April 7th, 2024
From The Series: When God Rebuilds…
Part #11 Do Not Be Embarrassed by
God’s Work
Ezra 5:11-17
Mountain View Evangelical Missionary
Church
Good morning
again. We are resuming our series “When God Rebuilds…” this morning. If you
remember from the last time we were in this series, we saw that the enemies of
God that surrounded those who were in Jerusalem had managed to bring the
construction of the Temple to a halt.
The enemies first approached the builders and tried to
intimidate them, and when that didn’t work, they went to the government with
lies and managed to bring the work to a halt. We can see now from a historical
perspective that the halt was only temporary, but it was effective for about 16
years.
Imagine the frustration that these people must have
experienced. They were captured by the Babylonians and forcibly evicted from
their land, relocated into hostile territory, and thrown together with
different ethnic groups with different traditions in an effort to keep these refugees
from forming groups large enough and united enough to cause trouble for their
political overlords.
These people were in captivity for 70 years and then their
overlords were defeated by an even bigger enemy, and these faithful Israelites
were swallowed up into the new Persian empire. Their new King had a policy of
allowing the captives to resume their traditional worship of their particular gods.
Their new King Darius permitted a contingent of the Israelites to return
to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple to Yahweh that had been ransacked and
destroyed by the Babylonians.
We saw in the last message, that there was an aspect of jealousy
behind the actions of the enemies. They originally approached the Hebrews in
Jerusalem wanting to participate in the rebuilding process. They were willing
to help fund the project and supply labor in an attempt to speed up the
process. However, the offer of help came with the expectation of integration of
their worship practices to take place in the Temple. This method is known as syncretism,
and it is something that Christian Churches must constantly guard against
today.
Syncretism can occur in seemingly innocent ways hidden behind
multi-culturalism. Things like a Christian church hosting Yoga drop-in
sessions. Or, Christian Churches that allow pagan ceremonies to take place in
their buildings like a smudge ceremony are also practicing syncretism. We must
be aware of the religious significance behind some of these rituals or
activities before we decide to partner with them. These were the types of
things that the faithful in Jerusalem were guarding against. When the rejection
began, their troubles arose. The exclusivity claims of Christianity, the claim
that Salvation comes through Jesus alone will paint a target on our backs and
we too may be perceived to be a threat to the plans of rulers.
That is the recap. Let’s open our Bibles or turn on our
devices and turn to today’s passage that we are going to examine a little
closer today. Please turn to the Book of Ezra in the Old Testament and find
chapter five and this morning we will be starting in verse 11. Here at Mountain
View Church, we strongly encourage you to have God’s Word open in front of you
so that you can follow along for yourselves.
READ EZRA
5:11-17
PRAY
Just a bit of context
here for the passage. We have dropped into the middle of the letter that the
enemies of God sent to the King of Persia in the year 536 BC. The letter is
coming from the Governor of the region. If we look at verse
three of chapter 5 it appears that the
Governor’s name is Tattenai but that isn’t the case. Tattenai is a title in the
original language for the position of governor. The governor is not
actually named. This section was written originally in Aramaic, a common trade
language of the area at that time. This governor is not resisting the
rebuilding of the temple but is rather responding to a complaint about the
temple and a question that is raised regarding the large stones that are being
used. A nefarious intent is implied in the inquiry that was sent to the local governor.
When we get to chapter 6 we will see that through a decree from the new king at
that time, a King named Darius, Tattenai will be instructed to once again assist
in the rebuilding effort.
What we are looking at
here this morning is the response that Tattenai received from the Israelites to
his questioning of what they were doing in Jerusalem. Quite frankly, these
enemies of God were being Karens.
We can look at chapter
five as a copy of a historical document, a copy of an administrative inquiry
based on the receipt of a complaint from the public. We see included in the
record, the response that they received from their inquiries of what the men In
Jerusalem were doing and who authorized the work to occur.
