1. Worshipped as family (3:1 – they gathered together as one man)
2. Worshipped fittingly (3:2 – in accordance with the Word of God)
3. Worshipped freely (3:3 – in spite of the fear of the nations)
4. Worshipped fully (3:4-5 – they kept all the feasts and offered all the offerings)
It seems like forever since we were in Ezra, doesn’t it? Well, it hasn’t been forever, but it has been a few weeks. So let me remind you of where we are. King Cyrus of Persia gave a decree that the Jews were to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. But God required certain things of the Jews before He would allow them to begin construction. He deemed four restorations necessary before His people were ready to rebuild the temple foundations. Before they ever left Babylon, He restored their resources. He restored the precious resources that were needed for temple worship. The Lord transferred the things He had set aside for His worship from the Babylonians to His people. After that restoration, you will remember that God restored His remnant. He provided all the different kinds of people He chose to perform His work. He provided leaders and followers. Well-known people and no-named people. He had a place for everyone to work. Then, God’s third restoration was when He restored their responsibility. Once they left Babylon and entered Jerusalem, He restored their responsibility of giving. Tonight we’re going to look at the fourth restoration God deemed necessary before His people could rebuild the temple foundations. Before they ever so much as turned a stone or dug a hole for the temple foundation, God restored their religion. After He restored their resources, their remnant and their responsibility, He restored their religion. Before God would bless them with the new temple, they had to get their worship right? How is our worship here at Brushfork Baptist Church tonight? I heard a story about a rescue squad paramedic who was being interviewed by the newspaper. The reporter asked him all the regular questions. “How long have you been on the rescue squad?” “What made you want to become a paramedic?” “What does your family think about the long hours?” All the standard questions. And then the reporter got to the good stuff. She asked him to tell her about the most challenging response he’d ever made. Here was his story: “A few Sunday mornings ago, we got a call to respond to the big Baptist church up the road in the middle of their Sunday morning worship service.” “When we got there, one of the ushers met us in the parking lot to let us know that an elderly member of the church died in the middle of the service.” “He checked the man’s pulse and breathing and was sure he was dead.” The reporter didn’t see the big deal, so she asked the paramedic, “What was so challenging about that?” The paramedic looked at her and said, “It wouldn’t have been, except for the fact that we carried out six guys before we found the one who was really dead.” That church had a worship problem, didn’t it? As a matter of fact, many churches today have worship problems. Some feel more like a hospital morgue than a worship service. On the other hand, some feel more like American Idol than a worship service. Both extremes are as problematic as the one that paramedic was talking about. That’s the thing about extremes. They’re easy to identify and it’s easy to see they’re wrong. But how do we know what is right and wrong in worship? Can we? Or do we have to judge worship the way I judge art? I don’t know anything about art, so the only way I can judge it is whether or not I like it. Whether or not it appeals to my senses. Is that how we are to judge worship? Whether or not it appeals to our senses? Whether or not we like it? I hope not—because worship isn’t about us. It’s not about what appeals to us. It’s not a self-centered thing—or at least it shouldn’t be. Who is worship supposed to be about? God. And it’s His worship that He was restoring in Jerusalem in our passage. Tonight we’re going to look at restoring our religion. In order to do that we have to look at worship. We’re going to look at four characteristics of restored religion. The first characteristic of restored religion is worshipping as a family. Look with me at verse 1.
