Ezekiel 11:14-25 (NRSV)
God will gather the people
Then the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, "They have gone far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession." Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far away among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone. Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.
Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. And the glory of the Lord ascended from the middle of the city, and stopped on the mountain east of the city. The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me. And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.
Reflection
God will gather the people
Then the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, "They have gone far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession." Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far away among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone. Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.
Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. And the glory of the Lord ascended from the middle of the city, and stopped on the mountain east of the city. The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me. And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.
Reflection
Even though we wander off and even though we harden our hearts, God comes to us and gets close to us and give us a way to be with him. God comes to all the various places in life that each one of us may be caught in, involved in, or reveling in, and gathers his people once again. God gives us the chance to reunite with him and with each other. God comes to each one of us to remove the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh so that we may joyfully follow his statutes and keep his ordinances.
Those who don't accept the invitation are free to go it on their own. But those who go it on their own are left to their own ways. Life will show that we can't do this on our own. We need God active in our lives. We need God coming to our door day after day. We need each day to arise in our baptism, bury that old life and begin anew in Christ's saving grace. A fresh start to a new and glorious day, that free from the fear of sin, we are free to serve and love and give ourselves to God to be on fire and burnt up in that love. Day after day we are consumed by the passionate fire of God in order that we may feed those God directs us to feed to his glory. Day after day...Thanks be to God!
Prayer
Holy Spirit come, set me afire, that I may be consumed in you, that what I produce may be what you produce in me, and that what is left is purely the love of God for all the world, through the grace of Christ Jesus. --- Amen
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