Sermon: Celebrating God’s Watchman

Sermon: Celebrating God’s Watchman

Scripture: Isaiah 21:11-12 “The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.”

Introduction: We are here again to celebrate God’s gift to the church. A pastor is like a watchman because both are spiritual guardians who are vigilant, provide warnings, and speak God's word to protect their community. Just as an ancient watchman scanned for threats from a high vantage point, a pastor is tasked with watching over the spiritual well-being of their congregation, guarding them from false teachings, moral decay, and spiritual danger. They deliver God's message, which can be a warning, an encouragement, or a call to repentance, regardless of whether the people want to hear it, because they will ultimately be held accountable for their role. We celebrate our pastors because of their vigilance as they are called to be constantly on duty and alert to dangers that could harm their flock. Their faithfulness to deliver God’s message as they announce what God’s says and what they see. They provide warnings of spiritual and moral dangers, urging people toward safety and repentance. The pastor is accountable to God for their faithfulness in delivering the message and protecting the flock. The role requires integrity, loyalty, and a steadfast commitment to their duty, resisting temptation to compromise or stray from the mission. Finally, the pastor’s role includes ceaseless prayer for the community, which is a vital part of a pastor's responsibility to intercede on behalf of their congregation.

People want to know what do they see in the future and why is that important to me? This question implies that the inquirer from Dumas was looking forward into the future, not in the past through the rear-view mirror. That’s an important distinction. The rear-view mirror often distorts what took place. Regrets and disappointments can loom big crowding out the blessings that were there as well. It takes intentionality to shift our gaze to the future with a new mindset to see the possibilities of the future. Some people are content to repeat their past shortcomings. The inquirer wants to know what God’s prophet is seeing. Will this night end and will things get better?

Hopeful believers are moved by more than what they see, they are moved by what they believed. What if you really believed what the Bible teaches? Then your best years are ahead of you. “…forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:13-14).

Your future will be fruitful. “…God chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that you fruit should remain…” (John 15:16).

Your mountains and other obstacles can be moved. “…I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing will be impossible to you” (Matthew 17:20). “What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you will become a plain or a mole hill!” (Zechariah 4:7). Because of what God promises in His word, believers can change their thinking and find themselves on a hopeful path of blessings. They can look up and see the beauty of the world in a different light. We must get our directions from the only trusted source, the word of God, to ensure that we don’t cave into the wrong narrative.

The inquirer from Dumas is seeking answers. It is sad that the Jews were not seeking answer, maybe they fell to appreciate the value of God’s watchman. This Edomite from Dumas found the right source, ask the right question and then chose to benefit from the information. How you see the future and the part you must play in it is most important. We have gather today, we are here because we put God first and value God’s watchman on the wall. Our history has taught us that putting God first in everything you do as his people is important. Everything we have seen in the success of this ministry, everything that we have accomplished, everything that we have acquired, everything that we have received has been by faith from the hand of a gracious, loving God through the leadership God has provided. We are on a pilgrimage with God.

The pastor is assigned by God to caution us against straying away from God. Then they caution us against intoxication. Don’t allow the pleasures or the pain of the world to knock us off course. In these difficult days we must keep on learning, keep on adjusting and keep finding ways to adapt to the current climate. Our text from Isaiah suggests three things. We must take personal responsibility. We cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but we can change ourselves. That is something we have charge of. Sailors cannot change the wind, the waves or the weather, but they can change the set of the sail. They must seek the most accurate information from the right sources, to ask the right questions and to benefit from the insight. Those are the points of my message today.