After I got out of the military, I worked as a supervisor at a Juvenile Detention Center in Medical Lake. It was a brand new facility and we were responsible for opening the doors on the very first day. It really was exciting being in on the ground floor. As a group we went through training together in preparation for opening. But a couple months into the job, we had problems with a couple of employees. Both had made some errors in that placed other officers or residents in danger. And although both were worked with and given opportunity to improve, they didn’t and the time came to let them go. And in both cases, the responsibility was given to me. Now up to that moment, I had never fired anyone in my life. And even though I knew it was necessary, this was not a part of the job that I was looking forward to.
The day before we were to meet with them, my boss Jim called me into his office to discuss how the meeting would go. I knew my job and knew what I needed to do, but Jim spoke some words that gave some perspective on the situation. In some ways his words were freeing. He said, remember, this is not personal. And YOU are not firing them. CSC is firing them. You are simply representing the company and giving a word for the company. I go as the companies advocate.
This wasn’t about me. I liked both these guys and had carpooled with one of them for weeks through training. But I had a job to do. In that circumstance, it was not Mike, but CSC that was firing them. And no matter how personal someone else may want to make it, it was not about me at all.
We began last week looking from Ezekiel at our duties as watchmen. And there are things within this calling that are difficult. It means putting our selves in places to declare a very difficult message. And warning others of the consequences of judgment inherent to sin is never a popular assignment. But there are times when the unpopular is still our responsibility. As believers in Christ, we have the responsibility, the duty, to be watchmen who warn those in the world without Christ of the destructive nature of sin and its final irrevocable results, death and hell. I was talking with a friend-LIZ- this week whose best friend lost her brother. And her friend called to ask Liz to pray for her brother because he was an evil man who was evil and bitter to his dying breath. And Liz called to get advice on how to tell her friend there was no hope for him on an eternal scale. And eternity is a long time! We must also proclaim to those who have a relationship with Christ that there are things evident in their life that are not God honoring but are rather unrighteousness.
Turn with me this morning to our passage in Ezekiel 2:1-7. This passage is Ezekiel’s initial call from God in which God establishes the prophet’s mission which we read last week restated in Ezekiel 33:1-20. Last week we saw the duties as would be defined in our attitudes of being alert, concerned and willing to answer the call. This morning we get deeper into the call of the watchmen and we will see who sent us, to whom we are sent and the responsibility of the outcome. So we begin by first understanding…
1. Who sent us
As I stated in the beginning, by realizing our roles and responsibilities, we actually find freedom. As watchmen on the wall, the message is not ours. We only serve as the messenger. As we look at this call and in further throughout the book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel did not need to use his own powers of observation but was simply a channel of divine warning. And we must understand that. We are sent by God with His word and not ours. Now the attitude by which we go is very important. We looked last week at Jonah, who finally relented of his own will and went to the Ninevites and proclaimed the message of God. But his attitude was all wrong. And God used him, but Jonah truly missed out on the blessing of God. We are told to go in the love of Christ. He is the one we represent. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
We are Christ’s ambassadors and so our responsibility is to speak His Word and represent Him. And we are to do so with a spiritual boldness. That is, to do so without fear. The Lord told Ezekiel in vs 6… No matter how hard the situation may be, just proclaim the message I give you. Christians so often use the presence of fear to keep them from their task; fear of rejection, harm, being ostracized, lack of knowledge. And this fear cripples us. We have nothing to fear but God. Luke 12:4-5; Isaiah 41:10
We can return again to Mark 13:9-11. Desperate times await the redeemed. But we are to stand fast to proclaim His message without fear. To understand who sends us should be a freeing idea. We go as Christ’s ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. And as His representative we go with His authority. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus states that all authority has been given to him and we are to go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all he has commanded.
This leads us to the 2nd question:
2. To whom are we sent?
There are four terms given in our passage this morning that would describe to whom we are sent.
