Series Post #1: Having a Backbone

                        Today I begin a 5-part series titled The Book of Ezra: Lessons for the Church Corporate and Individual, which I have written for the Old Testament Exposition course I am enrolled in at Moody Theological Seminary. 

                         What appears here is just the tip of the iceberg of all that could, and still needs, to be said regarding the individual and community inner-and-outworkings of being the church. I pray this series will bless, unsettle, assure, encourage and point each of us to the One who is the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ. 

             

               Ezra 3:2-3: “Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.”

            The Israelites start out strong in the Book of Ezra. In chapter one they are freed by King Cyrus in 538 BC to return to Jerusalem. But not only that, he tells them they can rebuild the temple, aided by the locals who are to donate resources for the rebuilding. In addition, Cyrus returns all of the articles taken from the temple by Nebuchadnezzar when he sacked Jerusalem approximately 50 years before. The Israelites make the approximately 800 mile journey from Babylon safely, and are now beginning to rebuild. And the text says they did this “despite their fear of the people around them.”

            What were the Israelites afraid of? According to John MacArthur in his study Bible, “the settlers who had come to occupy the land during the 70 years of Israel’s absence were deportees brought in from other countries by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. These inhabitants saw the Jews as a threat and quickly wanted to undermine their allegiance to God” (which we see again in 4:1-2).

            But the Israelites rightly ignored them and went about their business.

            One of the issues Ezra will have to deal with, as we’ll see later, is a lack of holiness in the people. But thus far, we see a holy standard being unabashedly met by the Israelites. They stood their ground, knowing from previous experience that once a crack forms in holy obedience, the whole edifice comes crashing down.

            So what or who, as Christians, are we afraid of as we set out to be re-built on the foundation of Jesus Christ? Do we find that we are authentic and praiseworthy of God in our intimate Bible study group, but can’t defend the honor of our Lord when someone attaches His name to an expletive? Do we pray over the condition of a disturbed and at times appalling world and then let our kids attend R-rated films that sexualize women and turn the Lord’s name into a cuss word? Do we pray over our food on a daily basis but not when we are in “mixed company?” Do we allow people to freely state their opinions and life passions but remain silent about ours out of a fear of offending? Essentially, do we talk and act differently with Christians than we do with non-Christians?

             If we answered yes, we are operating out of a fear of others and not a fear of God. It took a decree from King Artaxerxes to stop the Israelites in their tracks. We have nothing even remotely similar in our circumstances to silence us and yet we pull out our blankie and begin sucking our thumb the minute we’re not with like-minded people. Why is it that, as Christians, we allow everyone but ourselves to have freedom of speech and conviction?

             A day may come when that freedom is gone, as has been the case in places that have never experienced freedom of speech or religion. Notice what persecution does in the Bible: it actually grows Christianity (Acts, specifically Acts 8, Philippians 1:12). Notice the kinds of Christians it breeds in communist or other dictatorial countries: Christians who are willing to die or be imprisoned for simply owning a Bible. Christianity under prosecution and persecution tends to thrive. It tends to unleash the conviction in people.

            A Feb. 4 2013 National Review Online article states that in China, “The number of persecution cases increased in 2012, the seventh consecutive year where there’s been an uptick. But despite that persecution, Christianity is thriving in China, winning more and more converts.”

              Or how about this from the Christian Freedom International website:

“Kim Il-Sung-ism, named after the late dictator who passed away in December 2011, is the only acceptable religion in North Korea; all other religions, particularly Christianity, are strictly forbidden. Thousands of North Korean believers have lost their lives from severe persecution or the harsh conditions of prison or work camps.”

And we, in an as yet free country, “struggle” with simply being Christian among those who aren’t? What, I ask myself on a daily basis, is my problem?

The Israelites understood the saying, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”  They were not about to jeopardize the rebuilding of the temple, and thus, their personal, family and community life out of a fear of the non-believers surrounding them. The Scripture says they built the altar and made sacrifices to the Lord. What would that look like for us?

God's "Call" is Already Revealed

     

            Christians often say, “I don’t know what God’s call for my life is,” or “I’m praying God will reveal His will to me.” These statements came to mind this morning as I read Ephesians 4:1-7. Verse one begins with:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

            Let’s stop right here. What is the calling we have received? To be a prisoner for the Lord (notice it doesn’t say “of” the Lord).

