First Things First

Good morning.

Happy Mother's Day.

We're going to continue in our series in the book of Ezra.

If you want to pull out your pew Bibles, it's page 363.

And we're going to be looking this morning at chapter 3.

And we're going to start by reading the text this morning.

So if you want to turn with me, we're going to look at the next chapter in this story of God restoring and rebuilding his people.

Ezra chapter 3, starting in verse 1.

Ezra 3 · chapter mention

When the seventh month came and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem.

Then arose Joshua, son of Josedach, and his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, with his kinsmen.

And they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands.

And they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening.

And they kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required.

And after that, the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and all the appointed feasts of the Lord,

and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord.

From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord.

But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.

So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians,

to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus, king of Persia.

Now, in the second year, after the coming to the house of God at Jerusalem,

in the second month, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Josedach,

made a beginning together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites,

and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity.

They appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upwards to supervise the work of the house of the Lord.

And Jeshua, with his sons and his brothers, and Cadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah,

together supervised the workmen in the house of the Lord, along with the sons of Hennadad and the Levites,

their sons and brothers.

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord,

the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets,

and the Levites sung the sons of Asaph with cymbals

to praise the Lord according to the directions of David, king of Israel.

And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord.

For he is good, and his steadfast love endures forever towards Israel.

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord,

because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses,

old men who had seen the first house,

wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid,

though many shouted aloud for joy,

so that the people could not distinguish the sound of joyful shout

from the sound of the people's weeping.

For the people shouted with a great shout,

and the sound was heard far away.

Will you pray with me?

Amen.

Lord, as we look at this text,

this account from long ago,

of your work in this world,

of the story of your people,

Lord, I pray that you would help us

to see and understand,

Lord, the truths in this story.

Lord, help it to come alive to us

so that we might be encouraged,

so that we might be challenged.

Lord, so that we might see you more clearly,

so that we might hear your call

distinctly,

that we might respond to you as we ought.

Lord, I pray for your help this morning,

Lord, that you would give me words to speak,

clarity

in my speaking,

and Lord, that by your Holy Spirit,

we might together

sit under your word,

and Lord, watch you,

reveal yourself to us in it.

Lord, help us to be

not only hearers of your word,

but doers also.

For Jesus' sake, we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So I was thinking about this time of year,

32 years ago now,

which is kind of frightening.

I was graduating from high school

and moving on,

and I was going off to college

and looking forward to that,

but I realized that it was a momentous occasion.

Even then, I think I had an inkling of it,

and as I look back,

much more so now,

I realized that going off to college

is often the first time in our lives

when we are actually able to choose

who we are,

what we value,

and what's important to us.

Until that point,

we live in our family's houses usually,

and we live under the protection

and the provision

and within the value system of our parents,

and when we go off to college,

it's the first time

that we get to begin to choose

what does that look like?

It makes us answer the questions.

What will I invest in?

And what will be most important to me?

And of course,

this is the first step

for those of us

who have gotten beyond that stage.

We recognize this is the first step

of doing this for the rest of our lives

because then we move on to the next thing,

the new city that we move to,

the new relationship that we move into

if we get married

or the new community of friends

we move into

as we begin our workplace.

And it continues throughout life

as your children grow up

and leave the empty nest

or as you find yourself

in your 50s and 60s single.

You find yourself in new seasons

and you're always choosing.

You're always deciding

what's most important to me.

What will my life be about?

Even retirement

creates another opportunity

to decide what we want to do

with our lives.

And I think that this connects

with the story

that we read

from Ezra this morning.

You see,

remember the history

of where we're at

in the big picture.

Going all the way back,

God through Abraham

in Genesis 12 said,

I'm going to make you great people.

And then through Moses

he delivered a great people

out of slavery to Egypt

and brought them

into the promised land

and then through David

raised up a kingdom

and this great land.

But the people

consistently

found themselves unable.

They chose not to believe God

and to trust God

and to follow God

and to submit to God.

