16^th Sunday after Pentecost at Epiphany on August 31, 2008

Ezekiel 33:7-11 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself. 10 "Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?" ' 11 Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'

A watchman for your brothers and sisters

Mississippi has a town called Pass Christian. Back in 1969, a group of about 20 people in the Richelieu Apartments of Pass Christian decided to hold a "hurricane party." Less than a football field away from the water, the apartments promised an excellent view of the storm which was predicted to make landfall somewhere around that area. The party was in full swing when Police Chief Jerry Peralta drove up. A man came out of a second-floor balcony with a drink in his hand. Peralta called up, "Y'all need to clear out of here as quickly as you can. The storm is getting worse." The drink-toting individual was joined by others who had a hearty laugh at the Sheriff's warning. One of the folks called back, "This is my place. If you want me off, you'll have to arrest me."

Peralta drove away without having made any arrests and without having changed anybody's mind about evacuating the apartments. What he did do was take the down the names of the partiers ... and their nearest relative. Peralta had been serious; the party people thought him humorous. When Hurricane Camille came ashore, she did so with a vengeance. Her winds peaked at 205 miles an hour; her waves crested at a height of somewhere between 20 and 30 feet. Camille did some of her greatest damage around Pass Christian. The posh Richelieu Apartments were leveled, its inhabitants all died. Only the substructure of the building was left; only a five-year-old boy managed to survive. They died because they hadn't listened to the watchman, or paid attention to his warning. Throughout history it has been a dangerous thing not to pay attention to a watchman who is sharing a legitimate word of warning.

The Lord had called Ezekiel saying: "I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me."

In Ezekiel’s time, a watchman was called upon to stand guard at a strategic spot upon the wall around the city. In the dark, slowly creeping hours, the watchman had to think about how much rested upon his remaining attentive and staying alert. He could be directly responsible for the death of some of his friends and for the enslavement of his family. The city's security, his children's safety, was dependent upon him keeping a faithful vigil. If an enemy approached, he must be the first to know. If danger threatened, he had to give warning. His was a most important task.

It is almost as important as being God's watchman and sharing God's warnings against our enemies: sin, death, and devil. 2,600 years ago, God told Ezekiel that he was to be a watchman for his Israelite brothers and sisters. It is a difficult job being God’s watchman. Quite a few have accepted this position of God’s watchman with reluctance. When God selected Moses to be His watchman, Moses did his very best to argue God out of giving him the job. "Why me?" he asked. "Isn't there somebody who can talk better ... that people will listen to?" When God tapped Jonah on the shoulder and said, "You're My watchman, I want you to go this way," Jonah ran as fast as he could the other direction.

There's a reason why people don't line up to be God's watchman. It's not an easy job. For Noah, being God's watchman meant that everybody around him were walking dead men and women. That's lonely work. To show God's people that they would be eating unclean food during their time of captivity in Babylon, Ezekiel was instructed to cook his food over a fire of dried cow dung. According to church traditions, Matthew was slain with a sword; Mark died after being dragged behind a chariot. Luke was crucified, as were Peter and Andrew. James the Greater was beheaded; James the less was beaten to death. Look through the pages of history and you will see God's watchmen being rejected and hated, mistreated and misunderstood, persecuted, prosecuted, molested, and maligned. You see why being God's watchman is not a job to which many people might aspire.

You have watchmen in this congregation. Teachers may give your child a demerit for unchristian behavior in school. Church elders may speak to you about a specific sin. The shepherding chairman or school elders may send letters to you about church attendance. The stewardship chairman may encourage you to increase your offerings. Sunday School teachers or the education chairman may remind you about the importance of being in Bible class and Sunday School. These are your watchmen. There is a reason why many may be hesitant or reluctant to do these jobs. When you are contacted by one of these watchmen, the natural reaction is to tense up; to become angry; to put down the watchman instead of heeding their warning; to cringe and criticize rather than reform and recreate your lifestyle. It is often a difficult, thankless job being one of God’s watchmen.

As your pastor, I am ultimately responsible as your watchman. It is a wonderful privilege, but it isn’t often easy.   God's present-day pastor watchmen smile when somebody comes up and says, "Easy job ... wish I only had to work on Sundays." Today's watchmen laugh when somebody passes around a pretend job description about a pastor: “Minister wanted: must preach for ten minutes, and say all we need to hear in that time. He must condemn sin, and not offend us. He must be 30 years old with 40 years experience. He will be tallishly short. He will be an ordinary looking handsome fellow. He will have a burning desire to work with the youth, and spend all his time with the elderly. He will be out reaching the lost and visiting the sick yet still manage to be in his office when we need him."

In spite of all that, God's watchmen continue on. Why? Because the message they share is the difference between eternal life and everlasting damnation. Because God continues to come and say, as He did to Ezekiel: "I am making you a watchman to call people to repentance, forgiveness, and salvation in My Son."

