Stuck in the Past
Our passage today comes from the Old Testament book of Ezra. It's set in the time when the exiles who had been in Babylon returned home, some seventy years after Jerusalem and the Temple had been decimated by the Babylonians. Ezra and Nehemiah had to unite and encourage a broken and demoralised people, because, in spite of being released from Exile, things back home in the Promised Land were not easy...
Nehemiah's project was to rebuild the walls while Ezra would help complete the temple rebuilding project. Nehemiah faced criticism of his wall from external enemies, Sanballat, Tobiah and other tribal chieftains who said "A fox running on the wall would topple it."
But there is a devastating moment in Ezra when they finally lay the foundations of the temple. While one group of Israelites see this as a moment a hope, another group weep aloud because they remember the glory of the former temple and they can see that this one will not be so great.
Ezra paints such a sad picture: One the one hand there are priests with vestments and trumpets and cymbals singing "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever." On the other are the older priests who are weeping aloud amidst the shouts of 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."
When we come into new normals, it is very tempting to look back, We compare our "highlights reel" to our present reality and when we do this, it only creates heartache, division and confusion.
There is a grim warning in this story: As we get older (and I know I am!) the temptation to idolise the past and criticise the present grows stronger and stronger. Put differently: we idealise the past and are cynical in the present. As it turned out, the temple rebuilding took much longer to rebuild than it should have and needed intervention from the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to get it done.
In the new normal, some of our plans may be a bit rough and ready. We should be quick to cheer and slow to be critical.
| 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." 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. (Ezra3:10-13) |
