God is Still Building

Intro

This is a hard text, on several levels. It’s hard because it probably offends many of our modern sensibilities. It’s difficult because it leaves many of our questions unanswered. It’s painful because it likely brings up elements of our own stories, our confrontation with sin, or having been sinned against, and that’s not easy. And frankly, on a very human level, this text is a bad ending to our story.

So what do we do with all that? We start by confessing with the global church and the saints down through the ages that all of Scripture is the very Word of God, and it is profitable for us, so that we can be made complete in Christ.

And if we start there, I think we’ll see that this text, as difficult as it may be, still has much to teach us. And in our brief time together wrapping up this series, I want us to see first, what it means to submit to Scripture as Scripture. Second, our passage will teach us to have an accurate view of ourselves. Last, we’ll see that yes, God is still building his people, and he’s doing it on, in, and through Jesus Christ.

Submit to Scripture as Scripture

The first way I think this final passage challenges us is to submit to Scripture as Scripture.

This text raises a lot of questions for me, many of them that I can’t answer. And I don’t like that.

Now, there are good answers to many of our questions, and Charles gave some of those last week and in the bonus podcast. But in the end, we’re going to have to come to terms with some of our questions going unanswered.

Here are two questions I have which I’m guessing may be shared by many of you. First, why was divorce considered the best option? This is really more of an emotional question than an intellectual one. I understand, as we heard last week, that life in a fallen world is often filled with choices where every options is just bad. And sometimes, repentance necessitates a clean break from what is causing us to sin, that might even mean dissolving a relationship. I get that.

And this is probably the child of divorce coming out, but frankly, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. I have a hard time with it.

I also can’t help but wonder, what happened to the women and children? Why is the ending so abrupt? Were they taken care of? Were they sent away with an inheritance? Has God redeemed their ancestors?

We don’t know. And I don’t like that either.

What do we do when the beautiful melodies in Scripture are interrupted by what sounds like a discordant tune? What do we do when we confront a passage of Scripture that confounds us, disappoints us, or even offends us and makes us downright angry?

As hard as it may be, this is a place for us to learn to submit to Scripture as Scripture, and exercise faith in the God who gave it to us.

Which means here in Ezra 10 I have to believe God is who he says he is when I don’t understand or even like what is going on. God is unchanging. He is good, just, and loving. He is still slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He still cares for the widow and the orphan. He’s the same God who went after Hagar and protected her and Ishmael. He’s the same God who is revealed to us in Jesus Christ; the one who said, “Let the little children come to me.”

All of that is still true about God here, even when I don’t understand all the details. We trust Scripture as Scripture; we trust God’s Word as his revelation to us, even when when we don’t have all the answers. That’s the difficult place where we live by faith.

Now please don’t hear what I’m not saying. I am not promoting anti-intellectualism. This isn’t some cliched, “The Bible says it, I believe it, that’s it.” Far from it.

Wrestle with Scripture. Wrestle with God, even. He can take it, don’t worry you won’t offend him. But be willing to say, at the end of the day, that I am going to believe by faith, and not by how much I know.

Here is where this matters for us in our life together: A church community that submits to Scripture together is a place where it is genuinely safe to wrestle with God and his Word. Herman Bavinck, 20th century dutch theologian, he said this actually where many churches have gotten it wrong. Many Christians in history have thought that submitting to Scripture means that I force you to submit to Scripture; through accumulating power for the church, or through violence and the sword of the government. But, he said, God does not coerce people. And Scripture does not rule by coercion or violence but it graciously invites people in by the power of the Holy Spirit.

You see, this is ultimately where this growing tide of Christian Nationalism goer awry. It’s not so much the ends, it’s the by any means possible approach that is so troubling. Ultimately it isn’t Christian at all; it is a movement governed by the coercion of man and not the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit.

So a church that trusts Scripture and invites questions, that welcomes doubt, that is a beautiful place. Because that is a place governed by the operation of the Holy Spirit, not the force and coercion of man. That is a place that will build up Christians and attract non-Christians to come and see who Jesus is.

Together, we become a people who, like the early disciples, are confronted by the challenging words of Jesus. But together we confess, with all our doubts and questions, “Where else are we going to Go? You alone have the words have eternal life.”

Accurate view of Ourselves

So we submit to Scripture as Scripture. Second, this painful ending challenges us to have an accurate view of ourselves. We could think about this individually and privately, but instead I’d like to try and stretch us a bit and think about what it means to have an accurate view of ourselves corporately as a church body.

You know, this passage doesn’t just ruin how we wanted Ezra to end, but it really sours the entire Old Testament history. Over and over again there has been a repeating cycle of Israel falling into sin, they face the consequence of their sin, and then God shows mercy and delivers his people. Eventually, their sin becomes so great that God sends his people into exile. Now the people are finally returning and we think, “Things will be different this time.”

We have followed the story of these returning exiles with eager expectation that they will rebuild the temple and the city of Jerusalem. But they don’t. Once again the people fall back into destructive patterns of sin. They were meant to be a light to the nations, and instead they became just like the nations.

Earlier in Ezra we read the names of the faithful Israelites who returned from exile to be a part of rebuilding the temple. We celebrated how these men and women were a part of the beautiful ancestry that we inherit in Christ. Their story of faithfulness becomes a part of our story.

Well, this list of names here is as much a part of our story as those previous lists were. And just as we heard the lists of the faithful read out loud, it is good for us to hear these names too. Because their experience with life in a fallen world is just like ours; sometimes faithful, often stumbling. And the Israelites knew that together they were responsible for all of it.

