The Park Forum

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 6  Read: Ezekiel 37 Listen: (5:07)  Read: Titus 3 Listen: (2:05)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Nov 7  Read: Ezekiel 38 Listen: (4:23)  Read: 1 Peter 1 Listen: (3:53)
Nov 8  Read: Ezekiel 39 Listen: (4:51)   Read: 1 Peter 2 Listen: (3:48)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 37.11-14

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

Reflection: Transforming Despair to Hope

By John Tillman

God did not create the image of the valley of dry bones. He borrowed it. Then transformed it.

The image of dry bones came from the exiled Israelites’ minds and mouths. “Our bones are dried up…” (v 11) God walked Ezekiel through a vision of the people’s self-conception. God transformed their hopeless image of despair into an image of hope.

Ezekiel’s vision held a personal message for him, a contemporary message for the community of exiles, and a timeless message for Christ’s church and each individual in it.

To Ezekiel, God spoke encouragement. Even if the people seemed dead to Ezekiel’s words, and hopelessly unwilling to listen and repent, he must keep speaking God’s truth to them. God’s Spirit would fulfill the promise of God’s words that Ezekiel spoke: “you will come to life.” (v 6)

To the exiles, God spoke hope. Their evaluation of their situation wasn’t wrong. They were as powerless as dead bones in a desert valley. They were a destroyed nation with armies, cities, and the temple laying in ruins. But God promised a miraculous recovery and return. God would bring them back to life and to his service.

The timeless message for Christians is partly built on the other two messages and chiefly built on the work of Jesus. All God’s promises, including to Ezekiel and the exiles, are “yes” in Jesus (2 Cor 1.20). We live in the time of fulfillment, when the wind of the Spirit is blowing.

Like Ezekiel, Jesus commands us to keep speaking God’s message—the gospel. It is not our words but God’s spirit that rattles people’s bones and raises them to life. But when we speak, especially when we speak God’s words, God’s Spirit moves. So speak.

Like the exiles, personal or collective sufferings and failures may cause hopelessness. World events may cause despair. We may say, “we are dry bones….”  What images of hopelessness are you holding on to?

Whether we suffer due to sin, like the exiles, or due to persecution, like the prophets, God’s spirit groans and endures with us now and will raise us after death. God says to us, as he said to the dry bones, “you will come to life.” This promise is both future and present, both individual and corporate.

Release hopeless images to Jesus, the firstborn from among the dead. Let him transform your despair to hope and bring your dry bones to life.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Bless our God, you peoples; make the voice of his praise to be heard;
Who holds our souls in life, and will not allow our feet to slip. — Psalm 66.6-8

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Ex Nihilo In Ezekiel

Ezekiel gazed across the valley and saw only bones, not freshly deceased remains but signs of those who had long since suffered death.

Ex Nihilo in Ezekiel

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Links for today’s readings:

Nov 5  Read: Ezekiel 36  Listen: (6:40)  Read: Titus 2 Listen: (2:01)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 36.26-27

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Reflection: The Radical Procedure of the Gospel

By John Tillman

It’s lovely to think of God giving us a new heart and putting a new Spirit within us. But it is terrifying to admit to the diagnoses that would lead to such a radical procedure.  

Our familiarity with miraculous examples of modern medicine has muddied this concept for us. Ezekiel wasn’t thinking of a sterile operating room where doctors replace a ten-pound chunk of muscle. As radical as cracking open someone’s chest is, Ezekiel’s concept of God replacing our heart is more extreme.

The biblical language isn’t referring to the heart in either the medical or emotional sense. When the Bible talks about the heart, it refers to our complete “inner being,” not any one organ or one part. It refers to our central, inner self. It is our spirit, mind, and emotions.

In the Bible, the heart, whether of a country or one person, is that which is central and vital, without which, meaning and purpose are lost. This is the heart that Ezekiel says is irreparable and dead and must be replaced. 

A spiritually relevant question to ask would be, “How did it get that way?”

Israel’s heart was hardened by their determined pursuit of idols of wealth and power at the expense of the poor and the unfortunate. God repeatedly says through Ezekiel that they have caused “bloodshed” in the land. Ezekiel is clear that this means enriching themselves by directly and indirectly causing the deaths of the voiceless, the weak, and the powerless.

