Sermon for December 15

The readings 

Ezra 1:1-4; 3:1-4, 10-13

1:1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared: 2 "Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem; 4 and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem."

3:1 When the seventh month came, and the Israelites were in the towns, the people gathered together in Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his kin set out to build the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God. 3 They set up the altar on its foundation, because they were in dread of the neighboring peoples, and they offered burnt offerings upon it to the Lord, morning and evening. 4 And they kept the festival of booths, as prescribed, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance, as required for each day.

10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; 11 and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel." And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.

Luke 2:25-32

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;^[a] this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.^{[b] 27} Guided by the Spirit, Simeon^[c] came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, ²⁸ Simeon^[d] took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

²⁹ “Master, now you are dismissing your servant^[e] in peace,
    according to your word;
³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹     which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles
    and for glory to your people Israel.”

The message


As I thought about today’s reading on the end of the exile and rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, a series of current, powerful images that show enduring faith, that God is still here after tragedy came to my mind. I saw or thought of pictures from a church gathered for worship in the Midwest, folding chairs replacing pews and a plastic table serving as an altar in the middle of rubble, a few feet from where their church used to be, showing God is still here in a town and community recently wiped out by a tornado.  Then there were the faithful gathered outside Notre Dame praying and singing hymns like built on the rock, the church shall stand, even when steeples are falling, as fires raged and steeples literally fell. Days later, people gathered inside the shell of Notre Dame wearing hard hats and safety gear as they participated in the first service there after that devastating fire, showing the world, our building may be lost but we are not, God is still here . I thought of the worship services in and around ground zero after Sept 11^th, prayers around iron beams shaped like crosses and in damaged church building serving as places of work and rest, God is there, hearing those why and how could this happen questions.  We could think of the service at First Baptist of Sutherland Texas the Sunday after a mass shooting killed over 20 people in the middle of church.  We could look at emergency workers in repurposed rooms praising Jesus and praying as they start shifts caring for Ebola victims in countries all around Africa without most of the protective equipment and knowledge you would need.  Locally, in the past few months, we saw the community of Trinity Middle Village gather for the first worship service after their pastor, Jay Longan died.  The bishop and many others came to their service, to show Pr Jay is gone but God is still here. After a fire, tornado, mass shooting, terrorism, in midst of an outbreak or death of a leader,  All of these are very difficult times to declare God is good, God loves you, In each example, others, outsiders, helped. Each one is a public showing that God is still here.   

This week, our readings report the Old Testament version of enduring faith after devastation, tragedy and generations of suffering. This morning, we complete our Old testament reading cycle and we hear passages from the book of Ezra (originally combined with the book of Nehemiah).   Ezra and Nehemiah were 2 eyewitnesses and leaders during the return from exile in Babylon.  Decades before, in a series of actions the prophets blame on the disobedience, idol worship, fear and faithlessness of Israel’s kings and people, the Babylonians invaded and destroyed Jerusalem, including the temple built under King Solomon with God’s direction.  By the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Persian Empire had defeated and destroyed Babylon.  Cyrus the king of Persia, had a different approach to dealing with conquered people and lands (which Israel was).  For Persia, it was hands off, mostly, collecting tribute but letting the people be. The Babylonians used violence and fear of violence to keep people from revolt. The Persians preferred / reasoned that freeish, satisfied subjects would have less reason to revolt. 

Cyrus’ decree on the return and rebuilding is right in line with this approach "That decree allowing Israel’s return to Jerusalem and encouraging the rebuilding of the temple is why Cyrus is the only non-Israelite in the Old Testament referred to as the anointed, one called by God for a specific purpose.  This is why the prophets and people see the Lord working through him to keep the great promise of restoration. That promise of return to Jerusalem has been part of the words of the prophets we heard over the past few weeks, spoken to people in deep fear, grief, anxiety and doubt.  First there was Jeremiah speaking news to people who lost everything, even hope.  The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David;, then there was Isaiah,  A voice cries out, “In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord; build a level road⁷  through, O herald Zion. Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem!²⁰   Shout, don’t be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

Here, these promises are fulfilled by an outsider, Of course, we have no reason to assume they will only be filled once or that this is all God had in mind.  We will see these promises kept again, At the start of Luke’s Gospel, Simeon goes to the temple, the one that Ezra and Nehemiah witness and record the building and opening of hundreds of years earlier. Simeon sees God is still here, God’s promises fulfilled in his glimpse of the new born Jesus.  for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel. This song has been known as the nunc dimitus (Latin for now you dismiss) and been part of church worship at the end of the day, before sleep, since the early 4^th century, we can rest in peace, knowing  no matter what, God’s promises are good.

The return to Jerusalem and reopening of the temple was a big day, a great crowd with relighted faith, new fire, shouting “God’s promises are good”,  but not everyone was celebrating. As the first exiles returned, plans and construction started, people built an altar, offered sacrifices and worshipped in the rubble of the first temple, relighting an again almost forgotten faith. As work ended, they still worshipped there. They thought it was less holy, less important, less historic, even less connected to God’s promises. People insisted here is your God, in the same place us and our ancestors  knew. Then there were those who saw God doing something new, who walked wherever it was the Lord led them, who say here is your God, in whatever place prayer is said, people are cared for, community shared, God’s word heard, God’s praises sung, God’s love shared, God’s welcome practiced. The exited and the mourning are together and that means a place for ministry and care.   

Over my 10 years and 1 week here, we have not faced the sort of tragedies I started with the images of, a mass shooting, tornado, invasion by another empire or devastating fire. I cannot say how we would react for certain, I hope we would act in ways that show God is still here.  We have faced the loss of great pillars of our church, we have mourned and cried for those who have died while proclaiming God is still here and held farewell parties for those who have moved on to live in and bless another place. God is still here, We have dealt with at least 2 or 3 things that I really worried could have ended our work here, none of them did.  

Last week, we had our big day, a chance to celebrate my 10 year anniversary as a pastor and as a pastor here.  In my sermon that morning, I ended up focusing on the verses from Isaiah and Mark that tell the prophets their job description, Go and show the people “here is your God”. Isaiah ends up sharing God’s presence in telling people God’s promise of restoration and change, John the Baptist does this work of sharing God’s presence by pointing to Christ, by being a voice in the wilderness crying out here is your God.  Originally, I was going to go in an entirely different direction, I wanted to focus on God doing something new, in the readings and in our community. As Isaiah declares Comfort, comfort my people,” says your¹  God. “Speak kindly to²  Jerusalem³  and tell her that her time of warfare is over,⁴  to a people defeated, exiled and weakened to a point of helplessness, comfort is God doing something new, an unknown outsider in the wilderness declaring a new meaning in baptism and confronting the old ways of faith practice is God doing something new. They celebrate and weep together, sing psalms together,

           

We have to ask ourselves what do these displays of faith mean for people who are okay, what can these stories say to a community that is okay. Sure they inspire but it reminds us the mourning and celebrating are often together, especially when the church is so diverse, world wide and different.  When you are okay, walk with someone who is not, when you are not okay, tell someone, when a church is strong, help another, when a church is safe, listen to and pray for the persecuted, when a Christian is eager to do more, find places for them to work, when a friend in faith is worn out, give them a break,  In  the midst of community worshipping after a mass shooting, do something about guns and healthcare, encourage others