And so in this kingdom

it became increasingly

ungodly

as the people rejected God

over and over again.

And so God

in 586 BC

brought the Babylonians

to conquer Jerusalem,

to raise the city,

to sow salt in the fields

and to export the people

away from the city.

And for 50, 70 years,

what is it?

70 years total,

the people were in exile.

They were scattered

around the land.

And the book of Ezra

tells the story

of how God

has then taken people

who have been shattered

and scattered

and is now beginning

to bring them back

to restore them

and to rebuild them

as God's people.

And what we saw

in chapters 1 and 2

is how God moved

the king of Persia

who had now become

the ruler of the land

taking over

the Babylonian captivity,

how God had moved

his heart

to change the regulations

and to actually

give an edict

to declare that

the restoration

of the worship

of the God

of the Jews

in Jerusalem

was a good

and right thing

that they had

the support

of the Persian emperor

and the Persian empire.

And so what we see then

in Ezra 3,

beginning in verse 1,

is that the people,

a first contingent,

had returned

to Jerusalem

and they had gone

to their towns

and they had begun

to settle in

and they gathered.

But in this situation,

recognize a few things.

One is their needs

were great.

Their moving back

to this land

was like moving

into the Wild West

in the 1800s.

They were restarting

from scratch

and they had only

what they brought

with them.

And though they had

the political backing

of the emperor of Persia,

they didn't have

the welcome

of the people

in the surrounding lands.

We'll see that next week.

There's actually

some resistance

and opposition

to them being there

and doing

what they were doing.

They had been uprooted

from their homeland

and had lived far away

for a long time.

Had they become

more Babylonian

than Jewish?

Had they become

more Persian

than Jewish?

Jewish.

They'd also lived

for 70 years

without

the structures

of their relationship

with God.

There was no city,

no holy city

to gather to

for the feasts,

the three festivals

every year.

There was no temple

to go to.

There was no altar

to sacrifice on.

There was none

of the means

by which God

had given

his people

to relate to him

were available

to them

for 70 years.

And even as they

came back

and as Greg

preached last week

on one and two,

how much of this

there were echoes

of returning

of the second exodus,

that this is a second

deliverance of God

and bringing his people

back to himself

and back to the

promised land.

recognize also though

that the people

were much smaller

and much less wealthy.

When Joshua

led the people in,

they were a large army

and they were outnumbered

at times,

but they were

a significant people.

They are now small

and they are not able

to defend themselves.

Smaller in number

and smaller in worth.

And therefore,

as it says in verse 3,

they feared the people.

Is it verse 3?

Did I get that right?

Yes, verse 3.

They feared the people

around them

as they were entering in.

I want you to put yourself

in that position

for a second.

What would you do

if you were entering

into a land

that you felt in danger

and you felt hostile?

Right?

You've got a couple

of things you need to build.

You've got to build

your home.

You've got to build

some walls

to protect yourself.

You've got to build

a temple.

You've got to build

an altar.

Right?

Those are some things

for you to do.

Now, if it were me,

I would start with the walls

because that's what

I would want.

I would want protection first.

Once you get the walls up,

then you can start

building the buildings.

And once you get

the buildings up,

you build the temple

and then you put

the altar in place

because then it's got

protection

and then we can start doing.

So in my human mind,

that would be the order

that we would go in

if I were part

of this returning group.

And yet,

in the face

of their fear,

the people chose

to do something else.

Stephen Covey,

the guru

of time management

in the 1980s,

he's probably passé now

and people don't think

much of him,

but back in the 1980s,

he was the big deal.

Seven Habits

of Highly Effective People.

One of his principles

is put the big rocks

in your schedule.

Our time is important

and what we value

is shown

by how we spend our time

and what we invest in.

And it's at times

when we're most afraid

often that we see

the things

that are most important

to us

and where we invest

our time.

And the people

of Israel

under the leadership

of Zerubbabel

and Yeshua

started

in an unlikely place.

And in that,

I think we see

some things

for ourselves

to learn

about what is

most important

for God's people.