What we see happening
here is similar to if you were building a swimming pool in your backyard and
some of the neighbors see you digging, and they wander over to ask you what you
are doing. Being neighborly, you tell them that you are tired of the hot
Alberta summers and with your concern for Global warming, you have decided to
build a pool to survive the devasting heat wave that some scientists are
predicting.
Your neighbors see what
is happening and they want a little pool action as well, so they mention that they
have some landscaping experience and once the pool is in the ground, they can
come over and repair the rest of the yard and make it look nice again. Hey, as
a matter of fact, one of them has a box of pool noodles and inflatables that he
would be happy to bring over and let everyone on the block use them in your
pool.
You think, “Everyone on
the block” and you realize that this is getting out of hand, and you tell them
that your family has decided that they will not use inflatables or pool
noodles. As a matter of fact, the pool is pretty small, and you have decided to
restrict pool use to immediate family members only. “Sorry”, you tell them, “We
are not building a public pool!” It’s at this point that the neighbors decide
to phone the permitting office at the county and tell them exactly what you
have been up to and ask them whether they are aware of what you are doing.
Alright, why don’t we
look at the passage in a little bit more detail? Starting in verse 11 it is
identified that this is the answer that the Israelites gave in response to the inquiry
from the officials. Look at what the faithful said, “11We
are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the
temple that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and
finished.”
We see
immediately that these men are unashamedly identifying themselves as servants
of the God of heaven and earth. If we remember back at the start of chapter
five, we read how the prophets Haggai and Zechariah were speaking to these same
people offering them words of encouragement from God.
These words
of prophecy were sustaining the people in Jerusalem and these words were
spurring them on in their work. This encouragement strengthened the resolve of
the people so much that when they received an inquiry about what they were
doing from a government official, they unashamedly stated exactly what they
were doing. They were rebuilding a Temple to the God of heaven and earth.
Now, in
fairness to the Tattenai, I don’t see any malicious intent or threatening words
in the inquiry as presented here in scripture. Still, it can be a little unsettling
when having to deal with official questions from the empire. Notice how they
handle it. Unapologetically they identify themselves with the God of heaven and
earth. Are we doing the same here in Mountain View County?
I’m not
referring to just official inquiries from the government, but do you publicly
identify yourselves with this church? Or, with Jesus Christ? I have gotten into
the habit of identifying myself as, “the Pastor of the little white country
church East of Didsbury. You know, the one east of the number 2 on the 582.”
Almost every time I say that, people ask, “oh, you mean the one on the north
side of the road?” People know we are here, but are you identifying yourself as
belonging to this body?
Do you see
yourself as an ambassador for this church when you are talking to friends,
family, and strangers? Are you excited about the changes that have been
occurring here at Mountain View Church?
Last month,
when I met with my mentor in Ponoka, I asked him how he had turned around the
church in Hoadley so quickly. How was he able to get that church to go from 30
to 130 in a year? You know what he told me? He mentioned that it was the people
at the church that caused the growth. He mentioned that the congregants became
excited about Jesus again and they started inviting people to church. They were
excited that changes were happening and that they were finding a vision for the
church. They could see God at work, and they were excited to participate in
what the Spirit was doing amongst them. It wasn’t that the people were running
a bunch of new programs and were having to volunteer hours and hours, but
rather they remembered that the church had a place in their community, that
Jesus had a purpose for that body, and that they were to participate in the
work simply by being excited for the Lord again and inviting people to come and
experience Jesus with them.
I hope and
pray that you feel that way about what is happening here at Mountain
View. I feel the Holy Spirit is here with us. I feel His presence each Sunday
as we gather to worship Him. I feel that He is revealing His plans for this
church to the leadership team.
Earlier
this week, Marilyn and I went to a couple of our sister churches and met with
their Sunday School coordinators and discussed what programs they were running
in their churches that were attracting young families. Later this morning, the
Sunday School committee is having a lunch meeting to discuss a new Sunday
School curriculum.
