“If, however, you warn the righteous not to sin and they do not sin they shall surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved your life.” Ez. 3:21 (NRSVue)

It was raining outside and we knew that we were under a tornado watch. That was not unusual where we live, but in all of our twenty plus years at this location, we never actually had to take cover. We had talked about what we would do, which room we would take cover in (we don’t have a basement) and what we would collect to take in that space with us, but never actually had to take the actions. Well, on this particular morning, while I was logged onto a Zoom meeting, and my husband was watching the news, the phone went off and the alert popped up on my screen. His phone had done the same thing. We met each other in the middle of the house with our phones in hand to tell each other we needed to take cover. We scooped up the family dog, went to our designated space and waited. We watched the local news on my phone and then faintly, we could hear the rumble in the distance. Apparently, it passed by us either to one side or the other or it had lifted up. We were not sure, but we were grateful for the passing and for the warning.

Early on in discerning the ministry calling on my life, the Spirit would bring me to the calling of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Paul and others. I always understood that the calling was unique and multi-faceted. I have since worked through years of education, practice and administration of the various ministry gifts God has given me since those first days of prayer and discernment. I have served in my denomination as a leader, teacher and pastor for over twenty years now. Lately, God has been taking me through some of those same Scriptures as a “refresher” course of sorts. The Spirit has been clearly speaking to me about how this ministry is to evolve and grow and the steps that I need to take in the process. It can be daunting at times.

Ezekiel had a unique calling – to prophesy and warn the believers that were in captivity with him to repent and return to God. God would frequently tell him to act out the messages he was to give in very visual and sometimes challenging ways. In the text above, the Lord was designating one of his roles as a prophet was to be a watchman, a spiritual watchman. He gave him a clear analogy of how the watchman of Ezekiel’s day was assigned to sit on the walls of a city and look for impending dangers and warn the inhabitants below when trouble was coming their way, usually in the form of an enemy attack. In Ezekiel’s case, the watching was a spiritual one, warning the people of the dangers of their sin. What has always pricked me in this text, now and when I first received it, is how God holds Ezekiel accountable for the reactions of those he warns based on whether or not the recipients heeded the warnings Ezekiel would give. In other words, if he saw the sin and said nothing and they died in that sin, Ezekiel would bear the blood of their death. If he warned of sin and they heeded and repented, Ezekiel would bear the blessing of their heeding. It is a text that I hold near to my heart as a reminder of the weight and responsibility of ministry calling, so for the Spirit to lead me back to this text once again, signals to me that God is up to something and I need to pay attention!

The morning the tornado warning came across my phone, there was not an ounce of panic within me. I had a plan and the warning was the signal to activate the plan. I had no idea what was happening outside my designated space with no windows, except for what I saw coming across my phone and the noise I heard overhead. I heeded the warning and it ended well for my husband, my dog and me. Likewise, God has a plan for my life and I recognize it. He has sent out the warning. It is my responsibility to respond and take action. If I am faithful; it will ultimately end up well for others and for me. My only course of action is to heed the Red Alert.