A few weeks ago, I was able to go back to Illinois and to see my brother confirmed. Before the service, it was nice to walk around and to visit the church I used to call “home.” There’s something nice and nostagilc about being back in places like that. I often see it here at Christmas and Easter when people roam the hall looking at the old Confirmation pictures. As I was recalling memories that morning, one memory popped into my head as I looked out the hallway window. It was an event that happened about 18 years ago at this point, just right outside it. It was when the congregation broke ground to celebrate the new sanctuary that would be built. I was one of the people chosen to help do that, and I remember my grandmother getting me a grey Ralph Lauren Polo to wear for it. That bright sunny day was a moment of great celebration and excitement. A new chapter was before us as a congregation. In our Old Testament text, we see a very similar event and celebration: the people celebrating the laying of the foundation for the temple that would be rebuilt. As we look at this text this morning, and as we dive deeper into it, we see how relevant and applicable this text still is for our lives some 2,500 years later!
In 2010, I had the chance to go to Germany, and one of the places that I went to was Dresden. Dresden is an important cultural city in Germany, and one of the country’s largest. In World War II, it was controversially bombed and destroyed, and then occupied by the Soviets after the war. As we drove into the city, I was intrigued by what I saw. There were still ruins there some 65 years later! I saw the remains of bombed and burned buildings in the midst of overgrowth and unkept plant life. I couldn’t believe that they hadn’t cleared it out after all these years.
This is Jerusalem and Judah. Jerusalem and Judah had been captured and destroyed for a third and final time in 587 B. C. Solomon’s temple had been looted and destroyed. Anything of value in it had been carried off to Babylon. The city was burned, homes and palaces were leveled. The important city wall was torn down, and the gates charred and smashed. The people were exiled and sent over hundreds of miles away. This was 587 B. C.
In our text, which takes place 50 years later in April or May of 536, things aren’t much different. Jerusalem and Judah are still in shambles and ruin. The gates are still unhinged and collapsed. The wall is still down. Parts of the city are still impassible (and will be for the next 100 years until Nehemiah comes!). The country and city is still in ruins. They are still conquered. They are still mocked and scorned among the nations. They are in economic ruin, social disarray, and on the verge of spiritual collapse. Their world and home is forever changed. To use the phrase of the age, this is their new “normal.” Their lives are in ruins.
We know all about ruins, don’t we? Our lives aren’t that much different than the people of Judah. We know social ruins, don’t we? We have been isolated and lonely over the last few months, separated from the ones we love and the friends we hold dear. Hugs pose a health risk, and hand shakes are a cultural no. Things like the State fair, vacations, festivals, fireworks, concerts, and carnivals are canceled. We know social ruin.
Like them, we know economic ruin. Businesses are closed, profits are down, jobs are lost; some maybe forever! We know health ruins, too. Maybe your health has been crumbling during this pandemic. Perhaps symptoms have exacerbated, maybe you can’t see the doctor right now. Maybe your mental health is beginning to teeter and totter from the stress and uncertainty of it! And there can be spiritual ruins, too. Our faith can be shaken and weakened in the face of disappointment or unanswered prayers. It can feel fatigued, or hungry during this time of pandemic. We know all about ruins. So, what do we do? What did the people of Judah do?
King Cyrus gave a decree that allowed people to return back to the country and to rebuild the temple, and to rebuild their home. So, the people rebuilt, and rebuild they did. And first things first, to rebuild the temple, they needed to relay the foundation. The appointed Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, and others, supervised this important work. Once it was done, they had a celebration. The people of Judah rebuilt, and started with the foundation.
When our lives and worlds are in ruins, we, too, start with and build on the foundation. What do we build with? Simple. There are two stones. The first is God’s Word. God’s Word is the source of truth and knowledge in this world. It is powerful. God’s Word contains His promises, promises like God does all things for our good, promises like we are forgiven, loved, and cared for by God. God’s Word directs, empowers, enlightens, gives life, sustains faith, and nourishes it. Jesus describes this foundation by saying, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” This foundation block will last.
