Boy that was great...What did he say?

Ezekiel 33::31-32 - And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

I wonder how frustrating it was for Ezekiel given the circumstances in this verse. I can see him at the gate of the city preaching to the people…preaching hard, preaching sin, righteousness, and judgment, and I see the people. I see the people nodding their heads in agreement. Some of people yell “Amen” at just the right time, and when Ezekiel starts to get on their sin they yell “Amen” a little louder as to make sure no one thinks that they are feeling any conviction. A little later on that night those women that were nodding their heads are weeping for Tammuz, while the men are off in their chambers imagery. The same people who sat and listened at the gate are out sacrificing on the high place, practicing their divination, and Ezekiel the great prophet is to them nothing more than an entertainer…a great orator…a good show.

This passage stuck out to me because as I have had opportunity to preach to people, and teach people, I have seen the same thing. You can be preaching away and thinking that the people are getting it, and that they are with you, and then months, or weeks, or days later you realize by something that they say or that they do that you were just a pleasant voice, or an obligation out of the way. It is frustrating!

Then I think of my Pastor, or other men who have preached to me, and I’m sure I’ve been the one nodding my head and saying “Amen” Think about some time when the preacher was getting all over a topic and you were slapping the back of the pew to encourage him…but really you just watched a movie that had the same stuff he was preaching against. I’ll admit it…it’s happened to me. I’ve been all revved up at a sermon about witnessing, and I did some shouting, and went to an altar, and a few days later here I am…I heard the words, but I did them not.

I love good preaching! I remember Sam Gipp saying one time, “Liking good preaching may not be sin, but it could lead to sin.” And after reading this passage I see the sense that makes. Each message we hear we are accountable for. Preaching is done to lead us to change or decision, and if we just harden up and sit through the sermon enjoying the preacher’s alliteration and antidotes we turn him into an entertainer and that’s not what God calls preachers to be.

Ecclesiastes 5:1 - Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.