TURN AND LIVE (42 OF 52)
Scripture: Ezekiel 18:1-4, Ezekiel 18:25-32
This content is part of a series.
Turn and Live (42 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Ezekiel 18:1-4; 25-32
Dealing with issues that are greater than those of personal action is at best difficult for us. We want to talk about individual responsibility, but there are times when that is simply not enough. We are indeed responsible for our actions, but we must also assume responsibility for the institutional structures that we support. When God's cause is the redemption of all humanity, how can we justify unjust systems as advancing God's purposes?
Time and again, I see people runing to the Hebrew Scriptures to prove some point or another. We take the excesses of Hebrew history as a pattern we should embrace ourselves. We miss that the Scriptural history of Israel is very critical of its characters. The essential role of their prophets was to hold up a mirror for those in power to see the reality of their lives under the gaze of Yahweh, to use that mirror to allow for their transformation.
This is where we find Ezekiel in today's passage. His word was a direct challenge, an afront to those who wielded power and responsibility before Yahweh and among the people. He charged them with holding to traditions rather than to Yahweh's design and instructions. He called them to accept that Yahweh would hold individuals accountable for their own misdeeds and injustices. Yahweh's judgment would fall on those who acted against justice, not on one's ancestors or descendants.
Ancient Israel had no concept of life for humanity beyond this material plane. They considered that one's only opportunity to remain part of the world beyond death was through one's children and grandchildren. This notion was the undercurrent behind the concept of cutting someone off from the land by killing both then and their children-it was the ultimate punishment, especially as one's progeny was viewed as little more than an extension of self. Immortality was understood only in terms of one's descenda ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Ezekiel 18:1-4; 25-32
Dealing with issues that are greater than those of personal action is at best difficult for us. We want to talk about individual responsibility, but there are times when that is simply not enough. We are indeed responsible for our actions, but we must also assume responsibility for the institutional structures that we support. When God's cause is the redemption of all humanity, how can we justify unjust systems as advancing God's purposes?
Time and again, I see people runing to the Hebrew Scriptures to prove some point or another. We take the excesses of Hebrew history as a pattern we should embrace ourselves. We miss that the Scriptural history of Israel is very critical of its characters. The essential role of their prophets was to hold up a mirror for those in power to see the reality of their lives under the gaze of Yahweh, to use that mirror to allow for their transformation.
This is where we find Ezekiel in today's passage. His word was a direct challenge, an afront to those who wielded power and responsibility before Yahweh and among the people. He charged them with holding to traditions rather than to Yahweh's design and instructions. He called them to accept that Yahweh would hold individuals accountable for their own misdeeds and injustices. Yahweh's judgment would fall on those who acted against justice, not on one's ancestors or descendants.
Ancient Israel had no concept of life for humanity beyond this material plane. They considered that one's only opportunity to remain part of the world beyond death was through one's children and grandchildren. This notion was the undercurrent behind the concept of cutting someone off from the land by killing both then and their children-it was the ultimate punishment, especially as one's progeny was viewed as little more than an extension of self. Immortality was understood only in terms of one's descenda ...
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