Ezra 7:6 ESV

this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

Boss Moves

Metaphor for winning with people, enterprising, influencing others, changing the game - Boss Moves.

Can we continue to have this type of influence when Biblical truth is being labeled as hate speech? Can we continue to have this influence staring in the face of woke culture? Can we continue to make a difference when any view that does not conform to the culture is called “hate”?

Disciples of Jesus

We are rapidly becoming a post-modern nation. What does this mean?

Post modernism is a cultural move (art and architecture) away from modern grand theories and ideologies. No universal religious truths or laws. Reality is shaped by personal social, historical and cultural context.

I would say, that it is an increasing focus on “living your own truth,” “truth is subjective,” or as the young people would say, “you do you boo.”

Now, contrary to what we might see in our nation, to be a follower of Jesus, conforming to his teachings and increasing becoming more like him, should not put you at odds with your neighbors, your coworkers and your community.

Before you think that Pastor Josh has completely lost it, let me take you into the scriptures for some examples.

In Luke 2:52, after Jesus finishes questioning everyone from the rabbi, lawyers, and all the way down to his own Momma, we read that he increased in wisdom and stature with both God and with man.

Luke 2:52 ESV

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

It is possible for you to both increase in favor with God, and also increase in favor with man. Some people think, “Christians are weird! All they care about is growing in God and they don’t care who they hurt in the process!” And I would say, “That person is weird. But chances are even if you removed God from their life, they’d still be a weird person who pushes people away.”

Its correlation, not causation.

Let’s look at another example, that I think is really someone that we need to lean in on, Daniel.

Daniel is a devout follower of Jehovah, and while in Babylon he found favor with the King.

Daniel 2:47–48 ESV

The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

Church, if there ever was a time to discern where we are at as a nation it is now. We are not a Christian nation. We are becoming Babylon. Listen, I know that there are countries that have it worse than us. I get that. But parents, you know what is being taught in public schools, universities and the indoctrination of our youth on social media. It’s not Christian. So while we don’t face overt persecution, times are changing.

Thriving in Babylon

So can we thrive in Babylon? I’m not talking about literal Babylon, but the spiritual Babylon that our country in becoming.

Can a follower of Jesus thrive in Babylon?

Let’s lean into Ezra, becuase he seemed to have both.

Preparation Precedes Participation

The first description that we read about Ezra is found in Ezra 7:10:

Ezra 7:10 ESV

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

We know that Ezra had favor with the King. We read that he was a skilled scribe. That skillfulness was a result of what we read here, that he purposed in his heart to study the word of God. The study of the word of God was priority in his life.

And I want you to catch when Ezra devoted himself to the study of God’s word, and how it was perceived by the King - It happened in Babylon.

If we are to have favor with God, we must prioritize our devotion to God. This is our closeness with God. It is our personal time in prayer and study.

Your Preparation Precedes Your Participation.

Listen to me church… coming to church on Sunday is not a replacement for your personal time of study and prayer. Worshipping together in the context of community is not a replacement for your personal place and space for worship.

And I am not saying it is one or the other, I am saying it is both/ and.

Because only staying home to study and to pray, and not prioritizing the community of faith to which you belong is also missing the mark.

Acts 2:46–47 ESV

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

We read in Acts that the early church found favor with the people as they met in the temple, and in the homes.

All of this is preparation. We are studying to show ourselves approved unto God. We are taking on the life-style of a disciple. It is a posture that we are always learning, always growing and following the way of Jesus.

Ezra had this down because he studied the Law of the Lord in Babylon.

Ezra did not start studying once he arrived in Jerusalem. Ezra began to prepare himself while in Babylon. When there was no temple, Ezra was studying. When there was no church, Ezra was studying. When there was no pulpit, or leadership opportunities, Ezra was studying.

Preparation Precedes your Participation.

God invites us into his plans to redeem the world, but your involvement in those plans is a direct reflection of your preparation.

Young person, if you want to be a part of what God is doing here on this earth, prepare yourself. Take the time needed to prepare yourself so that when the door is opened, you are ready for the moment and not consumed by the moment.

TRANSITION TO PERSONAL STORY

When I felt like God was calling me to preach I had such a hunger for his word. I began to prepare myself. Part of my preparation was to change what I consumed.

90’s R&B, 90’s Hip Hop, man that just hit different! I grew up on the very best of the 90’s! They don’t make it like that anymore.

Boys to Men wrote the anthems of love.

I learned to not let the water run dry.

‘I learned that even though we’ve cone to the end of the road, still I can’t let go.

We learned not to go Chasing Waterfalls, but stay close to the rivers and the lakes that we’re used to.

