Ezekiel 2:1-5 (NRSV)
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Chapter 2He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. Verse 2And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. Verse 3He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. Verse 4The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord God." Verse 5Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.
Devotion
You can't un-hear things, a wise mentor once told me. Feeling like the words you say to others go unheard can be maddening. But words spoken are never completely ineffective. Words can be run from. Words can be hid from. Words can be buried, repressed, stuffed down and ignored. But words can never be unheard.
God sent Ezekiel to God's people in their time of impudence and stubbornness. Maybe you know people like that. Maybe you love people like that. Maybe you are people like that (*raises hand sheepishly*). The good news of today's reading is that even when they (we, I) try to refuse to hear, it never really works. The very attempt to refuse a word is an acknowledgment of the power of that word and its truth which can devastatingly change us. Keep on speaking people of God. And, maybe, try your ear at hearing as well.
Prayer
God, it is so frustrating to feel unheard. Strengthen in me your power of trust that the words you give me are heard—and open my own ears to the words that I may be refusing. Amen.