Who Will Listen and Believe?

Posted on July 7, 2024

See on YouTube

Ezekiel 2:1-5

Psalm 48

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Mark 6:1-13

The struggle for people of authority is when the people under your charge and care do not believe or trust what you are saying, requesting, or instructing is actually right. As a service manager there have been countless time in which I have either told one of my techs what was wrong with a vehicle or I explained how something works and they did not trust or believe me. However, eventually they must surrender their stubbornness and admit that I was right about what I was telling them. It can be frustrating because obviously I would have no interest in steering them wrong but yet they still will not believe. The truth is though I can remember many times in which my own father tried to explain something to me and I did not believe him until he proved me wrong. I remember a time in my youth in which I tried to say that I could beat my dad in a bike race because my bike and more gears than his. He had a 3-speed while I had a 14-speed. So, in my mind if I could pedal hard enough to get up into the 14^th gear then I would be flying and he would never be able to catch me with his 3-speed bike. So, one day he decided to challenge me to prove me wrong and I gladly accepted the challenge thinking that I was going to prove him wrong.

Our challenge was going to take place on our road. We agreed to making 3 full passes from the beginning of our driveway to both ends of our road and back. This would total approximately 7 miles in this race. My mom was upset with this plan because I had a soccer game later that afternoon and she thought that my dad was going to tire me out before the game. However, I was determined to prove my dad wrong and I was not going to stop. So, we began the race. At the beginning my dad had the lead but I was just at the beginning of my gears so I started pumping and cycling through and I was getting faster. And after the 2^nd lap I passed him. The problem though was on the last lap, though I was finally ahead, I was getting tired. I turned around a curb and I had not seen my dad in view yet and I thought hey, he doesn’t see me I don’t have to go all the way to the end and just pretend that I did and get even farther ahead of him. So, I did exactly that. He still seemed far behind me as I passed him going for the final half mile while he was a quarter mile behind me. In my mind I had him and I was going to finally prove him wrong and I am pumping with all my might and I am in my 14^th gear and I am zooming and can see the finish line when suddenly I see my dad power passed me on my right and he beats me to the finish line and stops there to tell me, “I told you so.” I couldn’t believe it, I lost. How could this be? I was going to town in my 14^th gear. Well, it turns out, when your bike tires are 2 and a half times shorter than your dad’s bike tires then it doesn’t matter how many gears you have. He has the advantage because he can travel 2.5 times farther than you in one full tire revolution meaning he doesn’t have to pedal as hard either. I was beaten by physics and he tried to warn me and I wouldn’t listen. I learned a hard lesson that day, that Dad is always right.

Ezekiel was called to preach to a rebellious nation. God was frustrated because he had given chance after chance to this chosen people to do what was right but they would not listen and they would not believe. So, he calls upon this prophet of his choosing to preach a message to the people, knowing that many will not listen and will continue to be rebellious. Yet God gives them the opportunity to repent if they so choose to do so. However, God knows that many of the people will choose to be hostile towards Ezekiel. However, God does not give Ezekiel an option to be silent. He tells him to not be rebellious like the people he is preaching to. He is called to preach the Lords words whether the people choose to listen or not. In the end though the people will see that Ezekiel was right by either coming to believe themselves and repenting or by suffering the consequences for not listening.

Our Gospel passage, this morning is found in Mark 6:1-13. Jesus goes to his home town with his disciples and he teaches in the synagogue. The people are amazed at what he is saying and what he is doing with some of the miracles that he performed. However, they could not see passed how they knew him to be. They only saw Jesus Bar Joseph who grew up with them and whose mother was Mary, and whose brothers were “James, Joseph, Judas and Simon.” Plus, his sisters were there too. They were offended by his teachings because he taught as one of authority but they did not see him or believe in him to be someone of such authority. This is where Jesus coins the phrase, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” Like Ezekiel Jesus was not listened to by a rebellious people who knew him. Mark tells us that “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.” Is Mark telling us that Jesus was not all powerful and that there was some type of force making him unable to perform miracles in his home town? No by no means. Because there were a few people there that Jesus did in fact heal. However, because of the lack of faith and trust in him from the people who knew him best, it would not matter how many miracles he would perform as they still would not believe.

This past week we celebrated 248 years of independence in our country. We celebrate and yet we may often forget what we were seeking independence from? Men fought and died for freedom from British rule and for the freedom to worship their Lord Jesus Christ in the way that they knew he should be worshipped. Our special this morning tells the story of how we got our national anthem. The Colonies sent over a lawyer, Francis Scott Key, to negotiate the release of colonial prisoners. On that eve in which an agreement was made the British gave an ultimatum to the colonial rebels. Either they surrender or they will open fire with the entire British navel fleet upon Fort McHenry. Unless the colonies remove their flag signifying their surrender they were going to continue to fire upon the fort. However, no matter how much fire the fort took upon it that flag would not be removed. They began to fire upon the flag itself and yet after the smoke would clear that flag would still be standing and waiving. The British had knocked that flag down many times but people gave their lives to put that flag back up because they understood what that flag represented. They understood that it represented their freedom and it represented everything that they had fought for. So, in the morning that flag was still raised, held up by the dead bodies of the those who rushed over to keep it waiving. The British didn’t believe that these Americans were serious about their freedom. But that day they understood and knew after unleashing all of their power and might, that these people would never surrender.

America has always been a rebellious nation in that it has been a nation that rebelled against tyranny because we understood our freedom that we have in Jesus Christ. Americans rebelled because they knew the truth. However, I fear now that America is turning into a nation that now rebels against the truth. Pastors are now becoming prophets without honor. They can go on missions arounds the world and people will listen and believe but they will preach in their home cities and states and so many people will not listen or believe in the truth. Unfortunately, instead of preaching the truth of what the Lord says like Ezekiel, many pastors have also rebelled against the truth and are now preaching false doctrine. We are becoming a rebellious nation but not in the good way as it was when men lost their lives to hold up that flag. Instead, you have people kneeling in protest during the national anthem or athletes that are supposed to represent this country who will not even be present for our national anthem. They rebel against the truth. What would those men who died to hold up that flag think if they saw what kind of people they died for now. They kept that flag up, refusing to surrender not knowing that 248 years later citizens of this country would dishonor that flag. We are a rebellious nation. We must pray for our nation. Who though now will listen to these words and believe? It is up to us who still believe and who still understand what was sacrificed both on the battle field and on the cross, to preach this message to all who will hear. Some will listen and some will not. We may become prophets without honor in our hometown. But the message still must be preached. Who will listen and believe?