What is the other block that we build on? It is the one that this Word points to: Jesus Christ. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 3:11. “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” We build on, live on, and stand on that fundamental truth: Jesus Christ crucified and risen for me! We build on, live on, and stand on our Savior and His work for us, His work which makes us right with God and gives life eternal! And we have been building on these blocks with our virtual services, haven’t we? This is the foundation we have stayed on. The foundation of God’s Word and Christ is the only foundation that will last and can stand. Just look at the world around us! When rebuilding, we start with the foundation: God’s Word and His Son.
Once we have the foundation, we shift to the focus. That is what the people of Judah and Jerusalem did. With the foundation done and laid, there was a celebration. The vested priests came forward with trumpets. They were followed by the Levites and temple musicians, the sons of Asaph, with clanging cymbals. Praise was sung, and the favorite hymn of the OT shouted. It was the Amazing Grace or Abide with Me of the day. They sang responsively the most quoted song of the Old Testament. It is even surprising, and shocking given the context! Remember that everything is still in ruins!
They sing, “For He is good”. “Is.” Notice that is present! It is not past, was, or future, will be. It is, is. It is now! In the midst of their crumbling economy, their wall-less city and temple, their broken homes, broken dreams, and broken identity, God is what? He is “good.” Good in what way? “His steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”
The word for love here is special. It is kessed. I remember our professor jokingly saying to drink milk before Hebrew class so we could have the phelmgy sound to help pronounce this word. Kessed. You have to clear your throat to say it. What does kessed mean? It is a hard word to pin down. It can mean steadfast love, loyal love, mercy, favor, faithfulness. One commentator helpfully puts it: the word often denotes “favor, kindness, faithfulness, and love expressed by God or a person even though he is under no obligation to do so.” This is kessed. This is the love that God has for Israel, undeserving, unbehaving, unimportant, unimpressive Israel! This is the love that God has for us…and shows us.
By faith, this is our song and our focus. “He is good.” It is a simple word of praise and affirmation of faith. By faith, we know and proclaim that God is good, even when our hearts are hurting and heavy, and we are unsure of the future or outcome. Our God is good, it is a present thing! And He is good precisely because “His steadfast love endures forever!” This steadfast love, this grace we get, we can count on! We can depend on it in the face of spiritual, social, financial, and health ruins. God’s love, His grace, His kessed is something we don’t have to worry about losing, worry about earning, or worry will run out. It is not something I can miss up or lose, or have it taken from me. It is given in baptism, confirmed at His Supper, and proclaimed in His Word. All of this is true for me in Christ and because of Christ. Is this not the Gospel message? This is our focus. In the midst of rebuilding in the ruins, we build on the foundation and then turn to the focus: “He is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” The Gospel!
And what is the faithful’s response in the midst of rebuilding? We see two things. The first is joy! The people of Judah and Jerusalem were excited the house of God was being rebuilt again. Their joy expresses hope! Joy gives light in the midst of darkness, defeat, and disappointment. The other response is grief and sorrow. The older priests and people were weeping when they compared this foundation with the old temple! It wasn’t the same. It couldn’t compare with what they had and knew. What they lost couldn’t compare with what they were given.
Joy and sadness, the response of the faithful in the midst of rebuilding. And that is our response today, too, isn’t it? We can have a sense of joy during this time, but as faithful Christians, we can have that sense of sorrow. Things aren’t how they used to be, whether it is our worship service, or lives. It is okay to be sad about that, to grieve what has been lost. It is okay to not be okay! Tell your Lord what you are feeling and going through!
What do we do when rebuilding the ruins of our lives and world? In our joy and our sorrow, we keep building on the foundation: God’s Word and our Savior. We look to the focus, that Gospel message, and by faith, we say with all the saints of all: “For He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”
