10/2/11 - Pentecost 16 - Ezekiel 33:7-11

SOUND THE TRUMPET

The Importance of a Watchman

City limits don’t mean that much anymore. It might mean a different set of taxes depending on what side of the city limits you are on, but the physical boundary itself is usually just marked with a sign displaying the city’s name and elevation or population. And nobody really pays too much attention to it and it’s not a big deal when you cross from one side to the other. But the city limits of a town in Old Testament times meant something a little more important than they do today. Because the “city limits” back then were not just marked with a sign or a line or a post. The city limits were marked with a wall. A thick wall made of stone and mortar and brick. In fact, a normal wall that went around the limits of a city during the time of God’s Old Testament people was at least 9 feet thick, and it could be three times that wide at its base. And the height of these walls usually ranged from about 20 to 30 feet high - short enough so that the structure could remain stable but tall enough so that it would take a little work to get up and over the top. These walls that surrounded those ancient cities were essential to the protection and the peace of its citizens. They were the first line of defense against an invading enemy - and sometimes the last. And so it was a big deal depending on what side of the city limits you were on when danger was at hand. But these walls that marked the city limits and the protection that they offered to its people would have been inconsequential if it were not for work of the city’s watchman.
The watchman was a man whose job it was to stand on top of the wall or in a corner watchtower so that he could observe what was happening around the city from all angles. His main responsibility was to stay alert and to watch out for a raiding party, an army, or an enemy of any kind that posed a threat to the citizens of the town. And if he did see an attack coming he was to sound his trumpet for everyone to hear so that those who were working outside of the city walls in the fields and the pastures could rush back in behind the gates and find protection there before the enemy arrived. The watchman could not fall asleep on the job. The watchman could not be lazy when on duty. The watchman could not arbitrarily guess when an attack was imminent, of course, but he could not hesitate when danger was detected either. He had to sound the signal loudly, clearly, and immediately because lives were at stake. The protection and the very preservation of his fellow citizens rested on how faithful he was at sounding that trumpet.

Sound the Trumpet Out of Love

You have a trumpet to sound as well. A spiritual signal. A life & death warning call to others that is much more important than the job of the watchmen back then. In fact, it is an essential responsibility of the Church at large. It always has been. Every Christian is called upon to be this kind of watchman, a watchman that holds the “keys” that were described for us earlier in Matthew 18, a duty that is also clearly laid out for us in the book of Ezekiel. The Lord said to this faithful prophet in the middle of their exile in Babylon, “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.”
This assignment given to Ezekiel can easily be applied to the pastors and the teachers and the other spiritual leaders among us, but it doesn’t stop with them. Every Christian is a watchman. This weighty responsibility has been passed down by the Lord himself to all who believe in his name. Each one of us has been designated to man the post high up in that watchtower, to stay alert, to look for danger, and to sound that trumpet loud and clear when we see anyone at risk. Of course, sounding that spiritual trumpet means pointing out a sin; it means confronting someone with an unbiblical action or word or attitude that you have witnessed; it means bringing up a potentially unpleasant conversation with someone you care about.
But as a watchman you are to do this not to “toot your own horn” so to speak; and you are not to sound that trumpet because you are that much better than the person you are confronting; and you are not to carry out this responsibility because you dislike your fellow Christian. Rather, you put your lips to that mouthpiece and blow a clear, sure signal to save a life, to protect a soul, to turn a straying heart from the direction it’s headed and to lead that newly humbled heart back to the King inside those city walls. Your job as a watchman is crucial to the spiritual health of those around you. And so you cannot fall asleep on the job. You cannot be lazy while on duty. You cannot hesitate to sound that trumpet. Because you are the one who is held responsible.

