Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Lord, open the eyes of our hearts.
May we hear your words and be moved by your truth. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Our reading today comes from Ezra 6, 1422.
So the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of the prophet Haggai and Zechariah, son of Ido. They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus, Darius and King Artaxerxes of Persia.
And this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
The people of Israel, the priests and Levites and the rest of the returned exiles celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
They offered at the dedication of this house of God, 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel, 12 male goats according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
Then they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
On the 14th day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover, for both the priests and the Levites had purified themselves. All of them were clean. So they killed the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves.
It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by all who had joined them and separated themselves from the pollution of the nations of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.
With joy they celebrated the festival of unleavened bread. Seven days for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the hearts of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work on the house of God, that God of Israel. This is the word of the Lord.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: It was great talking to Jenny right before this worship service about our experiences singing in a cappella groups back in college.
The group I was a part of was called the Williams Octet, and often we'd travel from our school in Northwest Massachusetts to other colleges and other parts of that state, or even in other states, and we might be the opening act for another group, or they might then come and return to be an opening act at one of our shows. And sometimes we'd all meet up at a singing group competition, as we did one year at the Silver Cord bowl in Northampton, Massachusetts.
This one particular year, there were singing groups from Amherst, Smith, Brown, and other colleges in that region. Amherst was my college's arch rival.
Many Trace this rivalry all the way back to 1821. That was the year the Reverend Zephaniah Swift Moore resigned as president of Williams. Moore had hoped that Williams College might be moved from its location nestled in the Berkshire Mountains of northwest Massachusetts to a more central location in the greater Hampshire county of Massachusetts. But when the state legislature rendered its decision that such a move was unlawful, Moore said, fine, I resign. And then he went to start a new college called Amherst in Hampshire county. Fifteen students left Williams to become a part of Amherst. And for centuries later, there was strong rivalry. You could see many a T shirt at our respective schools denigrating the other school.
And it was. Football was never a super big deal at our college, but it would get to be a bigger deal than usual around the Williams Amherst game.
Well, even though this was a group from our arch rival, I enjoyed hearing this group from Amherst sing at the Silver Cord Bowl. They were called the Zumbais. And at a reception and celebration after that event, some members of this other group, the Amherst Zumbais, came up to congratulate us as we had won. We would crash and burn the next year, but that particular year we had won. They came up to congratulate us. And suddenly one in their number looked at me and said, matt.
And I looked at him and I said, joel. And then we hugged each other and laughed. And everyone around us was wondering, what the heck's going on?
Well, it turned out that Joel and I had not seen one another since our high school years. But during a particular summer of high school, we had become close friends. This particular summer we both spent in Boston at a music college, Berkley College of Music, of which our own Shea is a proud alum. And what I discovered being at Berklee College of Music is that I don't quite have the musical talent and calling that people like Shea and others do have. It was a great experience, but it was also, in many ways, a tough experience.
It was one where both Joel and I had difficult roommate situations.
Both of us were struggling with being far from home. He was from New York, so not quite as far. I was all the way from California, but there was some wrestling with that. Also, Berkeley at the time was very focused on jazz. I don't know if it was like that, Shay, in your time as much, but it certainly was in our day. And Joel and I were more into sort of synth rock, early 80s bands at the time, like the Hooters, if you remember them. And so we would, when we found each other, we said, ah, another person who gets it? This is, like, wonderful a sense that we had found one another. And I remember by the end of that particular summer, after we discovered each other and formed a friendship, saying to each other, man, I couldn't have gotten through this without you.
And now, years later, finally I see Joel, and it brought joy to both of us.
Now, I thought about that scene later, that celebration, that whole event of the silver cord bowl. And I thought, you know, it would have been entirely possible had we not had that celebration, that reception after the show, that we would have seen each other perform. Joel would have seen me and my group. I would have seen him, and we wouldn't have thought nothing of it. We would have thought, there's that school for that singing group from my arch rival school, and that is that.
But somehow afterwards at this time celebrating getting to see each other up close, suddenly we saw one another and we really saw each other. You know, we saw. This isn't just a student at my rival college. This is a friend.
This is Joel. This is Matt.
That's the stuff of Joy.
We've been going through the book of Ezra and reading the account this Old Testament book has to tell of Jewish exiles returning after decades of time in Babylon. And today's. In today's passage, we read not only of these returnees completing a temple rebuilding project, but we read of a celebration that takes place just after that is finished. And you'll note in the passage, Jess, just read that when Ezra 6 initially recounts the temple project's completion in verses 14 and 15, joy isn't mentioned. It's mentioned that it's completed, but no word yet about joy.
It's rather during a celebration after the completion of the temple, a time when we read of a people seeing not just a building but a house of God built before them, that then, and only then, does joy finally descend on the scene. You know, it's one thing to see a building, and it's another to really see a building, to see it as God's house and not just a building.
