Optional Memorial of Saint Pontian and Saint Hippolytus

Lectionary: 416

Now, son of man, during the day while they are looking on, prepare your baggage as though for exile, and again while they are looking on,
migrate from where you live to another place; perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house.

The Lord’s instruction to the Prophet Ezekiel anticipates the directive of Hebrews 13:13 –

Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach that he bore. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come.

Ezekiel anticipated the destruction of Jerusalem as the Babylonian army approached. The Letter to the Hebrews recalled the death of Jesus outside of Jerusalem, and the Roman razing of the same city in 70 CE. If the Jews still looked to the ruins on Mount Zion as their “lasting home,” gentile Christians let it go. Although they recalled the life, teachings, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus in great detail, their future was outside Jerusalem’s walls.

Ezekiel’s migration also anticipates Jesus's Great Command: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Since late March of this year – it seems much longer – we have suffered a seismic wrenching from the “normal.” We have wondered when the normal will return and begun to realize that, whatever the future brings, it will not be the normal we used to know.

But a bit of reflection will remind us that the old normal was not very comfortable. Racial and political tensions were mounting during the impeachment trial, and also with the approach of the November elections. Quadrennial and interim elections are supposed to forestall apocalyptic upheavals. By frequent assessments of the present situation and current direction, and by periodic evaluations of our leadership, we can avoid civil war. 

However, democracy is a laborious process. It proceeds by fits and starts, by advances and regresses. As the culture changes it may not suit an impatient citizenry. When the majority loses interest or grows weary, a minority, using loud threats and sporadic acts of terror, will take control. We’ve seen it happen in many places.

The epidemic offers Americans an opportunity to take a personal interest in our common welfare. By wearing masks and encouraging others to do so, by connecting with isolated individuals, by supporting those facing financial collapse, the nation might pull together. Citizens can get involved, act, and make decisive steps toward a new stability.

Ezekiel’s prophetic gesture – packing his kitbag as if he were fleeing a besieged city – reminds us that a city lives not by its technology but by its Spirit. The best technology of the time -- walls of earth, stone, and mortar --could not protect Jerusalem. The best defensive technology of our time will not save the nation. That is the province of the Holy Spirit.