Returning to Repentance

ME

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. During this time we anticipate and prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ Jesus, though he has come already and enacted the gospel. He has come as the King, Lord and Saviour which is what we are all commissioned to proclaim. We are also anticipating Jesus’ return, where he will bring judgment, a new heaven and a new earth. Now normally at this time, we would be going into Matthew or Luke to look at the story of Elizabeth, or Mary, or Zechariah, or Joseph — the stories leading up to Jesus’ birth. We will go on that journey next Sunday. Today, I will conclude our exploration of Ezra-Nehemiah.

WE

However, the message this week is a very apt segueway into Advent. Part of our anticipation and preparation for Jesus’ birth is an examination of our lives and the confession of our sins to God. So often we enjoy the benefits of God without first acknowledging how unfaithful we have been as a covenant partner. The tension of covenant faithfulness is this: knowing that we can never be fully faithful, why does God still want to have any partnership with us?

GOD

We are almost at the end of the book of Ezra-Nehemiah.

And for those who want a refresher, this book is about the Jewish people restoring the temple and building as a sign of covenant faithfulness to their God. The Jews had previously been in exile because they had abandoned the LORD their God, along with his justice, mercy, and his sole worship.

Two weeks ago, Pastor Shu told us about the joyful story of the leadership encouraging the Israelites who have returned from exile to go about their business with praise and thankfulness for all that has been provided for them. This includes protection and safety despite the multiple attempts of Sanballat and Tobiah to stop the city wall. Just to let you know, Sanballat and Tobiah aren’t done. In fact, if you read chapter 13 on your own it will show you just how much they’ve infilitrated the Jewish elites.

After the momentous joy, the Levites gather the returned exile for some heart to heart talk about their checkered history as a people and nation. In North America and Western culture, it is often the individuals who matter and are culpable for their actions. In corporate and communal cultures like Middle East, one’s behaviour past and present affects and permeates throughout history. National sin needs to be remembered, confessed, mourned and repented of.

Here’s the BIG IDEA:

God’s constant grace and mercy encourages us to confess and repent of our sins together.

Here’s the background:

Nehemiah 9:1–3 ESV

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

We know from Pastor Shu in Nehemiah 8:13 the people gathered on the second day to study the word of the Law. Now it is the twenty-fourth day of the same month. The once rejoicing people, who were eating the choicest portion and drink have turned to a somber time of fasting, wearing sackcloth and throwing earth on their heads, the traditional acts of mourning. The Israelites knew of their national and historic sin, acts and thoughts done against God of which they were guilty of (that’s what iniquities mean here). National because God has called them, as a nation, to be the exemplar for what it means to be a God-focused and God-led society. They had failed. Historic because it plainly says they are confessing of the sins of their fathers, or ancestors. They separated themselves from the foreigners whom some have married in Ezra 9-10. The assembly read the Book of the Law and confessed and worship equally.

During our worship service at MCBC, we do have a time of confession during the pastoral prayer by me or one of the deacons for 30 seconds. This is a good start, but have we ever had a service where studying God’s word (sermon) was split equally with praise and worship (including confession)? How might that renew us as a people, I wonder. Let’s see what pattern these Levites show us.

Nehemiah 9:5 ESV

5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

They begin by commanding the people to stand up and bless the Lord. Jewish people pray standing up and only in their deepest despair do they prostrate themselves. I am sure by the time chapter 9 is completed most of them would be on their knees. But the first act is to stand and to be reminded of who God is. He is eternal, glorious, exalted, higher than all kings, all other lesser idols who claim to be gods, and worthy of praise. And with that, the Levites launch into the pattern we are going to explore:

God’s grace and mercy pours onto his people from creation to nation.

His people rebel.

God’s loyal love will not forsake them.

His people rebel.

God punishes and judges in order for them to return.

The people return confessing their sin.

I. God is Gracious and Faithful to His people (6-15)

Verse 6:

Nehemiah 9:6 ESV

6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

First, we are reminded God alone is the creator of the heavens and all the hosts, sun, moon, stars, and all heavenly, earthly and sea creatures. Not only does he create but he also sustains their life, and therefore all creation gratefully exalts God, including humanity. This gives God the right to guide our lives to reflect his glorious purpose of a people called by his name.

Verse 7-8

Nehemiah 9:7–8 ESV

7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

Out of all humanity, Abram is chosen and became the father of nations. Verse 8 focuses on the partnership between God and humanity and the proper response of faithfulness. Out of this, God makes a covenant with Abraham to give his descendants the land of the Canaanites and to form them into a God-centered nation. Without a land, there’s no nation, and without a nation, there’s no promise. And Abraham was faithful from a human perspective, imperfectly trusting even though he was old and his wife was barren. God kept his promise and through Abraham came Isaac, and through Isaac came Jacob, and Jacob became Israel, and the twelve tribes so that at the end of Genesis, the Israelites are protected in Egypt under Joseph.

This is probably as brief as you can summarize the Book of Genesis in 3 verses, though of course the Israelites would have heard from their parents all the in between stories. The key focus is that last part of verse 8. God kept his promise because he’s righteous.

