The Lutheran Hour
-
"A Job Nobody Wants"
- Download MP3 No bonus material MP3
-
Text: Ezekiel 33:7
-
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Those are the words God’s watchmen are glad to share with a world that is still in danger. Those are the words God would have His watchmen share with souls that are troubled by sin. Jesus Christ has conquered your enemies and victory has been won!
Mississippi has a town called Pass Christian. That’s the name of the town: Pass Christian. Way 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 a record 205 miles an hour; her waves crested at a height of somewhere between 20 and 30 feet. Camille came ashore somewhere around Pass Christian. At least that’s where some of the greatest damage was done. 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.
Indeed, this fact is obvious: if we are to be safe physically, and secure spiritually, we must be able to trust our watchman. We must be confident that the watchman is awake; we must believe that the warning of the watchman is absolutely accurate; we must know that the watchman will do all he can to warn us of impending danger, destruction, or damnation. If any of these three fail or are flawed, there can never be any safety or security. That is the way it is today; that is the way it was when the Lord came to Ezekiel and said, “I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from Me.”
For thousands of years before Ezekiel, and for thousands of years after him, a safe city was one which was built on a hill, one which was nestled behind great walls. During the day, the gates of the great city would be open and the citizenry and merchants would come and go as they pleased. But at night, the gates would be barred and a watchmen would be placed at a strategic spot upon the wall. As the hours of the dark night slowly slipped by, you can imagine the thoughts that went through the watchman’s mind. He had to know how much rested upon his remaining attentive and staying alert. He had to be concerned: if his attention were to wander, the city, his city, his friends, his family, might be caught unprepared, defenseless; if his shouts of warning weren’t clear, or if, (and here he would have shuddered at the thought), he fell asleep and no warning was given, the city’s enemies could be upon them long before any defense might be organized. The watchman would have known what would happen if he were to fail. He knew he would 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 the people of God. It was a great honor, and although the Bible certainly doesn’t say so, it might have been an honor Ezekiel might gladly have passed by. Being God’s watchman has never been a job for which many people apply. On the contrary, quite a few of them accept the position with… a certain degree of 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 called Elijah to be His watchman; Elijah, finding himself hunted and all alone in a cave, complained about the fact that he was… well, being hunted and all alone in a cave. 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.
Now 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 dead men and women walking. That’s lonely work. For Joseph, being God’s watchman meant he was sold as a slave by his brothers; that he spent years in a jail on a trumped-up charge. For Hosea, being God’s watchman meant he had to marry a prostitute. Ezekiel found that being God’s watchman, telling God’s truth, was not an easy task. To let God’s people know how long they were going to be in captivity, the Lord commanded Ezekiel to lay on his side; 390 days on one side, then flip over and spend 40 days on the other side. One day for each year in exile. To show God’s people that they would be eating unclean food during their time of captivity, Ezekiel was instructed to cook his food over a fire of dried cow dung. You see why being God’s watchman is not a job to which many people might aspire.
In the New Testament it didn’t get much better for the men God selected to be His watchmen. Telling the story of the Christ, of how God sent His Son to shoulder the sins and punishment that was humanity’s just fate, cost God’s watchmen dearly. According to old traditions, the evangelist 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.
Bartholomew, he was skinned alive. Thomas was run through with a spear; Jude, shot with arrows; and Matthias, was stoned and then beheaded. 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.
Being asked by God to be His watchman is a great honor, but… it still isn’t easy. Sure, God’s present-day 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. You know the kind I’m talking about. The one that reads: “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.” Yeah, those kinds of things make God’s watchmen smile.
But the truth is, most of God’s watchmen feel ill-suited for God’s work, the work God has called them to do. Most are painfully aware that they are sinners and hardly able to fill the requirements Paul laid out for those who wanted to be God’s watchmen. Here’s just a partial list of Paul’s high standards: God’s watchmen are supposed to be temperate, self-controlled, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness or violence, peaceful, gentle, the husband of one wife, have obedient children, not love money and have a good reputation with those who aren’t part of the church.
In spite of all that, God’s watchmen continue on. Why? Because, for their hearers, the message they share is the difference between eternal life and everlasting damnation. Why? Because even as He did for Ezekiel, God continues to come and say: “I am making you a watchman to call people to repentance, forgiveness, and salvation in My Son.” Now, 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, danger? Who says so?”
