Today marks the beginning of a new year of Sunday School, Confirmation, and other Christian Education activities in this congregation. We often refer to it as “Rally Sunday”, although I much prefer to call it “Christian Education Sunday” because we focus on how important Christian Education is not just for our Sunday School children, but for everyone in this congregation. We’re going to be installing Sunday School teachers, helpers, music leaders in our service today. These people will be given the task of proclaiming the Word of God in their classes. But what are they being given to teach? What do we have to teach our children that’s so important, that some in our congregation spent their summer working hard in refurbishing our Sunday School classrooms upstairs? (They look absolutely great, by the way, I encourage you all to go take a look after worship this morning! Thank you to all of you who gave of your time and talent do make that happen!) These questions are actually addressed in our readings for this morning.
Our Old Testament reading from Ezekiel is often read at the ordination or installation of Pastors. And it is a text that does speak to Pastors, but also to the church at large. In the first 6 verses of this chapter of Ezekiel, God is using a parable of a city and a watchman, to tell Ezekiel, who has been called by the Lord to proclaim His Word of warning to the people of Israel, what Ezekiel’s responsibilities are as a called servant of the Word. As some of you may know, cities in Old Testament times were surrounded by large walls, which were meant to protect the city and its inhabitants from the attacks of possible invaders. Along with a wall, the city would also have a very tall watchtower, and a special guard, the watchman, was placed in that tower. The watchman would be able to see from miles around in all directions, and if there was an enemy army advancing in the direction of the city, it was the watchman’s responsibility to warn the leaders of the city of the potential invasion, so they could be ready for attack. If the watchman failed to sound the warning, the city would be caught off guard, the city gates could not be closed in time, and the city could fall and many be killed. They’d have a much better chance if the watchman could give them a warning ahead of the attack.
In our reading, God tells Ezekiel “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.” Just as that watchman in the parable was to keep watch over the inhabitants of the city, Ezekiel was given the task to be the spiritual watchman over the people of Israel. If God gave Ezekiel a word of warning, Ezekiel was given the responsibility of sounding that warning to the people of Israel.
Now Ezekiel had one of three things he could do at this point: 1) he could simply say “This stuff about wicked people dying isn’t going to be popular, and I might get ridiculed, criticized or worse, so I’m just going to keep my mouth shut” and not speak the Word at all, 2) decide to change the message by watering it down to a point where he feels it will be “relevant” or more acceptable to the people of Israel, because after all, this “death to the wicked” isn’t exactly a popular or politically correct message, or 3) proclaim the Word of God exactly as God has given it to him to proclaim, no more, no less.
God not only tells Ezekiel what to do, he also tells him that there are consequences to his choices. Just as that watchman is to sound the word of warning to the people of the city in light of an incoming enemy attack, so Ezekiel is to sound the warning, and is responsible if he doesn’t. Now in the first case, Ezekiel decides to keep his mouth shut. He doesn’t warn the people of their sin, because he doesn’t want to offend or upset anyone. God’s judgment falls, and the wicked perish, unrepentant for their blatant sin against God. What does God say will happen to Ezekiel? “Their blood I will require at your hand.” God will hold Ezekiel responsible because he was given the task of warning them of their wickedness, and he chose to remain silent and let their sin kill them. God doesn’t take this stuff lightly!
In the second instance, again, Ezekiel would be held responsible if he changed the message that God gave him to give because once it was changed, it wasn’t God’s Word anymore, it was Ezekiel’s, and Ezekiel’s word doesn’t save, only God saves. If Ezekiel had said “oh, that particular sin isn’t so bad, you don’t have to repent of that” what would happen? Again, the wicked would perish, but Ezekiel would be held responsible! He was given Gods’ Word, and he failed to use it as it was given to him. It wasn’t God’s Word in the end, it was man’s.
The last instance, Ezekiel tells the people of their sin, even when it’s not the popular thing to do. People come up to him and complain and say things like “how dare you, how dare you tell me that I’m doing something wrong, or what I’ve believed this whole time isn’t right?” Yet, it is the Word of the Lord. Ezekiel preaches it in the hopes that some will believe, turn from their sin, and live. But those who do not, yes, they will perish, but Ezekiel will have saved his soul.
It’s the same with us today. In the Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that “whoever receives one such child receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” The ol’ Millstone treatment. Not a lot of fun if you ask me. “Little ones” here not only refer to Sunday School children, but to all of those who are in the faith, you and me, the Children of God in Christ Jesus.
