The Cost of Ministry

Introduction:

Engage://Focus:

I’m going to start this sermon with a poem, written by John Piper.

Ezekiel sat stunned and cold. The word that he had just been told Converted every large complaint He ever made into a faint Concern. No pain would be absurd, He thought, if this one word Of God could be withdrawn tonight, "I would engage in any fight For your great name, and be a fool For you, bear any ridicule In Babylon. If you would spare Me this, I'll serve you anywhere."

Again the voice of God was clear: "I know that she is far more dear To you than life, and yet tonight I strike and take your heart's delight: Your wife—at sundown she will die. And hear my word: You shall not cry. No tears run down, nor sigh aloud, No sack, no ash, no mourner's shroud. You are a sign for Israel: Soon messengers will come and tell Them that Jerusalem is burned, And everything for which they yearned Is gone—the apple of their eye; Nor shall they be allowed to cry, But only groan beneath the rod. And know that I the Lord am God!"

Set the Stage:

Babylon encircles the kingdom of Jerusalem, getting ready for a long seige.

This isn’t the first time they’ve attacked.

Just 9 years earlier Babylon attacked the kingdom of Judah, and kidnapped the king, and around 10,000 people and brought them to Babylon.

Among those people was the prophet Ezekiel.

And now, with Babylon getting ready for one final siege, to finish off what remains of Jerusalem. People are hearing the news, and are confused.

They’re thinking, “Babylon already ripped us away from our Land, and now they’re going to take our crown Jewel? The city? The Temple?”

And so God brings a message to the exiled Jews, to tell them exactly what is about to happen to the city that they hold dear.

And God uses Ezekiel’s life as in illustration.

In this book, Ezekiel laid on his left side for 390 days for Israel’s sins and on his right side for 40 days for Judah’s sins.

Ezekiel baked bread over dung to symbolize Israel eating defiled food in exile.

Ezekiel shaved his head, burned some of the hair, struck some with a sword, and scattered the rest to symbolize the fate of the people of Jerusalem.

Becoming a living illustration was one of the the most powerful ways that God would use a prophet.

It gives people a physical representation of what would happen unless they repented.

And today, God is going to use Ezekiel’s life as an illustration, in a devastating way.

His ministry as a prophet is going to be tested in a way that most of us can hardly stomach. In a way that seems almost cruel.

In our passage, as an illustration to God’s people, God is going to strike Ezekiel’s wife, and kill her. He’s going to take her life.

Preview:

And in this passage, I think that God reveals multiple truths for us.

Truths that are immensely important both now and in the future.

Both for ministry, and for our lives as Christians.

These truths may not be easy to swallow, yet they will help us when we encounter hardship in our lives and ministries.

So if you have your bibles with you, please flip with me to Ezekiel 24:15.

And the first truth that we can see in this passage is #1.

I. God’s Providence Is Sometimes Painful

Pain and suffering are inevitable in the Christian life.

Sometimes, as part of God’s larger purpose, he has us go through something unfathomable. And we just have to do what he asks of us.

And we can see this in our reading today.

God gives Ezekiel painful news, and a painful command to follow it.

Ezekiel 24:15–18 ESV

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.

The Cost:

In Genesis, Abel is murdered by cain, becuase he faithfully sacrificed to the Lord. Following God cost him his life.

When Lot and his family was about to be destroyed, Lot was asked to leave Sodom and Gomorrah, and not look back. Following God cost him his home.

When Joseph kept his integrity in amid family disfunction, false accusations, and political upheaval, he was sold into slavery, faced death, and was locked in prison for years. Following God cost him his freedom.

Here, God’s painful providence calls Ezekiel to give up his wife.

The Delight of his Eyes. His treasure. Bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.

Ezekiel doesn’t have any choice in the matter, by God’s will this is going to happen.

Relevancy:

In our lives as well, the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.

Car accidents.

Cancer diagnoses.

Financial disaster.

Family division.

Devastating tornadoes, hurricanes, floods.

Depression.

We will bear crosses of all varieties in life.

It’s not a matter of if, but when.

It will be painful. It will test us.

And that’s where obedience comes in.

The Command:

God’s providence was not only painful becuase God took Ezekiel’s wife, but also becuase of what Ezekiel had to do afterwards.

He had to hold in his grief, and could not publicly express it.

He could sign and groan over his loss, but not outwardly.

He had to keep his festive turban and sandals on, as if nothing was wrong.

He couldn’t eat any of the food he was given for sympathy.

In public, Ezekiel had to act like nothing was wrong.

This is like being told that you can’t hold a funeral, you can’t write an obituary, you can’t bring anyone to the burial, and you can’t eat any of the casseroles or sympathy meals that anyone brings you. You have to act like you didn’t lose anyone.

And Ezekiel obeyed these commands.

After hearing the news, he prophecies to the people as he usually did, and he went home that Evening.

And the next morning he leaves his house, having just lost his wife, and does exactly what the Lord had said.

