March 12: People Who Went with Ezra
♫ Music:
Day 27 - Monday, March 12
Title: People Who Went with Ezra
Scripture: Ezra 8:1-8
Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes: of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush; of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical list; of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 males with him; of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel and 300 males with him; and of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 males with him; and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 males with him; and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 males with him;
Poetry:
Genealogy
By Jennifer Chang
This stream took a shorter course—
a thread of water that makes oasis
out of mud, in pooling,
does not aspire to lake. To river, leave
the forest, the clamorous wild.
I cannot. Wherever I am,
I am here, nonsensical, rhapsodic,
stock-still as the trees. Trickling
never floods, furrows its meager path
through the forest floor.
There will always be a root
too thirsty, moss that only swallows
and spreads. Primordial home, I am dying
from love of you. Were I tuber or quillwort,
the last layer of leaves that starts the dirt
or the meekest pond,
I would absorb everything.
I would drown. Water makes song
of erratic forms, and I hear the living
push back branches, wander off trail.
DOGGED ENDURANCE
Every year on the fourth Sunday of Advent, the genealogy of Christ from Matthew is read to the congregation at the church I attend. It is a moving account starting with Adam and concluding with Christ, a powerful passage because of who Jesus is and what He means to me. Census reports like the one in our Scripture reading today share a rich history of human relationships and a deep sense of community. This listing from Ezra details those returning with the prophet to Jerusalem, three generations after Zerubbabel had taken the first wave of exiles back to the land of their ancestors. Scholar Derek Kidner writes, “The interest of this forbidding list of names and numbers lies in the fact that in every case but one these groups are joining, at long last, the descendants of the pioneers from their own family stock who had been in the first part to return from Babylon 80 years before.”
The word “pioneer” leaped out at me as I read Kidner’s quote. The 5,000 men, women and children embarking on the perilous four-month journey to Jerusalem, leaving everything they had achieved in Babylon behind, were in the truest sense pioneers. What is characteristic of a pioneer? Pioneers aren’t satisfied with what they have but hunger for something new. They have adventurous spirits; are action-driven risk takers brimming with ideas; and earnestly desire to be a part of something substantial that will advance the work and kingdom of God.
Pioneers aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and are willing to put up with lots of inconvenience along the way. Those returning with Ezra to Zion hoped not only to rebuild the temple but also an entire society where Israel’s ancient splendor and prosperity would be restored.
Yet, the story found in Ezra is ultimately one of deep frustration. The wonderful return to Jerusalem never quite measured up to the expedition’s anticipation. Four and a half months after Ezra and company arrived in the Promised Land, he is alerted that former returnees, including their spiritual leaders, have violated God’s laws regarding intermarriage and are living in sin. Distraught at the news, Ezra violently rips his garments and pulls out his hair in a public display of grief and rage. In his prayer of repentance that follows, Ezra cries, “We have sinned. From the days of our fathers until this very day our guilt has been great” (Ezra 9:6-7). Although Ezra convinces some of the people to leave their heathen wives, it is doubtful that everyone cooperated. And regarding temple reconstruction, the new temple was smaller and far less glorious than the structure that King Solomon built. Jewish scholar Shawn Aster writes regarding these pioneers, “The persistence and doggedness with which the Jews of the period confronted these challenges became a model for the generations that followed. Rabbi Tarfon said: ‘It is not incumbent on you to finish the work, but nor are you free to desist from it.’”
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). Recent burnout statistics for full time Christian workers is staggering. Regarding stamina and steadfastness in God’s work, there seems to be a disturbing inclination to give up. In a season of my own ministry burnout and desire to be reclusive, I happened upon a powerful documentary on Netflix. It is the story of Father Joseph Philippe from Fondwa, Haiti, a contemporary Christian role model who is endeavoring to advance the work of God in one of the poorest nations in the world.
For over thirty years Father Joseph, in addition to serving as parish priest, has pioneered a work that has helped more than 200,000 Haitians become financially stable, by developing banking institutions specifically for the poor. In addition, he has started an orphanage, a primary and secondary school, a radio station, programs in renewable energy, water purification, reforestation and agriculture, and has established the University of Fondwa, Haiti’s only accredited rural university. The film highlights the devastating effects of Haiti’s 2010 massive earthquake, whose epicenter was close to Father Joseph’s work. All of the physical buildings in the ministry were destroyed. Watching Father Joseph and his community survey the damage, I felt a personal sense of despair. Throughout the film the miraculous struggle to (for the first time) find a way through Haiti’s grinding poverty in the face of constant insurmountable odds is palpable, but in the aftermath of the earthquake one wonders how it is possible for the work to continue. Yet Father Joseph’s courageous endurance shines bright. “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
Lent is a time to ask thoughtful questions. It is a time to leave the cushy comforts of Babylon and make the arduous journey to Zion. It is a time to take up pioneering work and seek to do some difficult task. It is a time to forget about ourselves and fix our gaze on Jesus. Pastor Robert Deffinbaugh exhorts, “May God give us a fresh supply of love and good deeds. May we practice our former works. May we not become self-absorbed and self-indulgent. May we be faithful to our calling, and obedient to his commands. May we return with fresh commitment to the work he has given us to do.”
