Pentecost 16 - Watchmen over Israel

Pentecost 16 – Watchmen over Israel – Ezekiel 33:7-9
Vicar Matthew Peters – September 1 & 3, 2005 – St. Paul’s Lutheran, Union Grove, WI

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen.

In a startling news bulletin that I received only this morning, it was announced that life exists outside the church. Believe it or not, you, my friends cannot stay here all evening and on to tomorrow, you have to go home and lead your lives there with your families and friends and co-workers. You cannot remain here in the relative safety of God’s house… you must go back into His creation and dwell. Oh, you can return here whenever you like, and we would certainly be the first to encourage you to do so, but the fact remains; our lives are not led exclusively at church.
But fear not, you will depart at the close of this service with God’s blessing, and all will be well for you until you return. Right? There will not be any troubles or hardships in your lives, and things will be peachy, am I correct? In fact, each and every member of St. Paul’s will return here next week to be rejuvenated and we will rejoice that not a single soul is absent. Yes, that is how things will be…

Of course it doesn’t take much of a detective to realize that not everything always goes well for a person merely because they are a Christian. We have troubles, we have hardships… and if you glance around the church, I daresay that not every member is present for this evening’s service.
This world we live in is imperfect, outside of God’s house there is a world just filled with sadness, greed, corruption, and anguish – for believer and unbeliever alike. Why is that? The answer, as you might expect, is sin. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, our world has been steeped in the imperfections and turmoil of sin. The world is sinful. People are sinful – and sin turns people from God.
People turn from God – such a common and sad part of humanity. God is there, reaching out for His lost children, and they just walk away.

God spoke concerning this to the prophet Ezekiel: (Ezekiel 33:7-9)
“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. 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. 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.”

God told the prophet Ezekiel to be a ‘watchman for the house of Israel’ – and He therefore tells believers today to be watchmen as well. But what exactly is this watchman supposed to do? The text talks about warning the ‘wicked’ – ok, but who does that include?
When we think of someone who we might consider ‘wicked’, our thoughts might turn to Osama Bin Laden, or Saddam Hussein, some Hannibal Lector or even Adolf Hitler. But that is not the definition of ‘wicked’ that God is necessarily referring to in these verses. What makes a man ‘wicked’ is not the evil actions he does – but the fact that he has turned away from God. Without God, nothing is can be good. Therefore, those who reject God can be considered, in God’s terms, as nothing less than ‘wicked’.
So are we to simply go around speaking out against all that is ‘wicked’ in the world? Quick! Somebody give me a soapbox and a megaphone, we’re about to get started! Well, although speaking out publicly may have its place, that’s not what God is getting across to Ezekiel in our reading for today. Ezekiel was called to watch over the house of Israel – God’s people – and to turn these people who had once been, or even claimed to be believers from their ‘wicked’ ways – to speak out to those who had fallen away from the faith.
So what denotes ‘falling away’? How do you know if someone is among this category of ‘wicked’? Is there an unrepentant or unreformed sin? Is there spiritual apathy? Is there a rejection of God?
Have you ‘fallen away’? Are you ‘wicked’? No? So you never have your weak moments or doubts concerning God? All of your sins are fixed? And God is the first and the last thing on your heart and mind each and every day?
Have you tried to help save those others that have fallen away? Well, that’s ok. It’s probably none of your business anyhow, what they do with their lives.
Maybe it sounds like it’s none of your business…

I’d like to share a little story. As far as I’m aware, I made it up… but I like it, and I’d like for you to hear it, considering the circumstances:
A man who lived at the foot of a mountain met some hikers walking along the path that ran by his cottage. They talked for a few hours, had lunch together, and everyone enjoyed the time immensely. When the hikers decided it was time to go on, they told the man that they were headed to the top of the mountain. The man knew that these hikers weren’t experienced enough for the task just by looking at them. The man knew that this time of year it was dangerous to hike up the mountain for fear of avalanches. The man knew that there was a terrible blizzard predicted for that very afternoon, and that anyone on the mountain would most certainly be doomed. – But the man said nothing, and merely waved good-naturedly with a little prayer for them in his heart as they walked away. Three days later, one of the members of the search and rescue teams asked the man if he had seen the hikers.
“Of course” he replied, “Great folks, very nice! A little misguided in their hiking plans though… they must’ve been crazy to be going up that mountain.”
“You talked to them?” asked the rescuer.
“Sure! I would have them to lunch again any time.” replied the man.
“Well, I doubt you’ll get the chance for that,” said the rescuer as some carts draped with white sheets were wheeled past, “…why didn’t you warn them?”

