There are two passages assigned for today!
SCRIPTURE: Ezra 3
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance. [Ezra 3:12-13]
Should I laugh or should I cry – is the new temple a sign of hope or a sign of sorrow and painful memories?
The temple foundations brought back memories for the older people, remembering its former glory and the horror of its destruction.
Yet for the younger people, this was a new beginning, a sign of hope, an anticipation of greater days to come.
Compare this to how christians deal with death, we grieve and yet not without hope.
We also experience death as a time of transition for something greater, an anticipation of greater days to come.
We grieve what death is, but we long for what death brings – a new and eternal beginning without end!
You might say that a christian funeral can be a combination of joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that can be heard far in the distance.
I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labour. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. [John 16:20-22]
This life is hard, and following Jesus can make it even harder (as the disciples discovered).
And yet life in Jesus also brings something deeper, a deep and profound joy and anticipation of something greater still to come.
Like the painful process of having a baby, there is a hope for a great blessing at the end.
Tears, and yet a joy that no one can take from us.
Joyful shouting and weeping mingled together.
As christians, we do not live in denial, we do not pretend that things are better than they are.
We are painfully aware that God’s “temple” (His world, and His people) are not living up to their created glory, and that many still suffer, still endure painful hardship and sorrow.
Like Jesus, we weep at the graveside; we grieve over the weakness and sin of people.
We sense that this world was meant to be so much more; we anticipate that one day it will be again.
With a mixture of weeping and joy, we look to the Lord for strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow!
And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. [1 Thessalonians 4:13-14]
PRAYER:
Lord, sometimes I feel the tears, sometimes I feel the joy. But one day there will be no more tears, and nothing and no one will be able to rob me of my joy!