Ezekiel 2:6-7 “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.”

            Few things scare people as much as public speaking. That gets even harder when you know people don’t like what you have to say. “Don’t shoot the messenger,” people say. Don’t blame the person speaking when he is simply delivering a message from someone else. But there is a reason for the saying. There is a tendency for people to want to shoot the messenger. When the message makes them mad, they don’t care where it comes from. They just want to attack the person who had the gall to bring it.

            God knew that Ezekiel would face people who didn’t like what he had to say. Well over a thousand years of previous history pretty much guaranteed it. Their reaction was going to cut, and poke, and sting. Many of them would simply reject the truth. They would plug their ears and refuse to listen. Ezekiel’s work was often lonely. At times it even became dangerous.

            It is not as though people love God’s laws more today. They don’t even like his grace very much. Being forgiven means having to admit you did something bad. A faith built around forgiveness means having to admit that people are in general bad. They don’t want to hear it.

            But the prophet’s task is still to deliver God’s message of sin and grace without fear. The people who hear the word may be frowning. But the God who sends his word stands behind us smiling when we speak his words to them faithfully. His word will always be the final word. His side will always be the right side. We don’t have to be afraid when the words we speak are his.

            If the time comes that your pastor has to have a little heart to heart with you, understand the prophet’s task. He hasn’t been sent to make you happy. He has been sent to save your soul. God doesn’t send him to be popular or well-liked. He sends him to be honest and love you enough to tell you what you need to hear. In every case, remember that his task is to seek the people the Lord has redeemed for himself.