"What We Have In Common, Is Jesus Christ"

Ezekiel 17:22–23a ²²Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ²³On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar.

          Judah is now in the middle of its Babylonian captivity and Ezekiel is one of three prophets that bring good news to the people of Judah.  The good news is that their God will bring them back to a great nation on their own again.  A cedar tree can be 130 ft. tall and about 8.5 ft. in diameter, which makes it a very large and exceptional tree.  This is mankind, we were created to be exceptional among the roaming life God created to walk the earth. 

The sprig from the top of the cedar is smaller than the other branches that are lower to the ground.  The sprig is the Hebrew nation God started through the covenant with Abraham.  And, it is God who decided that He would reconcile with His creation through this small sprig and build a nation under Him and this nation would be noble in eyes of the world.

          Ezekiel shows his people the history of how they became the chosen of God to be His nation.  That sprig could have been any other small nation, but God chose those who would be the offspring of Abraham.  Not because they were any better than any other nation, however more because of the faith Abraham had already been given through his relationship with God.

          Ezekiel 17:23b And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest.

          Just within one nation there are many different people of different talents and different status.  There are also people who came from different nations and become grafted into the nation they now claim to be citizens of.  Though there are differences they still have something in common, they support the belief that the nation they show patriotism to is their nation.  Having the patriotism to their nation is one of the great tools for that nation to grow.

          Mark 3:24-25 ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

          Sometimes our personal desires get in the way of our true patriotism and through our desires we are divided and divided we fall.  So where should our patriotism be, in our nation, in our desires, or in God who created all nations.  We come from as all people do, through the creation of Adam and Eve of which we should die from daily.  As we die from Adam we are then born into Christ and now come from the spirit of God.  It is God who gives us rebirth through our baptism and also through the forgiveness Christ worked so hard to die for.

          Ezekiel 17:23b–24 ²⁴And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

          We are the birds of every kind and we like birds fly in and fly out, but in this we have something in common and that is we build our nest among the trees.  Each tree is a nation and each nation is created through the works of God.  But it is the tree of life we should see that God prepared to give us the shelter we need to live.

          Jesus is that tree of life; through Him we find our salvation and Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the word of God works to bring us into the faith.  The Holy Spirit and the Word of God builds our faith so that we can have all in common. 

We have everything in common because we are all sinners and have a sinful nature; but most importantly is that we belong to the nation, that is, the kingdom of God.  This is what Christ died for so that we can all be reconciled back into the nation of God.  Amen.