Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

          Son of Man, I have made you 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, “you shall surely die,” and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, the wicked person shall die for his iniquity. . .”  (Ez. 3:17)

          And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? . . . So faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of Christ. (Rom. 10: 14b, 17)

          One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah,” (John 1:40-41)

           In ancient times the walled fortress city made sense.  They constructed high strong walls around their cities to provide a strong line of defense against any attacking enemy.  And up on the ramparts as a regular part of life in the city stood one called the watchman.  He had an extremely important job.  Living behind the great walls, the people did not have any clear line of sight to see what destruction might be coming down the road.  High atop the wall the watchman kept the watch day and night.  He stood on the wall like a sentry and watched for the possible arrival of hostile forces.  Should any be on the way, he would warn of the coming of the enemy so that the people would not be caught up under attack by surprise and unprepared - unable to make an adequate defense for their own protection.  The watchman was the people’s hedge against adversity and unknown threatening enemies.

          Ezekiel was a contemporary of Jeremiah and both of them were called to prophetic service of the Lord to speak to God’s people of an impending judgment. Ezekiel was called to be the watchman. His job was not to warn the people of some rag-tag two-bit enemy that might chance upon the regions of Jerusalem.  Rather their worse nightmare! God himself was coming on a mission, a mission to visit the wicked - a mission to Babylon or other godless nations?  No, God was going to visit his own people and they would be without any adequate defense.  Considering their own resources for self-defense over against the wrath of the righteous Creator of the universe, they would have no remedy.  Thus Exekiel the watchman was to warn them - repent or die!  At this time in their history - they did not heed the warning and they died in so many ways. Many were slaughtered by the invading Babylonians, and as a sovereign nation, the Southern Kingdom of Judah went into captivity.

          Is there a working paradigm here for us as well - for us as the people of God and for our mission in the world?  Yes there is.  The Church has been called to be a watchman - Those called to be servants of the Word have a charge to tell us about the coming one - The Lord is coming.  The Lord is coming and not to give us an edge on life and a hedge against the personal pitfalls we may experience - rather he comes to execute the judgment of the righteous God most high - and for sinners the message is clear - and it is the same as told to Ezekiel - repent or die.  And for those who might say perfectly ridiculous all is well.  God has given to the watchmen the charge to provide the sinner a vantage point by which their sin and God’s impending wrath and judgment can be clearly seen.  That vantage point - like standing on the ramparts of a wall of a fortress city - is the Law of God.  Through the Law sinners can not simply hear the warning cry - they can see the depths of their sin and God’s judgment.  Through the Law, and in our Baptism God’s works the crushing unto repentance that we might die to sin rather than die because of sin.  That we might be made ready and hungry for life and restoration by the hand of God.  It is God crushes our spiritual bones but then make them live again as he told Ezekiel also to prophesy of a restoration which comes after the judgment - the repentant sinner may still live - God has a plan of deliverance and restoration. 

          This morning on the First Sunday in Advent we remember and give thanks to God for the apostolic ministry of the brother of Simon Peter - one called Andrew. Our reading from John 1 is the only information we have about Andrew, namely that he is the one who introduces Simon Peter, one the most pre-eminent disciples and apostles to Jesus as the promised Messiah. As first a disciple of John the Baptist, the voice of repentance crying in the wilderness, Andrew is called to be one of the chosen servants of God to bring the Good News of God’s delivery of His promised Messiah. From the Baptist’s ministry as that of the watchman - repent or die - comes the ministry of Andrew and the apostles to bring the Good News, the Messiah has come to bring about God’s promised restoration. Though you are dead to sin, you may live to God through the life-giving victory of the promised Messiah.

          For the Church and its servants Ezekiel and Andrew present for us models of what we are to be about in the world and at the same time what we are to heed ourselves. As the watchman we are to serve as those on the ramparts of life warning of impending visitation of the Lord - repent or die.  The watchman faithful to God’s charge, has no news, unless it be first bad news. The task is to sound the alarm. To hear nothing means the people are safe.  All are well and all are secure. But this is not true. The Lord of righteousness is on His way with a mission of death to the wicked who transgress his holy will. The vantage point for the world to see the enemy of sin and God’s righteous judgment is on the rampart of His holy Law. And who are the sinners? - they are - them!  Yes, but then. . . who are the sinners? - like Israel, we are the one’s for whom the Lord comes with his ministry of death to sin, that we might through the work of the Messiah be restored. As has been observed before, there are only two choices when dealing with the problem of sin. You can either die to sin, or you can die because of it. You can either die to live, or just die.

          Our gracious God comes to us, and it is through the called ministry of the watchman and the apostle Andrew that He places us in the dual role of being both the proclaimers of his Judgment and the saving work of the Messiah, and at the same time, we are those to whom he calls servants of His Word - watchman and apostle - to speak to us. We need to proclaim faithfully His Words of Judgment and Healing, and we need continually to hear them ourselves. We stand on the ramparts and we stand within the mighty fortress. Faith comes by hearing and hearing only by the Word of Christ. But we will cease to listen to the Word of Christ without the warning Word of the watchman. We can only have our spiritual bones restored, by having them broken again and again by our righteous God and his visitations of Law. Then like Peter, we can here the message given to Andrew and find life in it for us: We have found the Messiah! Though we die to sin, yet we live by faith through the Word of Christ. Proclaim it, believe it!

          In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A-men