[podcast]http://www.revkwon.com/podcast/sometimes_we_lose.mp3[/podcast] Last week we concluded by saying that we have to go to the house of God, that is, where Gods presence is in our lives when nothing else is around. We said that by going there often and frequently, that we will be reminded and called to respond to God in a way so profound that we often find ourselves empowered to go places we couldnt have imagined. Today, I want to shift gears away from Jacob, not that I cant preach anymore about Jacob, because he is the name sake of an entire nation, but because Jacobs life doesnt do justice to what the truth of the matter is in most of our lives. Most of the time, when we go to the House of God, Bethel, we dont have victory and things dont come to miraculous closures like we see Jacob encounter with his brother, Esau, where his brother is happy to see the traitorous con artist of a brother home. Rather we see a completely different picture, a picture thats not as rosy. The picture that reality paints for us when we go to the house of God is different, its mired in grey and backlashits filled with disappointment. Is it not true? Often times when we do the will of God or when we confirm our attention to what God is doing in our lives, we are faced with more hardship and problems than we had before we even set foot into Gods house? I recently read an article written by a missionary named Adam Jeske, who came back to the United States after a long decade of missions work that started when he went to the Hose of God, Bethel. He left Bethel full of optimism, faith, and passion but that just didnt end the way God glory should end, by His standards anyways. He was in three different missions fields on three different continents and in ten years he came home, not to the place God had promised, but where he started. He writes, I didnt start Toms or plant a church. I didnt found Kiva or write a best-seller. I didnt start a ministry to trafficked women or launch charity: water. No, I just came home. Adam didnt have the impact that he thought he was living for, that promise of generations and descendants as numerous as the sand on shore or stars in the sky. But thats where most of us live isnt it? We dont have the impact or the influence we thought we had when we confirmed Gods promise and responded to His calling by placing our faith in Jesus. We faced the reality of setbacks and we are discouraged for it. We dont have the income, the job, the relationships we thought we would have when God made His promise to us. If we did, the room would be filled with firefighters and rich spouses for all of you. But no, were still trying to find our way and trying to make a dent in New York, let alone the world. I want to open our Bibles this morning to Ezra chapter 4, verses 1-5. 1Now when?the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the?Lord, the God of Israel,?2?they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever?since the days of?Esarhaddon king of Assyria?who brought us here.?3?But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them,?You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the?Lord, the God of Israel,?as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us. 4?Then?the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5?and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. Let me fill you in on a little history so you understand what is happening in this passage. In 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar sieged Jerusalem then, about seven years later, he started to deport the people of the land so that they wouldnt rebel anymore and then started to inject the territory with Babylonians. If you want to understand this, think about the colonization of America and Pocahontas, the Disney movie. See colonization happened and started way before we learned about it happening in the revolutionary period of history. Before the exiles or at least to make sure that the exiles dont come back, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple on his way out. It laid waste. The temple was pretty much wasted for a long time, I want to say for about 120 to 150 years. I say that as a guess because we know when the temple was destroyed in 587 BC and when the Jews started to come back around 500 BC when Cyrus was king, and then the temple wasnt rebuilt until the 20th year of king Artaxerxes which was somewhere between 450? BC. But basically the temple was a pile of rubble that reminded the people who were there that Gods house was no longer a safe place for comfort or solace. If you think about life though, isnt it interesting to see that we arent the only people who find that when they get to Bethel, its laying in rubble? The God that saved us from sin didnt save the very place He made his promise to us. In fact, He allowed that place to be demolished in its entirety. Its like a bad thriller. Now, instead of the House of God, the presence of God to be found in the middle of our nowhere, the house and presence of God is nowhere. This was the situation that the people of God were facing during the 70 to 80 year exile. That means for that long period of time the Israelites couldnt go to the House of God because there was no House of God to go to. The story is interesting here because the passage we read happened sometime between year 70 and year 120. I want to say that it happened closure to year 100, but I really dont know, I am speculating and if Im off a few years or decades, youll understand. When the people came back, they wanted to go to Gods House. They needed to rebuild it so that they could go. They havent been there in a lifetime. Some of them only heard of it. But when they got there they were met with opposition. Just look at verses 4 and 5, 4?Then?the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5?and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose Then, as a result of their strong opposition, they were met with failure after toiling to meet God at His house again, they couldnt. I want to go to verse 11 in Ezra 4. Im skipping some verses, but I want you to see how the people plotted against Gods people when all they were trying to do was to go to His House. 11?(This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now?12?be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are?finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.?13?Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay?tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired.?14?Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king,?15?in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste.?16?We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River. 17?The king sent an answer: To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now?18?the letter that you sent to us has been?plainly read before me.?19?And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it.?20?And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem,?who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom?tribute, custom, and toll were paid.?21?Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me.?22?And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king? 23?Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease.?24?Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. Our failures or setbacks require us to redefine success. If we measure our success by popularity standards or the success of some high-profile brand, we would all be failures. We should not feel horrible or be ashamed of not being able to see the glory of God being set ablaze in our lives right away. If we dont see it right now, it doesnt mean we failed. It doesnt mean that God is dead. As Christ followers, those arent our standards. We need to learn a different way to change the world: quietly and patiently. Embracing the nature of the changes we want to see makes all the difference. If you dont believe me, just look at what the disciples did after Jesus died on the crossthey ran away. Eleven out of the twelve were executed or murdered. In their life times they didnt accomplish anything that would be considered successful. But they were successfully in hindsight because we read about them in the Bible. In their reality, they didnt even know where their next meal was coming from. Moreover, Abraham is the father of faith, but he lived in a tent his entire life. Thankfully, success, by Gods definition is not the same as the worlds. Since Gods definition of success isnt the same as the world, we need to focus back on our missionthat promise that God gave to us at Bethel a long time ago. We need to get back up and focus on the life-long promise God has for you and has given you through His son, Jesus Christ. Jesus didnt die on the cross for our sins for no reason. He didnt endure hell on earth and then hell to pay a penalty we should have paid for no reason. He paid so that we would be able to receive Gods promise to us. We need to focus on the mission that God has placed on our hearts and stand in that foundation where we first fell in love with God and remember that the House of God, even though it looks like its crumbled, it is isnt lost. I want to go to Ezra 5. 1Now the prophets,?Haggai and?Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.?2Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and?Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were?with them, supporting them. Sometimes all we need is some encouragement. Isnt it wonderful when you come to church? You come to church, you see each other, and you get the word of God. I am not going to say that Im the most encourage or even the second most encouraging person youll ever meet. I am saying that, when God talks, regardless of whom God is talking through, you need to listen because not only is God with you, the people of God are with you. You see that rightthe prophets were supporting them. Sometimes, we all need to admit, we just dont know what to do. So we pray. Its one thing to know that God cares, but its quite another to admit your doubts. Dumping our guts on the floor when we feel wounded and empty allows Jesus in, making space for His grace and healing. This happens when were seeking God together. I hope you know how this story ends because yes, sometimes we lose, but losing doesnt mean weve failed. Losing just means we get up and keep doing what we know we were meant to do. It means when we lose we look for Gods house anyways and because there is no reason to run away. You will find that God keeps His promises in time and it will be worth it. But moreover, that God will strengthen your resolve to see His promises through. In Ezra 6, the Temple is finally finished and they celebrate.
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