And Lord have mercy, had that building been a long time in coming back in chapter one, we read of a time roughly 50 years after the Babylonian army under King Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed that Jewish temple. And finally a permit was issued on a God's house rebuilt. A new empire ruled the day at that time, an empire called Persia. And Cyrus, the king of Persia, we read, led by God, issued a decree allowing Jewish exiles who for decades had been living in Babylon, to finally return to their former homes in Jerusalem and Judah. And this decree also included the approval of financing for this rebuild of the temple.
Well, According to the second chapter of Ezra, more than 40,000 people returned from Babylon to that region to take part in this temple rebuilding. And it also included priests and Levites and temple servants so that the worship life of the ancient people of God could resume. Not just the temple, but the life that took place in it. And then in chapter three, we read of how the altar got reconstructed out of the ruins, and a ceremony is held. And in that ceremony, finally, joy comes to this point, people. But it's joy mixed with sorrow because people remember the old temple back years before.
Well, after a celebration full of high hopes, rebuilding commenced. But then in chapter four, obstacles and opposition emerge. We'll hear more about that next Sunday when the Reverend Dr. John Thompson preaches on Ezra 4.
For some 15 years, this rebuilding was held up.
But then finally, we read of that rebuilding campaign starting again at a time when a new Persian emperor, Darius, was on the throne. And in chapter five, we read of a governor under Darius, a governor named Tatinea. Hearing of this rebuilding effort, he inspects the scene and then checks with Emperor Darius. Is this appropriate? Is a decree that these folks say was issued back in the time of Cyrus, true and real? Can you find it in the royal archives? Well, King Darius does some research and finds this decree. And he writes back in the start of chapter six of Ezra, saying, in fact, this decree does exist. And you, Tattenai, as a governor of this region, should not only allow the rebuilding project to continue, but you should help finance it and make sure all those sacred treasures that were taken out of the temple by Babylon are returned to it.
Well, finally then, we get to the events Jessica read about this morning in the sixth year of King Darius, that is around 56 BCE finally, the reconstruction is finished, more than 20 years after Cyrus had first issued that decree.
Lord have mercy. I mean, we're in rebuilding phase right now, many of us, and it could take a long time. I hope it doesn't take 20 years.
But after all that time, I'm sure people wondered when they finally had that temple rebuilt. Wondered, is this real?
Is this actually standing? Is this something too good to be true? Is it really done?
It's like there can be denial that takes place when something awful has happened, like losing your house in the fire. And then there's a denial that can come when something seems just too good to be true. It hasn't quite dawned on you fully yet. Your eyes don't see it. It seems too good.
But then the temple dedicated to God was actually celebrated in a service of dedication. There were offerings, there were sacrifices. God's people worshiped at this rebuilt temple. And at that moment, it's like the temple was not just rebuilt, but people saw something amazing, something that filled them with joy. They saw not just a building, but God's house. And I imagine they saw one another as God's people, as a worshiping body of people God had blessed, called to be a blessing to all nations, a people gathered, A people who could sense once again that God was in their midst. After all, this house of God was right there before their eyes. And there were the priests and Levites and others ensuring that worship took place.
And back in chapter three, we read of joy mixed with sorrow as the foundation was laid. Now at its completion, it's just joy they see, not just see the building, they really see it as God's house.
Celebrations can be so powerful for that they can help us see what we otherwise might miss. Wendy, I'm sure you remember too, that time when we traveled to Ayacucho, Peru, to work with Living Waters for the World and the presbytery of San Gabriel in the installation of a water purification center system. This was in a rural community in Ayacucho that did not have purified water at that time. And what Living Waters for the World does is connects teams like ours with communities that need clean, fresh water. And after assisting this particular community with installing this water purification system, after that, we had a celebration. Now, once the system itself was installed, as I looked at all these pipes and filters, it was like, hey, that's great. It's nice that it's complete. But joy, it's just a physical object in front of me. Even seeing some community members working on it, it was pleasing to see, but not quite the stuff of joy.
But then the members of the community and members of our team and children and others gathered in a big celebration with decorations children had made during classes that were held on sanitation, water purification and that kind of thing. And as we celebrated, as we worshiped, as we prayed, there was something more than just seeing this water system.
As we held cups of water, water that had been from a local water source in the community, but had been purified water that we lifted up in faith that we would drink this and not die, there was joy, delight at not just water, but what God had done bringing this community together, being at work in our midst, I saw not just a water purification system. I saw sisters and brothers, people who were Family, I saw friends.
And I think of this sanctuary and while it was completed well before Christmas 1961, and you could see it from the streets well before that Christmas of 1961, still, I'm sure it was 80 at that service when people could finally enter this sanctuary, when finally they knew that precious thing called joy. As they sang joy to the world that Christmas Eve, I can only imagine that they sang from what they had experienced firsthand.