I know that
we do not presently have any young families regularly attending, but the church
has the Plan to Protect program in place to safeguard the children. The Sunday
school teachers all have had their police checks completed. We have purchased
new children’s Bibles for the Sunday School room. The next thing we are doing
is upgrading and modernizing the curriculum so that when we have children on
site, we can spring into action and engagingly teach them God’s Word. We want
young families to feel welcomed and appreciated so that they will return.
Having people prepared to pour God’s Love into their children by teaching them
God’s Word on Sunday mornings is one of the best ways we can show these
families some love.
Your
church’s ministry teams are preparing for the people that God will bring to
this church. Young families are the future of any church. I have heard of the prosperous
Sunday School program Mountain View used to have. The popular VBS programs that
were run here. What happened? Did we lose our first love here at Mountain View?
Did we forget why we were doing these things?
I am just
one guy. I can not grow this church without your participation. We will not
grow again without the Lord’s help and your excitement. If you are embarrassed
about attending here and if you are not acting as an ambassador for Mountain
View, then this is going to take much longer to accomplish God’s goals here.
This church can be a beacon of hope to this community.
More
importantly, are you identifying yourself as a Christian? Are you identifying
as a follower of Jesus in your day-to-day activities? Do people see a light in
you that comes from the Lord? Do they recognize a peace about you that is
heavenly? Are you seen as a beacon of hope in your circles? Is there something
that you are exhibiting in your life that is attracting others? Are you
recognizing that God is at work here in Mountain View?
We need to
follow the example of the faithful in Jerusalem that we are reading about here
in Ezra. Are you remembering your identity in Christ?
Turn with me in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 45 and let’s
read together about the God that these faithful in Jerusalem were identifying
with.
READ
ISAIAH 45:5-7
Look at what Yahweh is saying through the prophet Isaiah. God
is revealing Himself to us through these words. “I am
the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.” We must
remember this at all times. There is only one God. The only true God as
revealed in the words of Scripture. We have seen over the past few weeks when
we studied about the Providence of God, that He is a Creator and the sustainer
of all Creation. He is omnipresent, everywhere all the time. He is omniscient,
all-knowing, all aware, nothing escapes His attention. He is omnipotent, all-powerful,
able to sustain all of creation.
Look at how He is describing Himself here in Isaiah, “there
is no other”, I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me”, and “From
the rising of the sun to the place of its setting”. In other words, from all of
Nature and Creation, “people may know there is none like me”. “I form the light
and create darkness” now pay real close attention to the next line, look at
verse 7, “I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things”. Do you see what God is
claiming here? He creates all prosperity, and He creates the disasters. Why
are we so afraid to acknowledge when God permits trouble in this fallen world?
Who are we to apologize for what God is doing in this world?
Do you think that we need to protect God’s reputation? Do we think that we are
doing God a favor by sugar-coating, or worse yet, ignoring things that
Scripture tells us when we don’t like what they have to say to us? Do you know
what that is called? That is idolatry! You are creating a false God, one that
is created in an image of your making.
Do you lack the confidence that God can draw to Himself
everyone that He chooses to? Do you think that you have to do God’s PR work for
Him? Who are you lowly man to apologize for the actions of a mighty God? Is
that why we are struggling here at Mountain View Church, are we worshipping too
small a god? Are we completely committed to God as revealed by God Himself to
His Creation in the inspired Words of Scripture? Or are we editing Scripture as
well and only accepting the things that agree with your preconceived idea of
what Christianity is and who God is? Maybe you are doing these things, and you
may not even be aware of them.
Are we allowing culture to color and influence our view of
who God is? Are we apologizers for Jesus rather than apologists for
Jesus? Do you love Christ enough to present Him in His unvarnished beauty to
the lost in your lives and allow the Spirit to speak to them? Or, do you try to
clean Jesus up for your friends before you present Him to them because you are
afraid that the dirty, bloody, defeated Jesus that hangs on the cross for their
sins may offend the people you are telling Him to?
