Bible Passage: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: October 1, 2023

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

The father’s have eaten sour grapes and their sons’ teeth are set on edge. (v. 2)  Can you picture what that means?  That means that a dad bites into a sour grape and his son puckers and winces because it is so sour.  It was a way of saying that children suffer for their parents’ sins.

The people at the time of Ezekiel were quoting this proverb.  At this time the deportations from Jerusalem had begun.  Jerusalem was a conquered city.  People were being taken into exile in Babylon.  Ezekiel was one who was in Babylon himself.  And the people in exile are saying, “All of this is happening because of what our fathers did!”  They were “pointing the finger.”  They were shifting the blame.  They were excuse-making.  They were passing the buck.

Our text today is the Lord’s message to these people who were going around and saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.  To them, to us, the Lord says…It’s Not Your Dad’s Fault!

When we hear that the Jews in exile were talking like this, it shouldn’t really surprise us, should it?  Isn’t that the oldest tactic of guilty sinners?  Think back to the Garden of Eden after the fall into sin.  The second thing to come out of Adam’s mouth after he disobeyed God is an excuse.  He blurts to God, The woman YOU gave to be with me – SHE gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it. (Genesis 3:12)   Immediately after becoming fallen creatures, we quickly developed this capacity to play the “victim card” and shift the blame.  The exiles were doing what comes so naturally and so easily for sinners since the Fall.

This behavior is not isolated to the ancients, either.  This week I became aware of something I had never heard of before.  It is called “responsibility deficit disorder.”  This is actually a “thing”!  The person who will not take responsibility for his or her actions might be suffering from this condition, according to some experts.  It works like this: we have become such a narcissistic society that people cannot bear that someone would think negatively of them, so they will deny and excuse every wrong they do.  In addition, we have created such a culture of “victimhood” that whenever we do something wrong, it must be someone else’s fault.  There is a folk-song written some years ago that ended with these words:  “But I am happy now, I have learned the lessons this has taught:  Everything I do that’s wrong, is someone else’s fault!”

To the exiles the Lord said, “It’s not your dad’s fault!”  If the Lord charged the sins of the fathers to their children, that would be unjust.  By the way, this is the very thing the exiles were accusing the Lord of doing.  The Lord calls them out on this, But you say, The Lord’s way is not just.  (v. 25)  And the Lord adds, Is it not your ways that are unjust? (v. 25)  How unjust that they lecture the holy God on what “justice” looks like!

The Lord will explain it to them.  In verse 4 the Lord said, Indeed, all souls are mine.  The soul of the father is mine just like the soul of the son.  The [or “only the”] soul who sins is the one who will die. (v. 4)  Each individual has their own soul.  Dads have their own souls.  Sons have their own souls.  Dads die for their own sins; sons for theirs.  The guilt of fathers does not accrue or transfer to the sons.

The Lord goes on to explain.  If there is a righteous person who turns away from righteousness and does evil, he will die for it.  Doesn’t matter if dad was righteous; this man was evil, and God judges each individual.  Conversely, if there is a wicked man who turns from his wickedness and does what is right, he will live, God says.  Doesn’t matter if dad was wicked; this man turned, and will  live.  The summary statement of the Lord’s point is in verse 30:  Therefore, I will judge each one of you according to his ways. (v. 30)  The words the Lord is emphasizing are these:  each one…according to his ways.  I will not be judged on what my grandpa, Arthur Jenswold, did.  Nor will I be judged on the basis of what my dad, John Jenswold, did.  When Joel Jenswold is judged, God will look at Joel Jenswold.

So here’s the “take-home” of all the Lord has said:  Repent and turn away from all your rebellious acts…Throw off from yourselves all your rebellious actions by which you have rebelled, and obtain a new heart and new spirit for yourselves.  For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord.  So repent and live! (v. 30-32)  God calls upon each individual to repent.  No one can sin for you, and no one can repent for you.  You, and only you, must repent of your sin.  “Repent” means “turn.”

Repentance is spoken of as getting a new heart and a new spirit.  How do we do that?  God will tell his people how this happens in chapter 36 of this very book.  The Lord says, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you. (36:26)  God must work that in us.  This happens at the cross and empty tomb of Jesus.  Through this good news the Holy Spirit turns us from our sins to Jesus.  With Jesus, God sort of did what he said he doesn’t do in this text.  God actually punished another person for all of your sins!  You ate sour grapes, and Jesus’ teeth were set on edge.  You sinned, and Jesus was punished.  This might all seem unfair and unjust, except Jesus was willing to do it!  It is Jesus’ love that makes a new heart beat within us, so that each day we turn from sin, and pray the prayer that was penned by penitent King David, in Psalm 51:  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

So let us never become “excuse makers” where sin is concerned.  My sin is not my dad’s fault!  It’s mine!  I own it.  And in God’s economy, only those who are willing to own their sin can “own” the blood and righteousness of Jesus.

Amen.