The Faith-in-Action Preacher

April 11, 2021 Background Scripture: Ezra 9 – 10 Lesson Passage: Ezra 10:1 – 12 James, the writer of the New Testament epistle that bears his name, is best remembered for his statement “Faith without works is dead.” Put another way, true faith is always accompanied by action or activity that supports faith’s claim. Some have adopted the mantra “I can show you better than I can tell you.” No matter how one chooses to say it, the bottom line is: how we act is based on what we believe. To act otherwise is to be labeled a hypocrite. When our actions align consistently with the mission and ministries of God, then our religious faith is demonstrated. Consistency is important when it comes to a person’s character being reflected. Regardless of what we say over and over, what we do over and over speaks louder than our words. Throughout recorded history, there have always been people who became role models because of their consistency of character in difficult situations. Today’s lesson focuses on such a person, Ezra. The recorded history of Ezra presents him as a “roll up his sleeves and get it done” type of person. What’s even better, Ezra is presented this way as a servant of God. Ezra is introduced on the pages of history with his pedigree that is traced back to Israel’s first High Priest, Aaron. In other words, Ezra was born into the lineage of priests according to the word of God. God had promised Israel that there would always be a descendant of Aaron to serve in the office of priest; to stand before Him on behalf of his people. Ezra had prepared himself to serve by being a student and teacher of the word of God. The historical backdrop for our lesson is the return of some of the Jews to Israel at the end of the seventy years of Babylonian captivity. Their return needed to include a return to the true worship of God as delivered to Israel through Moses. Judah had fallen into captivity because of her departure from the ways of the Lord. Their return to the Promise Land needed to include acts of true repentance. The hand of God was on Ezra and he was led up from Babylon to Israel. It did not take long for Ezra to realize that the work would be great in leading the Jews to return to God. Ezra found that everything that had led to Judah’s fall and captivity was still prevalent in the land. Many of the Jews had intermarried with Canaanites in opposition to God’s warning for them not to do so. The matter was made worse in that the Levites and the priests had joined in the blatant hypocrisy and disobedience to God. How could they lead the people to do right when they were doing wrong? Ezra fell on his knees outside the temple and prayed openly to God on behalf of the nation. The leaders of the Jews responded by suggesting that Ezra arise and lead them according to the word of God. They agreed that all among them who had intermarried would divorce their foreign wives. Ezra called for an assembly of the people in three days to address the matter. Not only had many of the Jews intermarried, but many of them had children by their foreign wives. This was a very difficult thing that Ezra was asking of them. Nevertheless, Ezra stood on the word of God and addressed the people on the third day. He insisted that the only way forward was for the people to comply with the word of God. To this they all agreed. Ezra’s example of seeking God and following the word of God led the people to align their lives with the word of God. Ezra didn’t just talk; he put his faith into action. Robert C. Hudson March 31, 2021