So who do these readings speak to today? Well, it starts right here, with Pastors. You’ve probably noticed that you’ll usually see me at the church in a clergy collar. Sometimes I wear the ones that wrap all the way around the neck. While I’m not sure how accurate this is, I have read that the clergy collar and the old “ruff” collar that old Norwegian and Danish pastors wore with a black robe was a reminder to clergy of the warning about the millstone, that their preaching was to be of Law and Gospel, of telling the people entrusted to their care of their sin, and proclaiming that they are saved only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And that’s one reason that you see me in a collar quite frequently, as a reminder to both you and me that I have been called in this place to be your watchman, to proclaim to you the truth of the Word of God, to warn of your sin, and false teaching that is out there, and bring you to the sweetness of the Gospel, that tells you that Jesus Christ has died for your sin and risen again so that you may have forgiveness, life, and salvation. Any other message won’t cut it.
As you well know, you can find a preacher to suit whatever wants you have. If you just want to hear how good of a person you are, and how Jesus gives you 10 steps to being a better you or having all the wealth and material blessings you could ever dream of, you can take your pick. If you want to hear a preacher who tells you “Jesus did half the work on the cross, but now you have to do the rest and be good, because if you don’t, God will make you sick, or suffer this ailment in this life, and if that’s the case, then you’re not really saved.” There’s a lot of that going on out there, too folks. But the key question ultimately is “Does this preacher proclaim that I am a sinner, who’s righteous deeds are as filthy rags? Does he tell me that I am, by nature, a poor miserable sinner? Does he tell me that Jesus died for my sins and rose again, and that He forgives me, and gives me eternal life?” If that’s not happening, then I encourage you to run, not walk, run, as far away from that preacher as you can get. They have no message that can save your soul, and will only lead you away from your Savior. It is my intent that every sermon I preach is only what God has given me through His Word to proclaim to you, nothing more, nothing less, so that you will see your sinfulness, believe in Jesus Christ, and be given the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation now and forever.
Does that mean that every sermon I preach is going to be well received? No. In fact, I’ve had some complaints from some about one of mine from last month, in which I was told some from outside of our congregation were a tad offended at some remarks that were made in my preaching. I was even asked to take those remarks back. If I did that, I’d fail you in my responsibility to warn you of false teaching, which could lead you astray from faith in Christ alone for your salvation. And sometimes that’s not the popular thing to do. But it’s done to warn you from abandoning your savior, and leading you into sin, which only seeks to destroy you now and forever. You see, if I give in to the demands of society, or the demands of the world in what I teach you, and even one of you goes astray because of it, God’s going to hold me accountable for it. That’s why it’s so important for Pastors to be diligently studying the Scriptures, and not to add to them, or subtract from them.
For you, as a congregation, this also means you have to be careful about what we believe, teach, and confess as a Congregation. It means that you make sure you are well educated in the Word of God. That means that Sunday morning at 9 a.m., you’re sitting in the pews of this church, being in the presence of your Savior, Jesus, who comes to you through Word and Sacrament in this place to proclaim to you forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. That means that you send your kids to Sunday School, and you find the time to get yourself into adult Bible class. How many of you were even aware that we have an Adult Sunday School hour? It means you read your Bible outside of church. You have opportunity to do that by just using “The Weekly” on your own, or in a group. It means you pound down my door asking for, even demanding, Bible study. It means that when a brother or sister in Christ in the congregation is going astray, you have the courage to stand up and lead them back to the fold with the process Jesus gives us in our Gospel reading. It’s not always going to be the popular thing to do. But it’s what we are called to do as watchmen over the house of God in this place.
Our Sunday School teachers are also watchmen. You are being asked to teach the little ones of this congregation about Jesus and what He has done for them. This means you take that task very seriously. This means that you take plenty of time to prepare your lessons for that day. You study the Scripture lesson you’ll be studying with your kids, you pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your teaching. And if you’re not sure about how to teach a particular lesson that day, don’t be afraid to ask for help. You have a vital role in the future of these little ones. You are their watchmen.
While we don’t have a large watchtower on the stone walls of this church, this “Mighty Fortress” if you will, we are all called to be watchful, to proclaim to each other, this community, and the world the truth about Jesus Christ. We are called to stand together, untied in the faith, not being afraid to call sin what it is, or false teaching what it is, and proclaim that message to our community, so that others will know of their sin, believe in Jesus Christ as their only Savior, and grow in grace and holiness. That’s my prayer at the beginning of each sermon I proclaim from this pulpit, and it’s our prayer as we open another year of Christian Education in our congregation. May we be given the boldness to speak that Word to others in our community this day and always. Amen.
