Ezekiel’s Prophetic Mission
Are you like me and try and put off what you don’t want to do? Maybe, it’s cleaning the oven or taking that ‘step up’ in your exercise. But then there comes that moment when you can’t put it off any longer. It just has to be done. And when it’s done, you look back and wonder why it took you so long. Now you feel good, better than you did before.
How are you getting on with Ezekiel? As a church, we’re studying the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, on Sundays and in small groups. But Ezekiel is complex and challenging. TBH, that’s what we’re studying it. We wrestle with the whole of Scripture, not just the bits we find easier. We discover that, even passages that, at first reading, some bonkers, have a deeper purpose, and speak into our situations today. So, if you’re finding it hard going, you’re in good company. Dig deep.
Chapter 12 is often overlooked. Some commentaries don’t even cover it. It begins:
“The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ‘Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.
If Christian faith was simply about a philosophy or even a belief, then logic alone would be enough for people to accept it: for every question, there’d be an answer; for every objection, a proof. But for all the logic & rationality – &, for me, it just makes perfect sense, it feels so normal – but it’s ultimately about spirit, the Divine – God. So, yes, there is mystery, unanswered questions. What kind of God would it be if we, who are created, could know everything about God, our Creator?  How dull would it be if there was nothing more to discover about God? How small would God have to be?
Don’t be surprised if not everyone accepts the logic of your faith. Not everyone will. At least, not now. There will come that moment when, as Paul says in Philippians 2, 
“at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
So, God says to Ezekiel, pack your stuff and breakout. Be open and transparent about the way you do it. Literally, in verse 5:
 ”While they watch, dig through the wall and take your belongings out through it”
Breakout of the city. Breakout of the walls that imprison you. Breakout of your comfort zone. God was saying to Ezekiel, it’s time to breakout. Is God saying the same to you today? It’s time for you too to breakout? Break through the walls of your settled life?
But, first we need to go back to verse 3. We nearly missed something. There are some words you just never expect to hear someone say:
•	A screaming toddler – “thank you”
•	West Bromwich Albian fans – “we won!”
•	God – “perhaps”
God says, do what I say and, “Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious people.”  PREHAPS! That’s not a word we expect from God. Isn’t God meant to be the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-places God?
There are some things God cannot do. He cannot make a square circle. In the same way, God knows ALL that is knowable. He cannot know what is unknowable. Hear me out!  When we looked at chapter 2 (Ezekiel’s prophetic call) we considered that translators add-in, shorthand word ‘Sovereign’ and questioned if all-powerful God really is in control ‘Sovereign’ over all things? The bad as well as the good. In the same way, here, God says, “Perhaps they will change their mind.” God is open to the possibility they might. He doesn’t know for sure if they will. Isn’t that what makes faith dynamic? God is not playing Divine Sims. He isn’t controlling every thought you have, every move you make… It’s a liberating, freeing, respectful relationship.  That’s what makes prayer so dynamic – it changes things, us as much as situations. 
God is still holding out that ‘perhaps’ your partner or difficult work colleague will come to faith. God hasn’t given up, and neither should you.
No one will escape what is coming. Even the powerful, the great and the good, won’t. Even the Prince will breakout, escape and go into Exile, and then talk to Oprah?

There was a lot of cynicism. People had heard it all before. Prophets like Jeremiah had tried but, remember, they had “ears to hear but do not hear” – they could hear, but weren’t listening.
In verse 22, God points out what people were saying: “The days go by and every vision comes to nothing”?
God says, you want slogans? Here’s my slogan! “The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled.”  v.23
“I the Lord will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious people, I will fulfil whatever I say, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’ v.25
We mustn’t allow cynicism and unbelief to rob us of what God wants to do in and through us as a church. God had given Ezekiel a very clear vision (Remember chapter 1!): it was of God and His holy Kingdom, on earth as in heaven. And with all people restored back into right relationship with Him.
God has given us as a church a clear vision too. It’s: 
To see God’s Kingdom come and His will done in Sutton Coldfield, north Birmingham, and beyond, as it is in Heaven.
This is what we are working to achieve. It’s what, by faith and endeavour, we hope for.
For that vision to come into reality, God had a mission for Ezekiel. He had to do whatever it takes to help people come back into right-relationship with God, and see them returned to Jerusalem. We too have a God-given mission. It’s: 
Growing Community! Working with others to enable everyone within 5 miles and beyond of Chester Road Baptist Church to become disciples of Christ.
There are two equally important and inter-linked parts to this:
1.	To enable ‘non-believers’ to become ‘believers’ in Christ (mission).
2.	To enable ‘believers’ to become disciples of Christ (discipleship).
Like two sides of a coin, mission and discipleship go together. Everything we do needs to be about this.
We’re developing a Well-Being Café. We’ve just received some significant funding to upgrade our kitchen and repurpose the Foyer into a welcoming Café, a safe place where it’s OK not to be OK. But, even more than that, a a place of Shalom – of radical acceptance, healing, wholeness.
We also run a Job Club to help people back into employment. The three Job Clubs run by Chester Road, George Road and Six Ways Baptist Churches have all just received funding from the Near Neighbours Scheme to upgrade our IT so more people can use a laptop to find and apply for jobs. It’s another Ezekiel-style role play that acts out what the Kingdom of God is like and what Kingdom people do.
God gave Ezekiel that mission whilst he was still in Exile. It started now. And it would only be by fulfilling this mission that they would ever get to return.  They were going forwards, not back to how things used to be. We’re still in lockdown Exile and our mission is as vital as ever.
Some of the people tried to kick the vision into the long grass. Sounds great, Ezekiel. And one day in the distant future it’ll happen. God was having none of that.
“THIS is what the Lord says: none of my words will be delayed any longer, whatever I say will be fulfilled. Declares the Lord.”
Ezekiel had a clear vision and was now on a mission to bring it about. We too have a clear vision and are now on a mission to bring it about. If you’ve been following us from a distance during lockdown, join us. Be part of what God is doing in and through us.
DannyBrierley@ChesterRoadBaptist.org.uk