So ___ is going to come back up, and let’s stand, for this too is God’s Word.

We live in a hyper individualistic age; one focused on individual success, fulfillment, choice, and purpose. Our individualism conditions us to neglect our responsibilities to others: in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our churches. It gives us pride in our own strengths, and creates judgement when others fail.

Several years ago while I was in seminary I volunteered in patient care in the Children’s oncology unit at the Inova Fairfax hospital outside the DC area. The unit was the highest floor in a very tall tower, from the windows you could see all the way downtown, and on a clear day, you could see the monuments about 15 miles away.

One day I found myself outside the room of a young boy whose grandfather was there to visit. We were looking out the windows together as the grandfather opened up to me. He told me about how he used to be one of “those people, driving around down there, with little thought of anything happening outside of my own life.” He said, “I’ve driven by children’s hospitals so many times in my life, and I’ve never actually stopped to think about what actually goes on in a place like this. I never thought I needed to care. Now, I wish I lived in a world that cared.”

See, this grandfather had discovered what renowned author and surgeon Atul Gawande calls the veneration of the independent self. Gawande says that what has happened in our modern society is not that we have demoted the sick, the elderly, the dying, or the poor; it’s that we have demoted a sense of responsibility to others and elevated the liberty of the self.

And this might seem like freedom and control for a time, until independence is no longer enough, until we are in need of others to care for us when we are most vulnerable. It’s then where independence is no longer freedom, it’s bondage.

God loves us too much to let us be so fooled. While we may be conditioned to look away from all that is wrong and broken in our world, to just keep our heads down and focus on ourselves, His Word demands that we look.

Not to rub our faces in the sin and brokenness, but to give us a sober mindedness about ourselves and the world we live in. Ezra 10 demands that we look and see that just like the Israelites, we are a sometimes faithful, often stumbling people. We are responsible for both our collective successes as well as our collective failures. We are responsible for one another in plenty and in want. We belong to one another. We take care of one another, we restore one another. We are responsible for one another.

Do you see what this does? If we allow God to shape us in this way, we become a radically counter-cultural people. When God is working on our hearts through his Word, it makes us humble about our faults, and keeps us from having pride in our strengths. We become a compassionate people where it is safe to confess sin and be restored. We become an attractive people whose life together declares we believe God is reshaping and rebuilding us into a new people who are desperate for the grace of God.

Built in Jesus

And God’s Word tells us that he is eager to build us up in his grace, by and through Jesus Christ. Look with me at verses 12-14.

The gathered assembly agrees to Ezra’s instruction to divorce these foreign women… under a few conditions. The assembly proposes a delay, and they give four reasons. First, it’s wet and cold. Second, too many of us are out here right now. Third, we lack the strength to do it. Fourth, it’s going to take too long. In summary, they say in verse 13, “Our sin is too great, this cannot be taken care of in a day or two.”

And while there may be some truth to the logistical hurdles the assembly points out here, I think we have a picture of what managed repentance looks like. Managed repentance is our feeble attempts to control what repentance will look like, how it will happen, when it will occur, and what the consequences will be. Managed repentance is our attempt to make ourselves presentable before bringing our sin before the Lord.

There are all sorts of reasons we might find ourselves operating in this way. Perhaps we think our sin really isn’t all that bad, that we have it under control, that we could stop at any time if we needed to, but for now, it’s fine.

Maybe we think that God doesn’t really take our sin that seriously, that he only cares about the “big stuff,” but the sin in my life, not a big deal.

Or, maybe in fear, we think that if we were actually honest with God about our sin, there’s no way he would still love us. If we were honest with other Christians about our sin, there’s no way they’d still extend grace to us. So we keep our sin to ourselves, managing it and keeping it hidden the best we can.

The gospel pierces through all of that and says, “Your sin really is that destructive, for you, and for the people around you. God really does take your sin seriously. So serious, in fact, that he sent his son into the world to die so you would know his all surpassing, never ending love for you. And now Jesus stands ready to forgive you of your sin, even the sin you’re not ready to tell him yet.”

Beloved, your sin can be dealt with in a day, it already was dealt with in a day, when Jesus stood in your place, taking the fierce anger of God upon himself so that you could be rebuilt with new life and filled with the love that he has for you. Hear these words from the Apostle John:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Notice that this doesn’t say for the whole world except you. Jesus knows your every need, he knows your every weakness, every sin, even the ones you’re not ready to speak out loud yet.

Ezra 10 was not the end of the story for God’s people. God did not stop building his people, and he is still building his people up in Jesus Christ. So if you’re here this morning, and you find yourself crushed and entangled in sin, weighed down by disappointment and despair, you need to know that in Christ, where you are today is not the end of your story. In Christ, down does not mean out, damaged does not mean done, broken does not mean discarded.

Bring it all to Jesus and trust yourself into his tender care. He is a trustworthy friend and savior who will love you unto the end.

What is God building? A people who are learning to trust his every word, even when it doesn’t make sense. A compassionate people who know their need for his grace and will shine as a light to the city and the nations. A forgiven people, being built up in the image and knowledge of their Savior.

Ezra 10:7–44 ESV

And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles. Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said. But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.” Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them. Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers’ houses, according to their fathers’ houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter; and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women. Now there were found some of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah, some of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers. They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt. Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah. Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah. Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah. Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri. And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah, and Benaiah. Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah. Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza. Of the sons of Bebai were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. Of the sons of Bani were Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth. Of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh. Of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu. Of the sons of Binnui: Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah. All these had married foreign women, and some of the women had even borne children.