Prayer:
Dear Lord, O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be! Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
Amen
(From the Hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” by Robert Robinson)
Barry Krammes
Professor of Art, Emeritus
Biola University
About the Artwork
Roots
Daphne Odjig
1979
Acrylic on Canvas
1.52 x 1.21 m (each panel)
Daphne Odjig's works focus on her Native-American heritage and culture, and the impact of colonialism on her people. Her work also addresses human suffering, relationships, and the importance of family and community. This triptych addresses the ancestry of her people, but also serves as a reminder to us all of the importance of our heritage.
About the Artist:
Daphne Odjig (1919–2016) was a Canadian First Nations artist of Odawa-Potawatomi-English heritage. Her painting is often characterized as “Woodlands Style.” She was involved in the formation of the Professional Native Indian Artists Association, a group considered a pioneer in bringing First Nations art to the forefront of Canada's art world. She has received a number of awards for her work, including the Order of Canada in 1986, the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2007, five honorary doctorates, and was made a Member of the Order of British Columbia. Odjig's early works were very realistic in their style, however she later began to experiment with Expressionism and Cubism, and then developed a style of her own which fused together elements of aboriginal pictographs and First Nations arts with European techniques and styles of the 20th century. Her work is included in such public collections as Canada Council's Art Bank, the National Museum of Man in Ottawa, the Tom Thompson Gallery, the McMichael Canadian Collection, the Sequoyah Research Center and the Government of Israel. Odjig had over 30 solo exhibitions and was part of over 50 group exhibits during her career.
About the Music:
“Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 'From the New World': II. Largo (excerpt)” from the album 100 Best Classics
About the Composer:
Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904) was the first Bohemian composer to achieve worldwide recognition, noted for turning folk material into the language of 19th-century Romantic music. Dvorák’s technical fluency and abundant melodic inspiration helped him to create a large and varied output. He composed in all the musical genres and left works that are regarded as classics, with the possible exception of opera. Dvorák’s “Symphony No. 9 in E Minor” from the New World album, thought to be based on African-American spirituals and other influences gained during his years in the United States remains his best-known work.
About the Performers:
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons is a symphony orchestra of international renown. It was formed in 1919 and today has 108 musicians in its ranks. The Oslo Philharmonic plays between 60 and 70 concerts in Oslo each year, mostly at the Oslo Concert Hall, but also at several other venues. The Orchestra has a broad symphonic repertoire; plays with internationally acclaimed soloists and conductors, and regularly tours in Norway and abroad. Vasily Petrenko is contracted as the Orchestra´s Chief Conductor until 2020.
Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (b. 1943) is a Latvian conductor, the son of the conductor Arvids Jansons and the singer Iraida Jansone. As a child, Jansons entered the Leningrad Conservatory, where he studied piano and conducting. During his career, he has been the Associate Conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, the Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic, the principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a guest conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. At the start of the 2003/2004 season, Jansons began his tenure as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) and in May 2015, the BRSO extended Jansons' contract to 2021.
About the Poet:
Jennifer Chang is an American poet. She earned her MFA and PhD from the University of Virginia and currently teaches at George Washington University. She is the author of two books of poetry, The History of Anonymity and Some Say the Lark. Chang’s lyrical poems often explore the shifting boundaries between the outer world and the self. In a review of The History of Anonymity for The Boston Review, critic Kristina Marie Darling observed, “While formally diverse, the collection is unified by an ongoing engagement with the natural world, with Chang often presenting forests, rivers, and vast seaside landscapes as loci for her speakers’ search for self-knowledge and authenticity.” Speaking to the “emotional landscapes” of myths and fairy tales that surface occasionally in her poems, Chang stated “As a scholar, I don’t trust autobiography, and as a lyric poet, I don’t trust narrative: both enforce a coherence that reveals more about the writer’s motives at the moment rather than the life or story being told. What I do trust is mystery; I trust confusion.” She co-chairs the advisory board of Kundiman, a nonprofit organization that supports Asian-American literature.
About the Devotional Writer:
Artist and educator Barry Krammes (b. 1951) received his BFA in printmaking and drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and his MFA in two-dimensional studies from University of Wisconsin, Madison. For thirty-five years, he was employed at Biola University in La Mirada, California, where he was the Art Chair for 15 years. Krammes is an assemblage artist whose work has been featured in both solo and group exhibitions, regionally and nationally. His work can be found in various private collections throughout the United States and Canada. He has taught assemblage seminars at Image Journal’s annual Glen Summer Workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Krammes has served as the Visual Arts Coordinator for the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute in Cambridge, England, and has been the Program Coordinator for both Biola University’s annual arts symposium and the Center for Christianity Culture and the Arts for several years. He has also been the editor of CIVA: Seen Journal for Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA), a national arts organization.