{"id":2614,"date":"2021-09-12T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T20:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hopelcs.ca\/church\/pentecost-15-sunday-september-5-2021-copy-3\/"},"modified":"2021-09-10T14:46:56","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T21:46:56","slug":"pentecost-16-sunday-september-12-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hopelcs.ca\/church\/pentecost-16-sunday-september-12-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentecost 16 – September 12, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWelcome Back, Exiles\u201d \u2013 Ezra 2:1; 6:19,21-22<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Ezra \u2013 unfamiliar, but significant!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

OK, I admit, Ezra isn\u2019t exactly the most well-known book of the Bible, but this \u201creturn from exile\u201d passage that I have chosen for our consideration today is certainly significant in the overall message of the Bible. There are many Bible books and chapters that lead up to what we heard today, and many other books and chapters that follow from what we heard today. Let me give you a Bible history lesson.<\/p>\n

Arguably, the return of the Israelites from exile\/slavery in Egypt under Moses \u2013 the Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea, the 10 Commandments, the 40 years in the wilderness, and a few other stories \u2013 constitute God\u2019s greatest act of deliverance in the Old Testament. There are about 10 chapters in Genesis and 10 more chapters in Exodus that lead up to the event of Israel\u2019s leaving Egypt. Then there is the book of Leviticus which describes a lot of the religious rules and regulations for the Jewish people to follow. And the book of Numbers describes\u2026 well, the numbers of the people from each tribe of the Israelites that were poised and ready to enter the Promised Land. Deuteronomy restates the 10 Commandments and then recounts Moses\u2019 farewell speech and his death. The book of Joshua follows up the return from Egyptian slavery by telling the stories of how God gives His people the Promised Land and where they settle.<\/p>\n

The book of Ezra describes the return from the second exile, the 70-year long exile in Babylon. It\u2019s really the books of 1 and 2 Kings and the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles that give the reasons that lead up to the captivity in Babylon \u2013 the captivity story of which Ezra writes the conclusion and a little bit of the follow-up. It\u2019s the substantial book of Jeremiah the prophet that predicts the captivity and warns the people. The books of Nehemiah, and Esther, and a few of the minor prophet books like Haggai and Zechariah also contain some of the \u201creturn from exile\u201d follow-up. That\u2019s ten entire Bible books that depict the activities relating to this Babylonian exile, and that\u2019s twice as many Bible books as the Egyptian exile story.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. The Ezra Back Story<\/h4>\n

So, let me compact the story into a minute or two. After the Israelites returned from their extended exile in Egypt, they spread out through the Promised Land. They promised to be faithful to God, but because they hadn\u2019t completely driven out the foreign people in the land, they ended up being drawn to worship the false gods of those pagan people. God was not pleased. Then, even though God was their king, they asked for their own king \u2013 just like the other nations. God was not pleased with that either, but He allowed it. After the reigns of David and Solomon, the nation split into two kingdoms \u2013 the Northern kingdom called Israel and the southern kingdom called Judah. They each had their own kings, and prophets, and history. And that got them into more trouble. The northern kingdom fell away from God first, and God used the Assyrian world power to conquer and disperse those faithless people in 722 B.C. 130 years later, the southern kingdom followed their northern brothers and fell away from God, too. This time God used the new Babylonian world power, and King Nebuchadnezzar, to bring the straying people of Judah into exile in Babylon. The exile was imposed on God\u2019s people from without, from King Nebby. It lasted 70 years, just as the prophet Jeremiah prophesied.<\/p>\n

Oh, and to add one more Bible book that was impacted in a minor way by that Babylonian exile, let\u2019s have a listen to Psalm 137 \u2013 a Psalm made familiar by Boney M in 1978. I\u2019m not going to sing a solo, I\u2019m not going to ask you to sing it\u2026 just listen to the words: \u201cBy the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, \u2018Sing us one of the songs of Zion!\u2019 How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?\u201d<\/p>\n

That pretty much sums up the attitude of the people who were in exile \u2013 they couldn\u2019t even sing praise to God. In Babylon, they felt that they were separated from the temple, from the land, and from their God. Songs of praise could not even escape from their lips.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. A Covid exile??<\/h4>\n