Relevancy:

And in the same way, when we face all of the sufferings of this life, we are commanded to do what seems impossible.

When we look at our negative bank account balance after the crushing medical bills, we are commanded not to be anxious, but to seek first the kingdom of Righteousness.

When we have a deep depression, and all things seem hopeless, we are commanded to have hope in Christ, becuase he has the victory.

When a close family member is taken away unexpectedly, we are commanded to believe that God works all things for our good.

These things will seem impossible, but God will gives us the strength to do them if we trust him, just like Ezekiel did.

Both in what happens to us, and how we have to respond, God’s providence is sometimes painful.

Which is why we need truth #2.

II. God’s Purposes Are Always Perfect

No matter what dark sufferings we go through, God’s light will always shine through.

Our God is completely righteous, and good. Which means that everything he does has a good and perfect goal behind it.

So let’s look again to Ezekiel’s life to see if we can discern what God’s perfect purpose is.

Ezekiel 24:19–25 ESV

And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’ “As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters,

The Question:

The people can see something strange going on.

They surely know that Ezekiel’s wife has died, but they see him acting as if nothing has happened.

As a result, they begin to look for the message in all of this.

They say, “What does this mean for us?”

They know that God is saying something in this situation.

And so God explains everything

And through Ezekiel, he tells them,

What they love dearly will be take away.

The temple of the Lord, majestic, Golden, shining temple, which all the people put their pride in, is going to be destroyed by Babylon.

And all of the those which were left behind, will be slaughtered.

And as a result, the exiles will be silent. Just like Ezekiel, they won’t be able to mourn their city.

They’re in a land that doesn’t belong to them, so they can’t hold any funeral for their conquered city.

They will be in utter shock, left speechless by all the pain which they are going to go through.

And when all of this comes. Then they will know that God’s wrath for their iniquities has been finally been poured out.

The Purpose

But Where is God’s perfect purpose in all this suffering?

Where can we look for hope in the midst of all this painful providence?

Re-read v.24 with me again.

Ezekiel 24:24 ESV

Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’

The death of Ezekiel’s wife. His hidden grief.

The destruction of Jerusalem. The sacking of the temple.

All leads to this purpose:

That all of the exiles would know that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is their Master.

That they would stop putting confidence in their idols.

So that they would stop putting confidence in their temple, their kings, and their cities.

And so that they would start putting their confidence in the Lord, who brought them out of Egypt.

The death of Ezekiel’s wife was not in vain.

Becuase God used her death, and Ezekiel’s pain to point his people back to himself.

God used the destruction of Jersualem and his temple to point his people back to himself.

And there is no more perfect purpose than that.

The Question//Relevancy:

And when we encounter God’s painful providence in our lives, in our ministries, we should ask God the same question that the exiles ask here.

“Lord, what do these things mean for us?”

What are you telling me to do?

What is your purpose in this?

The Purpose:

And like Ezekiel, we ought to use that suffering to point people back to their God.

When we stare at that empty bank account, with no idea how we are going to financially survive, and we show others that we are at peace, we are a sign to them that the Lord is God.

When we have that deep depression and hopelessness, and we keep fighting! and Fighting! for hope, we are a sign to others that the Lord is God.

And when we lose someone close to us, and we have joy mixed with our sadness and grief becuase we know that Christ has defeated death, we are a sign to others that the Lord is God.

When we pray for our those who mock and ridicule us.

When we show hospitality to the one who persecutes us.

We are a sign to others that the Lord is God.

Conclusion

And we can do this, becuase bringing people to God will never cost you as much as it already cost Him.

The Father gave up the delight of his eyes, his eternal joy, his greatest love, so that we would know that he is the Lord God.

Jesus Christ endured the Father’s painful providence on the cross, so that he could bring humanity to his perfect purpose.

And as ministers of the gospel, let’s guide others in these truths.

That God’s providence is sometimes painful, but his purposes are always perfect.

Let’s finish the poem that we read at the beginning.

He ate his figs and barley cake In silence. "Mara, can you take A walk with me? This morning's word Has been the hardest that I've heard." They walked in silence for an hour, And then he gathered all his power And said, "The God of Abraham, The God who calls himself I AM, Demands that you must die tonight." But Mara's eyes remained as bright As ever in her life. "I know," She said, "Last night he came to show Me in a dream." And then she took Ezekiel's hands and said, "The Book, Remember where we used to read How God would someday come and lead Us in the path of endless joy, And how at last he would destroy Our blinding sin and let us see His face in all its majesty? O dearest Zeke, last night I saw Another world without a flaw Beyond what we could ever know, And I could scarcely wait to go... Oh, not that I could ever love You less, but I have seen above That everything you've preached is true. Weep not, great seer, for me nor you; I am the proof of all you've said; Tomorrow I will not be dead, Nor you, and it will not be long Till you have joined the endless song. Press on, Ezekiel, rejoice With heart and soul and mighty voice. Make music to the coming King, Come walk with me and we will sing."