As a musician, I loved that music. That’s all capital letters, L-O-V-E-D, LOVED that music!

But when God called me to preach, I had to change what I consumed. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that music. I’m not saying the music in and of itself is bad, but I knew that my diet would directly affect my ability to participate.

How many of you know that you can’t live on carbs? You need some protein.

So here’s what I did… and this is going to make your Pastor sound like a dusty old man right now. I realize that. But I’m going to put myself on blast anyway.

My car at the time had a 6 CD Changer.

Yes, yes, yes.... you knew you were big time when you didn’t just have the space to play one CD upfront, but you had the changer located in your trunk or beneath your seat, and you could have 6 whole CD’s in your repertoire.

The youth are thinking, how old are you?

Well, listen it gets better.

I changed my diet from 90’s R&B to sermons from preachers like TD Jakes, Veron Ashe, Noel Jones, Marvin Sapp, and the list goes on and on…

The only problem was churches didn’t record sermons on CD’s YET. They were recorded on cassette tapes.

What do you know about a cassette tape???

They preceded CD’s and they were on their way to being obsolete.

I’ll never forget the day that I took my car to the store and asked them to remove my 6 CD changer and install a cassette player. The sales rep said, “you mean remove your cassette player and add a 6 CD changer, right?”

“No sir. I am young, but I am not dumb. I know what I am asking and you need to just do as your told. How much to change my 6 CD Changer BACKWARDS to a Cassette player?”

“I’m trying to be more like Jesus and you are standing in the way with your latest and greatest 6 CD Changer technology.”

So, they made the change, and I started listening to my sermons in my car. We went from Chasing Waterfalls to Chasing the Glory, come on somebody!

I am so glad you are having so much fun at my expense this morning...

I carried a shoebox with me of all of my tapes. Before your smart phone, before your iPod, before your 6 CD Changer, was Pastor Josh’s world famous shoebox with the finest collection of sermons from Because of the Times to the City of Refuge. I had so many cassettes that when Joanna and I got married she counted close to 400 of them!

Here is my point… I wasn’t a preacher, yet. I wasn’t a Pastor, yet. I wasn’t a teacher, yet. I wasn’t a leader, yet.

What was I? Prepared.

I was putting in the time and the effort when no one else was watching, it was just me, God and my shoebox!

I began to read… and I mean, read. I didn’t start reading when I became a Pastor, I started reading long before.

What was I? Prepared?

And here is Ezra, in Babylon, without people following him, without a pulpit and without a temple, and he is studying the Law of the Lord.

And the King took notice.

Can I give you some hard advise? Don’t open your mouth unless you’ve got something to say.

Sheesh...

The bible says it this way, “even a fool seems wise when his mouth is shut.”

When Ezra asked the King to participate in what was going on in Jerusalem, the King not only said yes, but he invested into him. He sent Ezra with the wealth of the temple, he sent him with the wealth of the Land, and he allowed Ezra to leave with people.

The moment wasn’t too big for Ezra because he had spent time in preparation.

Jesus, in Luke 2, astounds the Doctors and Lawyers of Jerusalem wit his questions! This wasn’t some small run of the Jewish mill land with a Junior Varsity Team of Doctors, Lawyers, and Religious Leaders served the marginalized Jews of their time. This was Jerusalem where the brightest minds, and the most educated, and the most affluent would come to study. And there was 12 year old Jesus, asking questions to this group that cause him to grow in their eyes.

Do What I Do, Not Just What I Say

There is this part in Ezra’s story that is iconic. Ezra knew the temperature in the room when the King said you can go back and participate in what is happening in Jerusalem. He knew that he had received favor from the King. But practically speaking, he was going to be walking a journey that would be weeks of walking in order to reach Jerusalem. Carrying this much wealth and money made him a target for anyone wanting to rob him. Typically, they would ask the King for a group of guards to take them from Babylon to Jerusalem. But let’s look at what we read:

Ezra 8:21–23 ESV

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

Ezra knew that if he was going to boast in the Lord, it would require that he also trusted the Lord.

A lot of people have no problem boasting in the Lord, but they do struggle trusting in the Lord. This sort of double minded living is the first way that people who do not know God are turned off by Christians.

Remember, Ezra put in the work in preparation, but the Bible isn’t meant to be studied and not lived. We don’t study the word of God so that we can flex our mental muscles, but we study the word of God so that it changes us from the inside out.

As it changes us, it will begin to change our decisions, which change our actions. We move from hearers of the word to doers of the word. There is a shift that happens when we move from hearing to doing. When we move from studying to becoming.

Ezra was at a moment in not just his life, but in the life of the history of Israel, and he decided that he was going to trust God.

Imagine for one second if he had backed down.

