If you have purchased any goods or services recently, you’ve probably been asked to fill out a customer survey about your experience with the provider of those goods or services.  As you know, those customer service surveys do not intend to obtain completely honest feedback. Most salespersons and store employees will tell you that anything less than the highest score equates to failure for them; you’re expected, even coerced, into giving five-star reviews every time you purchase anything.  

Ezekiel the Prophet, whose prophecies provide our first reading today, would have gotten much less than a five-star review from his hearers. He had the unenviable task of warning the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah that they had sealed their own disastrous fate by their faithlessness.  

Ezekiel warned the People about both false hope and false despair. Their false hope was the expectation that their military power and political alliances would save them from the aggressors which were threatening to destroy the Kingdom. Their false despair was worry about the destruction of the city and their way of life.  

Ezekiel called everyone individually to repentance, reform, and complete trust in God. This was not a message that any of them wanted to hear, and for that reason, Ezekiel was extremely unpopular. In fact, he experienced a great deal of hostility because he pointed out the People’s unwillingness to take responsibility for their lives and choices.  

Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry occurred a long time ago, in a social situation very different to our own.  The nature of Ezekiel’s warning to the People, however, is timely today.   

Today, there are many warning signs of impending self-made disaster, but the one that deserves the most urgent attention is the false hope and false despair involved in thinking God does not hear or answer our prayers.  This common complaint is expressed by both church-goers and those not associated with any church congregation.  It is the result of the same lack of faith that burdened Ezekiel’s contemporaries. 

There is a common, but false, belief that portrays God as existing solely for the purpose of distributing goods and services to those who petition for them.  This false image of God has understandable origins.  We live in a society driven entirely by consumer values.  Those consumer values lead shoppers to search for the best bargains, and they lead vendors to search for the best customers.  Unfortunately, there is an overwhelming tendency to apply consumer values to everything, including God, human persons, and oneself. 

In our social situation, prayer is reduced to nothing more than placing an order with a vendor, who happens to be called “God.”  Like experienced consumers, we are satisfied when we get what we request and deeply dissatisfied when we do not get what we want.  The complaint that God does not hear, or answer, prayers is the complaint of a consumer; it is based on personal worry and desire rather than on faith in the One, True God. 

The fallacy of consumer religion is easily understood.  Consumers want to be free to request and receive anything and everything they want, regardless of how inappropriate or destructive the request.  These expectations are based on the false belief that both the world and God are indentured to respond automatically to requests.  It is rather the case that the world is free to act only according to its own physical laws, and God is entirely sovereign, that is, not the world, not contained by the world, and not determined by the world. 

The false hope that one is entitled to have all one’s wishes fulfilled, and the false despair that arises from a disappointing consumer experience of God, equate to a destructive lack of faith. 

God hears and answers every prayer.  God does so as sovereign Creator and Redeemer of the world, not as a waiter or vendor obliged to provide goods and services in exchange for exemplary customer reviews.   

God’s first response to prayer is always the admonition to be responsible, fair, and forgiving.  There is often more to God’s response to prayer, but it is impossible to hear in the absence of these virtues.  When it seems that God is not listening to one’s prayers, it is a sign that God has responded but the response has been ignored. 

The king and People of Jerusalem and Judah complained that “The Lord’s way is not fair!” (Ez 18:25)  Their erroneous judgment about God was the result of their own lack of fairness toward God and one another. (Ez 18:26) 

If you find yourself tempted to give God a poor review, you’re in luck because this is a certain sign that you need to listen to, and act on, Ezekiel’s call to repentance.  The real hope that Ezekiel offered the People was that, if they repented, they would become able to hear God’s voice and perceive God’s consolation.  The same hope is promised today to those who set aside their worries to embrace complete trust.