(God has a lot to say to us about repentance. This sermon is based on Ezekiel 18:1-32.)
Justice. That’s what everybody’s talking about, right? And I mean everybody! Everyone wants justice. Nothing gets us more upset than people getting away with crimes. Nothing gets us more angry than when the wrong people suffer. We want justice! Know what? That’s a good thing. It’s good that our society is pursuing justice. God himself in the Bible says, “Let justice roll on like a river…” (Amos 5:24). Seeking justice is a very godly desire. God wants justice everywhere.
The Israelites long ago were concerned about justice too. They weren’t facing racial tensions. It was even worse: They were about to be destroyed by the Babylonians. It didn’t seem fair. So here’s what they liked to say: “The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” What’s that about? Have you ever eaten a sour grape? What happens with your mouth? Their complaint was that their parents sinned—their parents ate sour grapes—but they the children suffered. That doesn’t sound fair, does it? They wanted justice. “The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Can you picture that on signs at protests?
That saying would fit pretty well with our concerns today too, wouldn’t it? Other people’s sins cause so many problems for us, don’t they? So we hear constant calls for justice against the other side. Whether it’s what governmental leaders say or don’t say. What police officers do or don’t do. What protestors demand or don’t demand. On all sides, it’s “those people are causing the problems, and we’re the ones who have to suffer for it.” It seems like we’re guilty by association. “The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” That’s not right. That’s not just. It makes us angry! “God, look at them. Do something. Make it right. We want justice!”
Know what God says? “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel…. The one who sins is the one who will die.” God is even more concerned about justice than we are. He says, “Don’t worry. You don’t have to use that saying anymore. I will hold each person accountable for their sins. Nobody will get away unpunished. Each person is responsible for their own sins.” How does that sound? At a time when personal accountability is at an all-time low, God says, “The one who sins is the one who will die.” That’s God’s justice!
God then gives a string of examples. “Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right…” In the Bible, being righteous comes from repenting of our sins and believing in God. If there’s a man who trusts in God and does what it right, what will happen? He will live! Saved! But “suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things…” If that wicked son refuses to trust in God and lives a life filled with sin, what will happen? Death. Hell! Then, “suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things…” The grandson trusts in God and does what is right. What about him? Life. Saved! A son isn’t responsible for his father’s sins. A son also can’t be saved by his father’s faith. It’s pretty simple, isn’t it? “The one who sins is the one who will die.”
I know the examples God gives are so personal for many of us. There are parents here who are so sad to see your children turn away from God. You feel guilty for what’s happening in your family. Don’t stop praying for them. Don’t stop encouraging them. But know this: Your children’s sins can’t take away what you have in Jesus. Jesus loves you. Jesus died for you. You are not going to be judged for anyone else’s sins. On the other hand, I’m afraid some of us are assuming that our parents or our spouses can get us into heaven. You figure that it’s okay to live a sinful lifestyle, as long as you have some connection to church. Be warned: Your parent’s faith won’t save you. Or your wife’s or your friend’s. God will hold you accountable for your sins.
That’s what God says. “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.” You don’t have to worry about injustice in our world. No matter how it looks, God’s got it covered. Nobody who sins can escape God. At the moment of death—or when Judgment Day comes—there will be justice. God’s perfect justice. “The one who sins is the one who will die.”
Feel at peace? Not me! We crave justice. God promises perfect justice: “The one who sins is the one who will die.” But for some reason, that doesn’t make us feel good. Actually, my heart says, “Uh-oh.” Know why? Deep down you know the truth. Who is the one who sins? You. Me. Our calls for justice come with an unintended consequence. If you and I challenge God to be just, to pay back evil with evil, to punish every wrong, who needs to be punished? Me. You.
There’s an irony in the world. Hypocrisy would be a better word: We love seeing justice against others. We ignore justice for us. That goes back to the Garden of Eden. After the first sin, God confronted Adam. And Adam said, “I’m sorry God. It’s my fault. Please forgive me.” No! What did he say? “It was the woman!” So what did Eve say? “It was the serpent!” Quick to do wrong. Quick to blame others. Slow to accept responsibility. Slow to repent. Maybe you’re thinking: “Yes! This is so true. This is just the message my husband needs to hear! This is just what my kids need to hear. There’s no excuses. There’s no blaming others. They need to hear this!”