So that's where

we want to go today

is look at

what's most important

for God's people.

We're going to look

at two different things,

two different sections

of the passage,

one through seven.

We're going to see

that they set themselves

apart for worship.

and then we're going

to look at

eight through 13

and look at

how they set their hearts

on God's glory.

And then we're going

to think about

what this means

for us today.

So that's where

we're going.

Look with me again

at verses

one through seven

and think about

what is it

as they

in this fear

began to do things,

what did they do first?

And you see it

in verse

two,

right?

As they gathered

and the seventh month

by the way,

they gathered

at the timing

because the seventh month

was kind of like

it would have been

like Easter

or a Christmas,

a high point

in the church calendar

so to speak

for the Jewish people

in the Old Testament.

It was the month

in which the Day of Atonement

fell.

It was the month

during which

the Feast of Booths

fell.

And it was one

of the three times

of the year

where the people

were meant to gather

in Jerusalem

to offer sacrifices

and worship God.

And as they returned

the land,

it seems they were there

for a little while

and then this month

came and they gathered

in Jerusalem

and as they gathered,

they built an altar.

They didn't build walls.

They didn't build

the temple.

But they started

by building the altar

so that they could

offer up sacrifices

to God

as he had instructed them

in Leviticus

and Numbers

so long ago.

And as they had done

for many years

in the tabernacle

and then in the temple

that Solomon built

in Jerusalem,

they started with this

because in their fear

they knew that

the most important thing

was being right

with God.

the most important thing

was to honor God

because he would be

their refuge

and he would be

their protector.

There's lots of resonance

in the timing of this.

When you think about

the Day of Atonement,

if you remember

the Day of Atonement

was a time

when the high priest

would come

and bring two goats,

right,

and he would sacrifice one

and his blood

would be shed

and the other one

he would lay his hand on

and representing

the sins of the people

and then the goat

would be sent out

into the wilderness

far away.

And in both of these

pictures,

you see God saying,

you may not approach me,

a holy God,

on your own,

but

I am going to graciously

make a way for you

to approach me.

And through this

sacrificial system,

these were pointers

and signs

of how it would be

that we might approach

a holy God.

The Feast of Booths

and in-gathering

that says that they

celebrated

was a time of both

celebrating the harvest

and God's provision

and think about

how sweet that would be.

After 70 years in exile,

they've come back

and they're actually

celebrating the harvest.

Now,

it's not clear

how much harvest

they had that year

because they hadn't been there

for a full year

of agriculture yet.

And yet,

God asked them,

celebrate my provision.

And my faithfulness

to you.

And remember, too,

that the Feast of Booths

was enacted

so that they would remember

how God carried them

through the wilderness

after the exodus,

how they lived in tents

and these booths,

these makeshift houses,

so that they would remember

that their security

is not in those things,

but in the Lord.

And then,

interestingly enough,

as the author

writes about this,

he doesn't camp out

a lot on the Day of Atonement,

which is what I really

wanted to preach

to you guys about

this morning,

but it's not in the text,

so we didn't talk about it.

You can go back

and read it

in the Old Testament.

It's a great thing.

But he says

over and over again,

what they offered

was the burnt offerings.

The burnt offerings

were given

over and over

and over again.

Why?

Because the burnt offerings

were offerings

of consecration.

That is,

they were offerings

to say to the Lord,

Lord,

I am wholly yours.

They were,

the people brought that,

those offerings,

those burnt offerings

on a daily basis

to remind themselves

and to say to God,

God,

you are our God

and we are your people

and we will not worship

anyone else.

And as they did this,

you see the repetition of

and they did this

as it was written.

They were doing this

under God's instruction.

They did not come

and say,

God,

hey,

it's a new day.

You know,

we've been away

for 70 years.

Why don't we kind of

spice things up

and do some things differently?

I've liked,

I'd like to think about

some worship

doing it this way.

He says,

no.

Instead,

what you see

is them saying,

God,

we're going to return

to your word

and to submitting

to your instructions

that we cannot worship you

as we want to,

but we are called

to worship you

as you have called us to.