What people do and don’t do; how they respond or don’t respond is not the worry of the watchman. His 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. He knows that the message is all important, he, 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 is possible.
There was a time when the spires of St. Mary’s Church in Krakow, Poland, were the highest places in town. Around the taller of the two spires 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 which 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 which 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.
The watchman is nothing, God’s word of warning is everything. That is what motivated the prophets before the birth of the Christ. Loyalty to God’s message is what allowed three men to bravely face a fiery furnace and allowed Daniel to be at peace in a lion’s den. Knowing the message was everything is what kept jailed John the baptizer shouting out God’s word of warning to an adulterous king. Loyalty to God’s Word and the salvation which comes only through faith in the crucified and risen Savior is what allowed Paul to continue on through storm, shipwreck, and stoning; tempest, trial, and thorns in the flesh. Knowing that he was nothing and the message was everything is what allowed Luther to stand fearlessly before a church which had forgotten that we are saved only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Knowing the messenger is nothing and God’s message everything is what has sent God’s watchmen across uncharted seas; down unexplored paths, into unknown places.
And today, God’s warning still needs to be proclaimed proudly and fiercely by God’s watchmen. God’s warning still needs to be heard by the people for whom Jesus lived, died, and rose. God’s warning needs to be heard by those of you who this day find yourself continuously confronted by pains, problems and prejudice, sadness, sorrows and sickness, disgrace, distress, depression, and despondency. God’s warning needs to be heard by all who have worries about health, family, and finances. Some of you have heard that great cry of humanity which screams out a need which is never met. Today, God speaks to you. To you Jesus comes and says, “I am your Answer, your Deliverer, your Hope. Repent of your sin, be turned to Me, and believe. Believe and receive the forgiveness your heart so desperately longs for; receive the peace your soul so sincerely needs.”
Listen to the Lord who continues to send you His message of truth. Using His messengers; the prophets, evangelists, and apostles who first penned Holy Scripture, He warns that there is a very real danger bearing down upon you. A real peril is threatening you. Do not sleep the night away while sin is trying to seduce you into ignoring the forgiveness that God would grant because of the substitution of His Son for you. Do not continue to doze and never realize that the devil wishes to devour and destroy you. You are in danger: death may come while you sleep and the watchman’s warning will remain forever unheard and unheeded. Be awakened, and join with the crowd of Pentecost, who, having heard the watchmen, were cut to the heart and pleaded: “… what shall we do?” Hear the watchman’s word of warning: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Yes, there is danger. The wages of sin is death. But there is also salvation. The gift of God is eternal life which is given to you through the sacrifice and substitution of the Savior. The birth of Jesus Christ is more than endless music being played in department stores to put you in a buying mood. The birth of Jesus Christ is God’s Son come to earth to be one of us. True man so He might take our place; so He might understand our pains; so He might carry our sins. True God, so He might destroy those sins; so that He might resist those temptations; so that He might die for you and, in so doing, defeat death itself. The Sunday of His resurrection is more than a day filled with colored eggs and a sugar high from chomping down on chocolate bunnies. It is the day that Jesus won the final victory over the enemies that would, even now, wish to occupy and enslave your heart.
Every Sunday, for almost seven-and-a-half decades, The Lutheran Hour microphone has reached millions of listeners all around the world. Why? Because we who are nothing want you to hear God’s all-important word of warning and His message of hope that comes through your Savior. Why do we keep going? Because you are important enough to God that He was willing to give His Son to save you. Why? Because each speaker that has stood here before me has been conscious of one thing: for some of you, this Christian message is the last Christian message you will ever hear. I cannot convince you to come to faith; my words cannot cajole you into believing. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. All I can do is try, as clearly as I know how, to let you know that there are enemies coming for you. It is my duty to say that, and my privilege to say that with Jesus as your Savior, and faith in Him as your substitute, the enemies can be, have been, will be beaten back. This is God’s Word of warning. This is His Word of hope to all who, with repentant hearts, fall before their Savior and say, “Lord, I believe.” May that be your prayer this day and always. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MINISTRIES (Questions & Answers) for September 4, 2005
TOPIC: HONORING DISHONORABLE PARENTSANNOUNCER: And now Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. A listener asks: “How can I honor my mother and father when they’ve had such a negative impact on the lives of their children? And, can I honor them without necessarily allowing them back into my life?” What do you think?
