We are not blindly forgiving. We get to name what hurt we have. You are a sentinel of yourself- do not allow the hurts to go unnamed for too long.

Ezekiel 33:7-11

7 So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.8 If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked ones, you shall surely die’, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

10 Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

Romans 13:8-14

8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.9 The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Matthew 18:15-20

15 “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector.18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’

Spoken words for “You are my sentinel” by Rev KellyAnn Donahue

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Words are spoken to Ezekiel from God. More words from Paul are addressed to the church in Rome. And Matthew records the words of Jesus spoken to his disciples. These words are warnings and commandments, not merely advice or suggestions. We may think of them as suggestions, but I feel they are meant more strongly than that.

In our first reading, Ezekiel the prophet is listening to God speak. God tells Ezekiel to speak to the house of Israel, to warn them of death if they do not change their wicked ways. It is Ezekiel’s job to warn them. God calls him a sentinel, a watchman, a guard who reports what is coming for those he guards. “So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me”, said God. Ezekiel is to report the words that God gives him; words encouraging them to turn back to God.

What exactly are the wicked ways God is talking about? I think they are summarized by Paul. “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law”. He adds some other words, other things to avoid; reveling and drunkenness. We can imagine that he was speaking about all kinds of wild behavior, things we might label R or Mature if they were in a movie or TV show. These behaviors are not specifically mentioned in the commandments. I think Paul is not talking about a single drink or about a friendly game of cards; he is talking about behaviors that are dangerous to the participants and to bystanders. He also mentions quarreling and jealousy in the same line. They can be dangerous, too.

We then heard words from Jesus to his disciples, words about someone who sins against you. It may be that our translations have obscured the setting that Jesus was talking about. Our NRSV uses the words “member of the church sins against you”. He is taking about individuals and about a community. But would he have used the word church the same way we do? Did he consider his disciples and other followers a church, the same way we define it? Maybe the idea of church came from Matthew. Jesus or Matthew were talking about people in a group of some kind, people with some social ties to each other.

And people in that or any group will sin against each other. Jesus gives his disciples a way to deal with that. “Point out the fault when the two of you are alone,” he said. Maybe this talk will work; the two of you can make things right. If not, try again with a few others present. More help can be brought in by involving “the church” Jesus said. I see these tactics, this advice, as a model of diplomacy and de-escalation of potential conflict. The group keeps itself in line. A process is followed and a group helps shape the behavior of individuals. Watch what others do to you, speak up when you see it. Watch out for them, speak up and then get others involved if needed. The person sinned against is the sentinel. It is a sentinel’s job to speak up. I know this can be hard. Confrontation can be dangerous. With others to help perhaps the danger and the anxiety can be lessened. In these readings I hear God and Jesus telling us to be sentinels for ourselves, to speak up, as well as being sentinels for others as Ezekiel was told. Speak up to the people who sin, and ask for others to stand with you.

Sometimes a little thinking and a little time come before speaking to others. Jesus said to point out the fault when the two of you are alone. Some time may pass before this opportunity arises. Not everything needs to be spoken about immediately. Prayer and deep thinking could take place before confronting the person who sinned against you.

You are my sentinel, God said to Ezekiel. I think we are God’s sentinels. Watch for what God says, watch your own behavior and that of others too. We are not blindly forgiving. We get to name what hurt we have. You are a sentinel of yourself- do not allow the hurts to go unnamed for too long. Both you and the one who hurt you will be healed. Know that it is acceptable and maybe safer to bring others in too. It is okay to call for backup.

If that does not restore good feelings, then Jesus said and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Hmmm, what does he mean here? Rev Dr. Mark G. Vitalis Hoffman found that Eugene Peterson’s Bible, The Message, helped. That translation of this verse is “start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance and offer again God’s forgiving love”. Jesus ate with Gentiles and tax collectors, and he did not assume they knew the Ten Commandments from birth, the way Jews did. It may take a while to reach some people. To try is what is important here.

You are my sentinel. Watch for what I am saying to you, watch what you do, watch for others who may hurt you. Be ready to think, speak and let others know too. God can’t do it for you. Wait if that seems good. But do watch. May we all have the courage to be sentinels and the courage to stand with others.

© Rev KellyAnn Donahue