And this is what you see

as they're returning.

Their priority

was not safety,

but being right

with God

and establishing

the worship of God

as he had instructed.

So that's really

what you see

in verses

one through seven

is the establishment

as the people

come together

in this month,

what they say

is the most important

thing is that

we're going to worship

God the way

he told us to.

But then you see

that there's more

that the writer

brings out today

because he says,

okay,

so they built the altar,

but then the foundations

were not laid.

And it says,

so they sent out

some work orders,

they did a little

comparison shopping

with contractors,

they found some guys

up in Tyre and Sidon

who had really good

building materials

in Cyprus,

and so they planned

and then returned again

the beginning

of the next year,

the second month,

and they came back

and they laid

the foundation

of the temple.

And in this

amazing story,

there's a lot

about the organization

of setting up

the Levites

and priests,

but I think

that the high point

of it is in verses

11 and 12

because as they

build this temple,

and they haven't even

built the building yet,

Nick's going to preach

on that in like

three, two weeks,

no, Greg's going to

preach on it in two weeks,

they haven't even

built the whole temple,

they just laid the foundation,

but as they laid

the foundation,

they gathered

in song and praise,

and part of what

would strike a Jewish

writer as they were

listening to this

is that this is

the same story,

in fact,

these are the exact

same words,

for he is good

and his steadfast love

endures forever,

that were said

two other times

in the story

of the Old Testament.

The first one

was when King David

had recaptured

the Ark of the Covenant,

remember the Ark

of the Covenant

which was this box

that they carried around

that had all these signs

of God's faithfulness,

the Ten Commandments,

the rod and staff,

manna,

they carried around

things that were

reminding them

of how God

has been faithful

to them

and how he was,

had set a covenant

relationship

whereby they might

be his people

and he would be

their God.

And as this Ark

of the Covenant

is regained

from the Philistines

and brought

into Jerusalem,

in 1 Chronicles 16,

34,

they gather

the singers

and in almost

the same vocabulary,

the cymbals

and the trumpets,

the Levites

and the priests,

they celebrate

the goodness

of God

and they offer

burnt offerings

to the Lord.

and then the second

place that you see

this is in 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 5:13

chapter 5,

verse 13

and this is when

Solomon has actually

built a temple

in which they're

going to worship God

and all the instructions

that God

had given them

in all of its fullness.

2 Chronicles 5,

13 says this,

when the song

was raised

and the trumpets

and cymbals

and other musical instruments

and praise to the Lord

for he is good

for his steadfast love

endures forever.

The house,

the house of the Lord

was filled with a cloud

so that the priests

could not stand

to minister

because of the cloud

for the glory

of the Lord

filled the house

of God.

You see, friends,

in the Old Testament

for the people of God,

the temple was the place

where the glory of God,

the presence of God,

the very radiance

and manifestation

of all of his qualities

and his characters

that God created the temple

to be the meeting place

between God and man,

between God and humanity

that as we get,

that this would be the place

where he would choose

to manifest himself

and dwell among his people.

and this glory

was the sweetest thing

for the people of Israel

that God himself

dwelt in their midst.

And yet,

now what we have

is these people

returning from exile

and they'd not had

that presence

and there was no place

of that glory.

And so,

even the laying

of the foundation

caused them

to praise God

in hopes that

God was with them

and that God

would renew

his relationship

with them

and be among them.

And yet,

you see in verse 12

how this is mixed

even from the very start

because the older men,

those who had been around,

those who had seen

this temple

that Solomon had built

with its great glory,

they knew that

the former house

would have greater glory

than the one

that they were building.

It's kind of like

going from a Lincoln

to a Yugo.

Yugos aren't around anymore.

A Lincoln to a Cooper,

Mini Cooper.

You guys like Mini Coopers.

What's a good example?

It's like,

it's like going

from a Lincoln Navigator

to a Ford Fiesta.

Are we getting there?

Right?

It still works.

It still does

what it's supposed to do.

