As we settle in to the familiar feel of a typical Melbourne winter, I feel a world away from the searing temperatures of the fateful day of Feb 7th where a darkened sky signalled what would be etched in our memories as the darkest of days; Black Saturday. But my work in these communities is a sober and constant reminder of the enormous workload ahead in the healing process. This was particularly highlighted when I recently took the opportunity to drive from my home in Ringwood, over to Warrandyte, then across the Yarra River, where I took the road out to Kangaroo Ground and turned right towards St Andrews, all the way to Kinglake. I vividly recall this drive as it provided me with one of the most breathtaking of scenes. Just outside of St Andrews, I was greeted by a valley which offered a thin winding road steadily climbing all the way up to Kinglake. Absent from many of the properties I passed were the twisted and ruined wrecks where homes once sat, cleared away and with earth now bare. A Caravan and a tent or two occupied the spaces – awaiting something new. But it was the tree’s that caught my eye for the trees couldn’t hide the rage they’d seen; bruised black and many dead. But those that were alive were covered thin with green sprouts as if to clothe their pain.
Of course for many, the clearing of fire ravaged debris has also provided an opportunity to reconsider the decision to live in these various townships and boroughs. For some it has provided the chance to look elsewhere and remove themselves from the memories and the pain. For others it is a chance to consolidate and reconfirm the decision to stay where the memories were.
As I considered the very real challenges facing each family in each township, I was reminded of the story in the Bible – the story of Nehemiah. It was this man whom God burdened with the task of returning to His Township with the view of rebuilding it. It says that the city walls were fire damaged and so he set about engaging all his fellow towns’ folk to work together to rebuild. Significant to this work was the restoration of all aspects of their home town. Most notably it was the fully functioning temple that Nehemiah was devoted to seeing established. For many of us a temple has little modern day equivalent. But in the days of Nehemiah, the temple was the venue for interacting with God. What good was a restored city if the most significant feature; the temple, lie in ruins? So it was more than the physical walls and buildings that were being restored. It was the entire culture and purpose of the city which was being restored.
Let’s not forget that it was God who initiated the rebuilding of Jerusalem by burdening Nehemiah with the task of communicating His will to the people. As I read the story again it struck me that when the Lord begins the work of (re)building, He does so with the express purpose of establishing an active temple and priesthood. In Nehemiah’s time, the temple is the break point where the people were able to participate and interact in God’s life. Without the altar and serving priests, they had no means to process sin, no means to interact with God, to offer to Him and for Him to bless them and speak to them.
Similarly, when God sets about restoring our lives, He wants more than a nice tidy facade and neat happy life. He desires to restore more than the city walls (boundaries) or the gates (guarded points of access), His soul desire is to restore the entire activity of temple life. Put simply, we could say that God desires to restore you back to Him. The literal building in Nehemiah’s time was simply a context to understand that their efforts were principally making way for the temple to again become active.
It says in Psalms “Unless the Lord builds the House, we labour in vain”. How tiring it is to try and build our homes, our lives and our families without God’s input and help. In fact, if we’re real, we have to admit that our efforts are in vain unless the Lord Himself builds the house. It’s sure worth considering whether we ourselves have allowed the Lord to build as he desires. Definitely worth looking to see whether the altar and priestly elements are active in our lives. For many of us we have allowed the Lord to begin the building but He desires to establish more than the safe walls and gates, He desires to restore the altar in your life; the place where you can bring your offering and see it ascend as a pleasing aroma before the Lord.
So for some of us we have to ask “how have we been distracted?” Does God’s work in your life, lie unfinished? If it does, I invite you to present yourself again to God and invite Him to again commence the work of His desire in your life. Restoration is about more than the buildings and the walls, it’s about His people being restored again to His will and purpose.