Repeated uncaring actions. Repeated justifications of wrongdoing. Repeatedly using legalism to escape our responsibility to others. Repeatedly taking advantage and accepting the benefits of advantages given to us. 

This repeated friction as we strain against God’s promptings creates calluses, roughening hearts intended to be tender. These heart-hardening steps tread the path to exile. These are the actions of those whose idols are leading them to be insensitive to God’s voice, to be unmoved by God’s spirit.

After the shockingly violent and bloody experience Jesus undertook to make this transplant possible, he quietly comes to his disciples to begin the procedure. There in the upper room, he intimately prays a simple prayer that would not be answered for nearly fifty days: “he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20.22)

May this prayer of Christ be made real in our lives. May our hearts be made sensitive enough to feel his breath, hear his voice, and move as he directs.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and make melody. — Psalm 57.7

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Choices and Hard Hearts

Hardened hearts happen in stages. Do we hear and obey? Our heart will grow softer…
Do we hear and turn away? Our heart will grow harder…

Choices and Hard Hearts—Readers’ Choice

Read more: Judging Our Hearts

The most often quoted portion of Matthew’s seventh chapter is probably it’s first three words: “Do not judge.” Most people stop there.

Judging Our Hearts

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 4  Read: Ezekiel 35  Listen: (2:21)  Read: Titus 1 Listen: (2:24)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 35:13

You boasted against me and spoke against me without restraint, and I heard it.

Reflection: He Heard That

By Erin Newton

Some days I think about counting how often my kids say, “Hey mom!” followed by some request. It has now turned into a verb where I get tired and tell them, “Don’t hey-mom me.”

For me, I can usually predict what they want. I have been following their behavior, watching other people in their sphere, and foreseeing the next move. My request for a break in questioning is usually when I know the questions can wait. They’ll either figure out a solution or find the answer to their question on their own.

To my kids, I think they assume I’m ignoring them or that I somehow lost my hearing. Maybe they think I haven’t noticed what’s going on. It feels unjust to plead with someone who won’t answer and even more disheartening to feel invisible and mute.

In chapter 35 of Ezekiel, the prophet is instructed to speak against Edom due to their ongoing hostility toward God’s people. For centuries they spoke against Israel and taunted their God—and he heard it.

I imagine that for many generations (leading up to the time of Ezekiel), the people thought they were the only ones hearing Edom speak against God while he remained silent. I can imagine the frustration and desperation they had before a seemingly deaf God.

But he did hear. He was always listening. Nothing went unnoticed.

It’s hard to remember that truth sometimes. Even now, our prayers concerning the pain and suffering happening in the world and in our personal lives seem to go unnoticed. Is God delaying his answer? Will our patience and faith last? Do we have to spell it out for him?

Today, we are in desperate need of justice. We need wars to stop. We need politicians to stop their corruption. We need a way to make ends meet financially. We need healing or release from pain. We need help. We need answers. We need to know we are being heard.

Justice will only work if God can actually hear our prayers—even more, if God would hear what the oppressors are saying. Justice is best when the oppressed don’t have to beg for it to happen.

What encouragement it is to know that God has heard! Every mockery, every taunt, every prideful and blasphemous word—all has been heard. We honor God by bringing things to him in prayer, but we rest knowing he has already heard.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

I will sing of mercy and justice; to you, O LORD, will I sing praises. I will strive to follow a blameless course; oh, when will you come to me? I will walk with sincerity of heart within my house. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the doers of evil deeds; they shall not remain with me. A crooked heart shall be far from me; I will not know evil. Those who in secret slander their neighbors I will destroy; those who have a haughty look and a proud heart I cannot abide. — Psalm 101.1–5

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: A Terrifying, Absent God

God With Us is here. Despite the dark nights and shrill winds that obscure our ability to hear God, we are not alone.

A Terrifying, Absent God

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Links for today’s readings:

Nov 3  Read: Ezekiel 34 Listen: (5:11)   Read: 1 Timothy 6 Listen: (3:16)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 34.2-6

2 Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

Reflection: Tendencies of Unfaithful Shepherds

By John Tillman

God comforted Ezekiel, who sang the song of God’s love faithfully and beautifully to people who refused to listen and obey. Then God confronted the prophets and priests who were unfaithful. 

To modern ears, Ezekiel’s description sounds like flamboyant, prosperity gospel hucksters with pockets and clothing as gilded as their voices. This extreme visual, however, can cause us to miss deeper problems. God is less concerned with the wealth of the shepherd than with the health of the flock. 

