A New Heart

Ezekiel 36. 22-28, Acts 2. 22-38

Cirencester Parish Church, Sunday24thMay 2015, 6pm

The Reverend Gary Grady

In the name of the Father...

The Lord said: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ez 36.26).

Those were the words we heard in our first reading this evening, and they were spoken by the prophet Ezekiel.

Ezekiel is one of the 4 ‘major’ prophets in the OT, the other 3 being Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel.These 4 are called such, because their prophecies are longer and therefore cast a longer shadow on OT history, and more insights into OT theology.

Ezekiel, or Y’hez’qel [יְחֶזְקֵאל] in Hebrew, means ‘God will strengthen’.Ezekiel lived between 620 and 570 B.C.He was born and raised in the land of Judah and was preparing to become a priest in the Temple, when [in 597 B.C.] the Babylonians attacked and carried him away along with 10,000 captives. You can read the full story in the 2nd book of Kings (2 Kings 24.10-14).

The nation was on the brink of destruction, and [when] the Babylonians attack again, 10 years later, Jerusalem falls and the people of Israel begin their second exile, not in Egypt this time, but in Babylonia (ormodern day Iraq as it is now known).But before this second attack, Ezekiel, who is already [in] exile, is called by God to be a prophet to the people already there, in Babylonia.God wanted Ezekiel:

-To help the exiles understand WHY they had been taken captive;

-To dispel the false hope that captivity was going to be short;

-To bring a new message of hope; and

-To call the people to a new awareness of their dependence on God.

God communicated to Ezekiel through apocalyptic visions. In this case, apocalyptic means a vision of God’s awesome glory, so these are visions of hope.

Ezekiel served God as a street preacher in Babylon for 22 years, and he lived what he preached.He predicted the coming siege and destruction of Jerusalem (Ez 1-4) in 587 B.C., proclaiming that the destruction would be God’s judgement on the people for their idolatry.He challenged the people to turn from their wicked ways and told the surrounding nations that they would be judged for their sins also (Ez 25-32).

But, it’s not all doom & gloom, his prophecy ends with a message of hope, as he proclaims how God is faithful and how he will bless God’s people in the future (Ez 33-48).And this evening, we hear what is [literally] at the heart of that promise.

The Lord says: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ez 36.26).

God is promising to restore Israel not only physically but spiritually.

To accomplish this, God will give them a new heart for following him, and put his spirit within them, which will transform them and empower them to do his will.This is a new covenant...so, as OT theology goes, what we’re hearing here is ‘massive’!The old covenant, between God and Moses, was placed upon stone; the new covenant will be place upon peoples’ hearts.The old covenant is based on the Law of Moses; the new covenant is based on our desire to love and serve God.The old covenant must be taught to the people of Israel; the new covenant must be known by all.The old covenant is a legal relationship with God; the new covenant is a personal relationship with God.This new covenant will ultimately be fulfilled in Christ, the Messiah.

What God [through Ezekiel] is saying here is that; no matter how impure your life is right now, God offers you a fresh start; and you can have your sins washed away, and receive God’s Spirit within you.Why try to patch up your old life when you can have a new one?Now that’s some promise! And Israel waits...

And so we fast forward 500 years to the day of Pentecost and, on this day, we remember the words of Ezekiel. We remember the promise of God to give us a new heart and for his Spirit to dwell within us.

Jesus has been crucified at Passover time.40 days after his resurrection, he ascends to heaven; and now 10 days later, we reach [what the Jews called] the ‘Festival of First Harvest’ (Deut 16.16), what WE now call Pentecost.It’s why there were so many people of different nationalities in Jerusalem.

In the OT, God confirms the validity of the OT law on Mount Sinai with fire from heaven (Ex 19.16-18). At Pentecost, God confirms the validity of the Holy Spirit’s ministry by sending fire!At Mount Sinai, fire came down on the nation of Israel; at Pentecost, fire came down on many believers, symbolising that God’s presence is available to all who believe in him.And God makes his presence known in a spectacular way; there was a roaring wind and tongues of fire...and the people literally spoke in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to.God is no longer limited to a race [or group] of people, instead Christ offers salvation to all people without regard to nationality.

And then Peter preaches: People of Israel, listen!” (Acts 2.22).

He spoke forthrightly about the resurrection. As Peter preached, the events of Christ’s death and resurrection were still hot news, less than 2 months old.His execution had been carried out publically in front of many witnesses. His empty tomb was available for inspection just a short distance away.If Christ had not truly died, Peter’s message would have been laughed at or ignored. If Christ has not been resurrected, the authorities could have produced his body and put an end to this new faith.

But Peter and the apostles had witnessed the risen Christ, and they announced the news with great passion and conviction.And, after his powerful Spirit-filled message, the people were deeply moved and asked: “What should we do?” (Acts 2.37).This is the basic question we must also ask this evening.What should WE do?

We hear it is not enough to be sorry for our sins, we must repent, and ask God to forgive us.We cannot save ourselves, only God can do that.The people in the time of Ezekiel thought they could...and they put their trust in material idols, but a great tragedy befell them.

I [personally] think it’s rather wonderful these two readings have been put together for this evening...there is [of course] no coincidence that they have!God says: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ez 36.26).This promise is fulfilled through Jesus, and on this day of Pentecost the Spirit comes to guide OUR new hearts also.

Amen.

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