The Heretical Character of the New

Text: Ezekiel 1:15-19

The prophets are an incredible source of hope in dark times.  Most of them were dealing with the catastrophe of the Exile, the people of the promise being ripped from the land of the promise.  This unimaginable event is met by the prophets with the imagination of God, casting images and visions that led the people of Judah to hope.
 
I’ve spent the past couple weeks reflecting on the words of Jeremiah, but today my thoughts are with another great prophet of the Exile: Ezekiel. 
 
Ezekiel is often touted as one of the most creative and intelligent writers in the Bible, and with good reason.  The theological move he makes in his writing is perhaps the biggest challenge to the Israelite imagination and worldview in all of scripture.
 
When the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem, they burned the Temple to the ground—the very home of God’s earthly presence and glory.  It’s hard for us to imagine now, but there is no more devastating event that could have happened for Judah.  The destruction of the Temple meant the removal of God’s presence from the people of God, a separation that leads to nothing but darkness, despair, and ultimately, death.
 
Enter Ezekiel with one of the most complicated and colorful passages in the Bible: Ezekiel 1:15-19. 
 
It’s difficult to make out exactly what Ezekiel is telling us, but he is describing a vision of the Lord that has been filtered through his own imagination, full of fantastic beasts and wheels within wheels.  Whatever the full meaning of this passage may be, it is centered around one key element: Movement.  He goes on to paint a picture of the throne of God, connecting it to these wheels and the movement of the beasts. 
 
This is Ezekiel’s groundbreaking idea: The throne of God is moveable.  That is, God can be present anywhere, not just within the Temple.  More importantly, it means that God is present in Babylon and in Exile with his people.
 
It may not seem like it to us, but this was a radical idea in Ezekiel’s time.  In fact, if it had been uttered in any other context, he may have been branded a heretic and stoned to death.  But now, in Exile, it became an immense source of hope for the people of God in Babylon. 
 
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, our lives have changed in a number of ways.  Among that number is how we do church together.  Whether it’s online worship or Zoom Bible studies, we are engaging God and each other in ways that only a few months ago would have been unimaginable—heretical, even.
 
Just last week our Disciple classes participated in Northside’s first Zoom Communion service.  Many of us had an initial uneasiness about doing communion online and even considered cancelling it or postponing it until the class could be together in person.  After some debate, it was decided to move forward and administer the sacrament via Zoom—again something that would have been almost heretical a few months ago—and I can’t tell you how glad I am that we did.
 
The testimony and witness I have heard about that online service has convinced me, just as it convinced Ezekiel, that the presence of God is moveable. 
 
In the darkness, God does new and unimaginable things—and if we are willing to embrace that newness, and not shy away in fear or timidity, it will shine a light that directs our path out of the darkness.
 
Where is God shining something new in our lives at Northside Church?
 
Will we have the boldness to believe and follow?