| “Stop your complaining! We used to have to walk to school barefoot in the snow – uphill, both ways!” We’ve all heard stories of how things were “back then.” Sometimes, we even hear of how principled people used to be and how it has just gone downhill since. We may hear something like, “The church was thriving in the 50’s” or “Our parents would be ashamed of the culture we live in today.” Generational perspectives. Elder generations may tend to look back. Younger generations, on the other hand, may tend to look at the present. Perhaps, while mindful of the past and present, we should all be looking forward to what could be.
We can observe different generational perspectives in Ezra chapter 3. Shortly after God placed it on King Cyrus’ heart to release the Jewish captives (Ezra 1), the people returned out of captivity to their homeland and restored regular sacrifices on the altar. And then in the second year, all of Israel came together to build the foundations of the temple. It was a joyous occasion, met with much fanfare. The priests and Levites brought instruments as prescribed by David, and all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord (Ezra 3.10 – 12).
But for the older generation, who had seen the splendor of the previous temple, their praise was accompanied with loud weeping. The weeping was so loud in fact that those listening from a distance could not distinguish between the sounds of praise and the sounds of weeping (3.12 – 13). So, here we have different generational perspectives. The older generation was worried about the temple measuring up to its former glory. The younger generation, on the other hand, was excited because “the foundation was laid”.
Neither perspective was unwarranted. But what everyone seemed to fail to consider is what “could be”. While some were excited to have built the foundation, it would remain just a foundation for the next 16 years! Stuck in the present, fear and material indifference overtook their joy (Haggai 1). And for those who saw the new temple foundations as “nothing”, once temple construction resumed, God promised that the latter glory of God’s house would surpass its former (Haggai 2.3, 9). No need to be stuck in the past. When we consider that this promise would ultimately be fulfilled in the glory of Christ and His church, it is easy for us to look back and think that they were missing the big picture – what would be.
We have a lot of concerns in our society and in the church today. We also may never restore things to “how they were”. But a lesson we can take from the restored Jews is that we can focus on the Lord’s work and trust Him to be with us. If we focus on the perspective of what “could be”, then God will still use us to bring about great glory!
Scott Ihle |