The text this morning is from Ezekiel Chapter 33. Allow me to read the text again for you, starting at verse 1:
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.
"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. 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 soul.
A few years ago, there was a television series on the History Channel called “Life After People.“ It was a series of computer-generated images and videos of what the producers thought the world would look like if every single person on the planet disappeared. Now, they didn’t tell us how the people would disappear, only that they did. The show wasn’t particularly fantastic, but it was visually stimulating. They showed pictures of buildings in New York City that had been overgrown with ivy in less than 5 years. Streets were filled with weeds and tress. Zoo animals that had so long been kept within their own cages were suddenly running free through the streets. We had zebras in Seattle, elephants in Atlanta, lions in Detroit. The last one is particularly good since we all know there are no good lions in Detroit. Football joke. Sorry.
Saint Louis was not spared. The Arch had caved in the middle, leaving only two tall spires on either side. The city was overrun and falling down. Buildings that had stood tall and proud, now stood open and windowless, letting any air or rain or snow or bird right in to do what it needed to do. The whole mess, everything that man had built by the strength of his own two hands and some ingenuity, was falling down, given way to the ravages of time.
I want you to imagine this church. Think about the structure; think about the items in it. Think about the pews and the pulpit. Think about the doors and the windows. Think about it, however, not as we see it today, not as items that are used and places that are frequented. No, rather, think about it empty and dead. There are no more worship services. The organ sits silent and decaying. There is no more Sunday School. The tables have collapsed in on themselves and the paper, used so often for showing the children their lessons, is rotting on the floor. There is no Bible class; the Bibles sit in a pile in the middle of the room. There are no baptisms; the font has been tipped over and is broken. There is no Lord’s Supper; the communion ware has been sold to the highest bidder, the glass jug that held the unconsecrated wine is smashed on the floor, and the wafers are being picked over by scavengers. The church is dead and gone.
If you can imagine all this, if you are able to see the horror of a useless church building, of a useless nation, of a useless world, and you are beginning to understand the prophetic visions from God that Ezekiel was seeing. As Ezekiel saw it, his nation, a guilty nation before God, Israel, was reduced to nothing more than smoldering ruins.
Was there a warning? Was there time to prepare? Was there anything that could be done? Yes, yes. Ezekiel was appointed watchman over the sinful Israel. The watchman’s job is a lonely one. He is to scan the horizon constantly, looking for threats to the city, to the city’s people. A dust cloud over the mountains could be either a storm or a thundering horde of barbarians riding fast on their horses. An unassuming poor man begging for food could be just as he appears, or he could be the first spy of many looking to infiltrate the city. The watchman is the first protector of the city. When he spies danger, he cries out in fear and alarm. And what does the text tell us that Ezekiel did?
“If I bring the sword upon the land (and God did) and the watchman sees the sword and warns the people (and Ezekiel did), then anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet, the warning, and does not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life.”
The city’s inhabitants have a chance to save their own lives from the enemies God said were coming, the enemies God Himself was sending. Ezekiel was no slouch. He warned the people many times over. He warned them they would be destroyed, warned them that they were turning their backs on God, warned them they had no hope but in God. But, in their guilt and sinfulness, Israel didn’t listen and so they were destroyed. Laid bare.
Ezekiel’s visions had come to their fullness. The armies of Israel’s enemies had broken through the walls and streamed into the city. Israel’s people laid dead in the streets with animals picking at them. The temple, the holiest place in all of ancient Israel, was stripped bare of all its loveliest things. The gold that lined the walls was stripped off. The cedar that the walls and floors were constructed out of was burned up, leaving only stone supports. The jewels that had reflected the rays of the sun’s light were popped out of their holding places, leaving nothing but empty husks of cement behind. Everything beautiful was gone. Everything living was dead. There was nothing left. Nothing at all. Even God, who had dwelled among His people in the temple, hidden behind the curtain, was gone; He had seemingly abandoned His people.
What could cause such destruction? What could cause such desolation? What could cause such abandonment?
The answer is simple and complex. It is the same answer that was given in Ezekiel’s time as a forewarning of what would come. It is the same answer we see today, even in our hearts. The cause of desolation, death, destruction, is sin. Our sin, our most grievous sin, with which we have offended God has separated Him from us! We are guilty. That is the reason for destruction, that is the reason for death and pain.
