Yesterday in Ezra 1-2 hearts were stirred and they returned. Today they start rebuilding.
And what do they build first?
Not the Temple. Not the walls.
The altar.
Jerusalem is still a mess. There's rubble everywhere. They're surrounded by people they're afraid of. Nothing is fixed yet. But the first thing they do is Build an Altar. And they worship anyway.
Wow.. Most of need circumstances to be just right before we do anything right. We can't jump in if the waters not just right. We can't worship if our lives are a mess or the music isn't how we like it. But they worshipped anyway.
Then they begin rebuilding the Temple and finally lay the foundation. And that's when things get LOUD. The younger generation is shouting and praising because they see what God is building. But the older generation remembers the Temple that used to stand there, and they're weeping.And reading that, I couldn't help but think....
This is the Church today.
We're watching younger generations step up and Things are changing. They're learning to worship, serve, lead and build. Sometimes they worship LOUD. They don't always do things the way we've always done them. They're standing on that new foundation saying, “Look what God is doing!”
Meanwhile, an older generation is looking at the exact same foundation remembering what used to be there. The songs. The services.The traditions.The people who used to fill those pews and the way church used to feel.
And they weep.
But Ezra says the shouting and the weeping became so loud that you couldn't tell one from the other. They became One sound. And I think there's something we desperately need to understand here. We need each other.
The answer isn't telling the older generation to stop weeping. And it definitely isn't telling the younger generation to quiet down. The older generation carries something the younger generation needs. They have stories. Wisdom. Testimonies. They remember battles the younger generation wasn't there for. They know what some of those old stones cost. But the younger generation carries something we need too. They have fire. Fresh vision. New ideas. A willingness to build differently. They're excited about what God is doing right now.
The danger comes when “I remember” turns into “It has to be the way it was.” And there's just as much danger when “Look what God is doing now!” becomes “We don't need what came before us.”
We do.
We need each other.
The older generation needs to turn their memories into testimonies instead of measurements that others feel the need to measure up to. They should be saying let me tell you what God did then so you'll have faith for what He's doing now.And the younger generation needs to stop long enough to say,
Come build with us. We need what you know.
Because if the older generation walks away every time the new foundation doesn't look like the old Temple, eventually they can find themselves sitting alone in the rubble, mourning what used to be while another generation is building somewhere else. And I don't believe that's what God wants.
He doesn't want an older generation dying alone in the rubble. And He doesn't want a younger generation struggling to build without the wisdom of those who came before them.
He wants generations at the same foundation.
Some remembering. Some dreaming.Some weeping. Some shouting. But All of them building together.
That's how the worship and the weeping become one.
Not because we all like the same songs.
Not because church looks the same to every generation.
Not because one generation finally gets its way.
But because His presence matters more than our preference.
Then the shouting becomes worship.
The weeping becomes worship.
The remembering becomes worship.
And picking up another stone and building something new becomes worship too.
I don't want us fighting over whose church this is. I want the sound Ezra describes. One generation remembering the stones that used to stand. And Another generation picking up stones to build again. The older saying, “Let me show you what I've learned.” And The younger saying, “Come build with us."
They weren't two separate congregations.
They were one people.
One foundation.
One God.
And eventually, one sound “Look what our God has done. And look what our God is still doing.”
That's the kind of rebuilding I want to be part of.
Return. Rebuild. Restore.
Love Pastor Mandy
MandiesDandies / Ark of Hope
Daily reading Ezra 3
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