Ezra3:10-13
When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places
to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:
“He is good;
his love to Israel endures forever.”
his love to Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who
had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid,
while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.
And the sound was heard far away.
The book of Ezra co-chronicles
Israel’s return from exile with Nehemiah. There is some debate as to which
story began first, but historical clues tell us that they were concurrent for
at least some portion of the story. This passage leaves me with a simple
question: “Why mourn an apparent victory?”
In this passage Israel is being restored! Ezra is leading the rebuilding
of The Temple of Jerusalem. Nehemiah is rebuilding the great walls of the city.
Why mourn? I wonder if only the older generation mourned while the younger
generation shouted for joy because the older crowd recognized their part in the
exile. Even though Israel had been lost to Babylon for 70 years, this passage
says that many of them remembered the original temple. It is certainly feasible
that they were part of the sinful generation of Israel that caused God to pour
out judgment on them via Babylon.
I minister to middle-schoolers, high
school students, and college/young adult aged students. I see in them such potential for
greatness. I see in them such determination that I never saw in myself or
my peers. I truly believe that the coming generation of Christ-Followers will see
greater things than any of us have ever seen or could dream of. I believe a revival
of Spirit and of the Church is coming for them and for us.
I hope that my generation of ministers
can rejoice when we see the young people we work with have great victories and not
mourn over the “would-a, could-a, should-a’s” of ministry. If the next generation
is to take the Church of Jesus Christ to new heights it is my prayer that my generation
of ministers will stand beside them in victory feeling as though we poured everything
that we could into them and connected them with Father as much as we possibly could.
It is my prayer today that I will leave
nothing on the table. It leaves me dreaming I will waste no opportunity to reach
a young person for Christ for they might be the one to change the world.
Where does it leave you?