Imagine for one second if after declaring the strength of our God he relied on the strength of the King.

Instead, Ezra not only trusted in God, but he asked the people to join him in a time of fasting. So that they would “humble themselves before God.”

Integrity Is Our Witness

This is what I receive from this moment. Your neighbor might not agree with your convictions, but they will respect your integrity. There are a lot of people who make decisions that I do not agree with, but a person of integrity catches my attention.

Doing the right things, for the right reasons - that’s something that moves people.

TRANSITION TO PERSONAL STORY

I used to run with a group of runners in the South Bay, and I remember this one run when out of nowhere a guy catches up to me (make a mental note of that) to tell me that he’s an atheist.

It’s like that meme:

Nobody:

Absolutely nobody:

Runner: I’m an atheist, you Pastor!

I’m like… that’s cool man. And he then says to me, I respect your decision to being a Christian, but I don’t want you to preach to me or invite me to your church or anything.

I’m like, “Bro. I’m out here for a run! Do you see a pulpit anywhere? Did you see me handing out a, If you died today where would you spend eternity track???”

So that was that...

Until one day, a Connect Group that my wife and I led was serving the homeless community in downtown. We were preparing small care packages as it was getting San Diego cold in December. So I put out a very general, non targeted post on Facebook soliciting any donations to serve the homeless community.

Do you want to know who out biggest donor was?

Do you want to know who donated gloves so nice I had to fight off members of our church for keeping them for themselves?

Mr. Atheist Runner who didn’t want me to preach to him… he donated over 200 gloves for us to distribute to the homeless community in Downtown.

When there is an alignment of your actions with your beliefs it is attractive. When people see that you are in it for the right reasons, people will follow you. You will be a person worth following.

Ezra was respected by the King because of his preparation, now he received the respect of the people because of his integrity to his calling.

Listen, this applies to so many areas:

integrity to your marriage

integrity to your job

integrity to your clubs

integrity to your physical fitness

integrity to your diet

Receiving the approval of both God and man requires preparation and integrity.

Identifying With The People

When Ezra finally arrives at Jerusalem he immediately discovers something shocking. The exiles who had returned to Jerusalem before him had begun marrying women of different cultures.

Now before you start thinking, “what’s the big deal?” You need to know that these people were leaving captivity. They were experiencing a life of freedom and independence from Babylon. They have never experienced this level of freedom.

And the one thing that they go and do, is the very thing that led to them being taken captive.

This was the epitome of the dog returning to his vomit.

This was the very reason that they were punished by God.

And this is the first thing that they did...

What does Ezra do? He does what any normal person would do - pulls out the hair from his head, pulls out the hair from his beard, he ripped his clothes and sat down and stared into the abyss for hours...

That’s what you all do, right? Just checking...

It is this crazy dramatic display of frustration. He had this expectation to find the exiles living in devotion to God and returning to the laws, sacrifices and worship. Instead, they’re shacking up with their neighbors.

But here is what I want you to get… here is what Ezra does next.

He lays down on the ground, spread out his hands, and HE begins to repent for the sins of the people. HE REPENTED.

He doesn’t say God forgive them. No, I want you to read what he prayed:

Ezra 9:6–7 ESV

saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.

Here is what Ezra was doing, he was identifying with his people.

Identify With Your People

He didn’t point a finger. He didn’t shame them. He identified with them.

“I am ashamed...”

“Our iniquities...”

“Our guilt...”

His language let everyone around him know that Ezra didn’t come to rebuke them, but to identify with them and lead them to a place of repentance before God.

How do you grow with God and with man? Stop pointing fingers at “sinners” and start identifying with them.

“I’d love to hear your story...”

“I’d like to know more about you...”

“I’d like to better understand your situation...”

It’s real easy to throw rocks at someone caught up in a bad situation, but Jesus stooped down to the ground. Jesus didn’t look down at the sinner but he lowered himself to a posture to speak with them eye to eye.

It is only then that Jesus said, “where are your accusers? Neither do I accuse you, go and sin no more.”

If you are unwilling to lower yourself to reach someone, then don’t be surprised when someone is unwilling to lift you up when get knocked down.

I’m not saying that as religious, masked threat, but to shine a light on the fact that in the same way you judge someone the same measure will be used against you by God.

And that is in the Bible.

Conclusion

As I come to a close, I want to bring us back to our intent through this series. We are closing out Ezra and getting ready to head into Nehemiah. I know that this insertion of a character study of Ezra might seem out of place, but it really isn’t.

God uses people to advance his Kingdom here on earth.

The Temple was built by People, and the People were built by God.

I want to see everyone of you win in your relationship with God, and I want to see you win with your people.