What’s the point?

‘What’s the point?’ This is a question Andy asks me on a regular basis as he wanders around our house. Our house has taken a hammering over the years. Five boisterous kids who evolved into five stroppy teenagers (on occasions) – and now two boisterous and sometimes stroppy dogs……! We’re not bad at DIY when we get down to it – I have the will and Andy has the skill. But as Andy says, what is the point? What is the point in wallpapering an entire room for a quiet two year to take a black felt pen and draw a wobbly line along a whole wall? What is the point in replastering the hole in the bathroom wall where the door knob will be slammed into it when someone is frustrated with waiting? What’s the point in repainting the kitchen when greasy food may be thrown in rage? What’s the point in recarpeting the wall when the dog may decide to scrabble and dig into it on the first day? What is the point in rehanging a door when it is likely to be ripped off its hinges when we stand our ground and say no about something?

As I said, quite a hammering….a good few anger issues to resolve, along with the decor……

So what is the point?

I find that easy to answer because hope is strong. Hope that things can be better. Hope that things will be better.

Restoration. Renewal. Restitution. Rebuilding.

We are currently working on our hall and stairs. Stripping right back to the plasterwork. Replacing all the damaged door frames and scuffed skirting boards. Because however futile it seems, restoration is important.

Why not just move and start again? Because this is our home. We want to invest time and money (even if both are limited) into our home to make it a better place. We want to commit energy and love to our home to make it a better place. We believe in better. And that better can begin right here.

So why would God’s people return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and restore the temple? Why not start over somewhere else?

Because Jerusalem is home. The temple is God’s home. The people will devote time and money, energy and love to restoration, renewal, restitution, rebuilding. A huge regeneration project.

Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbours assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

This was the inventory:

gold dishes 30
silver dishes 1,000
silver pans 29
gold bowls 30
matching silver bowls 410
other articles 1,000
In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.  Ezra 1:5-11

Cyrus is returning what was never rightfully his. The bad guy is doing the right thing. It happens more than we might think. Maybe because restoration is built into our DNA.

The account of the return of the exiles to Judah and Jerusalem is all very factual. Frustrating for a fiction writer like myself. I want to know about their internal journey, their hopes and fears, their expectations, their conflicting thoughts…..what we get in Ezra 2 is a comprehensive list of those who returned…..

Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon….   Ezra 2:1

Came up from……..sounds like a kind of resurrection to me.

A new start. New life. New hope.

The men of the people of Israel, the men of Bethlehem, the priests, the Levites, the musicians, the gatekeepers of the temple, the temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon…..all returning from exile, all coming up from captivity……….

Along with some who could not prove they were descended from the people of Israel because they couldn’t find their family records (how often have we mislaid a birth certificate or passport? Too often).

They came.

And they gave.

When they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site.  Ezra 2:68

They settled in their own towns.

And they gave.

According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver and 100 priestly garments.  Ezra 2:69

According to their ability they gave…..

And that’s what I want to look at tomorrow.