Are You Your Brother’s Keeper?

16th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/20/20 Ezekiel 33:7-11 Are You Your Brother’s Keeper? I. Indeed you are! II. Because God wants all people to repent Was there a tattle tale in your elementary class? Most likely there was. It was that classmate who felt it was their responsibility to inform the teacher of every infraction of the classroom’s rules. And it was annoying. Even your teacher felt that way. And it’s likely that your teacher instructed the tattle tale just to worry about himself or herself. But, that situation does raise the question, “What is your responsibility toward another person, especially if harm is involved?” If your neighbor’s house is on fire, I’m sure you’d feel the responsibility to call 911 and, perhaps, to pound on the doors of their house, shouting, “Fire! Your house is on fire!” But, if you notice that your neighbor seems to spend a lot of time at the casino and his wife informs you that they’re behind on their mortgage, do you get involved? Do you say something to him? Do you encourage him to get help? Where are the boundaries? When do you get involved and when do you mind your own business? What attempts to get involved are acceptable and which ones aren’t? And then there’s the risk involved in saying or doing anything. You never know how the other person will react. Will they appreciate your attempts, or will they berate you for your intrusion into their lives? And let’s be honest. There’s a certain laissez-faire attitude in all of us. It’s an unwillingness to get involved at all. Just let things be. It’s not our problem. It’s theirs. In this morning's sermon text from Ezekiel 33, the Lord told Ezekiel, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.” This wasn’t an easy task. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Ezekiel had replied, “No thanks, Lord! I’ll worry about myself and my fellow Jewish people will just have to do the same.” As I studied this text last week, that response reminded me of the Lord’s conversation with the world’s first murderer, a man named Cain. Do you recall that event from Genesis 4? Cain allowed his sinful anger to get the best of him and he murdered his brother, Abel. So, the Lord approached Cain and asked him where Abel was. And Cain replied, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9). As we ponder this morning’s text from Ezekiel 33, you might think it’s fine if the Lord appointed Ezekiel to be a watchman, and it’s fine if Ezekiel was willing to do so, but what about you? Are you your brother’s keeper? Let’s keep that question before us as we spend time with this portion of God’s word this morning. Part I. When the Lord told Ezekiel that he had appointed him to be a watchman, what picture, if any, came into your mind? Don’t think of a night watchman who is sitting in a dimly lit cubicle providing security for the premises. And don’t think of a prison guard stationed in a tower on the wall surrounding a penitentiary. Although that’s close to what a watchman was in Ezekiel’s day. The type of watchman that the Lord refers to wasn’t trying to keep people inside walls like a prison guard does; he was trying to keep people out. Specifically, his job was to stand on the wall of a city and watch for approaching enemy armies. The second he spotted trouble coming, he was duty-bound to sound an alarm—usually blowing a horn. That’s what Ezekiel was appointed to do, only in a spiritual way. Ezekiel was the Lord’s prophet for the Jewish people who were in exile in Babylon about 600 BC. He was a contemporary of Daniel. Even though the people in exile had no temple to worship in, the Lord still wanted them to carry out the critical spiritual activity of recognizing and confessing their daily sins and daily receiving the assurance of the Lord’s forgiveness, which he would win for them through the Savior whom he had promised to send. Early in Ezekiel’s ministry the hope was that, if the Jewish people were repentant, perhaps the Lord would spare their beloved Jerusalem from destruction. In fact, these exiles were hopeful that they would soon be able to return to their homes in and around Jerusalem. If they were repentant, the Lord just might look on them with favor, or so they thought. But, if you were to go on reading in this very same chapter of Ezekiel, you would learn that the Jews in exile were about to be informed that the Babylonians had just destroyed Jerusalem and the glorious temple that was in it. In a word, there wasn’t much, if anything, to return to. So, from the people’s perspective, what would be the point of repenting now? From Ezekiel’s perspective, what would be the point of calling the people to repent? It seemed like a rather hopeless situation. So, the Lord shared these words with Ezekiel to encourage him to carry on this difficult task. In fact, he informed Ezekiel that if he failed to warn the people, he would hold Ezekiel accountable. Indeed, Ezekiel was his brother’s keeper. And so am I. And so are you. What’s your reaction to that divine truth? I imagine reluctance over that responsibility at best and rejection at worst. The common thinking goes like this, “That’s not my job. I didn’t sign up for it.” Or, “If I say something to someone about what they’ve done wrong, it won’t do any good anyway. In fact, I might not have a relationship with them any longer. So, I’ll just keep quiet and mind my own business.” I understand those reactions, because I’ve reacted that way myself. And it is my job on a higher level than yours to be a watchman of souls. It is what I signed-up for. So, how do we deal with this tension? Thank God someone calls you to repent. Be thankful that you live in a state of repentance by faith in Jesus. Give thanks that you have forgiveness for all your sins through Jesus. Consider that he sacrificed his all for you because he loves you that much. That love for you fills you with love for him. Love for Jesus motivates and empowers faithful service to him and to others. And if that means being your brother’s keeper, then that’s what you’ll do. Are you your brother’s keeper? Indeed, you are! Part II. What’s a common reaction to people who annoy you, people you really don’t care about? Well, we try to marginalize them, push them out to the edges of our life’s circle with the hope that eventually they’ll simply disappear altogether. That way we won’t have to deal with them at all ever again. So, let me ask you something. What are the boundaries of God’s circle? Who’s in it and who’s out of it? And even more critically—are you in it? Well, you know that you are, because all people are included in that circle. It’s one of the astounding truths about our God that he loves all people, every last one of them, even people whom we consider to be vile and unlovable. Listen to what he states, “As surely as I live, 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!” It does not fill the Lord with vengeful glee when a hardened unbeliever enters the eternal punishment of hell. It fills him with deep, divine sadness. The Lord loved that person enough to send his Son to suffer and die for that person, along with every other person in the world’s history. He doesn’t shove anyone out of the circle of his love. So, when that soul, for whom Jesus died, refuses to repent and believe the good news of Jesus as their Savior from sin, our God is filled with pain. And that’s why you are your brother’s keeper, because God wants all people to repent and believe the good news of Christ as their Savior from sin. That’s one of the reasons we’ve gathered together in worship today, hearing the word of our God. He calls on all people to repent. We’ve heard that call and have brought him hearts that are sorry for sin. And then he did what he always does—he announced to us our forgiveness in Christ. His deepest desire is that every sinner would repent as well. So, he sends us out into the world with the call for others to repent and believe the good news of Jesus. That is our duty, collectively and individually. It’s not easy work. It wasn’t easy for Ezekiel. But the Lord himself empowers us for that work and blesses it as he sees fit. Are you your brother’s keeper? Indeed, you are! So, let’s get busy because there’s a world full of people out there who need us to do what our God calls us to do. You can’t count on God’s blessing as you do! He promises it! Amen.