The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost | 6 September 2026 | A Sermon on Ezekiel 33:7-11 | by The Rev. Beth A. Schlegel

Ezekiel 33:7-11 English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles

7 “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them

warning from me. 8 If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his

way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his

way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 10 “And you, son of

man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of

them. How then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the

wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

Salvation: Status or Relationship?

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We have a lot of churchy words that we tend to use without thinking about them:

– salvation,

– redemption,

– deliverance

– and we often wrongly think of these particular three as states of being.

We might say “I am saved”, for example – as though “saved” is like having brown eyes or

freckles. As though nothing can change it.

But that is not how the Bible uses these terms.

Instead, they are relational terms.

• Salvation happens,

• deliverance happens,

• redemption happens in the relationship God has with us;

• that is, we cannot refer to salvation, redemption, or deliverance apart from

relationship with God.

For example, 2 Sam. 22:4: I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and he saved me from my enemies.

Or Isaiah 51:1:God says “Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance— all who seek the Lord!

Or Ephesians 4:30: And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live.

Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of

redemption.

It is relationship with God that gives these terms meaning and effectiveness.The conversation the Lord God has with his people through the Prophet Ezekiel underscores this.

Today’s reading from Ezekiel 33 sounds almost like session with a therapist:

• What’s the problem?

• The people admit guilt and shame, “Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and

we waste away because of them; how then can we live?”

Listen carefully now.

• God responds: As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked

but that the wicked turn from their ways and live;

Notice that use of “live” –

• Sinners are dying, perishing, because of their sin – they cannot live.

• In contrast, God is living. “As I live” says the Lord.

And the living God points the way from death to life for sinners.

You and I are sinners. We are the wicked to whom God speaks with love.

God our Father never gives up on sinners – He never abandons the wicked to destruction.

• God does not gloat when people refuse to turn from sin and suffer the

consequences.

• He does not create a victorious spectacle for the execution of the wicked, like the

Romans did.

Sinners who persist in their rebellious behavior suffer consequences, but not because God makes

an example of them or punishes them:

• It is because they refuse to turn toward God and live.

• It is because they choose to do the wrong and ignore the judgment of God.

As long as a sinner breathes, there is time to turn away from sin and trust in the mercy of God.

For even when God judges sinful behavior, God’s relationship with humanity is always

rooted in love. And so, our dear loving Father persists in urging sinners to turn away from

sinful behavior and toward his love.

…

Now, many English translations of the prophet Ezekiel are not helpful in one particular point:

they substitute “mortal” for the Hebrew “son of man”. And while that may be a commonplace

usage of the term ben adam, it obscures the connection to Christian faith.

When the Lord commands the prophetic message to be given to the people, it is not “mortal” he

addresses, but “son of man”. My rendering, for emphasis, goes like this:

O son of man, tell the people I have heard their cry of guilt and fear of destruction.

Son of man, Tell them I am the living God and I don’t want anyone to perish;

Tell them, son of man: I want sinners to turn away from sin and toward me and live with me.

Do you remember what Jesus said about himself? For the Son of Man came to seek and save

those who are lost.” (Lk. 19:10) And again: the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve

others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) Jesus is the Son of Man sent

by God –not just with a message, as a prophet – but as God’s message of reconciliation for

all people!God wants relationship with us so that our sins do not kill us, and this relationship he

establishes through his Word – spoken through the prophets and embodied in Jesus.

Jesus accepts the penalty of death for our sins and lives risen from the dead to invite, urge, and

accept our faith in him as the relationship with God that gives us life.

…

There is one other important thing about relationship with God.

It is not just between the two of us. It is not one-dimensional.

In the biblical understanding, there is no such thing as (pardon my grammar) “just me and

Jesus”. We are not meant to live in individual religious bubbles.

If someone were to go to church every Sunday and pray and sing, and give offerings, and receive

Communion, but then go out of church and slander others, abuse the spouse, berate the children,

and treat employees unfairly, that person would be numbered among the wicked condemned to

death for their sins, no matter how religious they may be.

Now, that is an extreme illustration, but the point is this: saving relationship with God includes

how we behave with others. As Jesus and the apostles remind us, we cannot love God without

also loving our neighbor. And, conversely, it is our relationship of love with God that enables

us to love our neighbor. Both go together. Cross-shaped — Vertical with God our Father and

horizontal with others. Where the vertical relationship with God our Father and the horizontal

relationship with others intersect is the act of forgiving—of Jesus forgiving us with his death

and of us forgiving others with our sacrifice of ego.

But let’s be clear – the forgiveness Jesus teaches in Matthew 18:15-20 comes when a sinner is

held accountable for the sin. Jesus’ forgiveness is not a sloppy “It’s okay”, but rather a

conversation – or several—in which the sinner is loved by being told how the sinful behavior

is harmful, leading them to destruction and to alienation from God and the community; and then

by the sinner being invited – no, urged – to leave the behavior behind and turn back to God and

receive reconciliation. This is where true life and peace are found.

Such conversations of accountability, forgiveness, and reconciliation can take place in various

ways:

• between two believers,

• among several believers,

• within the whole congregation,

• as well as in the confessional, between the penitent and the pastor who speaks the word

of God.

As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked

turn from their ways and live;

So, dear brothers and sisters, this week, talk with God about your relationship with him. Ask him

how to love him more deeply. Consider going to a pastor for confession and forgiveness, andseek opportunities to forgive others. And ask God for help to leave your sins behind and to love

others.

As St. Paul reminds us in Romans 13: 8-14, there is no time to waste, for Christ is coming soon.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

©The Rev. Beth A. Schlegel, STS

pastorschlegel@live.com

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, York PA, USA

Christ Lutheran Church, Manchester PA, USA