The Watchman’s Job Description
We'll start with the prerequisites for the job. What do we need to bring to the table to carry out this role on behalf of God? Do we need to be trained in the catechism or at a seminary? Do we need to know the Bible forward and backward, in Greek and Hebrew? Do we need an experience factor of a certain number of years?
Jesus has no such prerequisites. The closest prerequisite is "If your brother sins against you." Raise your hand if a brother or sister has sinned against you. All of you who raised your hand, you meet the requirements to be a watchman in God's kingdom.
What does God expect from us as far as duties? Well, the verses today come from chapter 18 of Matthew's gospel. In this chapter Jesus speaks of church discipline and forgiveness. In other words, Jesus is dividing Law and Gospel. The chapter starts with "whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." This is followed by the parable of the lost sheep, then today's text, which is the blueprint for church discipline. The chapter ends with Peter asking, "Do I have to forgive someone 7 times?" We all know Jesus' answer, translated as either 77 times or 70 times 7, or 490 times. Obviously we would lose count, so the message is keep on forgiving.
So in humbleness like a child we act on God's behalf. The first step, when a brother sins against us, is to go to our brother (or sister) and speak to that person privately about the matter. Why is this necessary? Because God created us to be in relationship with each other as individuals, not as a collective institution. Jesus didn't establish rules and regulations here just for order. He established a pattern for personal, life-long, and eternal relationships.
But this one-on-one approach is so daunting. What if the other person points out my sins and errors? Who am I to judge another person or tell that person a behavior or attitude is wrong. Here we come back to the humbleness of a child. We first must acknowledge our own sinfulness. In another metaphor Jesus used, we are removing the plank from our eye before dealing with a brother's speck in his eye. In humbleness we approach an erring brother or sister with the confidence that that person will approach us in love when we
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