Action required

Sin. It’s not a very popular word. It’s a word that is misunderstood, a word that has taken on a whole lot of meaning beyond what it actually means. It’s not a word I use for that reason. Because when I say the word, you may hear it differently from what I actually mean.

To me, sin is simple. It’s doing things my way instead of God’s way. As we’ve seen throughout this journey, doing things God’s way is all about trusting and obeying. Believing that God knows best. Getting to know God and what His way looks like and walking in it. Doing things my own way separates me from God. It affects our relationship, because I am not walking in trust and obedience.

So for example, in Ezra 9, we’re told that for whatever reason, God told His people not intermarry with partners from the surrounding nations. His people did not trust and did not obey. They chose to do it their own way.

The leaders point this out to Ezra.

That in itself is not enough.

Ezra is appalled and distraught.

That in itself is not enough.

Ezra prays fervently.

That in itself is not enough.

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly.  Ezra 10:1

That in itself is not enough.

Ezra refuses to eat and drink.

That in itself is not enough.

Ezra gathers all the exiles together to talk about it (I love how it’s raining and the people are ‘greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain’ and refuse to stay outside discussing it – a very human touch!).

That in itself is not enough.

Individual cases are investigated and a list drawn up of all those who have sinned in this way – it’s right there at the end of Ezra 10.

That in itself is not enough.

It’s time to put things right.

Action is required. Radical action.

Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God.  Ezra 10:3

“You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. Now honour the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”  Ezra 10:10-11

We can’t begin to imagine the scene. The heartache. The emotional goodbyes. The family break-ups. The consequences of not doing the right thing in the first place.

This is where the chapter ends. We don’t get to see how this works out in practice.

This where the book of Ezra ends. Which is a weird place and there is some speculation that Ezra and Nehemiah started out as a single book, which may make sense.

So this is where I leave things for this month.

An odd place to stop, you say. I’ve given you plenty to think about today already though, right?

Because –

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God  Romans 3:23

None of us are exempt.None of us can claim to do it God’s way all of the time. None of us get it right all the time. We all mess up. We all fail. Of course we do. We’re only human.

And so we all have things we need to identify and pray about and confess and put right.

The good news is there is hope. There is always hope.

The people in Ezra’s time knew this –

But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel.  Ezra 10:2

The second half of the sentence in Romans 3 asserts this –

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  Romans 3:23-24

The good news is that we don’t need to be dragged down by all this talk of sin. We can be uplifted by talk of grace.

This is the situation at the end of the book of Ezra –

Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.  Ezra 9:15

And this is the good news, brought to us by Jesus –

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  Hebrews 4:16

And so yes, this is a great place to leave you. What better place could there be.

Putting things right with God.

Getting your life back on track.

Dealing with the wrong stuff and marvelling at God’s grace.

Action is required. Radical action.

I’ll leave you to it.