Why didn’t the man warn them? It would’ve been so easy to at least mention his concerns. Even if they didn’t listen, at least he could try. If it seems so obvious to us to warn people of their physical dangers – then why do we feel the need to keep our noses out of situations where people are putting themselves in spiritual danger?
If someone falls away, lives a sin, or is in obvious error – we are to correct them. Not for the sake of just telling them that they are wrong, or belittling them, but out of love and the hope that they might repent. How can God affect someone’s life when they have rejected Him? Whether they realize it or not, if they are living unrepentantly, they have rejected God, and He can be nothing but wrathful toward them. God is indeed love, but what good is the loving gospel of God to someone who does not even know that they need it?
To deal with people who have gone astray by merely reminding them of the gospel, would be like Noah passing out life preservers… nobody thought they needed them.
It may sound humorous or seem silly, but look at what God is saying to Ezekiel concerning these ‘wicked men’:
“he will die for his sin” – serious stuff.
“I will hold you accountable for his blood” – more serious yet.
We are not being asked to be passive Christians – or even to simply mind our own business. God’s business is our business…
But why? It feels so harsh and mean to apply God’s law. Why butt in?
Out of love. It seems a little odd to think it, but all of this that we speak of today: Ezekiel being a watchman; submitting ourselves to authorities as Paul speaks of in Romans; as well as how to deal with your brother if he sins against you as we heard in Matthew chapter 18 – all of these are done out of love. We do not want our friends, loved ones, family members, or neighbors to ‘die for their sin’. We do not want to rebel against God’s appointed rulers. We do not want to have an ugly disagreement that keeps our brother away from us or from God. All of the actions described in the Scripture lessons for today are to be done out of love. Love and the preservation of God’s people.
We know the danger that they are putting themselves into – we know where the path leads… death. A death worse than physical death; spiritual death and hell. And we have the answer. We have the solution. We have the way to survive out there in the world without falling to pieces for now and all eternity.
We have the gospel.
And let me remind you of this message of the gospel now:
Though we fail as humans. Though we doubt, though we sin, even though we fall away and reject God completely. Though everyone at times could easily classify themselves as one of these ‘wicked men’. There is hope…
God knew that once man had sinned that he would be lost. So rather than let us simply walk down the path to our own eternal demise, God planned and promised salvation. We could be saved! Even if we are poor at speaking up… Even if we have failed in our position as watchmen… Even if we ourselves have lived the wicked life… God has an answer that will save you:
God sent His Son Jesus to live the life that we could not… He lived a perfect life.
Then, even though he was perfect, he was given the punishment that we deserve. He was tortured, mocked, belittled, rejected, crucified, and died… all for us. He bore the shame and the guilt of all of the world’s sin so that those who look to Him in faith as their savior would not suffer for eternity. … He paid the price of rejecting God, of being ‘wicked’, of failing God. He paid this price even though He was God Himself!
All of this, for you! So that your errors and mistakes, all of your doubts and rejections, all of those poor choices and missed opportunities – are as if they never happened in God’s opinion. They are no more! You are no longer ‘wicked’ in God’s sight. You are forgiven!
It is for this reason, the forgiveness that we have, that we do not want to let people hike on by us to their certain demise. How can we know if there will be another one to warn them? We know the truth, and have the opportunity to be God’s instrument in bringing wayward souls back to God. The Holy Spirit can work through you to share this message with those who Ezekiel would call ‘wicked’ and we might call ‘lost’:
“Dear friend, turn from your ways! Don’t you know that God loves you? Don’t you know that He has a better life in store for you? Here is His Word! Here are the blessed Sacraments! See how they point you to something better than this?”
And after this, God willing you can say to them as I now say to you; “I want you to know my friend, the angels rejoice over you, and I too am glad to hear that you are sorry. Because I want you to know that you are forgiven from all of your sins, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!”

Amen.