The beginning of the book of Genesis talks about creation and the very beginnings of human life. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. There they were provided with everything that they needed, and there God walked in their midst. God placed only one condition on the innocence of their life in the Garden, there was one tree of which they were not to eat. Adam and Eve lived there in the garden - happy, secure, not knowing any other way than to live at peace with God - that is until they succumbed to temptation, and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve yielded to temptation and disobeyed God. They chose to exercise the God-given freedom that is part of each of our lives, namely to choose to submit our will to that of our Maker, or to flaunt our self-will by choosing to go against God's will for us. By giving us free will God has given us both great freedom and great responsibility.

Traditionally the Israelites understood that the choices they made around this crucial issue effected not only their own lives, but the life of their community - and even the lives of their descendants. That perspective is reflected in the Second Commandment where it says: "Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation."

While many of the Israelites understood their actions to have implications for generations still to come, there were also many Israelites who felt that there were no lasting consequences for their actions. They believed that they had the right to do what they wanted - within the limits of what was legal and what their resources would allow. If they chose to live sinfully, they believed that that was their right, and while God might disapprove, they conveniently found idols and other false gods that would give approval to their actions.

It is during one of these periods that the prophet Ezekiel tried to bring God's word to the people of Israel. Ezekiel lived in exile in Babylon during the early 6th century B.C.. Many of his fellow Israelites living in exile had been seduced into following the ways of the Babylonians. They had turned away from God and embraced many of the practices of an immoral nation. Even those who still lived in Jerusalem were not much better. Many of them too had turned away from God, and so part of Ezekiel's message is a warning that God's judgment is about to descend on them.

Ezekiel also emphasized the need for inner renewal of the heart and spirit. The people needed to rediscover who they really were - to get to know themselves once again as God's people. He also emphasized the responsibility of each person for his or her own sins - that each person must take responsibility for what they have done and what they haven't done. But Ezekiel also brought a message of hope - hope for the renewal of the life of the nation, hope for the renewal of each individual as they reclaim their relationship with God.

In our first text from the book of Ezekiel, we find Ezekiel addressing the issue of individual responsibility. Basically he said to each Israelite that they were responsible for their own actions. On the one hand there were many people in exile who felt that they were suffering for the sins of their parents or grandparents. It was their sin that caused the nation of Israel to be conquered - and their descendants were the ones who suffer the consequences.

Ezekiel called them to look beyond the physical circumstances of their exile to their relationship with God. A person who is good, righteous and honest will be rewarded by God, will be given the gift of true life, while the person who sins will die. In a very real sense Ezekiel was reminding people that life is more than the physical circumstances of their life in Babylon. The trials and temptations that they faced were not all that there was to life. These were but temporary circumstances that they had to deal with. The real challenge for them was how God would judge them on that day of reckoning when each person is called to take responsibility for their life and how they have lived it.

Just as Ezekiel reminded those in exile that in God's eyes they were not being punished for the actions of their ancestors, so our first text concludes with the reminder that they also were not shielded by the goodness of their ancestors. Someone with good and upright parents, but who chose to live a life of sin, would still reap the consequences of his or her actions.

This message of responsibility for our actions is reinforced by our second text from Ezekiel. As our text says, "Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what he has done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you.... Turn away from your sins and live."

This message of responsibility is a timely one, not only for the Israelites, but for us to hear. We too live in a society where many try to absolve themselves of responsibility for their actions.

We live in a society where many people try and avoid taking responsibility for their actions. One attitude that is present is that "as long as I get away with it, it's okay". That's an attitude that says that if I'm rich and powerful enough to protect myself from the consequences, then I have the right to do it. Or - for those who aren't rich and powerful - as long as they don't get caught - they're all right.

As an alternative, many people moderate that to an attitude that says, as long as I don't hurt someone else, I can do whatever I want.

In the face of both of these approaches to life, Ezekiel lifts up our responsibility to God. It is God who has created us and given us this gift of life, but the gift doesn't come without expectations and responsibilities. For God will review our actions - both good and bad. God will call us to account for the way that we have lived. Judgment is real, and while we might not get caught by the police or by our neighbors - God knows what we've done. There is no way of concealing our actions - or even our thoughts from God.

While reminding us of this reality, Ezekiel focuses on a message of hope. While we can't "get away with anything" in the eyes of God, God loves us. While holding us responsible for our actions, God truly wants what is best for us. God doesn't want to have to punish us, rather God hopes for each of us that we will exercise our freedom responsibly, that we will choose the path of life, that we will know God as our Creator and seek to follow God's will in the ways that we live.

May God both bless and guide each of us in this task!

Amen.