Stand on Your Feet

FCC Bellingham
July 8, 2018

Scripture: Ezekiel 2:1-7

We know her as Clara Barton — a battlefield nurse during the Civil

War and founder of the Red Cross. Knowing all this, we might think of her

as courageous, unflappable, fearsome. But there are things about this

woman that might surprise you.

When Clara was young, she was known as a rather timid little girl.

There was mental illness in the family and Clara suffered from abuse and

neglect and it all took it’s toll.

Clara’s parents eventually sent her away to high school to help her

make friends and come out of her shell. But when Clara became even

more withdrawn and depressed, and stopped eating, they knew they

needed to bring her back home.1

Born almost 2,500 years prior to this, a young lad named Ezekiel

lived in the land of Israel. Ezekiel might not have been your typical boy-

next-door. According to the Talmud and the Midrash, which are the central

Rabbinic texts, Ezekiel was a descendent of Joshua and Rahab. You will

1 of 8
remember Rahab, “the Harlot” as the woman who saved Joshua’s spies.

Other rabbinic literature indicates that Ezekiel’s father, “Buzi,” is

actually the prophet Jeremiah and that Ezekiel, himself, was having visions,

even as a young boy.2

Seemingly, Ezekiel was born for his role as a prophet. Seemingly, he

was ready to stand on his own and be all God had called him to be.

And then there was Clara. Clara’s parents were despairing that their

daughter would ever venture forth, making a difference in the world. And

making a difference seemed to be important to them. After all, her father

had been a soldier and her mother was a staunch advocate for women’s

rights.3 But, what was Clara being called to do and be?

As her parents watched her develop and grow, they noticed their

daughter was bright, compassionate, determined. When Clara was just six

years old, she had witnessed an ox being slaughtered and never again ate

meat. When she was eleven, Clara’s brother fell from the roof of their family

barn and Clara spent the next two years caring for him. When her father’s

cousin lost her husband, Clara worked tirelessly, helping the widow tend to

her home and her four children. Clara’s goal was to benefit her entire family

2 of 8
and to never be a burden.4

So, at the age of 17, Clara’s parents devised a new plan. If Clara

became a school teacher, it would help her overcome enough of her shyness

that she might stand firmly on her own two feet, ready to meet this world.

When we meet Ezekiel in the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, he

may no longer be the confident, young, born-to-be prophet he had once

been. This was a terrible time in history. The Israelite captives had been

taken from their homeland by the Babylonians and were living in exile.

They felt defeated. The Babylonians had conquered the city, installing a

puppet king. Ten years later, when that puppet king wasn’t doing all they

wanted, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar returned and utterly

destroyed Jerusalem. And, we know human nature. To the victor goes the

spoils. And the triumph. It was typical for the captors to tell their captives

that their own gods had defeated the gods, or God, of the captives. So, the

Israelites felt abandoned by God. Many had lost their faith. Many were

rebelling. Many were living lives contrary to the ways of God.

In such dark times, even a cocky, young son of a prophet sometimes

needs to be reminded of who he his. So, God told Ezekiel, “Stand on your

3 of 8
feet. I know you’re all living in terrible times. I know you think you’ve lost

everything, but I have a job for you. So, stand up, remember who you are,

who I’ve called you to be, who I need you to be.”

And God gave Ezekiel these crazy visions that no one in the 21st

century would ever understand and even made a lot of his contemporaries

think he was whackadoodle. But, the message itself was clear.

God wanted Ezekiel to let everyone know that God had not given up

on them. Even though they were rebellious and half of them had forgotten

God and God’s ways, God was still here for them, still loving them. God

was saying, “From the North to the South, from the East to the West, you

tell them that no matter where they are disbursed, no matter what they do

in life, I will keep on loving them. They may listen to you. They may not. But

you tell them anyway. Because that’s my message for my people.”

Clara did more than just stand up. As we know, being an introvert

does not make someone incapable of doing good in this world. As a child,

when Clara saw a need, she met it. Adulthood made her more determined.