Stay here in Isaiah, we will come right back.
Are we guilty of selective editing when we come across words
like this in Romans 9? “18 Therefore
God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to
harden. 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still
blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” Do we have a hard time
accepting this statement, “God has mercy on whom he wants
to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden”? Boy, that second half of that statement gets a
lot of people. We can all accept the mercy of God, that’s a safe and cuddly God
we can worship. Mercy, that makes me feel safe and I don’t have to address the
sins in my life, God has mercy.
But, we choke on the second half of this verse, God “hardens”
some people? God prevents some people from coming to Him. Do you mean God
chooses not to save everyone? If you are thinking like that, watch out
for the editing that you are doing. Put that knife down and stop carving that
idol. Put the washcloth down and stop cleaning up Jesus. We don’t have to make
Jesus presentable for anyone! The Father will draw those to Jesus whom He
desires to give to the Son. All we must do is share the Gospel and tell the
Good News that Jesus died for them. He died to bring them back to a loving
relationship with the Father.
If you find this idea of God not choosing everyone to
be repulsive, then you would be wise to put away the false safe and cuddly
Jesus, and remember the words from Paul in Romans 9:20 which scream out to us
this warning, “20 But who are you, a
human being, to talk back to God?” Or, the ESV has a more ominous-sounding
warning, “20 But who are you, o man, to
talk back to God?”
Make no mistake, Jesus loves us. Look
down in your Bible a little further down in Isaiah 45 starting at verse 22, “22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends
of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself
I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be
revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will
swear. 24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength.’ ” All who
have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.”
God has made a perfect plan for our redemption. He will pour
out His mercy on whom He will pour it out on, and He will save those whom the
Father has given Him. It is a gift, something we do not deserve, and something
we can never earn. Someone asked me last week, if we are predestined, then why
did Jesus have to go to the Cross?
Jesus did that for a couple of reasons. The first is to
demonstrate perfect obedience, “For He was obedient, even to death on a cross”
The second reason why Jesus had to go to the Cross is explained in John
12:27-28.
“27 “Now my
soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No,
it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father,
glorify your name!” and John 17:1 gives us some additional insight, “1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven
and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may
glorify you.”
Are we
starting to see it? Even if we are predestined, Jesus still chose to go
to the Cross and suffer physical pain, humiliation at the hands of His own
Creation, and at least three hours of separation from the love of
the Father, all to bring Glory to the Godhead. Obedience and glory and
yes love are the reasons for the cross.
When we
look at these events through a man-centered lens or point-of-view, what we tend
to concentrate on most is love. Jesus did that because He loves us. But,
when we look at the events of the Cross through a God-centered point-of-view,
we concentrate on the Glory aspects of these acts, because we recognize that
God receiving the Glory is the highest form of achievement we can hope for.
Let’s turn
back to our original passage for today and pick up our study in verse 12. “12 But because our
ancestors angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of
Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and
deported the people to Babylon.” We see here that the faithful in
Jerusalem are remembering their history. They are not trying to sugar-coat the
actions of their forefathers or the actions of their God. They flat-out tell it
like it was.
Our
ancestors angered the God of Heaven who then gave them into the hands of their enemies
and then turned around and destroyed His own Temple and then scattered His
people and exiled them from their land. They recalled their history and they
refused to make excuses for their actions or for how God chose the punish His
people.
Do we have
that level of faith in God? Do we have enough faith to share the Gospel of
Jesus Christ without excuse? Can we share the Good News without the need to
downplay the sin of mankind or the Glory due to God for His obedience and
actions? Do we have enough faith in Jesus calling His people to return to this
church by honestly sharing the history of this church with others?
Admitting
to ourselves, or others, the mistakes that have been made, or remembering the
glory days of the church without feeling embarrassed about the current state of
our body? Are we able to embrace the new direction that God may have us go
without losing the rich history of this little country church? Are we prepared
to embrace and accept the new families that God may bring our way, even if they
don’t look like us? Can we handle a little noise in the sanctuary from fussing
children, knowing that it means security for the future of our church?