Many of us fail to see this essential fact of “calling.” We narrow our definition to the point where sometimes we don’t live out Christ on a daily basis because we haven’t recognized that to live Christ-like--a prisoner for him in all things--IS our call. 

We wonder why we are not living victorious Christian lives. It is because, I believe, we are focused on discerning and praying about our “call from God” when our call from God is not any great mystery; it’s all over Scripture, right under our nose! We don’t recognize it because we have put parameters of time, circumstance and place around it: “Where are you calling me, God?” “Are you calling me to get married?” “When will you call me to Africa? (or maybe you are calling me to China?)” “When will you call me to get married?” “When will You reveal your will to me!”

Can we really expect to land the specific calls if we aren’t even intentional about the general call to a daily Christian life right where, and with whomever, we are?

            So what does being a prisoner for Christ look like? Ephesians 4:2-3 tells us quite clearly:

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

         But God doesn’t stop there: 2 Peter 1:3-11 is a clear picture of consistent, moment by moment living out our call of God:

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Whew! Now I know why we are so preoccupied with praying for God’s call to a place, a ministry or some other future event! It diverts and distracts us from the hard work of living out God’s calling now, as Ephesians 4 and 2 Peter present it.

So now we know what the call looks like and what is expected of us. We also learn, in Ephesians 4:4-6 what we are called to:

 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

         But how do we live it out? Ephesians 4:7 tells us:

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

So we have no excuse. The grace of Christ has already been apportioned to us (“has been given”). The answer to “What is God’s call for my life?” is this: We are to be already living it out.  

Additional verses revealing God’s will for us now:

"It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4

“...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 
1 Thessalonians 5:18

“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” 1 Peter 5:15

The Road to Reconciliation Part 1: Repentance

Sin has consequences. If we sin against another, there will be consequences. Our first duty is to repent to God since all sin is against Him. And then we go to the person against whom we have sinned. 

When we offer repentance and apology to people for our offense, and it is not accepted, then they are choosing to not forgive: their intention is to practice un-forgiveness. 

Again, our sin against a person(s) has consequences—even the consequence that they may not forgive us when we say we are sorry and attempt to reconcile. But when we do our part in the attempt at reconciliation, they, too, must do their part for reconciliation to take place. Their un-forgiveness reveals where they are at, not where we are at. 

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father." 

Luke 15:17-20

Look at God, Not People

I know people who have never allowed a relationship between themselves and God to develop because of the way supposed “Christians” treated them way back when, or the way they perceive Christians and the church acting now.

Perhaps you are one of these people. Maybe you were a pregnant, unmarried teen and felt judged by a “Christian” family member, pastor, congregation or some other “Christian.” Or perhaps you felt inadequate in some other way and perceived a finger pointed at you by a supposed “Christian.” I have two things to say to this: 1) Make sure it isn’t your own judgment you are feeling and displacing onto others. Many people feel their own guilt and then attribute it to others laying it on them. 2) Looking at how other “Christians” treated you or failed to love you only does one thing: it keeps you from looking at and seeing God.

People spend decades remembering or reimagining how people have treated them, thus blocking all opportunities to learn how God actually does and desires to treat people. Their worldview of the past and people in the past prevents them from getting to know God now. They are missing out. Maybe you are missing out.

The second group of people I am familiar with (I was in this group at one time) is those who were raised on sound bites of what born again Christians, God, Jesus, and the Bible are like. They never got to know a true Christian and never attended a real Bible-honoring and believing church. They never read the Bible. But they adopted someone else’s biased opinion and never got beyond it to find out for themselves what they believe about God, Jesus, true believers and the Bible. These, too, are missing out.

It’s one thing to have rejected God for yourself after getting to actually know Him and understand who He is. It’s another thing to reject Him when you don’t even have a proper understanding of Him and are rejecting Him based on your interactions with other people.

Not all people in churches are Christians. I grew up in and attended several non-Bible believing "churches" for years and was not a Christian, nor did I have any clue as to how to live as one because I did not know God, Jesus or the Bible. And Christians aren’t perfect. We still sin.

The Triune God of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, however, is perfect and does not sin. Who are you going to trust with your life? People? Or our Triune God?

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,


And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,


In the light of His glory and grace" Helen H. Lemmel 1922

“And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.” Matthew 17:8