EZRA 3:1
Restored religion is worshipping as a family. Remember where the remnant was. They had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. And when they first arrived in Jerusalem, they took their offerings to the spot where the temple had stood. It was only after they abundantly gave to the Lord’s work that they found places to live and settled in the villages surrounding Jerusalem. After they had a little time to settle in and get a few boxes unpacked, the seventh month had arrived. On the Jewish calendar, the seventh month was the month of Tishri. On our calendar, it would have been late September or early October. Tishri was the most significant month of the Jewish year. It’s appropriate that we’re looking at this passage on the first Sunday of our New Year, because it was in the seventh month that the Jews celebrated their New Year. The first day of that month was their big New Year’s bash called the Feast of Trumpets. If you have a calendar that includes Jewish holidays, that day will be called Rosh Hashanah. But not only was the seventh month their New Year, it was also the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. That was on the 10th day of the month and we all know how important that day was for the Jews. Finally, as if that didn’t make the seventh month important enough, from the 15th through the 20th day of the month, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. That was the feast they were able to keep in our passage. So here they were, just getting settled into their new homes and it was time to pack up and head to Jerusalem. If you’ve ever moved, you know how hectic it can be for a few months. And here they were in the middle of moving and it was time for worship. So what did they do? They stayed at home and got their stuff done, right? I mean they had just come from Jerusalem. They had already paid their tithe. They had done their duty. And they had a lot to do—let’s just stay home, OK? Well, they didn’t—they stopped what they were doing and headed back to Jerusalem. Why? For the sole purpose of worshipping God. Picture the scene. Here they all came. After the offering, they scattered to all the surrounding villages to settle down. And here they all came from all different directions. It reminds me of the scenes that used to happen in America when the church bell would ring. The church bell would ring and people would come walking in from every direction for the sole purpose of worshipping God. And as the Jews in our passage came together, look how they gathered. They gathered together as one. That word “gathered” pictures a mass moving to one place. It’s used of gathering grain into silos from the fields. In other words, they came from all of their diverse places, their diverse interests, their diverse lifestyles. No matter where they came from, they gathered. And what were they like when they got there? They were as one man. Isn’t that how we’re supposed to worship together? We are a diverse group of people. Not as diverse as the Lord would like us to be. But we are diverse. We don’t all have the same tastes or backgrounds or personalities or abilities or gifts. But that doesn’t matter when we are gathered together as one man. As a matter of fact, if we let it, it makes our worship that much more God-centered instead of self-centered. We sing the song “family of God.” But is that how we really worship? Do we act like we’re so glad we’re a part of the family of God? Do we act like we’re all joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod? What about the last line of verse 2—“I’m not worthy to be here, but praise God I belong!” Is that how we feel? Is that how we act? If not, we need to restore our religion. Restored religion is worshipping as a family. It is also worshipping fittingly. Look at verse 2:
EZRA 3:2
Restored religion is worshipping fittingly. Notice what they did once all the people had gathered. The two leaders—Jeshua the Chief Priest and Zerubbabel the Chief Prince—came together with their people to build the altar. As the people had gathered together from all around Jerusalem, they immediately got their focus where it needed to be. As the people gathered, they immediately drew their attention to the focus of their worship—to the altar of God. Think about our order of service for a minute. Have you ever wondered why it’s put together that way? Why does the service begin with a song from the choir? To draw us out of our time of fellowship and into our time of worship. From that time forward, everything in our service should be building the altar. The focus of all the people should be on building the altar. Except our altar is different than theirs was. On their altar, they offered burnt offerings in anticipation of the Messiah. On our altar, we offer ourselves. Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” To the Jews, the fitting expression of worship was a burnt offering as was written in the law of Moses. But to us, the fitting expression of our worship is offering ourselves a living sacrifice. How do we offer ourselves a living sacrifice? By being transformed. How are we transformed? We’re transformed by the renewing of our minds. How is our mind renewed? Our mind is renewed by believing in Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. And Romans 10:14 and 17 tell us how that happens. Romans 10:14 says, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” And Romans 10:17 goes on to say, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So what is fitting worship? Fitting worship is first gathering people, then gathering thoughts. As we are gathered in physically from all over the place, so should our thoughts be gathered in from all of our outside distractions. Fitting worship gathers our thoughts from all over the place to one focus. The focus of building an altar. Building an altar on which to sacrifice ourselves. That altar is built through singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It’s built through testimony. It’s built through praise. It’s built through giving. It’s built through all the things that point directly to the preaching of God’s holy Word. Because as the verses I just read to you in Romans say, it is only through God’s Word that we can be transformed. And it is only when we are transformed by the renewing of our minds that we can truly present ourselves a living sacrifice that is acceptable to God. See, fitting worship really has very little to do with style. Just a few centuries ago, our services would have been condemned because we have a piano. Pianos were barroom instruments and were unfit for God’s worship. That seems silly to us, doesn’t it? The point is not style. No style of music in and of itself is worshipful. What makes it fitting as worship is not its style—it is whether it builds an altar. An altar that points directly to the Word of God. The Word of God that transforms us into the living sacrifices we are called to be. Is our worship fitting? If not, we need to restore our religion. Restored religion is worshipping as a family and it is worshipping fittingly. It is also worshipping freely. Look with me at verse 3:
EZRA 3:3