In reality, most pastors live fiscally and morally responsible lives. Yet, a pastor can abuse power without ever accumulating a fleet of private jets. A pastor can abuse trust without ever being exposed in a sex scandal. Unfaithful shepherds place their own security and power before the health of the flock. Caring for others as a shepherd almost always goes against our self-preservation instincts.

In a beautiful pre-visualization of Jesus’ earthly ministry, God tells Ezekiel that he, himself, will come to the scattered sheep. He himself will search for them, gather them, heal them, and care for them.

Wise shepherds could draw from this passage a self-assessment tool: 

• Are the weak strengthened or are the “sleek and strong” subjecting the weak? 
• Are the sick healed or do the healthy shame the sick? 
• Are the hurts of the wounded bound up or are the angry ignored so they will limp away alone? 
• Are people treated tenderly or is failure or dissent crushed with authority and malice? 
• Are the strays and the lost brought home or do those who called this home stray? 

Jesus had compassion on the masses because they were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9.35-38) Those who should have been binding up the weak, were instead “binding up heavy burdens” and not lifting a finger to help. (Matthew 23.1-12)

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day and Ezekiel’s fellow prophets became unfaithful shepherds for similar reasons. Power and recognition were more attractive to them than service and selflessness. Control and authority were grasped by them rather than mercy and humility. Law and order were enforced by them rather than doing justice and righteousness. Unfaithful shepherds have these tendencies in common.

May we, and our shepherds be more like Jesus. May we seek and support earthly shepherds like him, who with mercy, humility, justice, and righteousness, gather, feed, guide, protect, and heal.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him. — Psalm 96.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Prayer for Faithful Shepherds

May our shepherds be more like Jesus and, under their guidance, may we be so as well.

Prayer For Faithful Shepherds

Read more: The Purpose of Power

The idea that the rich can’t be bought is a fallacy. In some cases, saying the rich can’t be bought is like saying an alcoholic won’t want another drink.

The Purpose of Power

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 2  Read: Ezekiel 33 Listen: (6:03)  Read: 1 Timothy 5 Listen: (3:22)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 33.30-32

30 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.

Reflection: The Limits of Ministry

By John Tillman

Ezekiel ministered during a drastic change in Jewish worship. Since the exodus, Jews had never been without the ministry of the priests at the tabernacle or the temple. With the sacrificial system dismantled, the gathering of God’s people to hear the teaching of priests and prophets like Ezekiel was all that was left of their worship practices.

Ezekiel was faithful but there are limits to what a minister of God can accomplish. Pastors can’t control whether people listen or have faith or obey.

There is a sense sometimes among ministers that failures of culture, failures of the body of Christ, and failures of communities are somehow all on them.

There is also, at times, dissatisfaction among congregants about the content and presentation during times of worship.

God holds prophets and preachers accountable for telling the truth but not for the outcome. Multiple times in scripture prophets were told ahead of time to speak the truth even though people would not listen. God requires watchmen on the wall to faithfully call out warning but holds people responsible for their response. Only if watchmen fail to tell the truth do they have blood on their hands.

Ministry leaders bear great responsibility and many fail in varying degrees as did Israel’s priests and prophets, (we will discuss this tomorrow) but hard-hearted listeners are still blameworthy. Even listening to Ezekiel, one of the greatest prophets of his day or any day, these exiled Jewish leaders remained greedy for gain rather than being repentant.

Ministry leaders are a force for good in the world when they raise their voices to call for change. But no matter how beautiful their voices are, if the body of Christ does not have ears to hear and hearts to respond, judgment will be the result.

We cannot allow pastors and worship leaders to become merely singers of love songs with beautiful voices and instrumentalists with beautiful artistry. We must have more than words of love in our mouths. We must have beautiful feet that carry the gospel. We must take actions that put God’s word into practice.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him. — Psalm 96.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Denying our Exile

Much of Ezekiel’s ministry was attempting to convince the already exiled, that there was not going to be a miraculous return to Israel’s glory days.

Denying Our Exile

Read more: Bloodshed and Bloodguilt

Bloodguilt is a person’s moral responsibility before God for unjust deaths that one caused or failed to take reasonable action to prevent…

Bloodshed and Bloodguilt