Our relationship with God means everything

Every day we’re asking four questions about part of the Bible. Today Bern Leckie answers:

What did I like about today’s passage?

Have you ever seen a reflection of yourself from an unflattering angle and hoped you didn’t really look like that? This heaven’s eye view of Jerusalem is a lot worse than unflattering. It’s damning, appalling, difficult to read even when we know it’s about someone else. I can only imagine that most people at the time rejected seeing themselves like this. But it certainly would have grabbed their attention.

Under the garish details of prostitution and promiscuity, what point is God making? I think it’s about a breakdown in people’s most important relationship, with life-damaging effects. God gave these people life, growth, splendid things and the perfection of beauty itself. But instead of enjoying and making the most of these in relationship with God, people revalued them as things to give away in pursuit of different relationships. Instead of being satisfied with God, they sought satisfaction from the embrace of other gods, cultures with conflicting moral standards and ultimately “detestable practices” including child sacrifice to win idols’ favour.

This is a harsh picture, but it’s for a messed up culture. Would gentle words have cut through?

One outstanding detail I notice is the comparison with Sodom. I think the original audience for these words would have known the story of God’s destruction of Sodom, and it’s a memorable story for us today. But do we remember it for the right reasons? I think maybe not, if we associate God’s damnation with homosexual sex, giving “sodomy” its modern meaning. God spells out the sin deserving his condemnation in verses 49 and 50 here. They were “arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” The story in Genesis 18 and 19 is clear that Sodom was an outrageously bad place before attempted mass rape became the last thing before executing judgement.

Both the story of Sodom and God’s words through Ezekiel here might seem to be all about sex, but that is just what is grabbing our attention. God says the real issue is our values or concerns and what we do about them. The key relationship which changes this is with him. Outside of relationship with God, history and experience show that we live selfishly, even shamefully. But in relationship with God, we would share God’s concerns, see life, ourselves and others more the way he does, and be empowered for a much better, more loving life.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God knows how to grab our attention! He also wants us to know who we are, given value and love by him and able to find the best possible life in relationship with him. God has seen how easily we forget this and intervened in many ways to bring us back, ultimately through Jesus.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I’m reminded of the difference between believing in God as an idea and growing the life changing relationship he wants. I’ll spend more time talking and listening to God this week.

Who am I going to share this with?

My family and other people I pray with, and I’m hoping for work-related opportunities to share faith soon too. I’m praying I can share well about a relationship more than religion.