She went from teaching school to opening the first ever public school in

New Jersey. When the school was completed, it was deemed inappropriate

4 of 8
for a woman to serve as principal and she was soon replaced by a man.

But, Clara was not done. She moved to Washington D.C. and began

work as a clerk in the US Patent Office. This was the first time a woman

had received a substantial clerkship in the federal government. Her time

there was difficult. She suffered sexual harassment, then was fired during

one presidential term, but rehired during the next. [Not that we’ve ever

experienced significant changes from one presidential term to the next.]

But, Clara was not done. When the Civil War broke out, the earliest

victims were transported to Washington D.C., which happened to be

Clara's home at the time. She went to the railroad station when the victims

arrived and nursed 40 men. That was merely the beginning of her service

during the war. She soon became known as the “Angel of the Battlefield.”

And, still, Clara was not done. After the war, she ran the Office of

Missing Soldiers, which worked to find or identify soldiers killed or missing

in action.5 Clara and her assistants wrote nearly 42,000 replies to inquiries,

helped locate more than 22,000 missing men, helped bury 20,000 Union

soldiers, and helped find, identify, and properly bury 13,000 people who

died in Andersonville prison camp (the Confederate prisoner-of-war camp

in Georgia where so many died of starvation and the deplorable

5 of 8
conditions).

And, still, Clara was not done. When she met Susan B. Anthony and

Elizabeth Cady Stanton she began working for women’s rights and the right

for blacks to vote.

But, time and tragedy had taken their toll on her. Clara was seeking

respite in Europe, when the Franco-Prussian War broken out. It was then

that she learned of the International Red Cross.

And Clara’s new purpose began. When she returned home, her

mission in life was to start the Red Cross here at home. President

Rutherford B. Hayes told her there was no need, as we would never again

face a calamity such as the Civil War. [Yeah, I’m not touching that one!]

Nevertheless, she persisted, and at the age of 60, during the administration

of President Chester Arthur, using the argument that the new American Red

Cross could respond to crises other than war such as natural disasters,

Clara Barton succeeded.

God has called us to stand up on our feet. Whether we are timid or

ready to jump up and run from the moment we emerge from the womb;

whether our paths are easy and straightforward from Day One or our way

6 of 8
seems blocked and difficult and filled with tragedy, God calls us to go out

into the world and tell people of the love that is given. God calls us to be a

people who live that love.

We know, just from reading the stories of the prophets, that this is not

an easy role in life. And today’s lectionary scriptures give us some

important lessons about the reception we will receive.

This passage in Ezekiel tells us to keep sharing the message,

regardless of how it’s received. People may listen — or not. But, we don’t

give up.

Today’s gospel lesson (Mark 6:1-13) gives a different message.

Jesus may seem somewhat more pragmatic. He says, “Wherever you enter

a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome

you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on

your feet as a testimony against them.”

Jesus is telling his followers — and us — that we are to share the

good news, but, basically, don’t shout until you’re blue in the face. Just give

them the message and if they’re trolling you on Facebook, ignore them and

move on. Or, something like that.

It may seem as if these two scriptures are giving us opposing

7 of 8
messages on how to proceed, but maybe they’re not. Maybe they’re telling

us to find a good balance.

We never lose site of God’s message of love for the world. We never

lose faith in that message nor our zeal in sharing it; no matter how many

times or how many ways we seem to be rejected. And we know how it feels

to be shot down by hate and ugliness and pessimism and negativity. We

know despair and the glass half empty. But we can use our energies and

share God’s love where it is most needed and most welcomed. Because

sometimes we hurt, and we need that love. And sometimes our neighbors

hurt, and they need that love. And sometimes the world beyond is in such

excruciating pain, only God’s love will serve as a balm.

Stand up and go. May your words and your lives bring healing to our

hurting world.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Barton
2 Radak – R. David Kimkhi – in his commentary on Ezekiel 1:3, based on Targum Yerushalmi
3 https://www.ducksters.com/biography/women_leaders/clara_barton.php
4 op cit, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Barton
5 "Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office". National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Archived from
the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.

8 of 8