May 4, 2025 - Ezra 3-6

“When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem.  Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with 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” (3:1-2).  Sunday, and God’s people gather together as church and, for so many, in a particular location and building.  Of course, the church is the people, not the building.  But, as I began reading, I just had a wonderful feeling fall over me.  Jeshua and the priests built the altar and sacrifices were again offered.  The temple was rebuilt.  A place.  A liturgy.  A gathering.  As Christians, we need these visible, tangible things, and with what joy we gather together and worship.  Of course, God does not need them; he asks for our hearts.  Jesus noted Isaiah’s warning about mere ritual:  “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8).  We heed this warning and, at the same time, when we gather into the place God has provided for us, much like the men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 23:32), we testify that our hearts warmly burn within us.

Give to our God immortal praise;

mercy and truth are all His ways;

wonders of grace to God belong,

repeat His mercies in your song.

Give to the Lord of lords renown,

the King of kings with glory crown;

His mercies ever shall endure,

when lords and kings are known no more.  –Isaac Watts (1719)