Restored religion is worshipping freely. After the priests and leaders built the altar, they picked it up and placed it on the bases where the old altar was. The fact that it fit meant that they did it right. But what’s interesting is that this whole time they were afraid. You can’t blame them. Here they were after 70 years setting up shop in land that had been settled by Babylonians. It was their homeland now—not the Jews. If you think about it, it had been over three generations since Jews were in that land. The Babylonians who now lived in the area weren’t familiar with them or their religion. I doubt they were even familiar with Cyrus’ decree the Jews to go back there. So, when they saw this group of “foreigners” coming en masse to Jerusalem, I’m sure they were suspicious. And suspicious people aren’t friendly people. So, when you think about it, here were a group of Jews who were new to the area. And they were surrounded by a whole lot of unfriendly, suspicious Babylonians. It would have been a lot easier for them to just try to blend in. “Let’s just quietly worship God at home or in small groups.” “We don’t want to get them up in arms against us.” But that’s not what the Jews did, is it? Instead of giving in to their fear, they claimed freedom. They claimed freedom and worshipped God publicly and freely. I have to tell you, I get aggravated when I talk to some people outside our church. Sometimes when you talk to people about being a Baptist, they look at you like you’re part of the frozen chosen. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this, “I used to be a Baptist, but I just didn’t feel free to worship God the way I wanted to.” How ridiculous is that! What that really means is that they felt a little bit uncomfortable raising their hand or saying “hallelujah” or something like that. A little bit uncomfortable has nothing to do with freedom. Freedom has to do with publicly worshipping God in church no matter what the consequences. Ask the Jews in our text what worshipping freely is. They publicly gathered and worshipped God in spite of the threat of war from their neighbors. Ask those in our Baptist history who have given their lives as a martyr what worshipping freely is. They publicly practiced believer’s baptism despite the fact they knew they would be imprisoned, tortured, and drowned or burned. Ask those believers in Islamic countries what worshipping freely is. They publicly profess their faith in Christ and identify with Him in baptism on Sunday, knowing they will be publicly stoned on Friday. Worshipping freely has nothing to do with saying “Amen” “hallelujah” or whatever. It has nothing to do with raising hands in worship or not raising hands. It has nothing to do with clapping your hands or not clapping your hands. Those things are not an issue unless you make them an issue. They are fine if done spontaneously and not to draw attention to yourself. Read the Psalms sometime—the Psalmist practiced all of those. But, they are not OK if they are distracting. If they call attention to you. If they are done out of pride or self-exaltation. Then they are wrong. Just as wrong as sitting perfectly quiet and still, hoping that people notice your new dress or your new tie you have on. Worshipping freely is publicly focusing on God and His Word no matter what stands in your way. Is our worship free? If not, we need to restore our religion. The final restoration of religion is worshipping fully. Look with me at verses 4-5:
EZRA 3:4-5
Restored religion is worshipping fully. Notice what the people did. They looked at the calendar where they were right then. And from that date, they did everything. They started with the next feast on the calendar—the Feast of Tabernacles. They did it just the way they were supposed to. Not only that, they started doing the daily sacrifice just like they were supposed to. Then continual burnt offerings and all the other feasts and offerings that were required. Now, remember who we’re talking about here. This was a remnant. They had quite a few people who returned to Jerusalem. But do you remember a few weeks ago when we talked about the number of priests and Levites who returned? It was just a fraction of the number that was required for a group of people that large. So here’s what they did. They went down a list of things they were supposed to do and said, “Nope, can’t do that—not enough people. Nope, can’t do that, not enough money. Well, we’ll skip this one. We’ll skip that one. Since we have so few people, we’ll only do the very basics.” That’s not what these verses say. They say that they did everything they were required to do to serve God. They didn’t do it half-way. They didn’t hold out for more people or more money. As the Nike shoe commercials say, they Just did it. When you look at all the things that the Law required to be done in the temple, it makes you praise God we don’t have to go through that any more. But just because we don’t have to go through all the rigors of temple service doesn’t mean we have nothing to do. As a matter of fact, the New Testament makes our job as a church very clear. When you look at our passage tonight, one thing strikes you. That first service they had was just a very small part of what they were called to do. The altar was the key element and unless they got that right, anything else they did would have been in vain. But as far as the work for the people went, that was just preparatory. The real work was outside of the altar. Just like the real work for our church body is outside these walls. What is done in here is training. It’s training for what we need to be doing out of here. Training for one-on-one witnessing. Training for group evangelism. Training for mission work. Training for church planting. I don’t know what God has planned for us. But I do know it will be outside of here. Once you have worshipped fully, then comes the work. As a matter of fact, you can never worship fully without doing the work. We gather together as one man and worship as a family. We worship fittingly in accordance with the Word of God. We worship freely no matter what goes on around us. And we worship fully when we take it outside these walls. Are we doing that? If not, we need to restore our religion. I think each and every one of us do need to restore our religion tonight. You can begin by committing to gathering here and worshipping as a family at every opportunity this year. Next, you can commit to worshipping fittingly when we are gathered together. Each and every service, commit to focusing your energies on receiving the Word in order that you might be transformed. Commit to never leaving a service the same way you entered it this year. You can also commit to worshipping freely this year. No matter what barriers pop up in your life this year, don’t let them get in your way of worship. Whether the barriers are inside or outside, don’t let them keep you from worship. Finally, you can commit to worshipping fully this year. Let your worship grow into work. Instead of coming to church like a sick person goes to the hospital, go to church like a doctor goes to medical school. Come to worship—leave to serve. There is a world that needs Jesus. May our worship lead to their salvation.