But it's smaller

and far less glorious.

And the people grieved

because they knew

that the loss

of that glory

was because

of their own sin.

It had been

their national disobedience

that had caused it.

and yet they longed

for that past glory.

And the words

that Julie read earlier

from the book of Haggai.

Haggai is one

of the prophets

who is ministering

to the people of God

during this very time.

And in fact,

it seems that these words

came right after

chapter three,

probably,

where they need

encouragement

to keep going

and to not give in

to the despair.

Just to reread again

what was read earlier

from Haggai,

the prophet

as he speaks

to the people.

Work,

that is work

in building this temple

for I am with you

declares the Lord

according to the covenant

that I made with you

when you came out of Egypt.

My spirit remains

in your midst.

Fear not

for thus says

the Lord of hosts,

yea,

once more

in a little while

I will shake

the heavens

and the earth

and the sea

and the dry land

and I will shake

all the nations

so that the treasures

of all nations

shall come in

and I will fill

this house

with glory

says the Lord of hosts.

The silver is mine

and the gold is mine

declares the Lord of hosts.

The latter glory

of this house

shall be greater

than the former

says the Lord of hosts.

And so,

these old men

thinking back

to Solomon's temple

are weeping

because they see

the lack of it.

They see this sense

of incomplete restoration

of what had been before

and God comes

and he says,

I'm not done

and though this is what,

this is the temple

you will have now,

there is a greater glory

that I have for you

and my presence

is still with you

and my spirit

is still with you

and you do not need

to be afraid.

in some ways,

what we see

in all of this chapter

is a bit like

a marriage renewal ceremony.

A couple who've been married

for 25 years

maybe walked through

really hard things,

maybe thought,

is this worth it?

God is bringing them

back together

and the people of God

are coming

to the God of Israel

and saying,

we renew our vows

and God is saying,

I am going to be faithful

to you.

I will,

the people are saying,

we will not run

after other gods.

We will forsake all others

till death do us part.

and God is saying,

I am inviting you

into this relationship

with me

where you will find

the glory

that you long for

and that your soul

hungers and thirsts for.

It is a marriage renewal covenant

where to say,

to be in relationship

with you

is to taste

of your glory.

So this is what's going on

in 536 BC.

God is renewing

and restoring

and we'll see.

God's not done yet.

He's going to build the temple.

He's going to bring the law.

He's going to renew the sacrament.

He's going to rebuild the city.

God's rebuilding

is just beginning.

But in it,

we see that God's people

have made the worship of God

their priority

and the glory of God

their longing

and their heart.

So,

what do we do with that?

That's great.

It's a long time ago

in a very physical picture

of how to do these things.

What do we do with this?

I want to just locate this

in the biblical story

a little bit

and help you see

some of the threads

because I hope you hear

that what God is doing

with this particular people

is an example

and a foretaste

of the greater things

that would come.

You see,

because God is in the business

of gathering in wandering exiles.

God is in the business

of bringing back to himself

men and women

from every tribe

and tongue

and nation

across the land

who,

because of their sin,

are estranged

and exiled from him

and are not dwelling

in relationship with him

and are not experiencing

his glory.

We see that what God

is doing in the world

is he is building

a new temple,

a temple that is not a place,

not this building,

it's not this edifice,

it's not the thing

we're going to build next door.

That's not where God's temple dwells.

But God's temple

is his people,

his people built

on a cornerstone,

the cornerstone being

Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

We see these pictures

in the scriptures.

Jesus himself,

while he was on earth,

told the Pharisees,

destroy this temple

and in three days

I will raise it up.

He was talking about himself

and his own body

that would be destroyed

by death

and yet raised

to new life

for us

and for the beginning

of this new people

that wouldn't simply be

about the descendants

of Abraham

but would be

for all people

everywhere.

And then the apostle Peter

reminds us in 1 Peter 2

that that Jesus

then becomes the cornerstone

and that we are being built

as his people

into a living temple.

That we are meant

to be the building blocks

of the temple of God.

