Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564. Prophet Ezekiel, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=49954 [retrieved September 5, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ezekiel.jpg.

RCL Year A, Proper 18 (Alternate Readings)
Ezekiel 33:7-11, Psalm 119:33-40, Romans 13:8-14, Saint Matthew 18:15-20

As my grandmother might have put it, human beings can be “in a pickle.” Most all the time, human beings stand at a crossroads. We can go to the east or to the west. We have a choice about the direction our steps will take. I think Saint Paul reminds us of our choice and our ability to choose in the Epistle today. In words that remind us of the Collect on Advent Sunday,[1] the Holy Apostle declares, “Let us …lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”[2]

He reminds us of our agency as human beings. We can do works belonging to the dark, or we can do works belonging to the light. At every moment, we can direct our feet to the west or to the east; we can travel in darkness, or we can choose to travel in the light.

Fortunately, God has placed us in a community of other people, other imperfect people, who can guide us. And, sometimes, those other imperfect ones choose the light rather than the darkness and can help us get it right when we get it wrong.

Ezekiel the Prophet was ready and instructed by God to do just that. The Lord commands Ezekiel, “Say to them, ‘As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?’”[3]

With Ezekiel there is the presence of the Lord. Ezekiel, an imperfect human being, can get it wrong. But he can get it right when he is in the presence of the Lord.

And similarly, Jesus recommends that some imperfect members of the community go to the one who has sinned to remind the sinner that he or she stands at a crossroads. The “pickle” the sinner is in is not final. The sinner, the offender, can change course. He can leave darkness behind and move toward the light. And so very importantly, Jesus promises, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”[4]

Imperfect Ezekiel and imperfect members of the Christian community can offer a correcting word. But God must be a party to the correcting word for it to be effective. We need to know and we need to be reminded that God’s presence is absolutely necessary when we try to regulate ourselves or others. But godly regulation is possible. The 176 verses of Psalm 119 testify to that possibility. The key, I think, is to do two things. First, to recognize our agency, our ability to choose the light. And second, to give that agency to God, to place the choice in God’s hands. Are not these two things what the Psalmist has done in verse 173 when he exclaims, “Let your hand be ready to help me, * for I have chosen your commandments”?

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[1] The BCP, page 211.

[2] Romans 13:12.

[3] Ezekiel 33:11.

[4] Saint Matthew 18:20.