Are You On Your Watch? Habakkuk 2:1

The “watch” principle is not limited to the New Testament. Paul admonishes Timothy to “watch your life” (I Timothy 4:16).  Christ urges his disciples to “watch and pray” (Mattew 26:31). The writer of Hebrews reminds the brethren that the elders are charged to “keep watch over your souls” (Hebrews 3:17).

But in the prophetically relevant book of Habakkuk, there is a clear and distinct intentionality present: “I will stand upon my watch…” (Habukkuk 2:1). The prophet, in chapter one, had bitterly complained about God using the wicked nation of Babylon to punish the kingdom of Judah. So, he positions himself in the watchtower to await God’s response. In this act, Habakkuk is a metaphor for believers in the twenty-first century in the attitude it expresses.

For, the watchman acts in two separate yet simultaneous modes: he is both guardian of the community and the heralder of divine messages. The imagery from the Hebrew root for watchman (shamar) is that of secret service agents who keep their keen attention upon movements, gestures and body language that most take for granted. They zero in on the slightest agitation. Their responsibilities are not limited; in shifts, they are on guard twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, morning, evening and midnight – which are the same “watches of duty” employed by watchmen of biblical times.

The watchman had a singular responsibility among many duties: to guard the spiritual well-being of the community.

Morning. Evening. Midnight. Are you on your watch? Which watch are you on?

If we are going to carry out our responsibilities as watchmen, we must, as Paul directs the Thessalonians, “let us not sleep, as others do, but let us remain awake and sober” (I Thessalonians 5:6).

I am afraid that, on the eve of the twenty-first century, in a season of tremendous change, stupendous challenge and momentous complexity, our watch towers are not being manned! Or, at worst, our watchmen have fallen asleep!

Christ says to his disciples, “Stay woke” and pray… (Matthew 26:31). If we were awake, we would see the danger signs.

We would see spiritual lethargy inflicting our community, the severe burnout due, a lot, to fascist fatigue.

We would see the cultural confusion, where burgeoning numbers of our kind (including our “watchmen”) are turning viciously against their own community (Paul referred to the Judaizers fomenting division in the church at Philippi as “dogs”).

We would see the alarming rise in the loss of hope as reflected in suicide ideation as the result of the privatization of religion to the detriment of community.

We would see the massive assault on the movement for peace and justice by an administration determined to roll back the gains of the last seventy-five years.

Whether it is Paul admonishing Timothy to watch his life and doctrine or Christ urging his followers to stay woke, the Bible clearly speaks to the need for those who are at the vanguard of faith to exercise due diligence in keeping watch over the spiritual well-being of the community.

Stay woke, my friends.

Pastor C. can be reached at: info@pastorwericcroomes.com