Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

Last week on the Last Sunday of the Church Year, the hymn of the day had us singing the words of the watchmen on the heights, who were crying: “The bridegroom comes. Awake!” (LSB 516). The watchman does two things. He watches, and He cries out the warning. Our Old Testament reading for today, the Festival of St. Andrew, is the LORD’s call to Ezekiel, whom He had given as a watchman for the house of Israel. He was to do two things. Listen for the word of the LORD; and warn the wicked to turn from his wicked ways in order to be saved, according to the Word of the LORD.

 

Today, on the Festival of St. Andrew, the Apostle, we remember that the Lord continues to give such watchmen to His Church. We still need watchmen. For as our Epistle Lesson (Romans 10) points out: “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:13-15). Just like Ezekiel.

 

We thank God for the watchmen He has given to the holy Christian Church universally and locally. In St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he wrote: “He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the [pastors] and teachers, to equip the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:11-14).

 

These watchmen, whatever their specific role within the office of the ministry, are called to perform the two duties essential to the calling of the watchman. They must watch the Word of God and warn the people when they are in danger of sin, and so to be vigilant especially at the coming of the Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Andrew, the Apostle, falls into that list of watchman gifts that the Lord has given to His Church, for whom we give thanks and glory to God. St. Andrew watched the Word and warned God’s people.

 

Andrew watched, having heard the crying of another of the Lord’s watchmen. John the Baptist cried out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23), as another watchman, Isaiah, had prophesied. There is a long line of watchmen called to keep an eye on the coming of the Lord and a ready voice to call the Lord’s people to observe His coming.

 

One day “John [the Baptist] was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’... One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah (which means Christ)” (John 1:35-36, 40-41). Andrew watched and when He saw Jesus, He spoke, just like John the Baptist. And so it was throughout his calling as an Apostle. Andrew watched and then He cried out.

 

Andrew watched as Jesus did signs showing Himself to be the Son of God who had come into the world, the long-awaited Messiah for whom all of the prophets had watched and warned of His coming. Andrew watched as Jesus revealed more and more of His purpose in coming. Andrew watched and listened.

 

Andrew listened as the Lord spoke a warning to His people. “As He sat on the Mount of Olives, opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?’ And Jesus began to say to them, ‘See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray’” (Mark 13:3-6).

 

Andrew listened to the Word of the LORD and was prepared to give warning to God’s people. The voice of Andrew and of all of the apostles crying out from the heights warn us against following false christs, those who would have us believe that they have come to save the world, and those who would have us believe that if we just follow their words the world will be saved.

 

There are false christs such as the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Muslims proclaim. They present a false christ closely aligned to what God’s Word proclaims, but twisted in order to point mankind away from Him in the end. There are other false christs who believe that they themselves have come with a saving message. They preach things that also at first sound closely aligned to what God’s Word proclaims (like universal love of every variation; and the saving of God’s good creation from impending destruction), but like the more overt false religions, in the end they lead us away from the true Christ, the only Saviour of mankind.

 

The apostles, including Andrew, are God’s gifts to the Church. They have watched and they continue to warn us. They equip us with God’s Word so that we are not tossed to and fro by human cunning inventing false christs, and so that we are no longer carried away by craftiness and deceitful schemes that would take our eyes off of the coming of the one true Christ, the Bridegroom who is coming for His Bride, the Church.

 

Through the watchmen we are warned to turn away from these wicked false christs, and to repent of our own wicked ways wherein we have walked down the wrong path, lured by those who would appeal to our sinful desires and so draw us away from the God who sent us a Saviour. We need the watchmen to call us back by crying from the heights the warning of God’s judgment against all sin and wickedness, especially that sin and wickedness that we would otherwise cling to unto our destruction—deep wickedness of pride and arrogance and searching for a false christ who will affirm all of our deceitful desires and crafty schemes.

 

Thank God that we have watchmen to warn us from wickedness and to point us to the coming Christ. For in Him alone is there forgiveness and salvation. Andrew was pointed to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), the coming of Jesus to take away our sins by His sacrificial death. And the watchmen still watch and warn, so that we may meet the Lord with joy and welcome Him as our bridegroom when He comes again to bring God’s judgment to the world.

 

Andrew heard the Word of the LORD, Jesus Christ, speak of the signs of the end of this age: “they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:9-11).

 

Just as the watchman Andrew watched, so he also warned. He brought his brother Peter to Jesus to see the true Christ, the long-awaited Messiah (John 1:42). In the same way, Andrew brought the request of the Greeks to Jesus, so that they might also see Him (John 12:22). The specific calling of the apostles was to watch Jesus and take His word to all nations. For the gospel must be proclaimed to all nations.

 

Andrew watched from the heights of the Mount of Olives and he proclaimed the coming of the Lord to the far reaches of the world. Historical records, outside of the Bible, tell us that Andrew preached in the nations around the Black Sea, especially in the areas of Turkey and Greece. And even while he was persecuted and beaten for being a faithful watchman, the Holy Spirit gave him the words of the Lord to speak. We are told that it was in the city of Patras in Greece that Andrew was crucified, and by request died upon an x-shaped cross rather than the style of that upon which the Lord had died at His coming as the Lamb of God.

 

Do you hear the watchmen? They still watch and warn. They proclaim not only the word of the Lord that Christ has come and died for our sins, but also that He is coming again. There is full and free forgiveness in His name for every wicked thought, word, and deed. And you must know that He is coming soon, so that you will flee to Him for that forgiveness, so that you will turn from every wicked way and be looking in the right direction for your salvation.

 

In Advent we are called to be ever watchful for the coming of the Lord. But that doesn’t mean to watch for Him so that we might avoid Him, or arm ourselves against Him like a tornado watch or winter storm watch. Rather, watching for Him means watching ourselves to keep ourselves from the wickedness that would condemn us. It means watching the Word of the Lord so that we might not be tossed to and fro by human craftiness and deceitful schemes. It means watching the watchmen (the prophets, apostles, pastors and teachers) who watch and warn for the coming of the Lord until He comes.