The watchman continues because God makes it clear: “If you do not speak out to him to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.” We are accountable.

In a world of "I'm OK-You're OK," saying, "Awake, the enemies of sin, death, and devil, are at your door. Repent, today is the day of your deliverance," is not going to make you popular. When some people hear that message, they will roll over and go back to sleep. Others will say, "It's my life, nobody is going to tell me what to do." Some will challenge: "Danger? Who says so?"

All of you are really God’s watchmen to your fellow brothers and sisters in this congregation. It isn’t by accident that the words “brothers and sisters” are in today’s confession of sins. There is a reason why you greet each other at the end of services as brothers and sisters. You are a family. As members in God’s family we love and care for each other. As family members, out of love, sometimes we must undertake the difficult, thankless job of confronting a fellow member with his or her sin. Listen again to what Jesus said in today’s gospel: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.”

The whole point of this confrontation is not to belittle. It’s not to judge. It’s not to criticize. It’s not to turn away. It’s to turn your brother back to God. It’s to bring your sister back into a relationship with Jesus Christ. You aren’t going after them with a vengeance, but approaching them with love. That’s right – love!

It wasn’t easy for Ezekiel to tell his Israelite brothers and sisters to mend their ways. It wasn’t easy for Paul to tell his apostolic brother, Peter, he was wrong. It isn’t easy for you to confront your brothers and sisters and encourage them to change their thinking, living and acting and turn back to God. But it is a necessity borne of love. People need to hear about sin. People need to hear about their sin.

That doesn’t mean you follow along behind your brother or sister or husband or wife or son or daughter and continually point out every mistake they make and say, “Just wanted to let you know you’re a sinner.”  What it does mean is that if someone is living in unrepentant sin, they should be confronted. Once again, not to push them out the door, but to show them the door to forgiveness is wide open.

At the taller of the two spires of St. Mary’s Church in Krakow, Poland, there is a walkway, where, in ancient ages, a watchman was stationed. From his vantage point he could see a great distance in all directions. If an enemy approached, from his lookout he could sound an alarm that could be heard by the entire town. That is exactly what happened in the year 1241. Unexpectedly, a group of Mongol horsemen emerged from the woods to the east of the city. The watchman put his trumpet to his lips and blew the warning: a tune that is called the Hejnal (HAY-NAL). He played that warning again and again. He kept playing until a Tartar arrow lodged in his throat and cut short the melody of warning. Every day for the last 750 years, the sound of the Hejnal has been played from St. Mary's Church. To commemorate a watchman who knew he was nothing and his warning was everything, that tune is played - with the last note dying, unfinished.

What people do and don't do; how they respond or don't respond is not your worry as watchman. The Lord said, “If you warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.” Your job – my job – is to continue to call the warning, to keep on pointing to the enemy; to keep sharing that deliverance and hope can be found in Jesus Christ. The message is all important. The messenger is unimportant. If people are to be saved, the truth must be delivered; God's eternal, unending call to sleeping, sinful souls must be proclaimed as plainly and as powerfully as possible.

People need to hear and recognize that they are sinners. Then they can hear and believe that they are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. They need to know that no matter how bad society thinks they are, no matter how bad they think they are, God loves them. And He’s already proven it by sending His Son to die for them. Jesus says, "I am your Answer, your Deliverer, your Hope. I take no pleasure I the death of the wicked, rather that they turn from their ways and live! Repent of your sin! Turn from your evil ways!  Believe and receive the forgiveness your heart so desperately longs for; receive the peace your soul so sincerely needs."

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” This is a part of why we belong to a body of believers - why we call each other “brothers” – to help each other up when we fall. What is the purpose of being part of a church if we aren’t going to do this for one another?

This idea of brotherhood is the principle on which the Christian Church is founded. We have all fallen asleep in our duties as watchmen.  We’ve selfishly sat on the side and allowed fellow believers to continue in sin and go on to unbelief when we could have made an effort to do more. We’ve fallen flat on our faces. Yet Jesus didn’t leave us to wallow in the mud. He didn’t consider us unworthy of His time or effort. He became our Brother, by taking on our flesh. He confronted us with our sin, telling us that we can’t even lust, hate, or be angry with our neighbor.

But then He even went a step further. Not only did He become our brother, but He even went so far as to become our SIN - the Chief of sinners - on the cross. He didn’t leave us behind in the battle against Satan. He took on God’s wrath as our Brother and won the battle. He left our sins in the grave. With the gift of Baptism He applied His forgiveness to us and gave us the Holy Spirit and faith. With a gift of His Supper He gave us a way to stay strong in that faith. He picked us up - out of Satan’s clutches - and lifted us into heaven itself. This is what our Brother has done for us. Why? Love. He didn’t leave us alone. He said, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." He gave us each other to be brothers and sisters to one another. He has called us to be watchmen for these brothers and sisters. This is the core of Christianity – Jesus is our Brother and has made us brothers and sisters in Him. Amen.