Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins who shall die.

Ezekiel 18:4

We just did something quite strange, when you think about it. We listened to messages that were first read and shared thousands of years ago. And we listened because we actually believe that these messages are important to us, they matter to us as much as anything we have heard or read all week. I want to preach on our first reading today, from the prophet Ezekiel. It is a message that was first shared more than 500 years before the time of Christ. How can it possibly be relevant for us today? And yet it is. That is the wonder of God’s Word. It is ancient, but always new, always relevant. And Ezekiel shares a message that continues to challenge and guide us, all these centuries later.

Ever Ancient, Ever New

Think about what you read this week. On social media, or in news feeds, or even in books. How much of it will still be read two thousand years from now? Very little, I am sure. But here we are, listening to words older than that, and continuing to learn from them as we find our way through this world. 

This is one of the things that I love about spending time in prayer and with God’s word, and what I love about coming to worship every week. It gives me a chance to get away from the “tyranny of the now,” as it is sometimes called. Or, as another put it, the “overwhelming presence of the visible world.” 

This world of ours is very needy, isn’t it? It claims most of our attention, most of the time. But this is our weekly opportunity to get away from all that, to get away from our phones and computers, and to come to this place to hear a word from the Lord. A word that was written thousands of years ago, but still relevant today. A word that anchors us in the eternal, in the invisible things of God. 

We can find this in our daily prayers and devotions, too – wherever and whenever we turn from the world to give our attention to God. When we do that, we rediscover that it really doesn’t matter what our world is arguing about this week, or what we were worried about last week, or what we will be faced with next week. When we devote our attention to God, we are reminded of what truly matters. We fix our eyes on what is unseen, we listen to a timeless word from our eternal God. A word that is always new, and always matters. 

Who Is t Blame? (Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32)

So, what does Ezekiel have to say that still matters, all these years later? Good question. Think for a moment about what was happening when Ezekiel shared his message. The world was in a bit of a mess. Israel had been conquered by a foreign power. They were living in exile. And they couldn’t help but wonder why. Why did this happen? Why is our country in such a mess? Why are we suffering in this way? Has God abandoned us? Who is to blame for all this? 

Whenever a community or nation finds itself in a challenging situation, the first thing that we tend to do is assign blame. The blame game has been played since the very beginning. Remember Adam, blaming Eve for giving him the forbidden fruit? And Eve, blaming the serpent for tricking her? And ever since, the blame game has been a constant part of our lives. 

Turn on any news source today, and you will probably find someone blaming someone else for something. And when you get tired of seeing this on the news, turn to sports radio, and you’ll find the same thing. Someone is blaming someone else for the problems with their team. And when you get tired of that, turn on a reality show, and listen to someone blaming someone else for all the problems in their life. And when you get tired of that, go outside and talk to your neighbor. And what will you hear? It’s very possible that you will hear your neighbor blaming someone for something. Or, let’s be honest, it might be us doing the blaming, and our neighbor patiently listening!

Sour Grapes and Teeth Set on Edge

This pattern of behavior has been going on for a very long time, and we see it very clearly in this word from Ezekiel written more than 2,500 years ago. “What do you mean,” Ezekiel writes, “by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?” 

In Ezekiel’s case, it is the parents that are being blamed. Our parents’ actions have caused the mess we are in. They ate sour grapes, and now it is our teeth that are set on edge. That is what the Israelites are thinking has caused the mess they are in. They are living in exile because their parents were living in sin, and God punished them for their sinful ways. And now they are still living with the consequences. 

Nothing new about this, right? And there’s some truth to it. We certainly are affected by our parents and by those who have come before us. But when we use this as an excuse, as a way of ducking responsibility, then we are playing the same old game. And we play this game when we blame our parents, or when we blame anyone who leads us. It might be our teachers, or our political leaders, or anyone else who leads us. We don’t just blame our parents for eating sour grapes when our teeth are set on edge. We tend to blame all those who lead us. 

All Lives Are Mine

But we turn to God’s word, and we come here on a Sunday morning, to get away from all of that, and to look at the world and our lives in a different way. We come here, in part, because we know that our parents and our presidents are not the only ones to blame. We are here because we know that we are to blame, too. We are here to break out of this blame cycle, and seek a different way. And God’s Word shows us a path forward. 

Listen again to the opening words in Ezekiel Chapter 18: 

The word of the LORD came to me, he says: What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”? As I live, says the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.

You see? God wants to end the blame game. This proverb shall no more be used, God says. No longer shall we blame our parents, or our presidents, or any other leaders, for what is happening in our lives. From now on, we shall focus on ourselves. This doesn’t mean that our parents or other leaders are blameless. Far from it. It just means that all too often, we blame them to avoid dealing with our own mess. We do it to get out of the hard work of repenting, and changing the way that we live our lives. And that is what God is condemning in this passage. God is inviting those who are living in exile and blaming those who came before them, to repent, to turn from their own transgressions, and learn again how to be a faithful and obedient people. “Know that all lives are mine,” God says. “The life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.” 

In other words, each of us is responsible for our own life. All lives are mine, says God. We are all children of God, and each and every one of us must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, as Paul puts it in our second reading (Philippians 2:1-13). And no one can do this for us. We must do this for ourselves. 

Ending the Blame Game

But that’s not the end of the story. Because something miraculous happened, five or six hundred years after Ezekiel taught us how to stop the blame game. God’s Son was born. Not to condemn the world, but to save it. And this is when the blame game was really finished, once and for all: On the cross. 

The cross is where God ends the blame game. Instead of blaming us for our sin, or for the brokenness in our world, God places all the blame on His Son, and His Son takes all that blame to the cross. Jesus doesn’t blame us for being crucified, even though he could. It was our sins that crucified him. But Jesus refuses to play the blame game. He doesn’t even blame the very people who crucified him. Instead praying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And so, Jesus ends the blame game. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, as we heard in our second reading. No more blaming. No more judgment. No more condemnation. Only forgiveness. Only grace. Only mercy. Only salvation. And only love. 

Blame died on the cross. We don’t have to blame anyone anymore. Not our parents. Not our presidents or other leaders. Not even ourselves. We don’t have to blame anyone anymore.

The world will continue to look for easy answers, to point fingers, and to blame anyone but themselves. Strengthened by our faith, we don’t have to follow suit. We turn to the cross, and find an end to the blame game. We find forgiveness and love, for ourselves, and for all the world.

Keeping Our Eyes Fixed on God

That is the good news. And that is why we are here today. To get away from the tyranny of the now. To fix our eyes on what cannot be seen – on the gift of the cross, and on God’s eternal grace, love, and mercy for us all. 

We do this every week, but you can do it everyday. For me, my week never went well when it didn’t begin here in worship. And my day never goes well when it doesn’t start with a little time with God. Whether it is using our “Christ In Our Home” devotional books, or an online devotion, or your own time with God’s Word, when you turn from the world for a little while and spend it with God, your day will go better. 

You and I have begun this week with God. Let’s continue to live each day with Him, fixing our eyes on the cross, and on God’s eternal love. To the glory of God. Amen.