Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
The words of Ezekiel are shocking. If we are listening attentively, they set us at unease. And rightly so. If you have not read the lectionary readings, please do so before continuing.
Here, Ezekiel is describing the wrath of God that will come against those who set themselves up as gods, amassing wealth and riches through clever trade and commerce. They are a people whose heart has grown arrogant in their love for riches, fine clothing, and their own false wisdom. What follows is an account of God’s wrath being poured out upon them. It is not short of terror.
The words of the prophets rarely bring us comfort. I believe it is our temptation to place ourselves at a distance from their words, removing our own lives from their accusations. We place others in our steed; or, removing them even further from us, we isolate them as words spoken in a distant past. “Certainly those times are over! God is only gracious; He knows no wrath!”
This method of reading the prophets robs them, and the Scriptures themselves, of their ability to speak into our lives about God’s justice. As the Body of Christ, and as God’s people, we are a community shaped by the same Spirit “who has spoken through the prophets”. For this reason, we must listen to their words, no matter the amount of discomfort they may bring, and discern in our lives and in the life of our world where we are being called to repentance.
The theme continues as we come to the Psalms. We are reminded that, in fact, we are not gods: we are human beings, dependent creatures. It is God alone who deals death, and God alone who raises up life.
Who then can be saved? Ezekiel has done a great job at presenting a pretty grim image as to what such a death will be, but what does this life look like that the Psalms remind us of?
Poverty. This life looks like poverty. See, if we move forward to the Gospel, we find Jesus speaking to his disciples, once again concerning those with great riches:
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Again I say to you,
it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said,
“Who then can be saved?”
The lectionary is not arbitrarily constructed; it is intentional. Ezekiel is meant to make us feel uncomfortable, precisely because we fit the bill. We are rich. We exist in an economy that is “clever” in its dealing, which amasses capital beyond our wildest dreams and creates profound gaps between the rich and the poor. We have grown arrogant in our wealth, believing ourselves to be gods. According to Ezekiel, our destruction lies at the door. But, alas, we have life! God is gracious! But his grace, while given freely, does cost us something.
In fact, everything.
Like Ezekiel, Jesus’ parable tells us the fate of the rich man. But, fortunate for us, the parable doesn’t end in our desolation. Jesus responds to the plea of his Disciples by telling us that “for God nothing is impossible”, and that even those hearts that have been hardened out of a love for riches can be softened by God’s grace. As the Body of Christ, we are invited to choose life over death, poverty over riches, for:
“everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."
-Tyler DeLong