Sermon -- 15th Sunday after Pentecost (September 10, 2023)

EZEKIEL 33:7-11

TRUE LOVE MEANS SAYING THE HARD TRUTH.

In the name + of Jesus.

     The Lord had called Ezekiel to a watchman over the people of Israel.  The job of a watchman was to stand on the walls of the city and keep a look out for any threat to the city.  People who lived in the city would commute to the fields around the city to tend their flocks and herds or to till the ground for crops. 

     The watchman allowed the people to tend to their daily work without concern for their safety.  If he saw an enemy approaching, he would blow the trumpet to alert everyone.  The people in the fields would, then, flee back to the safety of the city and take refuge behind its walls.  If they ignored the trumpet, or if they did not want to bother to stop their work, their blood would be on their own heads.  On the other hand, if the watchman failed to blow the trumpet and alert the people of the danger, the people would be killed, but the watchman would be accountable for their blood.  Therefore, it was crucial that the watchman be faithful in his calling.  The lives of people were at stake.

     The Lord told Ezekiel, “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel.  Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me” (Ezekiel 33:7).  The trumpet that Ezekiel sounded the call of the people to repent of their sins.  They had turned away from God’s word; and by turning away from God’s word, they turned to evil.

     Ezekiel was sent by God to proclaim the word of the Lord.  His life would have been easier if he had just kept his mouth shut and let people do whatever they wanted.  Many would have preferred Ezekiel mind his own business.  But Ezekiel’s business was that he was a watchman.  He was duty-bound to tell people the word of the Lord.  He might not have been able to make them care, but he would not let them remain ignorant.  Ezekiel was a man under orders—God’s orders.  So, Ezekiel had to tell people the hard truth about their sins and God’s judgment whether they hated it or loved it.  It was crucial that the watchman be faithful in his calling.  The lives of people were at stake.

      This is still the role of the Church.  The Church has been entrusted with the word of God.  We are not to keep it to ourselves, but to proclaim it.  You could argue that the Lord’s instruction in these verses is just for pastors.  That is true, to an extent.  Pastors are under orders to speak the word of the Lord and to warn people so they will not be swept away by their sins.  Pastors are accountable to God for their faithfulness in doing this.  It is crucial that the watchman be faithful in his calling.  The lives of people are at stake.

     But this is your concern, too.  Jesus taught his disciples, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15).  These are instructions about one Christian speaking to another.  Out of love for each other, we do not want to see anyone turn away from the Lord and be swept away by sins.  Since you love your family and friends, then you can love them enough to tell them the hard truth.  You can tell them what God’s word says so they can escape being condemned by it.  True love means saying the hard truth.

     Many people will tell you that this is not what love does.  People say that love means accepting people no matter what.  Love means letting people do what makes them happy.  But this is not true.  Think about raising children.  If they run amuck in your house, draw on the walls with markers, pull all the pots and pans out of the cabinets, and flush socks down the toilet, will you let them keep doing it because it makes them happy?  Will you let them keep acting this way because you love them?  On the contrary, precisely because you love them, you will discipline them, correct their destructive behavior, and teach them self-control.  If you don’t, they will suffer much worse consequences when they are older.  True love means saying the hard truth, even if it results in a tantrum from those children.

     It is no different when we get older.  Some insist they have the right to do whatever they want, even if it is clear rebellion against what God has said.  Many immoral behaviors are defended with the phrase, “Love is love.”  It is a nonsensical phrase, suggesting that anything is good if it is wrapped up in terms of love.  But what would you say to a married man who becomes enamored with his co-worker?  What if he becomes so involved with her that he leaves his wife for this new woman, insisting, “She is my soulmate.  This is true love.”  If “Love is love” and if “the heart wants what it wants,” will you fault this man for leaving his wife and family because he found love in another woman?  Wouldn’t you instead tell this man, “This is not love.  It is selfish and it is evil.  Repent”?  Examples like this abound.

     Now, the phrase, “The heart wants what it wants,” is true.  We have desires, sometimes intense desires, and we want to act on them.  But the phrase fails to recognize that our hearts are sinful and corrupt.  The heart often wants to do or to take what God forbids.  And the slogan, “Love is love,” might be popular, but it is not Scriptural.  What does the Bible teach us?  “God is love” (1 John 4:16, emphasis added).  That means whatever God says is said in love.  In love, God directs us to what is good and pure.  And if it is good and pure, we benefit others as we do it.  When God calls us to repent because we are not good or pure, he is doing it because he loves us.  True love means that God will tell us the hard truth so we will not be condemned for chasing the lies.