Does that sum up your attitude from the last 18 months? Do you feel like you\u2019ve been in exile? Do you feel like the exile has been imposed from without \u2013 not from wicked King Nebby, but from wicked King Covid19 \u2013 you see, Dr. Bonnie Henry is not the bad guy, she\u2019s just the bearer of bad news. Do you feel like you haven\u2019t been able to sing the Lord\u2019s songs in the isolation of your own home, even if you\u2019ve watched the worship service on your computer or TV? Is your heart not in it? Have you sat and wept at what you have heard every day about case counts and as you wondered if and when we even might emerge from this virus-imposed exile?<\/p>\n

And if that\u2019s the way you feel, it leads to discouragement, hopelessness, anxiety, frustration, maybe anger, and the questioning of what God is doing and why.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Exile over\u2026 joy renewed<\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s go back to Ezra and the Old Testament exile. I didn\u2019t read this part, but in chapter 1, we hear about a changing of the guard. Assyria was the Middle Eastern world power in the 700\u2019s B.C. and they conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. Babylon was the next world power in the 600\u2019s B.C. and into the 500\u2019s B.C. They conquered the southern kingdom of Judah, and destroyed the temple, and took the people back to Babylon in captivity. Their kingdom didn\u2019t last either. Next came King Cyrus as the ruler of the Persians in the late 500\u2019s B.C., and he adopted a policy of returning all the captive people to their original homelands. So, after 70 years \u2013 just as Jeremiah prophesied \u2013 the exile was over and the people of Judah were on their way back home to Jerusalem. Was it something they had done? Absolutely not! Just as the exile was imposed on them from without, so the return from exile was from without. God used the Babylonians to impose His judgment on His straying people. God used the Persians to bring the people of Judah back home. In doing so, God extended His grace and mercy on those same people who couldn\u2019t sing the Lord\u2019s song in that foreign land.<\/p>\n

And what was the response of the people? They kept the Passover. They purified themselves. They praised God with joy. Hopelessness was replaced with a journey home. Captivity was replaced with freedom. Religious restrictions were replaced by a keeping of the Passover Feast. Mute tongues that couldn\u2019t sing the Lord\u2019s song were replaced by loosened tongues that praised God with unleashed and renewed joy. The exile was over, they had hope for the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. Our response to \u201cexile ending\u201d<\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s switch centuries again and talk about our own lives. If the last 18 months have felt like the Babylonian exile \u2013 maybe not 70 years, but definitely more than 70 weeks \u2013 then it just might feel like we are emerging from that exile. I know some of you \u2013 the early adopters \u2013 were eager to come back last September when the case counts were low. You may have been the first ones to come back when things opened up again this spring. You\u2019re like the first Israelites that returned from Babylon. Others are more cautious\u2026 not sure if the exile is truly over. And that\u2019s OK, too.<\/p>\n

What is our response to the exile which is bit by bit appearing in our rear-view mirror? We purify ourselves by our repentance. We keep not the Passover, but the new covenant of the Lord\u2019s Supper. We praise God with our songs of joy. The hopelessness of 18 months ago is being replaced with a light that grows ever brighter. Our in-home captivity, our house arrest, is being replaced with increasing freedoms. Religious restrictions are being lifted as we sense a comfort level at gathering together for public worship. Mute tongues that struggled to sing the Lord\u2019s song are being replaced by loosened tongues that once again praise God with unleashed and renewed joy.<\/p>\n

I wish we were able to celebrate more freely today, with the pews packed like pre-Covid Christmas Eve sardines, with no masks and no fear, with loud and joyful singing. But for the time being our praise of God is still somewhat subdued.<\/p>\n

Our exile was imposed from without\u2026 by King Covid19. Our exile will also be terminated, our freedom will also be announced from without\u2026 by provincial political or health authorities. But just as the end of the Babylonian captivity of the Israelites was ultimately orchestrated by God, so we want to understand that the end of our exile will be orchestrated by God \u2013 in His time, and in His way, according to His will. But in the meantime, our joy is peeking out here and there just like sunshine peeking out from behind the clouds. During this time, God has not been hiding. He has been present in our online services, in caring phone conversations, in household appointments for Holy Communion, in the exercise of patience and understanding within family units, in messages sent via e-mail, in Zoom Bible Studies, and in so many other ways. God didn\u2019t let the captive people of Israel lose their faith and hope completely, and God has been faithful to us, too. Now, as we see Him peeking out more and more from behind the discouragement and despair of the last year and a half, our joy and our hope is renewed, and we begin to see the very character of our great and gracious God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. Prodigal Son \u201cexile\u201d<\/h4>\n

