The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.
“Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because ofthem. How then can we live?”’ Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:1-11 NIV)
After the deadly fires in Maui last month, people are looking for someone to blame. Everyone has their own opinion, of course, but one big problem has been identified. Have you heard what it is? There was no warning. Apparently, Maui has a robust system of alarms, especially for tsunamis. But no one sounded the alarm for that fire. So there’s been frustration and anger. The person in charge of the alarm system has resigned. Someone should have sounded the alarm!
That’s exactly what God says: Watchmen are important! In ancient times, cities would have big, stone walls around them. Some people lived in the cities, but most people lived in the countryside around the cities. When watchmen on the city walls saw enemies coming, they would blow their trumpets. All the people in the countryside would hurry inside the walls of the city. There they would be safe from the coming enemy. Watchmen needed to sound the alarm.
In fact, watchmen were held accountable for people’s lives. If a watchman saw danger coming and sounded the alarm, but nobody listened, it was the people’s fault. “The blood will be on their own head.” But if the watchman saw danger coming and didn’t sound the alarm, “I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.” This was serious stuff! If you see danger coming, you need to sound the alarm! If you don’t, God will hold you accountable for other people’s lives.
I think we can understand that. If some guy in Maui didn’t sound the alarm, he should lose his job. But God takes it a step further. God says, “I’m not just talking about physical danger. I’m talking about spiritual danger.” A fire can destroy your body, but sin can destroy your soul. Jesus once told his disciples not to worry about people who could kill their bodies. That was okay. They were going to heaven! Instead, Jesus told them to worry about hell (Matthew 10:28). If it’s vital to have warnings for tornados, isn’t it vital to have warnings about sin and death and hell? If we need watchmen for physical dangers, we also need watchmen for spiritual dangers. For sin!
So God told the prophet Ezekiel, “I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel.” “When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.” See how this works? Ezekiel was to warn people about their sin. His job was to be a watchman for their souls.
I’m afraid this is something we’ve lost in our world today: Watchmen—not for fires—but for sin. For souls. We’ve convinced ourselves that talking about sin is unloving, haven’t we? We tell ourselves that love always accepts. That love always praises. If you love someone, you’ll accept whatever they do. If you love someone, you won’t criticize any of their choices. If you love someone, you’ll never tell them they’re wrong. You certainly won’t point out their sins, right?
No, that’s wrong. True love is tough love! A couple weeks ago, I read the book “The Outsiders” for the first time. Have you read it, maybe when you were in middle school? It’s the best-selling young adult book of all time, and it’s based right here in Tulsa. “The Outsiders” tells the story of teenage boys and their gangs. There are two gangs constantly fighting with each other: the poor kids and the rich kids. The story is told from the perspective of one of the poor kids. His parents died in a car crash. He and his brothers raise themselves. They despise the rich kids who have parents and cars and everything. It must be so easy to be one of those rich kids. They have it all!
But the author lets us see into the heart of one of those rich kids: Bob. Bob’s life wasn’t easy, because his parents didn’t love him. Do you know how Bob knew his parents didn’t love him? They never told him, “No!” Never. They gave him everything he wanted. As Bob got into high school, he longed to have his parents care enough about him to tell him, “No!” Instead, they just gave him everything. They never said, “No!” He did bad things just to try to get their attention. He got drunk and stayed out all night, just hoping his parents would care enough to punish him, but they didn’t. His parents never told him, “No!” That’s how he knew they didn’t love him.
Have you realized this? True love is always tough love. The Bible says, “The LORD disciplines those he loves” (Proverbs 3:12). If you really love someone, you won’t give them whatever they want. You care about them too much for that! If you really love someone, you’ll wake them up when the tornado sirens go off, even if it’s two in the morning. You care about them that much! If you really love someone, you’ll confront them with their alcoholism, even if they get angry. You care about them that much! If you really love someone, you’ll tell them you’re concerned about their faith, even if they laugh at you. How could you not? True love is always tough love.