That is,

we are the place

as we gather

in relationship

with one another

in this world

where God displays

his glory

and where the meeting place

between God and man is

in this world.

The very center

of God's work

in this era

is that the church

that is the people of God

gathered and scattered

are,

is the place

where God

is meeting

with humanity.

it is the very center

of it.

And so we don't have

to go to a place

with an altar

and sacrifice

burnt offerings.

We don't have to find

goats and bulls

to do these things

anymore.

But what God

calls us to do

is to make

his people,

his church,

the priority

in our lives.

This is the most

important thing

about me.

And we don't have

sacrifices

to be repeated

because we know

that the sacrifice,

all those sacrifices

pointed ahead

to the once for all

sacrifice of Jesus.

That he has taken

the sin

and the guilt

and the judgment.

He is sent

into the exile

of death

so that he can be

brought back

in new life

and restore forever

our relationship

with him.

He is both

the sacrifice

and the scapegoat

who both dies

and is cut off

and sent out

into the wilderness

so that we might

be brought in

by faith

in him.

So briefly,

how do we apply

this to our lives?

Well,

the first is

we make

the worship

of God

our priority.

that is,

there are sacrifices

for us

to make.

Romans 12.1

tells us this,

I appeal to you

therefore,

brothers and sisters,

by the mercy of God

to present your bodies

as living sacrifices,

holy and acceptable

to God,

which is your

spiritual worship.

when we join

with Christ

by faith,

he calls us

to say,

lay it all down

before me.

All that you have,

all of your life,

put it on the altar,

make it mine,

give it to me

and let me do

what I want

with it.

There are kinds

of specific sacrifices

that flow from this

that we see

in the New Testament.

Ephesians 2 says,

and walk in love

as Christ loved us

and gave himself up

for us,

a fragrant offering

and a sacrifice

to God.

Our loving others

is a sacrifice

to God

just as Jesus'

sacrifice

was a loving act

for us.

And so,

are we willing

to make that

a priority

in our lives?

Or do we allow

ourselves

to become distracted

and selfish

and fearful

and think

that we have

to spend

our energies

building our own

walls instead?

Hebrews 13,

15 and 16

points to another

kind of sacrifice.

Through him,

that is through Christ,

then let us

continually offer up

a sacrifice

of praise to God,

that is the fruit

of lips

that acknowledge

his name.

Do we make

praise to God

the thing

that we most

long for

in our lives?

Or do we really

wish deep down

that God would

let us get

some of that

praise too?

That people would

think really well

of us

and praise us

and think us

important?

Are we willing

to make

the praising

of God

the greatest

joy of our

hearts?

And then also,

there is a sacrifice

of submission

to God's word.

That is,

there is a sacrifice

of our independence.

Just as the people

followed the instructions

of Moses

and said,

as it is written,

we too are called

to sacrifice

our independence

and even

our own

sense of

what is right

and wrong

at times

to submit

to the God

of the universe

who has revealed

himself in the Bible.

And so,

we live lives

of ethical purity,

of morality,

but more than that,

we live lives

that seek

to honor God

and do things

his way

in humility

and in graciousness

and in patience

and in kindness

and in perseverance.

So,

there are many

sacrifices

that God

does call us

to make,

but they all

flow from

the fundamental

sacrifice

of saying,

God,

my life

is not my own.

You have bought

it with the price

of Jesus Christ.

Glorify me.

Glorify you,

Lord,

in my life,

whatever that means.

Help me to love.

Help me to praise

you.

It also means

that we set our hearts

on the glory of God.

And friends,

it's so easy for us

to want glory

for ourselves

because,

of course,

you know,

we were made for glory

and we experience this

on a regular basis,

that we were made

to be caught up

in something

greater than ourselves,

something more transcendent

and more wonderful

and bigger than ourselves.

And it's the thing

that we taste

in all sorts

of little ways.

It's the thing

that we taste

when your sports team

wins game seven

of the series

and you think,

woo,

you get caught up

in that glory of,

we won,

even though you're

just a spectator,

but we won

and you get caught up

in something bigger

than yourself.

