God's Watchmen
Sunday, 7 September 2014 - Ezekiel 33:7-9
Rev. Bruce Skelton, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Highlands Ranch, Colorado ☩ www.hclchr.org
Passing an office building late one night, a man saw a sign that said, ‘Press bell for the night watchman.’ So the man, being somewhat of a practical joker, proceeded to do so many times. After many, many rings he noticed a rather unhappy looking uniformed watchman come clomping down the stairs, who then proceeded to unlock the first gate, then another gate, then shut off the alarm system, and finally make his way through the revolving door. “Well,” he snarled at the joker, “what do you want?” To which the man replied, “I just wanted to know why you can’t ring the bell for yourself.”
Well, as bad as that story is, it does bear a resemblance to our text for today, about the diligence it takes to be a watchman. You see, in spite of the practical joker’s action, the watchman still had to check it out. That was his job. As the night watchman, he had to keep watch in order to protect the building and keep it safe. Well, in a similar way our O.T. lesson for today is the story of another kind of watchman – not a night watchman, but God’s watchman as it says in our text.
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.
Now, before I continue I think it is important to point out that being a watchman back then was quite different from being a watchman today. Today a watchman or a security guard is in not a very well-paid or esteemed position at all, but in those days it was. In fact, the watchman was one of the most well-paid and prominent people in town. He was the key figure in the defense of a city. It was his job to station himself high atop the city wall and to act as a sentry, scanning the horizon for any would-be attackers that might come to molest the people. The moment he saw anything suspicious, he was supposed to immediately take out his ram’s horn and blow the warning signal, so that the citizens in the field could retreat to the safety of the city walls and the men could prepare for battle. Any failure on the part of the watchman would often result in death, either death for many or all the members of his city or his own death, because if he failed to do his job he would be executed, because he was considered liable for the lives of the people. If the watchman didn’t blow the warning signal and someone got killed on account of it, he would be judged a murderer and the victim’s next of kin would be obligated to avenge the wrong by stoning the watchman to death!
Now I don’t know about you, but if I were Ezekiel I might have been inclined to ask God to look for someone else to do the job, because it was so risky. Sure, it was prestigious and well-paying to be a watchman, but it sure doesn’t sound like it would be worth the risk, if you should happen to make a mistake. However, we must remember that Ezekiel was called by God, not to be a military watchman, but a spiritual one. He didn’t have to stand on top of a wall and blow a ram’s horn. Instead, he had to stand firmly on the Holy Scriptures and proclaim the truth of God’s Holy Word.
In many respects that’s an even more weighty responsibility. Being a spiritual watchman is a very serious endeavor – so much so, that God gave Ezekiel the following caution:
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. 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 [own]soul.
According to these words, Ezekiel as the spiritual watchman would be held accountable by God. He was not just looking out for the people’s physical welfare, but for their spiritual welfare, which, in many ways, was more important. It is an extremely serious matter, because his failure to warn would not just result in people’s physical or temporal death, but their spiritual or eternal death in hell, which was and still is much worse.
Surprisingly enough though, Ezekiel did not withdraw his application. He gladly took on the job of spiritual watchman for the House of Israel. And by the power of God the Holy Spirit, he did what God gave him to do. He made it his business to warn the wicked to turn away from their sinful ways, to repent and to believe and trust in the Lord God of Israel so that they would not surely die, but live eternally with Him.
Now some of you might be thinking, well that was good for Ezekiel, but he is long dead and gone. He ministered some 2,600 years ago, so what do these words have to do with me here today? Well, I’ll tell you. My friends God still needs watchmen today, just as much as he did back then.
Now at this point some of you might well then turn and say to me, “Fine, Pastor, that’s what we hired you for, go be the watchman, go do your job and we’ll do ours. Well, that might sound okay to some people, but it is a cop out pure and simple, because my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our enemies are legion. The devil, the demons who work for him, the world and our own sin-fallen flesh are always out in force and there is no way one man could ever see them all and blow his horn to warn everybody all the time. In fact I would be tooting 24/7 and I still wouldn’t be able to warn everyone of all the dangers that are out there. So guess what? As baptized believers in Christ, as members of the One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church you are all watchman too. You’ve all been drafted and like the old song went, “You’re in the army now.” And If you don’t believe me just take another look at our Gospel reading for today.
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
Beloved, I don’t know about you, but that kind of sounds like we are all responsible for each other. And this is particularly pertinent on this rally Sunday as we begin yet another year of Sunday school classes and Bible studies. For how else can we be alert and watching out for danger, scanning the horizon for any possible attacks from our enemies and then battle them effectively without a thorough grounding in God’s Holy Word? What was true for Ezekiel is true for us, which is why we must be constantly occupied with it in order to fight the good fight of faith that God has given us all to do.
In our men’s Bible study yesterday, we had a wonderful presentation given to us by Mr. Al Czanderna on the walkout in 1973, where of a large number of our St. Louis Seminary professors and students walked out of our largest Seminary, because they had essentially departed from the word of God and no longer taught that the Scriptures were true. As a result there was a huge split in our church body that impacts us still to this day. If hadn’t been for the efforts of some faithful watchmen, a few confessional and Bible-believing pastors and, more importantly, a large number of faithful Bible-believing laymen. The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod would either be in fellowship with or be a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America which for all intents and purposes has pretty much abandoned the Word of God in their doctrine and practice.
My friends the danger is still there, so if you are not currently involved in Bible study here at church or at home, I earnestly ask each of you to prayerfully consider doing so, so that you might be a good and faithful watchman as God calls us all to be. We need to be constantly reminded not only of our own faults and short-comings, but of the beautiful gospel, that God in His limitless love, sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save us all by obliterating our enemies of sin, death, and hell. He was appointed by the Father to be the ultimate and perfect watchman, watching out for our eternal welfare. And He did so, not by climbing up on a wall, but by climbing up Calvary with a cross. He didn’t sound the alarm by blowing a ram’s horn, but by shedding His holy blood to wipe out all our sins. He took the full onslaught of Satan’s attack, all his charges and accusations and indictments against us, so that you and I would be spared, so that we could all be free from blame. He did it all, so that we might retreat within the shelter of the city walls, the safety of His everlasting kingdom.
As a matter of fact, in a beautiful way, Ezekiel’s name is a picture of that. It’s a Hebrew word that means: ‘God strengthens.’ It comes from a verb that means: ‘to harden, to make firm.’ And that’s precisely what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, our almighty, all-knowing ever-present Watchman. He continually strengthens us in our faith through His Holy Word and Sacraments, so that we can be forgiven and saved. He has made us hard and firm, so that we can withstand all the assaults of the evil one. Be assured that Jesus we will prevail, because He has prevailed. May that Good News equip and encourage us as we serve as faithful watchmen for Him and for one another all the days of our lives. In Jesus Name. Amen.