Of course, this works both ways. Sometimes you and I need the warning. When other people point out your sins, how do you react? Do you say, “Thank you for being concerned about me?” Or do you get defensive? Realize this: God loves you enough to say, “No!” God loves you enough to not let you have whatever you want. Are you humble enough to repent? At the same time, God has made you a watchman for other people. Do you love them enough to confront them? Like Paul did to Peter? “I care about you too much to stay silent! I love you too much to watch you go down this path.” Are you loving enough to bring it up? True love is tough love.
As a pastor, this hits home for me. Of all of us here, I’m the most like Ezekiel, right? God has called me to be a watchman over people’s souls. Just this year, four different people or couples started our FaithBuilders membership class and abruptly stopped because they didn’t like what I taught from the Bible. I’ve never had this happen so many times in one year before. One denied original sin. “We are not sinful from birth.” Another denied God’s grace. “Don’t say God’s love is undeserved. We have to earn it!” Another hates close communion. “You are the only church in the world that only lets members take communion.” Another disagreed with creation. “I believe in God and in evolution. I am going to find a church that teaches evolution.” All just this year!
I hate that. Can I say that? I really don’t like it when people leave. I don’t like it when it seems like I’m driving people away. So I think, “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about those things.” What do you think? “Maybe we shouldn’t bring up things from the Bible that people don’t like to hear.” I said that to a pastor friend, and do you know what he did for me? He served as a watchman for me. He said, “Why are you looking to please people more than God? Watch out! If your goal is just to have a bigger church, watch out!” If we keep quiet about certain things, we’d have at least four more people here today, but do you know what we’d lose? God. The truth about God.
That’s the goal: God. To lead people to God. Through Ezekiel’s preaching, the people finally admitted, “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?” Isn’t that the truth? Our sins weigh us down. We waste away. How can we live? Good question! “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?” What’s the goal of tough love? God! To repent and return to God. God loves you. God loves you so much that he calls you to repent and live.
Do you believe that? Jesus once looked at the people who were rejecting him and said, “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Matthew 23:37). Do you hear his words? “How I have longed to have you!” God loves you. God wants you to live. God wants you to live with him forever. That’s why he sends us watchmen. That’s why he puts people in our lives to sound the alarm over our sins. To lead us to see the danger of sin and the devil. To call us back to him. True love is always tough love.
Listen to God’s invitation: “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” God isn’t out to get you. God is out to save you! A lot of us know John 3:16. Do you know John 3:17? “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). When Jesus died on the cross, he won forgiveness and eternal life for you and all who believe in him. In the Outsiders, Bob ends up dead at 18. God loves you enough to say, “No!” God loves you enough to call you to repent. To save you! So that you turn from your sins, see God’s grace, and trust in Jesus. That’s tough love!
Jesus loves you the way you are, but he doesn’t leave you the way you are. He loves you too much for that. Jesus’ love and forgiveness and grace change you. I once saw a TV show in which a barber welcomed a homeless man to his barber shop. The homeless man was a mess. He had a huge, bushy bread. Gnarled hair down to his shoulders. Torn clothes. Bloody scraps. Little by little, the barber cut his hair, trimmed his beard, washed his wounds, and gave him new clothes. What a change! In a matter of hours, that homeless man looked like a successful businessman.
That’s what Jesus has done for you and me. He welcomes us the way we are, but he doesn’t leave us the way we are. Jesus changes us. His blood on the cross paid for all your sins. Your baptism washed them all away. Jesus has clothed you with his righteousness. All by grace. Jesus has given you his Holy Spirit. He has put God’s Word into your heart. Jesus called on tax collectors to leave their greed and find contentment in his forgiveness. Jesus called on prostitutes to leave their adultery and find true satisfaction in God’s grace. Jesus called on self-righteous Pharisees to ditch their sinful pride and find their identity in being the children of God. Jesus welcomes us the way we are, but he doesn’t leave us the way we are. Tough love changes us!
When alarms sound, that means someone cares. If someone cares about you enough to say, “This isn’t right. You’re sinning against Jesus!”, don’t get defensive. Say, “Thank you! I needed that. I need Jesus!” If you love other people, be willing to humbly say to them, “I’m concerned about your choices. You’re sinning against Jesus!” Because that’s what tough love says. When alarms sound, that means someone cares. Like God for you! “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?” That’s tough love.
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