Our God is an awesome God,
who reigns from heaven above
with wisdom, power and love
our God is an awesome God.

 

In our first reading today,
God sends Ezekiel to prophecy.
He is to speak to a people who have forgotten
what it means to be faithful
to the covenant they and their ancestors had made
with God.
God instructs him what to say,
and God tells him
“whether they heed or resist…
they shall know that a prophet has been among them.”

 

In the waters of baptism,
we were called to be priest, prophets
and members of the royal family of God.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone notices that I am a prophet.
Sometimes I wonder if any of us are prophets.
Do we speak the Word of God in our world today?
Do we stand up for what is right and just?
Do we defend those most in need of our love and support?

Does anyone notice that a prophet has been among them?

 

Our God is an awesome God,
who reigns from heaven above
with wisdom, power and love
our God is an awesome God.

 

Most of us, I dare say, probably feel unworthy of the prophetic call.
We believe that there ought to be prophets in the Church
and in the world.
We believe that someone ought to speak for God,
but we’re just not good enough to do that.

In our second reading today,
St. Paul writes to the Corinthians
and admits that he’s not worthy,
that there’s something wrong with him,
that he’s just not strong enough
to do what God asks of him.
In fact, he claims that an angel of Satan haunts him
that he suffers from a thorn in the flesh
that he’s just too weak to carry out the task God has given him.

But then he remembers what God has said,
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

When God called us to be priests, prophets and members of God’s royal family,
it wasn’t because we deserved it.
It wasn’t because we were strong enough.
It was simply because God’s grace is sufficient.
With God on our side, we don’t have to be afraid.
With God on our side, we are strong enough.
With God on our side, our weaknesses don’t matter.
God’s grace is enough.

 

Our God is an awesome God,
who reigns from heaven above
with wisdom, power and love
our God is an awesome God.

 

Not long after his baptism,
not long after he heard the call of God<
“You are my beloved Son,
in whom I am well-pleased,”
not long after he called his first disciples,
Jesus goes back home to Nazareth
and his family, friends and neighbors are all astonished.
They remember what he was like before
and can’t quite believe what has come over him.
“Where did [he] get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands?
Isn’t he the carpenter, Mary’s son?

 

They went form being astonished to being bewildered,
“And they took offense at him.”

Maybe that’s why we’re so often afraid to speak up
for what is right and just.
Maybe that’s why we find it so hard to take a stand that might offend
those around us.
Maybe we’re afraid that those around us might at first be astonished
and then be offended.

 

Our God is an awesome God,
who reigns from heaven above
with wisdom, power and love
our God is an awesome God.

 

But you and I have been anointed priests, prophets
and members of the royal family of God
at our baptisms.
Like St. Paul, we may not be strong enough.
There may be a thorn in our side
that prevents us from living up to the call God has planted
in each and every one of us.

But God’s grace is sufficient,
and that grace is given to us
over and over again.

It’s not a one-time event.
God’s grace comes to us
whenever two or three are gathered in Christ’s name.
God’s grace comes to us
whenever we hear the scriptures proclaimed.
God’s grace comes to us
whenever we eat his Body and drink his Precious Blood.

 

God does not send us out without the help we need
and we know that we certainly need his help,
and we also know,
as we look around the world today
that our world needs prophets who will listen carefully
to what God is call us to do,
who will see the needs of the poor and those most vulnerable in our society
and will stand up and be prophetic.

God give us everything we need to be those prophetic voices in our world.
God’s grace is sufficient.

 

Our God is an awesome God,
who reigns from heaven above
with wisdom, power and love
our God is an awesome God.