SHOCK VALUE
DAY 167: I heard on the news that one of my favorite country singers had a car wreck... and was found lying in the road... naked... and drunk...and then threatened to kill the officers who responded. I wasn't shocked. The day before I heard that yet another unbalanced person was caught with weapons in a movie theater. I wasn't shocked. A pastor of a huge church was recently arrested for a domestic dispute involving a physical altercation with his daughter. I was definitely not shocked.
Let's face it, we are a society that has lost it's sensibilities. Nothing shocks us anymore. Gone are the days when Elvis's hips were scandalous and bad language was only heard from sailors. These days, it seems nothing is too sensational, salacious, or sacrilegious to be invited right into our homes via the TV and Internet. We have heard it all, seen it all, and gotten used to it all. We have lost the ability to be shocked; but that comes at a price.
In today's Bible reading, both in the Old and the New Testament, godly leaders called on the people to be shocked by what was happening around them.
In Ezra 8 & 9, a group of exiles, lead by Ezra makes the long journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. Before they started their journey, they took time to fast and humble themselves before God, asking him to give them a safe journey as they traveled. And depending on God alone for protection, Exra records God's faithfulness.
8:31 And the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way. So at last we arrived safely in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days. . . Then the exiles who had returned from captivity scarified burnt offerings to the God of Israel.
Then in the midst of the celebration of thanks, some of the leaders came to Ezra with unwelcome news.
9:1 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me (Ezra) and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples and have taken up their detestable practices. . . And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.
Today, hearing reports of people, even God's people, falling into personal sin of epic proportions wouldn't surprise most of us. But it did more than surprise Ezra. He writes:
3 When I heard this, I tore my cloak and my shirt, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down utterly shocked. 4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel came and sat with me because of this outrage committed by the returned exiles. And I sat there utterly appalled until the time of the evening sacrifice.
The news that some of God's people had fallen into sin, becoming like all the others around them, was completely shocking to Ezra. It's not that he hadn't heard of these sins before, but that God's own people would be involved disturbed him to his core. But he did more than express outrage.
5 At the time of the sacrifice, I stood up from where I had sat in mourning with my clothes torn. I fell to my knees and lifted my hands to the Lord my God. 6 I prayed,“O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 10:1 While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him.
Just as apathy is catching, so too it seems is Godly shock and grief. In their case, this shock also lead to repentance and a determination to reject such offensive behavior.
Jump ahead about 1500 years to Paul writing a letter the the church in Corinth. He was equally shocked by news others seemed apathetic about.
1 Corinthians 5:1 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. 6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough.
I can only imagine what Paul and Ezra would say if they were to see and hear what we see and hear today in our own homes and in our churches. I daresay they would be shocked. Then they would mourn.
Today's readings have prompted me to look again at my own life, household and church to see is there are "detestable" things I have become apathetic about. I already know there are; and so I will ask God for the heart to be shocked by them, grieve over them and cast them out. In this world where nothing shocks us anymore, it is too spiritually perilous not to be shocked. And even more perilous not to repent and clean house - my own house.
Ezra 10
1 Corinthians 6
Psalm 31:9-18
Proverbs 21:3
In today's Bible reading, both in the Old and the New Testament, godly leaders called on the people to be shocked by what was happening around them.
In Ezra 8 & 9, a group of exiles, lead by Ezra makes the long journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. Before they started their journey, they took time to fast and humble themselves before God, asking him to give them a safe journey as they traveled. And depending on God alone for protection, Exra records God's faithfulness.
8:31 And the gracious hand of our God protected us and saved us from enemies and bandits along the way. So at last we arrived safely in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days. . . Then the exiles who had returned from captivity scarified burnt offerings to the God of Israel.
Then in the midst of the celebration of thanks, some of the leaders came to Ezra with unwelcome news.
9:1 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me (Ezra) and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples and have taken up their detestable practices. . . And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.
Today, hearing reports of people, even God's people, falling into personal sin of epic proportions wouldn't surprise most of us. But it did more than surprise Ezra. He writes:
3 When I heard this, I tore my cloak and my shirt, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down utterly shocked. 4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel came and sat with me because of this outrage committed by the returned exiles. And I sat there utterly appalled until the time of the evening sacrifice.
The news that some of God's people had fallen into sin, becoming like all the others around them, was completely shocking to Ezra. It's not that he hadn't heard of these sins before, but that God's own people would be involved disturbed him to his core. But he did more than express outrage.
5 At the time of the sacrifice, I stood up from where I had sat in mourning with my clothes torn. I fell to my knees and lifted my hands to the Lord my God. 6 I prayed,“O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 10:1 While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him.
Just as apathy is catching, so too it seems is Godly shock and grief. In their case, this shock also lead to repentance and a determination to reject such offensive behavior.
Jump ahead about 1500 years to Paul writing a letter the the church in Corinth. He was equally shocked by news others seemed apathetic about.
1 Corinthians 5:1 I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. 6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough.
I can only imagine what Paul and Ezra would say if they were to see and hear what we see and hear today in our own homes and in our churches. I daresay they would be shocked. Then they would mourn.
Today's readings have prompted me to look again at my own life, household and church to see is there are "detestable" things I have become apathetic about. I already know there are; and so I will ask God for the heart to be shocked by them, grieve over them and cast them out. In this world where nothing shocks us anymore, it is too spiritually perilous not to be shocked. And even more perilous not to repent and clean house - my own house.
Ezra 10
1 Corinthians 6
Psalm 31:9-18
Proverbs 21:3
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