We build our sin and God will work to completely destroy it. We have built in our hearts a den of sin. We have constantly looked to our own might and power to solve our problems, to heal our sicknesses, to guard our hearts. We fail to recognize that it is GOD who does these things for us. We mistake God’s action for our own. We think that we are so mighty, we who say, along with the Israelites, “No one can come against me! I have all that I need.”
We also mistakenly believe that we are able to somehow earn God’s favor through our actions. We, like Israel, think that by performing our religious actions, by showing up to church, by following the prayers, by reading the church’s bulletin, we are somehow earning God’s favor!
Dear Friends, God’s favor cannot be earned by us! It cannot be gained! There is nothing that we can do to get God on our side! We are enemies of God because we are sinful! We are enemies of God because we cannot stop sinning. And God, because of our sinfulness, will work against us.
But we have a watchman, thank God! We have a watchman and his name is Jesus. Just as Ezekiel was called to be the watchman over Israel, so Jesus’ call is watchman for the world.
But we have a watchman, thank God! We have a watchman and his name is Jesus. Just as Ezekiel was called to be the watchman over Israel, so Jesus’ call is watchman for the world.
Jesus cries out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Jesus says through Paul, “The Law brings wrath!” This, this is our enemy that God sends against us: the Law of God. Jesus sees that the Law is not only on the horizon, the Law is here among His people. The Law is in our midst, and it is swinging its sword around hitting everyone and everything, striking you down and leaving your hearts, your lives, your eternal hopes in ruin. When we stand up to the Law, we are struck down dead.
And that all assumes that we actually hear Jesus’ warning. That assumes that we pay attention to Him. That assumes that we actually care that Jesus tells us that we are sinners and we need to stop sinning. Most of the time, we ignore His warning. Most of the time, we ignore His call. Most of the time, we continue to do whatever it is that we want to do. We are sinners, and for that we deserve to be damned. Our blood is on our own hands.
But Jesus’ call does not end at the warning. He has indeed warned us of the Law, but He then showers us in His grace. He desires our repentance, but knows that we can’t do it on our own, so He gives us the Holy Spirit to lead us to it. Jesus sees the devastation that surrounds us.
Jesus sees that devastation of the city that we tried to build on our own and has compassion. He rebuilds us. Jesus reaches into us, and in that place where we have built a whorehouse of our hearts, He makes His temple. Where we constructed a crack den of addiction and pain and loneliness, Jesus places us in the midst of His church, where we are surrounded by friends in Christ Jesus and are protected on all sides by the strong wall of the Scriptures. Where we formed a strip club, baring what should never be seen and hiding all that is good, Jesus provides us with garments fit for a king. Where we stand amid the flames of Hell, burning up around us, licking at our feet, destroying our hearts, He drenches us with the waters of Holy Baptism. Where we are now hungry, for all the spiritual food we thought we had is burned up and we are in the midst of famine, He gives us bread and wine to drink, His own precious body and blood.
He takes those things that we have built, He takes our own blood, He takes that blood which should be on our hands, and places it on Himself. Our blood, our guilty blood, Jesus has taken and has it crucified. Jesus becomes sin itself, takes on our guilt, and dies. But in return, He does not take revenge on us. He does not become our enemy. Rather, He gives us His blood, His guiltless blood, His most holy and precious blood, for His own sake. He gives us His blood, we’re washed in it in Baptism, we drink of it in the Lord’s Supper, because He loves us, because He forgives us, because He has promised to bring us new life. And our new life comes through His blood, his body and blood, which were raised from the dead.
And now Jesus our watchman, He cries out, “Repent,” and we cry, “Have mercy on me, a poor, sinful being!” And He does. He does have mercy. He cries out, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” And we cry, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” And He does, and He will again. He cries out, “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am among them!” And we cry, “Lord, you are here for we are gathered!” He cries, “It is not the will of my Father who is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish!” We respond, “Lord Jesus, you have saved us now! Raise us up on the last day!”
He looks at us and smiles. He looks at us, His friends, and says, “My dear ones, I tell you, this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
My friends, Jesus is our watchman. Jesus is the one who guards us against danger, who warns us of danger, and forgives us for bringing it upon ourselves. Jesus is the One. Jesus loves you and will raise you up for you have been washed in His blood and have been counted innocent.
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by His blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
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