Well, lest that kind of joy be forgotten, lest the kind of joy that comes when our eyes are opened and we see one another as God's children, our neighbor in need, as God's children, we see the world as a very world, God's love. Lest we see a house like this as something less than a house of God. We have these rituals that are given us in scripture to remember, to help us exercise those muscles of seeing again and again and again. And we read in today's passage, not only was there this dedication of the temple, but we read right after that the people of God celebrated the Passover.
I have been deeply honored and blessed to get to celebrate a Passover Seder at Cory Nathan's home. And what an incredible honor that was, to be a part of a gathering where you savor not just what God has done in the past, passing over those people on whom blood of a lamb was put on the doorpost. Blood to mark that family as a family committed to God, a family that would be liberated from bondage and slavery. But getting to celebrate it again, it's like you realize and experience some of the joy of that. And knowing God is present in this family right now, in this circle. God is at work right now, freeing a people from bondage, that this story continues and we're a part of it.
It's so easy to be blind to what God is up to in the world. God's liberating work in even our time, the strength God gives us, the community to rebuild, even what's been torn down, personally or politically.
And it's something to be able to see God at work and see one another as friends and family.
Well, for Christians, each time we gather for worship, it's a way to try to see one another and see this building and see ourselves for what we really are. Each Sunday we try just to see.
We try to see that this is not just any house, but God's house. We try to see that the very God who freed a people from slavery in Egypt came to be with us in Jesus Christ and by his life, given for us his death. On our behalf, his resurrection from the dead. By joining with him in faith, we are free from sin.
We are risen to all that is good with his perfect sacrifice and offering on our behalf. A sacrifice and offering we recall each time we celebrate communion. God did a wondrous thing. God forgave us from sin. God united us to Christ as a body. God made us not just a people, but God's people. God made us in Christ more than that. A temple, A temple. We are a temple, Scripture proclaims, filled with God's own spirit. And every Sunday we try to see that anew.
And when you see it, not just a person, not just a building, but God's people, God's house.
That's the stuff of joy.
Joy. It doesn't simply arrive with the event itself, not with a temple getting rebuilt, a water purification system getting installed, a sanctuary getting built. And it won't even come when our house or even when Altadena is rebuilt. Joy, I believe, comes with seeing all of that as a gift from God. Joy comes with seeing that temple, that water purification system, that sanctuary. It's a gift. Joy comes from seeing life as a gift. You and I are the gift. The world is the gift. Freedom from bondage is a gift. Salvation in Jesus Christ is a gift. It's all gift. And joy comes with finally seeing that.
When we were up at St. Andrew's Abbey retreat, the Father Isaac talked about his visit to the Holy Land and how hard it was pre pandemic to see a people so deeply divided, a land so deeply divided. And his prayer, which I echo, is that in this time where so many are returning to see homes destroyed, villages destroyed, lives destroyed, can we have the power as a people, as a world to see even those named as our enemies as the opposing force, in fact, people that God loves as well, can we see them as something more than enemies, but people, perhaps even friends or family?
This congregation has gone through so many seasons of rebuilding in our 130 year history, and we're in another one right now, with so many in our church and in our larger community rebuilding after the fires.
And we're in the midst of a stewardship season, which is an annual rebuilding exercise, an annual effort to rededicate ourselves to God and to God's work. And each year a part of me wonders, will we make it through this season? Or will it be the end? I know that's alarmist, but there's a part of me that still feels a little bit of that each year.
I wondered it when I started service as your pastor 18 years ago, and I sat down with your stewardship committee and looked at the budget and it was clear we had about two years and then the money would run out.
I remember it during that great recession that followed those years. And we wondered, with so many people experiencing financial difficulty, how in the world can we keep the lights on? How can we live into this vision that for years, even before my coming, people had seen God place on their hearts that this would be a revitalized community of faith, revitalized by God's work in our midst.
I wondered if there'd be a future during the pandemic, I wondered, would we ever get to gather again in places of physical worship? And when we did, would people even come? Would there be a returned community?
But God was faithful, ever faithful.
And then in this season, when so many of us have lost homes and so much destruction took place, I wonder that again.
And then I read of people commemorating at the foundation laying service of the temple in hope that yes, a new day would come.
God had been so faithful in the past.
God would be faithful again.
And I read of that time how joy and sorrow in Ezra 3 finally becomes in Ezra 6 when they see a rebuilt community and a people of God worshiping and living together again. Ah, this is family, this is life. This is God in our midst. This is justice and mercy at work.
This is home.
So, friends, I invite you this season, especially when you look at each other, when you come together in this worship space to try to see, to see not just people, to see not just a building, but see God at work in one another. And I don't know how I would have ever made it through these last months if I couldn't come and see people like Jenny Stetson and see them and know I'm not the only one struggling with a house rebuilt right now. I'm not the only one who's going through grief and loss. I have other friends, even family members in the journey with me. And each Sunday I get to remember that and see it. I hope you see it too. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, amen.
