This morning is a joyous day in the life of Cornerstone Community Church. As many of you here know, we are gathering this morning to take a step toward trying to be the church as clearly as we know how. It has brought us to gather this morning to sign our church covenant.
It has been on my heart for a while that membership would become more than arbitrarily putting someone’s name on a roll and increasing the church’s numbers. Therefore, I sat down with a few men about four months ago and proposed to them that one way membership could move toward us seeing it as a declaration that one wanted to involve his or her life in the lives of the other people here was by writing up a document that stated the intent of every member here at Cornerstone. Then we agreed that a great way of declaring that was by having each individual sign a copy of the church covenant. And this will be one aspect of someone becoming a member from this day forward. However, first we wanted to have a Sunday where those who wanted to make this declaration as current members of the church could. That Sunday is today.
I have been meeting with each individual who expressed his or her desire to be a member of this body for these past four months. And, I can tell you on behalf of one another, this has been an exciting time for this body to look forward to. Therefore, in a few moments, I am going to call out a list of names, and as I call them, I would ask for the individuals to come forward and sign a copy of our church covenant as a declaration that you believe God has called you to join and minister with (and to) this body.
Before we get to that, however, let me state a few things that I want to be obvious.
As many will come today and sign a copy of the church covenant, it does not mean that we are more holy than anyone else. That is not any intent in this at all. It is simply a declaration these individuals are making that it is their desire to walk in holiness. And they understand that such requires the community of believers, and they want to put themselves under the oversight and discipline of this church. One of the most important reasons for church membership is the need to have yourself under the oversight and discipline of the church. We need one another. In fact, it seems that whenever the author of Hebrews speaks of the need for perseverance, he always speaks to the community to lift up, reproof, rebuke, encourage, and exhort one another. And these people feel that Cornerstone is the body to which God has led them for such. Many others here today may not be sure of that yet. That is fine. However, I would encourage you to allow God to lead you to a local church where you may place yourself for ministry, oversight, and discipline.
Let me also say, therefore, that we are not the only church. We are not a perfect church. We are not even saying that we are the least bit better than any other church is this city. This is simply our effort to try to be the church as clearly as we know how.
Finally, as we sign the church covenant today, it is not anything that we believe we are able to do in our own strength. Therefore, it is an act of faith. As we sign, we are saying, “God, I cannot do this, but this is the way which your word tells us to live. Therefore, we are stepping out in faith, asking you to make real to us the power of your resurrection in us. We are also depending solely on your grace to be the means by which we will pick ourselves up as we fail in these things that we may find the strength to persevere in you.”
And in light of that understanding, I come to the passage that we have read today. I simply want to use it to make one point today. However, first let me point out the similarities between the events of this story and our current situation.
First of all, the chapter ends with them making a covenant to strive to keep the law which God had given them.
Verse 38—“Now because of all this we are making an agreement (or covenant) in writing.”
Today we join in covenant as a declaration that we want to strive to live in holiness and be the body of Christ for and before one another.
Second, Ezra had been reading the law to the people and they had been worshiping the Lord for many days previous to the making of the covenant.
Verse 3—“While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.”
We have, in the weeks leading up to this day, been studying how it is that we as believers are supposed to live. We have looked at Job’s declaration of holiness in Job 31. We have discussed how fathers and mothers are supposed to raise their children. We have talked about how marriage is supposed to work. We have talked about how to “walk worthy of the calling with which [we] were called.” And we have discussed the role of church discipline, as we have led up to the time when we will renew this covenant with one another.
Also, when they made the covenant, they signed their names on it.
Verse 38—“Now because of all this we are making an agreement (or covenant) in writing; and on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.
Now, in the new covenant, all of God’s people are priests—able to come before him—therefore, we have chosen for all members to sign the church covenant.
Finally, (and this is my one point as well) Ezra had reminded them before they made the covenant to keep the law, that they were unable to do so in their own strength. That is what he spends most of the chapter saying. He reminds them of God’s faithfulness and their unfaithfulness. In verses 5-15, he praises God for his good works among and for his people. But then in verses 16-17, he says, “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; they became stubborn and would not listen to your commandments. And they refused to listen, and did not remember your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.” Ezra points out the people’s unfaithfulness. Why? I believe it was to highlight the faithfulness of God. The end of verse 17 reads, “But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness; and you did not forsake them.”
Look at God’s faithfulness in light of their unfaithfulness.
But it goes on. At that point the people did not continue in faithfulness to God. Verses 18-26 tell of their unfaithfulness in light of God’s goodness. And what was God’s response when the people cried out after their unfaithfulness had led them into oppression? Verse 27 says, “But when they cried to you in the time of their distress, you heard from heaven, and according to your great compassion you gave them deliverers who delivered them from the hand of their oppressors.”
So you would think that finally, they would live holy. But verse 28 says, “But as soon as they had rest, they did evil again before you; therefore you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them. When they cried again to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you rescued them according to your compassion.”
And the cycle continues, I believe reaching its climax as Ezra highlights the inexhaustible grace of God saying, “Nevertheless [despite their continued unfaithfulness], in your great compassion you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and compassionate God” (verse 31).
The fact that God is gracious and compassionate to his people is the basis for them writing and signing a covenant to walk according to the law. That is the reason for the “therefore” in verse 32. They did not sign this covenant because they were so good and thought they were able. They signed the covenant because God had shown his grace so clearly in the past, that it was an act of faith that God would show his grace to them continually in the future. Only when they understood that were they in a right position to join in the signing of this covenant.
Last week as we looked at Galatians 2:15-21, it was my desire that we would all see clearly that just as we were unable to justify ourselves but had to trust (by faith) in the grace of God, so we trust (by faith) in the grace of God to be continually sanctified in our lives between now and when we will see our Lord face to face.
Therefore, just as with the people in Nehemiah 9, this covenant which we are about to sign does not so much say anything about us as much as it does about the gracious, compassionate, mighty, covenant-keeping, loving, and forgiving God that we serve. Therefore, may we strive to be holy knowing it is only possible because he is holy and has justified us by his death and resurrection.
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”