“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. ⁸ 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^[a] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ⁹ 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.” Ezekiel 33: 7-9.

Back in the first decade of this century,   I had a job with an energy company that had holdings in multiple states.  I befriended  the Director of Operations for a couple of states, as interfacing with him on a routine part of my job.  I really liked him. He liked music, and he came over to my house when he was in town, and my band was practicing for a gig.  

He was a few years older than me, but he still had some wild seeds to sow, and he loved to party.  I traveled with him some, and he would lay out until the wee-hours of the morning.  Nevertheless, the  next morning – sometimes disheveled (he looked like his hair was hurting from the night before) –  yet he still showed up for work.  One time, while he was in town, he asked me about Jesus. I had had some conversations with him about my faith in Jesus and sensed that he wanted to believe.

Since he drove a lot to various company offices, he would listen to audio books, and he was excited about listening to The Shack.  He said matter of factly, “It kind of gives me hope that there is hope for me.”  I just laughed and said of course there is hope for you because there is hope for me and anyone who professes that Jesus is Lord.  It opened a door to discuss grace with him, and we had follow-up conversations.  One day, not long after that I got a call from a Louisiana friend who worked under him  notifying me that he had died the night before at home in his own bed.  I wondered if I should have been a little more assertive and pressed for conversion, but at that point I was too late.  I am glad that I did get to discuss Jesus as Lord and savior, and I am hopeful that he accepted Jesus into his heart and life.

Which brings me to the verse cited above (Ezekiel 33:7-8).  Ezekiel the visionary prophet, was the Lord’s  watchman in a difficult time in Israel’s history.  He was a national prophet both pre-exilic prior to Israel’s fall to Babylon in 586 BC and during time of exile. To ignore the evil around him, would have been unthinkable as he confronts his fellow countryman because we learn from the Old Testament history the exile was brought about by their national disobedience.

Does this warning apply to us, today?  I think it does to some extent because the nature and character of The Lord God has not changed.  If we are followers of Jesus Christ, our salvation is certain – this is an unconditional assurance from the Lord.  During the judgment at the Bema Seat, perhaps this will be addressed. (The Bible teaches that every knee will bow and every tongue confess which includes both believers and non-believers, even though there are different judgment seats for each group).  I honestly don’t want to speculate about things I can’t know the answer to.

I really think that there are a couple of messages here for today’s Christian, particularly if you are in a leadership role – and I mean broader than Pastors although we know teachers will be held to a higher standard (James 3:1).   The first is that we should not be timid about calling evil what it is.  This current culture or counterculture depending on your point of view has  mastered the art  of putting lipstick on a pig. Child sexual abuse is nothing but pure evil, just as one example, yet we see in some cases when the adult who has gone down that path is found guilty of such evil, the judgment is a slap on the wrist.  I could go on.

Second, when it comes down to living our lives,  we should reach out to those that God places in our path and share the Good News of the Gospel.

Two key verses of the gospels of Luke and Mark come to mind.  Jesus came “to seek and save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10.  “The son of man came to serve, not to be served and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45.  

For Jesus to do that, he had to deal with all sorts of people – demon possessed people, prostitutes, greedy tax collectors, legalistic scribes and priests – they were on the wrong path  and Jesus had no problem communicating with them.  He is our role model.   Make no mistake the implications of Ezekiel 33: 7-8 are not necessarily the same, but Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples – not just hang out with our small group, take the roll-on Sunday, play in the praise band or some other activity which is a form of service but within our comfort zone.

If you are like me, you may have been busy and missed an opportunity to discuss the gospel with someone who was lost; or maybe the individual’s appearance made them unapproachable; or even worse you just didn’t like them, and maybe they will get what they deserve. Whoa, what happened to love your enemies (Matthew 5:44-45).

Take the time and pray for forgiveness and be ready and equipped with the next person you meet.  They may know Jesus as savior, Hallelujah, or the Lord put them in your path if to do nothing else but plant a seed.

Planting a seed is the first step you and I can take to grow the Kingdom. Amen.