Ezekiel 3:4-11
4 He said to me: Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my very
words to them. 5For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and
difficult language, but to the house of Israel 6not to many peoples of
obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot
understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. 7But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they are not
willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel have a hard
forehead and a stubborn heart. 8See, I have made your face hard against
their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. 9Like the
hardest stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not fear
them or be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.
10He said to me: Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you receive
in your heart and hear with your ears; 11then go to the exiles, to your
people, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God’;
whether they hear or refuse to hear.Think:
Today's readings were both from Ezekiel, makes me think I should revisit that great prophet. But really the first reading today where the Lord says to Ezekiel that he is not sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language really resonated with me. Yesterday I put up a post on facebook stating that sometimes I love being a mac user, and sometimes I really hate it when I can't make it talk to PC programs. I thought it would preach, but I needed a scripture to make it work- and here it is... who'd have thunk it.
Let me take a step back and say that I have been in a land where I was the person of obscure and difficult speech. I lived in Tokyo for a semester as a undergraduate and I thought I would become an English teacher in rural Japan afterwards. But I was so lost, I was so depressed, and I was so out of my element that this is when I started my journey back toward my Christian faith (after a 5 years hiatus). I met the priest at a local Anglican Church in Tokyo - and unfortunately I cannot recall his name but I remember being in awe of his bi-lingual presiding and preaching. He could preach in his native Japanese and his adopted English and beside that according to the bulletin he also offered counsel in Korean. He was able to speak to those of difficult speech - how many native English speakers realize that American English has absolutely no concrete grammar rules? The only rule we have is "I before E except after C..." and even that isn't a steadfast rule.
Anyway Ezekiel is sent to preach the message to those who spoke his language- and that brings me back to the computer language thing. In the 21st century we are lucky enough to have computer translators, or internet services which will allow us to get in touch with translators so it can be argued that the issue of something being "lost in translation" could be a problem of the past. But it is not, there are nuances and turns of phrase which populate every language, and within every language these are pitfalls for a non-native speaker. But we invented this computer language, well I didn't but some very smart engineer types did and the language is based on 1's and 0's and it should be 'translation' proof. But its not. Because as the language developed so did different versions of the language and now we have two major software languages that most times can communicate with one another quite well, but sometimes, rarely there are glitches.
So what do we do when we have glitches when we talk to one another about the message that God has given us to share? What do we do when we reach the hard headed-ness of those who will not listen? We should do what God tells Ezekiel to do, to proclaim the words of the Lord, to proclaim the justice of the Lord and know that they can hear even if they cannot listen.
If they are stubborn be stubborn back. If they are hard headed be hard headed back. It sounds a lot like being a translator doesn't it? It sounds a lot like being a parent doesn't it? It sounds a lot like making two programs who don't want to talk to one another work together doesn't it?
I spent a few years working and teaching at community colleges, and local universities. I spent a few years in youth ministry and I can tell you young people are stubborn, just like their parents are stubborn. They don't want to listen, but its amazing what they hear. People have asked me as the "authority" on teenagers and young people why they don't come to church, and my answer is usually because we don't talk to them or some variation of that- we don't talk to them about what is important to us, we try to talk to them about what is important to them, and that's not why we are in church. Why we are in church its actually the exact opposite of what teens are looking for. Teens are looking to break away from the authority of their parents, to establish their own identity. That doesn't mean they can't do it under the true authority of Jesus Christ, but if they don't know that there is an authority which will allow them to spread their wings and fly in the hopes that they return then they won't return and this is what we have to instill in young people. The only way to do that is to be honest and share our stories as they happened. Teenagers can smell bullshit a mile away. They are stubborn so be stubborn back. They want truth so give them truth, they might not listen but they will hear it, and it will stick because it is the truth. Jesus loves them, just like he loves you and me and everyone else in his care, whether they listen or not.
Prayer:
Today I'm borrowing a prayer from the BCP which I come back to often in my daily life and work:
God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Contemplation:
15 minutes centering prayer (if my dog will leave me alone for that long)
No comments:
Post a Comment