“Trojan Horses”

Scripture Text: Ezra 4:1-5

Last week, President Obama met with the Congressional Caucus of the Republican Party, and a lively time it was. I heard that at one point the President reminded the delegates that he was working to adhere an old adage - “Keep your friends close, and meet with the Republican Caucus every now and then.” It drew a round of laughter.
The truth is that sometimes it’s difficult to know who your friends really are! Skilled opponents, in their efforts to derail your projects, may try to convince you that their help will be invaluable to your mission, and when you welcome them in, they do everything in their power to scuttle it.

I’m sure that you all know by now that I’m a political conservative, so it may shock you to know that I have a great admiration for the Democratic Party efforts in Congress during the past year. They have had their own agenda, and they have been very protective of the bills that they have developed. Many have called for bipartisanship in both houses of Congress, but they have steadfastly refused. I haven’t liked any of their bills – not one of them - not the context, not the content, not the intent - but I have to admire their dedication to keep their efforts untainted by the reasoning and desires of others.
Know who your friends are, and who they aren’t!

Read Ezra 4:1-2

Zerubbabel was the leader of the first contingent of Jews to return to the Promised Land after 70 years of exile. Once back in Israel, he continued as their leader, and as soon as the people got settled in their new homes, he erected an altar and began to rebuild the temple.
Even though they had permission from Cyrus, the king of Persia, to do this very thing, the people who had occupied the land in their absence didn’t like this idea one little bit. But they were smart. They didn’t, at least initially, directly oppose the construction, as they knew that this could fly in the face of the king’s order. They decided instead that they would work to defeat the rebuilding through deceit on the inside, not as conflict from the outside. What a novel idea! No blood, no gore, no great expense, no arms race, no uprising from your own supporters – just sow confusion, dissent and lies, and create a sense of failure among the ranks of your foes!
It just might work! And the concept of the Trojan Horse was formed – create a diversion that gets the enemy looking in a totally different direction, while the main attack comes from an unexpected quarter.

Read Ezra 4:3

But Zerubbabel and other leaders smelled a rat, and didn’t fall for the trick.

Have you ever been in a similar situation – involved in a great effort with many people wanting to be involved, but you just knew that something didn’t seem right?

A teenage boy desperately wanted to have a pet, and one day, his parents finally made a concession. They told him to decide what kind of pet he would like, and they would consider it. One day, he made his decision, and proudly announced to his folks “I’ve decided on my pet - I want a goat.” You can probably imagine Mom & Dad’s reaction, especially his Mom.
“Where will you keep this goat?”, she asked, knowing that they didn’t have any room out back to build a house and fence.
The boy replied, much to Mom’s chagrin, “In my room.”
She was horrified and cried “You can’t!”
“Why not?” the boy asked.
“The smell, son, the smell! It’s overwhelming!”
The boy answered, “Oh mama, he’ll get used to it!”

The first rule of the game is to keep the opposition off balance at all times! Make them think that your off beat suggestions and contributions are perfectly reasonable and acceptable.
And the church of today is no different. There are those who are advocating for many un-Christian concepts such as universalism, the secularizing of scripture, social and political activism that has no basis in faith, and the out and out denial of the basic tenants of Christian thought. And some of the most pointed of these attacks is coming, not from the outside, but from within.

Admittedly, Christianity, right from the moment that Christ spoke his first words in ministry, has been about taking aim at the status quo. But it wasn’t change for change’s sake! It was because the people needed to understand what God’s way is about, and why it isn’t the same as the world’s way. And the world attempted to derail the new faith by what ever means it could – the Roman emperors, the Jewish hierarchy, the Pharisees – especially Saul of Tarsus, and every other person or group who either felt threatened by or just plain didn’t like the new teachings.
And in the early 16th century when the church began to drift away from its roots, change came again from its own ranks. A priest by the name of Martin Luther began teaching against inequalities that he saw in the church, and his teaching was in direct opposition to the teaching of the established church. The Christian “protest” movement had begun and Protest continues to this very day.
So what is the difference between the liberal church of today, and the efforts of Wycliffe, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and the Wesleys? The great reformers of the past were leading the church back toward God and the scriptures and the basic tenants of our faith, and I’m not so sure that extreme liberal thought can even come close to doing this.

Dan Kimball wrote in his book, “The Emerging Church”, that Bishop Lesslie Newbigin [who had served for 38 years as a British missionary in India] found that ministry in England was now “much harder than anything I [encountered] in India. The cold contempt for the gospel is harder to face than opposition” (68).

That is where Trojan Horses lead us, and it isn’t toward the cross. As we approach Lent, which in turn prepares us for Holy week and the culmination of Christ’s great work on Easter, we need to be certain of the direction that our faith is taking us. But when the misdirections from inside come to be understood and exposed, they will not stop – they will simply change tactics.

Read Ezra 4:4-5

Threats, insults, fears, apprehensions, falsehoods, and out and out lies
were used to try to halt the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, and while it would be partially successful, while it was able to cast doubts in the minds of Judah, while it was able to slow the building process down to a crawl, it could never completely interrupt God’s plan for His faithful. And no matter what comes at the church of the 21st century, it too will survive. Doubts and frustrations may cause disruptions, frustrations and burdens may slow the church down, Trojan Horses may divert our attention from the truth of Christ, but spite of it all, God will prevail - He will never leave us, will never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). His plan is set, and nothing and no one can stop them. This is a great truth of our faith, but another truth is just as important - that we can also miss our opportunity to be part of this plan.

It’s time to begin to prepare for our season of Lent. Begin to seek the Lord’s will, explore His truths, delve into His Word, be in prayer with God more than once a week(!), discover just how much He loves you and how much He wants you to love Him. Don’t wait for Easter to begin your journey – start today.

Oh, you will be interrupted, and doubts will fill you, and procrastination will slow you down, and distractions will take you away, but never give up! Christ has never given up on us – why should we give up on Him?