Now we enter the book of Exodus:

Nehemiah 9:9–11 ESV

9 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, 10 and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. 11 And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters.

As a new Pharoah arose in Egypt and the Jews multiplied greatly, they became a threat and were therefore enslaved. All signs of the promise seemed lost, and that’s when God raised up Moses to challenge the worldly power. It’s interesting to note, however, that Moses’ name isn’t event mentioned until verse 14. It is God who takes centre stage in verses 9-15, where the Levites give all credit to God for all the events that transpire. It was God, Yahweh, the LORD, who vindicates the arrogance of Egypt, who sends the ten plagues which forced Pharoah to let the people go. It was God who split the sea of reed for the Jews to travel safely through and then smother the Egyptian army with the same water.

It is God who leads the Jews on their journey via the two pillars of fire and cloud. Finally, it is God who gives the Jews his laws and the holy Sabbath day, to remind them that they are set apart as God’s people and are no longer slaves.

God keeps his promises because he’s righteous. He is determined to fulfill what he promises: to bring Abraham’s children into the promise land, no matter what opposition there is. Unfortunately, we begin to see some wavering within the people’s part of the covenant.

They grumbled with growling hunger, so he gave them manna, and when they are feisty in thrist he gave them water.

This is of course Israel’s history but it is also a part of our spiritual and faith history. We see God’s pattern. He graciously supplies to us all that we need. He provides for our family. He blesses us with a job, with a roof over our head and for most of us if we want an education. But we often grumble about the tiniest things. Some little inconvenience happens and we blow up as if the world is ending. We focus on our career while forgetting the One who gave it to us in the first place. Or we focus on our children so much that they become our idols and our priorities become out of place. Or we pursue the endless choices of entertainment and leisure, which God invites us to enjoy, and then we push God further and further away.

Let’s recount: how has God been gracious to you? How has God been gracious to us?

A church building and a plot of land in the heart of Markham between two major streets, surrounded by neighbours of all nations and a neighbourhood who could use the abundance God has provided.

How have we used God’s graciousness to bless others?

Our second point:

II. God is Loving and Patient despite our continuous Prideful and Rebelliousness response (16-17, 18-30)

Nehemiah 9:16–17 (ESV)

16 “But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. .

The sin of presumptousness is thinking we can take God’s blessing upon blessing for granted by either not acknowledging it came from him, complain that it’s not good enough, or as we will see at the end of verse 17a full rebellion by desiring to depose God and his chosen leader and go their own way. The Israelites past and present are charged with ungratefulness. God saved his people out of Egypt, that’s what salvation means. It requires supernatural acts to free the Israelites: turning the Nile into blood, gnats, locusts, boils and darkness, and the deaths of the firstborn to free them. Then as free people they complain about the inadequate choice of food (manna) and the taste of their water, forgetting they had worse treatment as slaves. This culminates in the incident in Numbers 14.

Numbers 14:1–4 ESV

1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Normally their cry is to ask for the Lord to help as is in Exodus 3:7 which brought about God’s rescue, but this cry is against the same God who rescued them. They doubt God’s protection of their families, they doubt God’s sincerity, they doubt his ability to deliver them as he has promised. Israel’s shortsightedness led to their fear and rash decision to rebel, and it permeates the whole book of Numbers!

But,

17b But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

In the midst of trying God’s patience and challenging his leadership and goodness in their life God shines the most, revealing his character. These traits are a common theme such as in Exodus 34:6-7, Numbers 14:18 .

God not only is ready to forgive, he has already forgiven. He is gracious because he meets this hostility not with immediate extermination but with the promise that the next generation could still possess the promised land. He is merciful in pardoning the rebels after Moses’ intercession. Taken as a whole, God’s hand was light in comparison to the heavy handed ways the Israelites treat their covenant partner.

Nehemiah 9:18–20 ESV

18 Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, 19 you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.

The most telling is the word “even!” Even the golden calf incident, where Aaron the high priest under the pressure of the Israelites fashioned an idol and claim it as the God who rescued them. Even after something as heinous and despicable as that, it says in verse 19 that they were not forsaken in the wilderness. It in God’s eye is worth but one line of mention, and again we see Gods goodness. His supernatural guidance is still provided. But we are also introduced to the good Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwelled in 70 chosen leaders in Numbers 11:16-17. He provided them all throughout the wilderness journey with all that was needed and defeated their enemies. He cultivates and builds a Godly nation with endless supplies of delight and agriculture!

But instead of thanking the LORD for delivering them into the promised land and defeating and subduing their enemies, Israel’s rebelliousness, ungratefulness, sin and iniquity intensify. And God in his mercies once again sends prophets to warn them of impending judgment if they continue in their ways. They can’t say oh I didn’t know that’s what God thinks. And then we see the Judges pattern in verse 27 to 28. They would be oppressed, so they cry out. God sends them a judge or prophet, who will lead them in the correct way, and when they are no longer oppressed, they sin again. And it repeats over and over again like a broken record until finally, in verse 30, they were given to their present owners, the Assyrians, and Persians, to be disciplined. They suffer under them.