Held Accountable for Their Blood

“I will hold you accountable for his blood,” the Lord says to Ezekiel. If one of your fellow Christian brothers or sisters has sinned, and that brother or sister is not sorry for that sin so that their faith is in serious danger because of their stubbornness, and you do not warn them, you have failed to be the watchman you have been called on to be. It is unloving, selfish, and unchristian-like to leave that trumpet hanging at your side while someone around you continues to walk towards danger with sin in hand. Because if a person sins and does not repent - that is, admit that he/she has sinned and believe in the Lord’s forgiveness - that sin is not forgiven. And just one unforgiven sin prevents entrance into the kingdom of the Lord. Just one. And if you know of that sin and look the other way, if you know of that sin and do not say anything, you are held accountable.
As a pastor, I of course am in the position where I am held responsible for the spiritual lives of many people. And throughout my ministry, as much as I hate to admit it, I have not sounded that trumpet as often or as loudly as I should have. I have sometimes blown it weakly so as not to upset someone too much. I have sometimes only given one blast on that horn - convincing myself that I have now done my duty and I don’t have to go through the trouble of sounding that trumpet again. And then there are those times when I have not even brought that trumpet up to my lips at all. Because I didn’t really feel like getting into an argument or I didn’t want that person to dislike me or I didn’t want to drive someone away… There are plenty of excuses that I have used not to sound that trumpet as a watchman. And you will be tempted to use those same excuses too. Maybe you already have. Maybe you are using some of those excuses right now right now. And the damaging thing about all of this is if the watchman doesn’t blow the trumpet, who will? If the watchman doesn’t warn that person, who will? If the watchman doesn’t care enough to say what needs to be said, who will? If the watchman doesn’t try to point a straying sinner to the Savior, who will?

Held Accountable for Your Blood

And that, that is the real reason why we sound the trumpet in the first place: not just because we are held responsible for their blood but because Christ already has been. We want that person to know that their sin is serious, but, more importantly, that Jesus himself has taken way its penalty. We want that person to realize that their Savior has already made a tremendous sacrifice of his own life for them and that their sins - no matter how awful and how unspeakable they have been - are completely forgiven through his blood. We want that person to come to know the Jesus who experienced the wrath of God for them, who took their pain, who suffered their punishment. We want that ringing trumpet blast of the Word of God to ultimately turn them back to Christ the King and pull them safely into his waiting arms.
Because that’s what he does for us, after all. Every time we sin he immediately sounds that unmistakable trumpet call in his Word, convicting us of our sins and convincing us that he has already forgiven them. That’s what repentance is: a convicting of sins and a convincing that they are forgiven. And that repentance is worked in our hearts only by the gracious hand of God through his law and gospel. It is what he desires for us all. That’s what he wanted even for his Old Testament people who had been thrown into exile because of their sins. Listen to how passionate the Lord is through his prophet Ezekiel: “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?”
The Lord did not want his people to die in their sins! He wanted them to separate themselves from their sinful actions by clinging to their Savior. “Turn! Turn from your ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?” It was a call to repentance - and it still is; it is a passionate plea to return; it is a trumpet blast that tingles the ears of sinners and moves their hearts with an incredible power and beckons them back inside the walls of his love and mercy and protection.

Sound the Trumpet to Save a Life

You are one of those who have heard this trumpet call and have been brought back inside. And now you are one of the watchmen standing on those same walls of the Church of your Lord. Look down at your side: the trumpet that you hold in your hand produces the exact same sound that you have heard from the Lord himself - because the sound it makes is the Word of God. It can be a harsh blast at times, but it is indescribably beautiful. It may be hard to listen to for some people at first, but it ends in a glorious crescendo. And so take your post, watchman. Climb the steps. Take a look around. Constantly be on your guard for the wellbeing of those all around you. And when you do see someone in danger, when you do observe someone under your watch going in the wrong direction, grip that trumpet tightly in your hands, bring it to your lips, and let that fellow brother or sister know about the danger to their souls that they can’t seem to see for themselves. It is your duty, watchman. It is your responsibility. And it is your joy. It is your joy! Sound that trumpet. Save a life. Just as the King has saved yours.
Amen.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father - to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.” - Rev. 1:5-6