No. You and I need to hear this! God’s Word today was written down for you. For that heart of yours that refuses to except responsibility for your sin. For that heart of yours that always has an excuse. That has grown so comfortable blaming everyone else for your sin. For people so concerned about justice, we try to avoid justice in every way possible. We do everything but repent. We flaunt sin. We make it is so common and so acceptable that everybody’s doing it. We change God’s commands and claim that sins really aren’t sinful anymore. We lie. Just boldface lies to people we claim to care about. But there’s One whom we can’t lie to: God. So then we convince ourselves that God is actually the problem. That it’s God’s fault in the first place.
Those ancient Israelites actually pointed their fingers at God and said, “The way of the Lord is not just.” Know what? God wasn’t afraid of them. He thundered back, “You say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?” If you and I leave today still thinking that the government is the problem or those people are the problem or God is the problem, we have closed our ears to God. It’s us. “The one who sins is the one who will die.” Our failure to hold ourselves accountable for our own sins leads to death.
So God pleads with us: “Repent!” God used that Babylonian army to call his people to repent. Do you think God is doing the same thing for you and me today? When a pandemic that everyone hates doesn’t end, when tensions that no one can solve keep exploding, what do you think God is calling us to do? Repent! Repent before it’s too late! The greatest need in America isn’t a vaccine. It isn’t a new supreme court justice. Every sickness, every death, every violence, every injustice out there is God’s call for you and me to repent in here. “Repent and live!”
Because after all that we’ve done, with all that we deserve, it’s amazing to hear God’s invitation: “Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” Can you hear God’s love and compassion for you? It oozes out of him. He doesn’t want you to die. He wants you to be saved! To turn away from your sins. To focus your life not on a new truck or a new job. “Get a new heart and a new spirit…. Repent and live!”
How? I hope you’re asking, “How?” Because what God says is impossible. We need new hearts. You can’t perform a heart transplant surgery on yourself. Doesn’t God know that? Yes he does! Earlier in this book of Ezekiel, God promised: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20). God is the one who changes us from the inside out. God is the One who cuts out our stubborn hearts of stone and gives us forgiven hearts of faith. This is what repentance is. It’s turning away from our sins and turning to the Lord for a new heart.
It’s just that even with a new heart, how can we escape those crushing words? “The one who sins is the one who will die.” We’ve sinned! But Jesus didn’t—and he died. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We ate sour grapes, and Jesus’ teeth were set on edge. We sinned, yet God punished his Son. Jesus already died for your sins. So you’re forgiven. Now, the one who sins and believes in Jesus lives. That’s God’s promise! “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
That’s the goal: Life. “That by believing you may have life in Jesus’ name.” “Repent and live!” Christianity isn’t a building or an organization or even a positive attitude. Christianity is about the personal relationship you have between you and God based on Jesus Christ who died for us. It’s a daily walk to Jesus’ cross. It’s a daily prayer between you and your Savior. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). Justice is found at the cross of Jesus. Sin paid for. Forgiveness given. Every wrong made right. Life won. All in Jesus.
We can live each day in blame, pointing our fingers at others for the sins we’ve committed, but that won’t calm our guilty consciences. We can live each day angry at our God, but that won’t take away our sin. We can live each day in denial, pretending that we haven’t done anything wrong. But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re guilty. We can change the laws or change the government or change anything we want, but that won’t change our hearts. Or with the Spirit’s help we can follow God’s gracious invitation each day: “Repent and live!” We can lay our sins at Jesus’ feet and say, “Here they are. I’ve sinned.” And then watch the smile spread across Jesus’ face as he says, “I know you have. That’s why I died. I have forgiven you.” When you see calls for justice all around you, remember how it works with God’s justice: “Repent and live!”
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