Too Many Sticks

SCRIPTURE: Ezek. 36-37; Ps. 110; Rev. 19

Ezekiel 37:16-24
 ^15-17 God’s Message came to me: “You, son of man: Take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, with his Israelite companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph—Ephraim’s stick, together with all his Israelite companions.’ Then tie the two sticks together so that you’re holding one stick.

 ^18-19 “When your people ask you, ‘Are you going to tell us what you’re doing?’ tell them, ‘God, the Master, says, Watch me! I’ll take the Joseph stick that is in Ephraim’s hand, with the tribes of Israel connected with him, and lay the Judah stick on it. I’ll make them into one stick. I’m holding one stick.’

 ^20-24 “Then take the sticks you’ve inscribed and hold them up so the people can see them. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says, Watch me! I’m taking the Israelites out of the nations in which they’ve been exiled. I’ll gather them in from all directions and bring them back home. I’ll make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and give them one king—one king over all of them. Never again will they be divided into two nations, two kingdoms. Never again will they pollute their lives with their no-god idols and all those vile obscenities and rebellions. I’ll save them out of all their old sinful haunts. I’ll clean them up. They’ll be my people! I’ll be their God! My servant David will be king over them. They’ll all be under one shepherd.

OBSERVATIONS: I noticed that this change in leadership is not that old power inversion where one leader is overthrown in favor of another. In the past, Trinity has seen its share of laity-led initiatives and pastoral initiatives. Pastors have butted heads here, as in most churches, for years. Now, it wasn’t always with animosity.

But this passage refers to the fact that the two people will become one.

APPLICATION: Without surrendering my identity as called clergy, and without asking for the laity to become something that they are not called to do, I intend to tie the sticks. Not only the stick of clergy and laity, but the sticks of old and young, male and female, and wealthy and impoverished. Most importantly, this passage reminds me that I’m to tie the future of the church to the future of the neighborhood.

PRAYER: God, help the many to become one. Help us to see that there are fewer things seperating us than there are calling us to unite. Through Christ who seeks to make us one, Amen.