9/25/11 - Pentecost 15 - Galatians 6:12-16

THE CROSS WON'T CHANGE

Things are Changing

Things are changing. And I’m not just talking about the time of year as the weather changes from summer to fall and the leaves change from green to yellow. And I’m not simply referring to the regular cycle of this life either, as the times and the trends of this world change for the better or for the worse. I’m talking about the changes that are happening right here a little closer to home: the change in the location of our worship services, the changes in what we can do in our ministry to the lost, the changes we have been planning for this past year and have already begun to put into practice. And they are some exciting changes, aren’t they! A sanctuary that is almost twice the size as this one, an actual fellowship area that provides more than just elbow room for a few people, a pavilion that will be able to accommodate multiple outdoor activities, an entire facility all our own that will give us countless more opportunities to invite and encourage and welcome those around us to get to know the Lord and his Word. No more storefront. No more light fixtures dangling from chains. No more distractions from next door. Things are changing. Quickly. Whether we’re ready for them or not.
Are you proud of these changes? Does it fill you with pride to be able to invite someone you know to a nice looking building? Does it fill you with pride to have the chance to welcome someone into a brand new facility? A place that you helped build? A project that you helped support? A house of worship that you can actually call your own? It should! There’s nothing wrong with being proud of what has happened in the past 9 months and what we have been working towards for much longer than that! The Lord has blessed us tremendously! He has showered us with his grace in more ways than we could have possibly imagined at this time last year! And so don’t hesitate to tell others about all these incredible changes! Invite them to see it for themselves! Encourage them to check out what makes you so excited! But also realize this: Satan will try to use these changes against you.

Satan Uses Those Changes

The devil isn’t going to just sit back and watch. He isn’t going to quietly observe as we invite and encourage and welcome people into a House of God with all of the enthusiasm and energy of a group of Christians motivated by the love of our Lord. And he’s certainly not going to give up. Satan is going to do his best to use these blessings to undermine the Truth, to distract us from the important, to puff our chests up about the inconsequential. Because that’s what Satan does: he may not be able to stop God’s blessings from coming to us but he sure will try to twist them and skew them and take them to the extreme once they are in our hands. He will want to get us so focused and so obsessed with the “new” that we look past the “never changing.” He will want us to be so proud of what our hands have done that the accomplishments of God’s hands just don’t seem that exciting anymore. He will desperately attempt with all of his tricks and deceptions to make us focus on something else rather than on the cross.
In May of 2006 I received the call through the assignment committee of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary to Living Word Lutheran Church in Montrose, CO. And as I sat down with the district president to look over the information sent from this congregation, it was immediately stated in the cover letter that this was a mission congregation that currently worshiped in a storefront. Now, I didn’t really have any specific expectations about the congregation I would be assigned to, but I think it’s safe to say that when I, as with any young man who is studying to become a pastor within our synod… I did not imagine myself at my first congregation standing in a storefront under the sterile glow of precariously placed florescent lights on the other side of a wall from a sports bar. That’s just not the ideal picture that most men have in their minds as they anticipate their first call into the full time ministry. Was I disappointed? No, not at all. I couldn’t have been more excited to serve my God in this way no matter where I was to go. But was I proud? I can’t say I was initially proud of a storefront congregation that had been around not just for a couple years, but for almost 70 years by the time I arrived. I didn’t brag about the storefront location to others; I didn’t think it worth bringing up when people asked how ministry was going for me. And when I would talk to people in town about Living Word at first I would say things like, “We’re in a storefront now, but we’re hopefully going to be moving out soon.” “Yeah, we’re downtown temporarily, but the plan is to build our own place.” “We used to have a church building on Park Ave. but we wanted to build a bigger facility somewhere else so we moved into this storefront in the meantime.”
But why shouldn’t I have been proud? Because what was happening inside these walls? The Word of God was happening. The gospel was being preached and taught. Baptisms were being performed. The Lord’s Supper was being offered. But do you see how the devil was subtly working on me? Do you see how he was trying to get me to focus all of my attention on the outward appearance and the supposed importance of a physical structure and an external impression? Do you see how he can work on you in the same way? Playing with your pride? Diverting your attention? Making it seem like some things are much more important than they actually are?

