Incarnate comes to abide in your heart. His life is now your life, because He lives within you.

So now, “whether they hear or refuse to hear... they will know that a prophet has been among them.” The Word of God has been preached to you and to your children, and that Word shall endure forever. His Word has power to do what none of His servants could ever do – convert poor, miserable sinners into forgiven, redeemed saints.

The Holy Spirit works when and where He wills. He comes like a passing rain shower or a blowing wind. He works great miracles of faith while He is here, but you cannot bind Him to you, except by His Word. If you hear and receive His Word, then the Spirit abides with you and His riches are given to you. But if you reject Him or His servants, then the wind blows on by, and leaves dryness and death behind.

Thanks be to God that He has called His servants in every age – in our age – to preach His Word and administer His Gifts. His Word is proclaimed, and His people are saved. The seed is sown without thought to the cost or the result. The forgiveness of sins is given to each and every one of you. Believe, and you already have all the gifts of God. Receive His Word, gladly hear and learn it, and taste and see that the Lord is good. And you will know that a prophet has been among you, because our Prophet, Priest, and King dwells in your midst for your good.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.