What to do with Preaching?
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Has anyone done any study about the life of Ezra lately? I didn’t think that was too likely. If someone asked you to list the most important figures in OT how far down the list would Ezra be? Would Ezra even be on your list?
Ezra is actually a pretty significant person in OT history, despite our lack of study on him. It was Ezra who lead the faithful Israelites back to Jerusalem and reopened the temple when the Israelites were released from Babylonian captivity. If you are looking to study a OT person, give him a look.
In this passage Ezra is reading from the Law of Moses for the people of God, and it carries some important things for us to consider. I would like to specifically draw attention to three things this morning. I would like us to take note today of WHERE Ezra read- WHAT Ezra read- and WHY Ezra read.
First-WHERE EZRA READ- Do not miss the setting! Because it is important. The Scriptures say that Ezra read from the Law of Moses by the Water Gate. Normally the scrolls containing the Law of Moses were read in the Temple, where the altar was, where religion was supposed to be done. But that is not the case in this story. You see, the Water Gate was located on the East side of the city where the main water source for Jerusalem- the Gihon spring- flowed into the city. Perhaps no other place in the city was as important as this one- because with no water there was no life.
Friends, it is really good that we read the Bible in the church, but it means nothing if we do not read the Bible outside of the church.
Children can be embarrassingly frank. I read of a minister who was visiting one of his members. The lady of the house was trying to impress him about how devout she was by pointing out the large Bible on the bookshelf and talking in a very reverential way of it as "the Word of God". Her young son interrupted the conversation, "Well, if that’s God’s book, we better send it back to him because we never read it!"
Sure, we read and recite Scripture here, but do you do it at home? Is the Bible a part of your daily life? One of the convictions that Jess and I are trying to apply in our house is a Scripture in every room. Now, I will tell you that we have not gotten one in every room yet, but most rooms in our house have a Scripture visible in them. We find that important to us a family, the book that guides our lives needs the be made visible as easily as possible. Would people know you are guided by the Bible if they walked through your home? Is it visible? Is it just part of your life in the church? Or is it part of your life everywhere? How about at work? Is the Bible a part of your life at work? If you have an office- do you have a Bible in it? I have seen Bibles on desks of bankers and real estate agents, and it makes gives me peace with dealing with them. If you drive a truck for work, do you keep a copy of the Bible in your truck? Maybe you could. Some of you men would never leave your house without your pocket knife- What if you carried the Word of God like that? Some of you ladies would never go anywhere without your purse- What if you felt the same way about your Bible? And don’t get me started about cell phones- I know people that have been late to work because they left their phone and had to go back and get it- is that you and the Bible?
It is good that the Bible undergirds our decision making in the church, but it means nothing if the Bible does not undergird our decision making outside of the church. If you have to make a family decision, where do you go for counsel? We would probably go to the bank statements, or our parents, maybe a friend- do you open the Bible? Some of you all own or manage a business, do you consult the Scriptures when making a decision for your business? How about election time? When you go to the polls to vote on laws, do you ask what the Bible might say about them? Or just Fox News or CNN?
Ezra’s message to the people was simple- the Bible is not just to be the center of religious life, but life period. When we fail to transpose the Word of God from the Church and into all of life, we fail.
Second- WHAT EZRA READ- It is also important for us to recognize what Ezra read. He did read the Scrolls containing the laws of Moses. Do you read the Bible? Just. The. Bible. Not someone’s opinion or interpretation of the Bible, but just the plain word of God. Don’t get me wrong, I love to read books by C.S Lewis, Billy Graham, and NT Wright, but you know, Lewis, Graham, and Wright have not written a book like the Bible- they write ABOUT the Word of God but not THE WORD OF GOD ITSELF. Please hear me, I encourage you to read Christian books, but please do not read these instead of the Bible itself. I wonder how much different the church would look if we spent more time reading the pure unadulterated Word of God than anything else.
According to Neilson the average adult spends around 1 hour a day on Social Media, and the average teen spends more than 4 hours a day! I remember a professor of mine in seminary respond to someone who complimented his biblical knowledge saying- “You read Facebook, twitter, and US magazine- I read the Bible.”
By the way, as a side note, did you notice how long he read? From DAYBREAK TILL NOON! Really? Can you imagine what would happen if I got up and read for the Bible for six hours?
says 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God p may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. If you want to be equipped for work in the Kingdom of God you must be immersed in the Scriptures.
The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .
THIRD- WHY EZRA READ- Did you notice verse 2? Can I tell you that as a pastor I would love for verse 2 to happen more often- THE PEOPLE CALLED FOR THE SCRIPTURES!! It was not Ezra that said “Ok folks, gather round” it was the people that said TEACH US!
Can I ask you all a question…do you love the Bible? You see, too many self proclaimed Christians can take or leave the Bible- what about you? It was apparent that these people loved the Word of God- they desired to hear from the Word of God.
If we love Jesus we should love the Bible also. Jesus said in
The New International Version Chapter 14
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me
Friends, Ezra’s story reminds us that the Word of God should be the center of our lives. That all that we do as a Church, and as people should revolve around it.
Reformed Pastor Michael Horton, in his book, "A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God-Centered Worship writes:
We are repeatedly told these days that music is the most important thing we do in worship. In fact, "worship" usually means singing or enjoying the singing of others. "Let’s just take some time now to worship" is roughly translated, "Cue the praise band."..some have argued that a weekly service need not include the preaching of the Word, as God can speak through a variety of other instruments: drama, liturgical dance, poetry, and so on. Repeatedly worship is reduced to matter of consumer tastes."