KLAUS: First, I would say I admire her, or him, for wanting to try and reconcile. Most people wouldn’t bother. Most people I know who grew up in a dysfunctional home would simply give up, wash their hands, and walk away. This Christian individual isn’t doing that. They want to hang in there. They want to do the right thing. That’s admirable in the extreme.
ANNOUNCER: And how should they proceed?
KLAUS: First, we’re going to take what might sound like a bit of a detour, but stay with me. In the early years of the church, Christians found themselves being hated and persecuted by Rome’s rulers. As Christians, they owed their allegiance first to God. Still, these Christians were also exemplary citizens. They rendered unto Caesar the things that were Caesar’s. But as the persecutions got worse, and Christianity became stronger, believers started to ask, “How can we support these rulers who are so opposed to the Savior?” They wanted to know, “What is our allegiance to our civil leaders? Is it lawful for us to ignore them, and, if necessary, to undermine or even overthrow them?” Almost all of them concluded that they had to continue to honor the authorities, even in the face of persecution. Why? Because in so doing, they were honoring the Lord. Saint Paul said much the same kind of thing to the Church at Rome: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13: 1, 2)
ANNOUNCER: And all that was true even with regard to bad rulers?
KLAUS: Even with bad rulers. And, I suppose, in the case of the question submitted by our listener, in the case of bad parents, as well.
ANNOUNCER: So, honor your parents, even the bad ones, because in so doing you are showing honor to God.
KLAUS: That would be the sum and substance of the argument. We need to honor parents. That doesn’t mean that we have to respect or honor the actions that they did. We don’t think of this as honoring bad parents, but rather honoring a great God who we know as our loving heavenly Father on account of Jesus. Somewhere in the course of his or her life, our listener was brought to faith in the Savior. For our listener, that would have meant a big change. Jesus changes things; He changes people. The Holy Spirit showed that individual that things don’t have to be the way they had been in their sad home. God led that person to the knowledge that there is another way to live. Jesus frees us from sin and gives us forgiveness, hope, and a brighter tomorrow.
ANNOUNCER: But how does that apply to what we’re talking about here-honoring dishonorable parents?
KLAUS: You know, Jesus changes things; He changes people. Now, without knowing anything about this individual’s mother and father, would you say that they need to be changed?
ANNOUNCER: Sounds like it.
KLAUS: It does. And who do you think is the person who can best do that job of witnessing on behalf of Jesus to these parents?
ANNOUNCER: A close friend or family member.
KLAUS: And who is closest to a mother and father?
ANNOUNCER: Obviously, the children are, under normal circumstances.
KLAUS: Yes, … under normal circumstances. For this caller, I might suggest that the time may come somewhere down the road, that they will be given a chance to witness to mother and father, to tell them about Jesus Christ who forgives sins and enables us to forgive each other. I would also suggest to our listener that sharing God’s Word would be the very best thing they could do to honor that parent.
ANNOUNCER: But, if I could speak for this person, I think he believes his mother and father will try to bring him down rather than him being able to bring up his parents.
KLAUS: And that is not something God wants to have happen.
ANNOUNCER: But we’re not saying they should pretend nothing has ever happened in the past?
KLAUS: No.
ANNOUNCER: And we’re not saying they have to act like everything’s OK now?
KLAUS: No.
ANNOUNCER: So, what exactly are we saying?
KLAUS: We’re saying that they honor their parents because that is what God wants. We are saying that in honoring mother and father, they are honoring the Lord Jesus. We are also saying that they may have an opportunity to tell their parents about the Christ. We are not saying that they have to let the parents control them, dominate them, repeat sins from the past, or do anything that might tear them away from their Savior, Jesus.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections from this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“God Has Spoken by His Prophets” arranged by Henry Gerike. Used by permission
“Jesus Has Come and Brings Pleasure Eternal” From O Lord, Open My Lips by the Children’s Choir of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (© 1995 St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Ft. Wayne, Indiana)
“Jesus Has Come and Brings Pleasure” by Charles Ore. From From My Perspective, vol. 1 by Charles Ore (© 1992 Organ Works Corporation) Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Wake, Awake for Night Is Flying” by J.S. Bach. From Te Deum by the Seminary Kantorei (© 2000 Concordia Theological Seminary)