First: We are sent to the Rebellious. Who are the rebellious? Those who are disloyal to God. Throughout Israel’s history we see this repeated. From the golden calf in Exodus to the introduction of Baal worship in Numbers and later in 1 & 2 Kings along with other constant recurrences of idolatry. Several months ago, Nicholas and I read through the book of Judges at night and he commented several times at the phrase, and again Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord. This group of people who had seen the awesome power of God revealed yet who continued to turn to other things to fill their wants. They went against the very word of God. It is sad to see how many people who have embraced the truth of God’s word would then so quickly turn themselves to something else. They still try and squeeze God in while at the same time living in open rebellion to God’s will in their lives. In a sense, desiring the best of both worlds. This again is spoken of throughout Old Testament worship in the temples. First setting up temples to various Gods and setting up high places but also to the point of bringing idols into the temple.
The Pharisees are another great biblical example of those trying desperately to exist on 2 separate plains. And the picture is sadly lived out today as well. There are to many Christians who still insist on Jesus doing all the dying rather than allow themselves to be crucified with Christ. John wrote in 1 John 2:15-17
If we are truly going to fulfill our duties as watchmen, we must begin going to those in rebellion and speaking in love that they are not living a life holy and pleasing unto God. We must not fear that, but we go in the power of the Holy Spirit and by the love of Christ that compels us. For as we read in Ezekiel 33 last week, the righteousness of the righteous will not save him when he disobeys. Don’t we often hear that I would have said something but Jesus says don’t go and speak of the speck of dust in your neighbors eye while we have a plank in our own? But the verse doesn’t end there. It goes further by saying FIRST remove the plank in your eye and then go to your brother. There are far too many Christians who claim Christianity but like a spoiled child, live in rebellion to their Father. But it goes further, for the second group are revolters.
This unfortunately describes most. The revolters are those who live in absolute defiance to the will of God. Jesus taught in Matthew that wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it. You don’t have to look to long or to hard to find those whom this passage describes. We are surrounded by people who have no desire for the things of God in their life. That’s simply religious stuff. And we become angry and frustrated by their lifestyle and manners and yet we never share with them the life changing message of Christ. But it is to the lost that we are called. We saw a couple weeks ago that Jesus told his followers that he came to seek and save that which was lost. And he showed us that by going to the tax collectors and prostitutes and sharing with them eternal truths. I hear people tell me all the time they like to hang out with sinners like Jesus did, but their purpose is not the same. They hang out and may even say they go to church but never get to a point of sharing with them the truth of Christ. Jesus went with the purpose of showing and sharing the Kingdom of God.
We must leave our huddled masses and quit waiting for the lost to find us and ask us about Jesus. We must seek them out with diligence and purpose. Go back to chapter 33. The message is repent or you will surely die. And as we read, revealed is that haunting truth that if we fail to do as God leads, and that person dies in their sins, we are held accountable for their blood.
But as we go, the Lord gives warning that those to whom we go, many will be obstinate and stubborn. Literally they will be hard faced. Theirs will be the stubborn selfish will that disregards the commands of God. The stubborn then grow hard of heart. Just because we are obedient and faithful will not guarantee that the message will be received with joy. We in many ways speak a foreign language. We should know in advance that telling the message in love and compassion will not guarantee a person’s positive response. As I shared the truth of Jesus with my brother for the first time, he didn’t respond in appreciation. He got mad and really didn’t talk to me the remainder of his visit with us. He was infuriated that I would call him a lost soul. But as we saw last week and have read today, our response to God is not to be dictated by how other will respond or how we feel they will respond. Our response is simply to be obedient. Which leads to the last question…
3. What is the responsibility of the outcome?
Our responsibility is to warn and proclaim as persuasively as possible in love and compassion. Real concern. But how a message is received is out of my control. We are not accountable for receptivity. So our success is not to be measured in visible response by some one else. Our responsibility is to tell them, whether they listen or fail to listen. Simply put, obedience. And once again, that is freeing.
I have heard people share their testimony and the Gospel presentation in some of the most haphazard, confusing, disjointed ways. But their heart was so sincere and I have seen God use those times to draw upon hearts for salvation. I have seen the most eloquent beautiful presentations in which not a single person responded. It is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit to lead and the person to respond. We are only messengers. I go as Christ’s ambassador, pleading on behalf of Christ to be re