The Cross is All That Counts

The apostle Paul was dealing with a similar attitude with the congregations in the region of Galatia. They were becoming so concerned about the externals and the impression that they were giving that they were overlooking the only thing that really counted: the cross. “Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.”
There were not many physical church buildings that Christians were able to worship in at Paul’s time, and so that social “status symbol” of a building wasn’t too much of an issue. But there was the matter of circumcision: that Old Testament Jewish law that every male had to follow. And these Jewish Christians were apparently being coerced to be circumcised by other non-believing Jews because then it wouldn’t seem like they were turning their backs on their heritage; and it would be a little more socially acceptable if they took pride in their nationality; and they wouldn’t seem so out of place or strange compared to those around them. And so soon it didn’t matter what they believed; it mattered what people thought of them. And their pride was no longer resting on the cross of Christ, but on the precious pedigree passed down to them by their ancestors. They were losing sight of the one thing that they should have never looked away from. They were taking their eyes off the cross.
If you have been over to the new building lately, you have seen the new cross hanging in the sanctuary. Its nine feet tall and six feet wide, designed and hand crafted by a couple of the Builders for Christ out of two different kinds of wood. It’s a nice cross. A large cross. And we have nothing like it in here. The closest thing we have is that brass cross sitting on top of the altar or that old wooden cross that leans off of the side wall by a chain during Lent. But although that new cross is hanging in the new sanctuary in the new church building under new lights over new carpet surrounded by new walls and new paint soon to be looking over new altar furniture and new chairs, that cross is nothing new. It’s the same cross. It may have a new form and a new location, but the cross there is the same cross as we have always had here. Because it’s the cross of our Savior. It’s the cross of his sacrifice. It’s the cross of our forgiveness. It is the exact same ancient instrument of torture that made our Paradise possible - no matter where we are. It has been and it always will be the center of our worship, the theme of our hymns, the focus of every sermon, and the motivation for our entire life. The physical material out of which this symbol of our salvation is made might change; its form and its color and its adornment might vary from time to time; but its meaning never will. It will always mean eternal life to all who believe. It will always be the strength of our faith. It will always be the strength of our congregation. It will always be the strength of the Church.

The Cross is What We Can Boast about

And that’s something we can boast about. That is something that we can invite people to hear and encourage people to see and welcome people to experience firsthand. The cross is the one thing that is worth sharing with people no matter where we are at: a storefront, a new church building, a hospital room, a kitchen table, a coffee shop, a backyard fence. The cross is something to be bragged about! The cross is something that should fill us up with pride as Christians because it has never failed us, it has always been there for us, and it will never change. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and the eternal effects that it has produced will always stay the same. Buildings will fall, locations will dilapidate, the beautiful will turn ugly, the new will grow old. But the cross, the cross alone found in the pages of Scripture remains firm and true and ageless. And we can put our pride in that for as long as we live.
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the apostle Paul said. He could have boasted that he was called by Christ himself in a special appearance on the road to Damascus. He could have boasted that he was set apart by the Holy Spirit to be a missionary to the world. He could have boasted that his efforts produced brand new congregations in multiple locations in a short amount of time. He could have boasted that he was chosen as an inspired writer of Scripture itself and had more books inserted into the Bible than any other author. He could have boasted about his calling, his abilities, his accomplishments, his status… but he didn’t. Instead he boasted about things like his weaknesses because God’s power was displayed through his faults. He boasted about things like his sufferings because God’s grace was evident through his pain. And he boasted about the cross of his Lord because that was what saved him, what rescued him, what made him who he was. Paul was a boaster - but only about those things that Christ had done on his behalf.
What kinds of things could you boast about in your life? A successful career? A good looking family? A nice house? A talented child? A likable personality? A hard working mentality? A new church building? A cross? Yes, a cross. “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” May you never have another boast. You don’t need one. The cross has given you everything you need. And that will never change.
Amen.

“Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” - Rev. 7:12