It's the glory

of the honor

of your country

acting for good

and battling evil

in the world.

It's the honor

in your work.

It's the glory

in your work

of a job well done

and successfully done.

It's the glory

that we taste

when we go

to the Rockies

and we sit

on the shore

of Bierstadt Lake

and look at the crags

as they rise above us

on a beautiful summer day.

It's the glory

that we feel

in the swell

of Mozart's Requiem.

All of these

are tastes of glory

that help us know

that as human beings

we are made for glory,

but these aren't

the substance of them.

These are the signposts.

These are the,

this is the taste

at the mall

where you get,

hey,

do you want a taste

so you can have

the whole meal?

That's what we're getting

in these,

right?

Four tastes

and shadows

that point

to a greater reality,

a greater reality

of a glory

that we will never

be able to manufacture

and never be able to,

but a glory

that seeks us out

in Jesus Christ

and comes and finds us

and invites us in

to his glory.

And in the glory of God

we find his worthiness,

that he is good

and his steadfast love

endures forever.

that the God

of the Bible

will come to us

with all of this goodness

and invite us

to say,

come and live,

sit and soak

and absorb

and revel

and rejoice

and sing

in my glory.

And not only

do we find

his worthiness,

but we also find

his weightiness.

we find

that God

is so great

that

as we

set our hearts

on him

and as we drink

from his goodness

and as we taste

of his faithfulness

and as we sing

his praises,

our hearts are tuned

for more of it

and we find

that he is able

to carry

that weight

that our greater

desires

that continue

to increase

find that God

is able to carry

all of those things.

John Hanks and I

were talking about

this yesterday

and he reminded me

of,

there was a

Veritas Forum

a couple years ago

where Shelley Kagan

who is a professor

of philosophy,

the head of the department

and very highly respected,

was in a discussion

with N.T. Wright

and at one point

the topic of eternity

came up

and Shelley Kagan

says,

I don't want,

this is a paraphrase,

I don't want to live forever

because everything

that I desire

and everything

that I enjoy

eventually disappoint me

and I would hate

to live forever,

that would be horrible.

Friends,

the weight

of God's glory

is that we will

continue to plumb

the depths

of his goodness

and his mercy

of his grace

and his love

of his power

and his majesty

and his beauty

for the rest

of our lives

and we will never

be disappointed.

In fact,

it will lead us

into eternity

and we will feel

like the prodigal son

who has come home

from eating

the swine's food

into the household

of the father

where we have a ring

and a robe

and sandals

and a party

where we sing praises

and are caught up

in this glory

of being with God.

and Jesus

will not disappoint.

And we,

like the old men

in the Old Testament

today,

look with,

through a dark,

through a glass

darkly.

We don't see

the fullness

of that glory

even now.

We've tasted it.

We know it's real

but we know

that there's a glory

yet to come.

we know that one day

with unveiled faces

we will see him

and we will be like him

and the glory of God

will fill the earth

as he renews

ultimately

the people of God

to the place of God

where they enjoy

the presence of God

forever

and his glory

will fill the heavens

and the earth.

Amen.

When we've been there

10,000 years

bright shining

as the sun

we've no less days

to sing his praise

than when we first

begun.

Friends,

this is what

Ezra 3 tells us

is most important

about being

the people of God.

Will you make it

the thing that's

most important

for you today?

Let's pray.

Lord,

we have

touched on things

that are

greater than words.

We have spoken

of things

that

Lord,

are

too high

for us

to fully comprehend.

and yet

Lord,

we know

that

in this text

Lord,

you point us

to

yourself

that you

are worthy

of our worship

and Lord,

that

in you

we find

the glory

that our hearts

long for.

The glory

that

magnifies you

in all of your

greatness.

Lord,

help us

to taste

and see

that you

are good

and Lord,

help us

to order

our lives

that we

might pursue

these things

above all

else.

Lord,

free us

from our

fears

and the

things that

keep us

from pursuing

these things.

We pray

these things

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.