Rebuilding the House

As we read the story of God’s people we read of many ups and downs in their journey of discovering their creator. As we know the Jewish people ended up in exile, under the Assyrians at some point in their history. In the book of Ezra, there is a king who finds favor for these Israelites, and allows them to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple, the Temple of God. It is pretty amazing how much favor this king has for the Jews. He gives them back all their gold and silver and says they need to go back to the land and build a temple to their God so that they can offer sacrifices. He even givens the animals and grains for sacrifices.

After a group of Jews go back to the site where the temple is to be built they start laying the foundation. This was not an easy task. Not only did this foundation need to be perfect because the temple of God was to be built upon it but also there was all the rubble from the previous temple. Back in those days when a city was conquer by another city, they would destroy it and burn it down. The temple was one of those things that had been destroyed. As the Israelites started to lay this foundation, the cities around them started to come against them. The last thing these surrounding cities wanted was the worshipers’ of YHWAY back in town. Last time they lived there they ruled the area with an iron fist. The people in the surrounding countries and cities, started to complain to the king. They would also try to distract the Jews from building.

At one point the governor of the area asks them, “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure? And what are your names?”

And the Israelite builders while continuing to work replied, “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago...”

I think it’s awesome that here these men don’t want credit for this foundation, for their hard work, but they find their identity fixed in God.

What would it look like if when people came to discourage us from doing good, from changing old habits, from breaking off addictions, we stood so firm in Christ we could just answer, “I am a servant of the God of heaven and earth,” and kept on pressing into God.

As the story ends up, the foundation is laid and the temple eventually built. I am sure for these builders, priests, servants of the God of heaven and earth that building this foundations was terribly hard and quite honestly terrifying. Not only did they have to move old stones, they had to re-dig and lay new stones, not only did they have to lay new stones but they had to watch their backs to make sure they didn’t get attacked while building this temple, and not only did they have to guard themselves but they also had to rest and breath, and remember why they were even laying this foundation. They were laying this foundation for the Hope the God would make them a people again. That God would build the house of Abraham and fulfill his covenant. The Hope that God would use them to bless the nations.

Last night we asked a few questions. We asked what does it really mean to have a good foundation in Jesus?

What have we currently built our foundation out of?

How can we help each other build a foundation?

And maybe when Jesus says house, he is alluding to something much greater then we realize.
Tom said something pretty awesome last night. As he was looking into this part of Luke and thinking about the rest of the bible he reminded us that foundations are spoken of a lot in the Old Testament. The Hebrew Scriptures, or Old Testament say that God laid the foundations of the world… Wow.

Lets think about that...

If the foundations of the world are built upon God, the Holy Spirit, Christ then that means, art, education, science and tech, justice and government, business, family and even religion are supposed to be built off of the foundation of God. If Jesus says this foundation is built by putting what I say to action, then that means we have to live with a radical love everywhere we go. As live this way we will be planting good seeds that break away the old broken foundation, and we will begin to lay a new foundation that will house people for generations to come.
If we live the way Jesus taught we will inadvertently repave this world, with God’s good and true foundation.

If we live the way Jesus taught the systems and ways of the world works will be flipped upside down.

If we live the way Jesus taught us the covenant made with Abraham, that we would bless the world, will become a closer reality then it was the day before.

If we live the way Jesus taught us we will be partnering with the creator of the universe in his world redemption plan. Man, How exciting is that.

I believe God has been building up our foundation as a group and as individuals for some pretty epic things. Let’s not stop talking with God through out our days and seeking to grow and take his lead.

As we move forward to build our foundations, lets not worry yet about what kind of house we want on top, but more importantly what this house is built on. Let’s remember that this foundation building is active, not passive. Our foundations are not finished because we say a prayer to Jesus, but they are started when we accept Him. Lets build this house, this house of people together. Leaning on each other when we need it, resting when we need it, allowing one another to barrow our little slab of concrete if theirs gets washed away.

Lets have our actions be full of grace and love, and never forget that our foundation is what EVERYTHING else is built on. That means our jobs are to be built off of this same foundations, our schooling, our relationships, the way we deal with all of our time, the way we deal with our money, the way we deal with our stuff, is all to be built off of one foundations. We don’t need a summer home and a work home. We don’t want a Church home and an everything else home. It’s all one house, and we are that house. That means our view of Jesus needs to be even bigger then it already is, if we are to fit all of that onto a foundation of Jesus. We may have to forget what we have already been taught and relearn who God is. Relearn that God is bigger then we are, God set the foundations of the earth, and God can not be stuck in a box. This foundation should be a home for all the spheres of society, and a foundation to bless the nations, and even our neighbors.

Grace and peace,
Chris