I know you
have already accepted the small changes that I have introduced since coming
here, and I want you to know that I see that and appreciate it. I hope the
changes have all been for the better. There may need to be some additional
changes to help attract more people. The Board is considering some different
options. From repairs to the building to adding to the sign out front. Perhaps,
investing in new technology to be more productive and broaden our reach, or, to
participate in some community events to raise the profile of this church.
Over the
past couple of weeks, I have been speaking with Pastor Kelly out at Bethel
church. He has been sharing with me how they have been growing and increasing
in numbers over the last couple of years. Now, if you know where their church
is located, out west on Highway 580 in the middle of nowhere, it is hard to
fathom that church growing at all. In the last couple of years, they have seen
their numbers swell to almost 400 on a Sunday morning. Their sanctuary is
almost too full, and they only can breathe when they dismiss the children for
Sunday School.
They had to
hire more staff and add on to the building with a new commercial kitchen and
fellowship area. They have a team of volunteers who step up and serve others
through various acts of service and love for each other. They are getting so
big that they had to remind people to be sure to be friendly and welcoming to
the new people so that Bethel does not lose its identity as a church.
The
congregation and leadership at Bethel Church have recognized their identity in
Christ, they have remembered their history in Christ, even the devasting
history when they lost their building to a fire, and now they are realizing
their current situation in Christ and are exploring ways to deal and adapt to
the blessings that God is delivering to them.
Recognizing their current situation is exactly what the faithful in
Jerusalem did in the letter that they sent to the governor. Look at verses
13-16 in Ezra chapter 5. “13 “However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon,
King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. 14 He
even removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the
house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and
brought to the temple in Babylon. Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named
Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor, 15 and he told
him, ‘Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem.
And rebuild the house of God on its site.’
16 “So
this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in
Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is
not yet finished.”
We see in their
response that they gave a brief recap of the events that they had accomplished
since they arrived at the building site. They made sure to give credit and name
names so that they could not be accused of being radical and endangering the
reign of the King They did this all while giving God the credit for what He had
done and acknowledging God for all of His possessions. The House of God, the articles
of the House of God, the site of the House of God, and even the current status
of the project were all given without apology or explanation.
Look at the final
verse in this passage that we will examine this morning. In verse 17, we see
the voice of the narrative switch from the faithful in Jerusalem to the
faithful governor who is asking his superiors to verify all that he has been
told.
“17 Now
if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon
to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in
Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.” There does not
appear to be any malice in the request and we will see in a few weeks how
Tattenai will become a supporter of the continued construction of the Temple
once he receives official authorization.
This is going to
take some time though, and we will see how it will be a test of the patience
and faith of the faithful in Jerusalem. Next week we are going to examine Psalm
137 which is a Psalm of lament that was written during this time of exile,
occupation, and waiting on the LORD. Even while they were waiting, they
maintained their faith and continued to cry out to God for His protection and
encouragement.
CONCLUSION
I want us to draw strength and reassurance from the fact that
we are not the only group of Believers who have experienced the things that we
have. But as we go through these things, we should not lose sight of a few key
points.
We need to remember who we are in Jesus. Remember who you
were when you first became a Christian and grab a hold of that excitement you
once had. Remember how excited you were when you got baptized. We need to
frequently recall our identity in Jesus. We need to remember the history of
this church as well as our individual histories in Jesus. Finally, we must look
realistically at our current situation and seek the Lord’s guidance in what He
would have us do next and follow His promptings faithfully, without excuse, and
joyfully serving wherever He may call us.
Ask yourselves the questions from this morning’s bulletin
this week. Imagine what this church might look like in the future. Catch the
vision for the church and imagine how you can be a part of making it a reality.
Think about becoming excited for Jesus once again and inviting people to become
a part of and experience what God has in store for this church.
Remember each other in your prayers this week and remember to
pray for your leadership team here at church.
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