I intentionally paired Jesus\u2019 parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 with our story of exile today. That story is somewhat different in that the younger son chose to leave his father and his home rather than have an exile forced upon him by some outward circumstance. Luke doesn\u2019t tell us what prompted the son\u2019s drastic action. I guess we might assume that, like any young adult of our time, this lad just felt like it was time to get out from under the rule of mom and dad. The difference is that initially he had no intention of coming back\u2026 hence, the \u201cgive me my share of the property\u201d demand of his father. Reluctantly, I\u2019m sure, the father divided his property between this young son and the stay-at-home brother, and dear-old dad may have buried his face in his hands thinking of what that younger son was going to do. And he did precisely what his father dreaded \u2013 he wasted his entire inheritance on the proverbial \u201cwine, women and song.\u201d After getting a job slopping food for unclean pigs \u2013 oh, and doesn\u2019t God have a great Jewish sense of humour \u2013 yes, after slopping food for pigs for a while, the young man finally came to his senses, realized what he left and who he left when he ran away from home and determined to go back \u2013 even if as a hired servant. His circumstances from without forced him to end his self-imposed exile, and it\u2019s at this point of the story that the character of the father (and of our Heavenly Father) shines through with unimaginable grace. The son is coming home, having rehearsed his repentance speech. I always picture the father sitting on his rocking chair on the veranda at the end of the day, looking down the road, just watching and waiting for his lost son to come home. And one day, it happens. And dear old dad jumps off his rocking chair, pulls up his robe and runs down the dusty path to welcome and embrace and kiss his son\u2026 yes, HIS SON!!<\/p>\n

When the young man begins his repentance speech, the father doesn\u2019t need to hear much. He interrupts him, gives him a robe, a ring, and sandals, and calls for a celebration to take place. \u201cThis my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.\u201d And just like the returned-from-exile Israelites broke into songs of joy, so this household began to celebrate with music and dancing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. God\u2019s \u201cWelcome Home!\u201d<\/h4>\n

Have you ever felt like that run-away son, that run-away daughter? I think we all have, at some time or other. What I want you to hear today is that God \u2013 who is represented by the father in this story \u2013 has been waiting, and is always waiting for you to come home, from whatever exile has led you away from him\u2026 self-imposed or imposed on you by something else. Whatever repentance speech you have sincerely rehearsed and begun, God needs only to hear the first words \u2013 \u201cI have sinned\u201d \u2013 before he interrupts and says \u201cI forgive you, I forgive you, I forgive you for the sake of MY SON, Jesus!\u201d And then the welcome and the embrace and the gifts and the celebration can begin in earnest. If you have been away from God \u2013 physically, or emotionally, or spiritually \u2013 He extends His open arms to you and says, \u201cWelcome back, exile. I\u2019m glad you\u2019re home. Receive my gifts\u2026 let\u2019s celebrate!\u201d And it feels good, real good to be home, and to feel those tender yet strong arms of God envelope you and to know that the past is the past, and the future, the blessed future is still to come.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s grace and forgiveness in Jesus doesn\u2019t expire \u2013 there is no \u201cbest before date\u201d on God\u2019s love. If you\u2019ve been gone for 70 minutes, 70 weeks, or 70 years \u2013 hey, it doesn\u2019t matter. God\u2019s arms are always open, His embrace is always waiting, and sincere, His love is always there for you! \u201cThis my son was dead, and is alive again; this my daughter was lost, and is found.\u201d Celebrate with joy, for the past is the past, and the future, the blessed future is still to come!<\/p>\n

Yes, there is another exile for us to include in our consideration today\u2026 the fact that we are exiled on earth. It used to be a paradise, with God in close personal relationship with our human ancestors, but when that got broken by sin, earth became a place of exile. One day, one future day, when we take our last earthly breath, we will see the heavenly rocking chair in the distance still moving back and forth, while the Heavenly Father is bounding closer and closer, welcoming us back home, to His very presence. So, welcome back, exiles\u2026 welcome home! Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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