     You might be afraid to speak to your loved ones about their sins and to urge them to repent.  What if urging loved ones to repent means they get angry and you never see your family again?  It is true: Families can be torn apart by such conversations.  But would you be willing to keep your family for a time only to lose them for eternity?  Like Ezekiel, all you can do is sound the trumpet.  You sound the trumpet because you love your loved ones, and because it grieves you to see them in danger.  It is crucial that the watchman be faithful in his calling.  The lives of people are at stake.  True love means saying the hard truth. 

     If you should find yourself having a hard conversation with a loved one about his sins, he might become defensive or angry.  That is often how we try to hide our guilt.  He may also accuse you of being judgmental or acting superior.  This is why it is best to sound the trumpet of God’s word.  Even if your loved one is not accountable to you—though his sin grieves you and may influence others—all are accountable to God.  Therefore, we proclaim God’s word.  We say, “This is what the Lord says, but this is what you are doing.  You are fighting against God, and I would hate to see you suffer for it.  You are on a dangerous path.  Please put a stop to your sin.  If you need me to, I will help you however I can.”  You are not having this conversation for your good, but for his.  This is true love; and true love means saying the hard truth.

     The Lord told Ezekiel: “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11).  If you urge people to flee from their sins, it may produce better behavior in them.  Better behavior will spare them of harm to themselves and to their loved ones.  The man who puts away his internet porn will focus on improving his marriage to the woman in his house who is real and not virtual.  The liar can get back some respectability by being honest.  Rather than pondering evil about someone, the gossip can devote his words and his time to praying for them.  There is benefit in that, but to be saved, we need more than better behavior.

     True love means saying the hard thing.  But true love does not just expose the wound; true love also puts salve on the wound and provides its cure.  So, in love, God does not just inform us of our sins; in love, God informs us how he takes our sins away.  The Lord does not take pleasure in damning.  He is not a God who is eager to smite and destroy.  He is eager to redeem, to rectify, and to restore. 

     God proved his love by becoming a man and taking our sins upon himself.  Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.  He willingly gave his life as the ransom price to set us free from all wickedness, guilt, and shame.  This is true love because Jesus did not do this for his good, but for ours.  Jesus did not suffer and die for us because he owed it to us or because we proved ourselves worthy.  Long before you and I were in this world, long before we had sins on our record or reason to fear God’s judgment, Jesus gave himself as the atoning sacrifice for us.  This is love—that Jesus suffered what sinners deserve so that we will not suffer what we deserve.  The Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but it pleased the Lord to make himself a guilt offering for us.  It pleased the Lord to die the death of the wicked in order to pardon us.  And Jesus willingly took up the task he was given because he loves his Father, he delights in God’s word, and he is also eager for our redemption.  Jesus was not only eager to do these things, he accomplished them.  And this is not a hard truth, but joyous good news and the truest, purest love there is.  For, God is love.

     But what hope is there for someone who rejects God’s word?  The writer to the Hebrews asks: “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3)?  If people reject God’s word, where will they find forgiveness or comfort or peace?  How can they cope with guilt or shame or death?  Denial and defensiveness can only last so long, and then comes the reality of death and judgment.  True love cannot stand by and let loved ones perish.  If they reject God’s word, if they prefer to let the heart have what the heart wants, then the truth of God’s word becomes especially hard—they are lost.  But God’s truth still stands, so we say so.  And then we pray for their repentance.

     True love means saying the hard truth.  Confessing God’s truth is not optional for us.  God’s truth keeps us secure and preserves our faith.  Therefore, we cling to it.  And since God’s word is the only way that sinners can be rescued from their sin and its judgment, we eagerly confess it and proclaim it.  God’s word reveals the Savior we need, the Savior we have, and the only Savior there is to deliver us from sin, death, and the devil.  It should not be hard to speak these truths, because they are good news of great joy which is for all the people.  God’s love for us is our reason to rejoice.  Our love for God is our reason to confess his word.  And our love for others is the reason to confess it to them.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.