How have we demonstrated our sin and rebellion against God? Do you also sense this struggle of unable to break out of sinful patterns?

As an Asian congregation, our rebellion is more subtle then a downright defiant attitude. But I would say we minister more out of our own strength and earthly wisdom than wisdom from above. We are constantly moving and doing, because our culture tells us the more we do, the busier we are, the more successful we are. Somehow we transfer that attitude from workplaces to church. We are so fast that we leave very little time for God. We also need to remember our history. Whether it was the early days of meeting in a school, or entering our first and then the second and current phase, or fundraising money, or forming the Mandarin congregation and YLD children and youth into their own separate ministries, we need to remember that these were all God’s grace at work. Our speed and forward looking momentum makes us unable to pause and count His blessings and acknowledge his provisions. We may want (myself included) large numbers of congregants because numbers mean we are popular and successful. But we forget that large numbers with a shallow or hollow discipleship ministry will only result in more consumers,not deeply rooted followers of Christ. We need to repent as the Levites encourage the exile to do, so that we are ready.

Lord helps us we are a sinful, rebellious people! Yet in your mercy we are forgiven and healed. Thank you!

And our last point:

III. God gives us even now the chance to repent and confess our sins. (31-37)

Nehemiah 9:31 ESV

31 Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Once again like verse 17b, nevertheless, what should have deserve annhilation was met with mercy,

Nehemiah 9:32–33 ESV

32 “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.

So the Levites conclude as they began. They petition God to look on them with mercy, after confessing their sin and reminding themselves of God’s faithfulness despite their fathers’ wickedness. They remind God of how hard the exile has been for all of them, whether king or common peasant, because in that predicament it did not matter what your prior station in life was. They may be referring back to the time of David’s kingdom and the divided kingdom. At that time things were good, food was in abundance, wealth was unparalleled, and wisdom and honour was theirs. But they did not treasure it.

Nehemiah 9:36–37 ESV

36 Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37 And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

And they lost it all and live as slaves in an act of irony in the land they were promised in the first place, being subjects to other kings placed over them. Though they weren’t truly slaves in the sense that they are being mistreated, they are probably overtaxed and ruled over not by an Israelite King, but a foreigner, which was not the promise. The Levites however know that they brought this destiny on themselves. Nevertheless, they are asking God based on his graciousness and mercy to bring an end to this situation.

Verse 38 can be seen as the end to this chapter or the beginning of the next and chapter 10 will focus on ratifying this covenant with all the people and its leaders.

Nehemiah 9:38 ESV

38 “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.

YOU

Brothers and sisters, God is inviting us to renew MCBC’s covenant with him. Do you know we have a covenant? It’s in our membership booklet and constitution.There is a covenant on the membership form when we originally signed up to be a member, which remind us of our responsibility to be part of the MCBC family. I want to, in-closing, renew this covenant with all of you. You will have an opportunity to verbally, before one another, recommit to what I believe are biblical principles.

I now go through this during the membership class and ask those in class if they agree. Most of what’s in it is self explanatory. However, to abide by the covenant means counting the cost in terms of your time, your finances, and your participation. So you do not need to affirm this if you are not a member yet.

The MCBC Membership Covenant

Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior and been baptized, and being in agreement with MCBC’s statement of faith, vision, core values and structure, I am willing to be led by the Holy Spirit to become a part of the MCBC church family. In doing so, I commit myself to God and to the other members to do the following:

a. I will obey the MCBC Member’s Covenant:

1. By living for Christ in accordance to the Bible;

2. By regularly participating in MCBC’s worship service;

3. By regularly participating in MCBC’s various ministries;

4. By regularly tithing to support God’s works.

b. I will obey MCBC’s constitution and by-laws, as summarized below:

1. I have been saved and baptized as a Christian;

2. I will follow MCBC’s Constitution, By-laws, Statement of Faith and Membership Covenant;

3. I accept MCBC By-laws particularly pertaining in the area of Church Discipline

4. I will commit to exercising the responsibility of voting and nomination of church leaders.

c. I will protect the unity of MCBC

1. By acting out of love toward other members

2. By refusing to gossip or spread rumours

3. By following the leadership of our spiritual leaders

d. I will assume the responsibility and service of MCBC

1. By earnest prayers and watching over the growth of MCBC and her members

2. By fervent hospitality and invitation to non-believers to participate at MCBC

3. By developing in me a servant’s heart to serve God

4. By discovering my spiritual gifts and abilities to serve together

5. By being equipped to serve, nurture, counsel and train through my pastors and leaders

WE

As the Levites showed us their commitment to ratify the covenant they as God’s chosen people have with God, may we be encouraged to continue to live faithfully to honour our covenant with Our Creator because he’s faithful, good, and true. Where we fail to uphold, He will surely carry through, even at the cost of His son our Lord Jesus, and empower us with the dispensing gifts of His Spirit.

Amen.