“All the People Way Back When”, January 26, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Nehemiah 8: 1-10 Luke 4: 14-21
It was a long week of preparing for our Annual Congregational meeting after church on Sunday, the monthly governing body meeting on Wednesday, and a retreat for leadership on Saturday, which left little time for sermon preparation. Saturday night was a struggle to get enough material to have a sermon. fortunately, things came together a bit Sunday morning, but this sermon is not as well put together as I would like.
8: 1-10 all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. 2Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. 4The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. 8So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
9And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. 10Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Introduction: Biblical scholars are unsure about where this section of Nehemiah we read this morning should actually be placed in the Ezra-Nehemiah stories, although there is a consensus that this is not the correct placement of Nehemiah Chapter 8.
Many scholars believe it was originally part of the Ezra memoirs found in the previous book and an editor early on brought it to this place in Nehemiah.
Some scholars believe editors who wanted to emphasize the ongoing role of the Levite priest had something to do with its current placement.
if we were to study Ezra and Nehemiah in detail, we would see how this chapter does not seem to fit chronologically in an historically accurate way.
Although we do not know its exact placement, 5is chapter highlights the fact that this story is told because it has something to tell us about what God’s people thought was important to them after they had returned to Jerusalem from exile.
In keeping with our sermon series’ emphasis on the expansive nature of God’s call and God’s claim on our lives, we read this story and realize how important it was to the story of the returning exiles to make clear that the relationship between God and God’s people was important to all God’s people.
Move 1: this story makes clear that there is space for all the people, and they all wanted to be involved.
a. A momentous occasion,
the gathering of all God’s people who have returned from exile to Jerusalem,
the wall around Jerusalem has been rebuilt.
Now this worship service centered on reading God’s Word, takes place at the Water Gate.
1. Notice that the initiative begins with the people.
the people gather together
the people call on Ezra to read to them the law.
The word people in Hebrew is used 13 times in the first 12 verses of chapter 8.
2. This story is about all the people wanting to reconnect with God.
b. All the people gathered in a square before the Water Gate.
1. The exact location of the Water Gate is unknown;
perhaps it is across from the springs of Gihon on the east side of the city
2. But what is important about the spot is to that this square before the Water Gate is not a sacred spot.
3. If it had been a sacred place, like some of the parts of the Temple, only priests would have been allowed to come to the service.
4. but being at the square before the Water Gate means everyone can be there.
all the men
all the women
and then the text says, “all who could hear with understanding.”
In other words, even the kids who would be able to understand were included in the gathering.
Everybody showed up.
5. When we lived in KY, we discovered the fanaticism that state has for the game of basketball. Not just the University of KY, but even high school basketball. Kentucky my is one of the few states where every team begins on the road to the state championship. All sizes of schools compete in their districts,
then regions,
then 16 teams make the Sweet Sixteen, which is played at the downtown arena in Lexington where UK plays its home games.
Elect once in awhile, a little tiny school from a little tiny town makes it to the Sweet Sixteen.
The news loves those stories. I can remember seeing a couple of time newscasts showing one of those little towns when the team travels to Lexington for the Sweet 16 game.
the downtown, unusually one Main Street, has every business decorated with signs of support for their team.
when the day of the game arrive, virtually no one is left in town. the businesses that line the main street are closed; the schools are closed; the streets are empty because the whole town has followed their team to Lexington for the Sweet Sixteen.
the gathering of all the people in Ezra reminds me of that scene in KY - no one is at home; everyone has gathered to hear the Word, read.
I imagine signs up - closed today so we can all gather to hear God’s Word.
Clearly, that is my imagination in overdrive, but all the people gathered…
c. This story serves as a reminder that God’s expansive nature has been on display long before the coming of Christ.
1. God’s desire to redeem and save goes way back when.
2. No surprise that when Jesus stands up in his home synagogue and reads to begin his ministry, the passage takes those who gathered there with them,
indeed, takes us back as we read the story today,
to the prophet Isaiah.
3. Jesus is the greatest expression of God’s love and God’s desire to save, but Jesus is not the first sign of God's redeeming grace.
Pick any time in God’s ongoing relationship with God’s people, and it is a time marked by God’s grace for all the people;
God’s desire to engage all the people;
God’s desire to redeem and save.
yes, there were difficult times in God’s relationship with God's people, but even then God was working to save and redeem.
3. We can read stories from way back when;
or look to God in our present circumstances;
or anticipate the future
and in all times and places we see God at work reaching out to all the people.
Move 2: we also recognize that the relationship with God has always brought expectations for all the people.
a. We speak in terms of being Christians,
or hearing the call to be disciples of Christ to signify the commitment being in relationship with God demands.
b. Two important expectations of that commitment are seen as all the people gather in this story.
1. First of all, they gather around God’s Word.
2. The Book of the law of Moses,
probably some version of the Pentateuch,
that is, what we know as the first five books of the Bible - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
3. When they gather around God’s Word, it reveals the expectation that God’s Word should be the centering point for them and the foundation for how they are to live their lives.
4. As God’s people, God’s Word continues to guide and direct us as we live out our discipleship in our time.
5. The Bible does not come to us as a weapon to be used against others, but as God’s Word that reveals God’s love for us and how God instructs us to live our lives.
6. That, of course, is why our worship is structured with God’s Word at the center of our worship
We gather in anticipation of God’s word
then, we engage God’s Word
then, we go out to live God’s Word.
7. I am reminded of a story that comes out of the Reformation that was shared with us by John Buchanan at the Fall festival of faith several years ago.
As you may remember, some of the churches and cathedrals that had been part of the Catholic church changed hands and became part of the Reformed churches.
The Reformers in many instances removed the stained glass windows in the churches because they were seen as part of Catholic worship of things instead of focusing on important elements like God’s Word.
The clear glass windows were also welcomed because they allowed enough light in sanctuaries for people to read the Bible. (Story told by John Buchanan).
the Reformation, after all, emphasized the importance of all the people having access to God’s Word.
7. As we are powerfully reminded in this story from Nehemiah, God’s word is for all of God’s people,
and the expectation is that our lives will continually be shaped by God’s Word.
c. Secondly, by turning to God’s Word, the people discover the gap between how they are living their lives and how God desires them to live their lives.
1. Imagine the scene - the people have asked for God’s Word to be read to them.
they have listened for hours to its reading,
and then they weep.
2. Why do they weep?
We are not really sure.
maybe some are weeping because it has been so long since they have heard God’s Word
or maybe because they were included in this reading it overwhelms them.
Maybe some are weeping tears of joy because they recognize they are involved in this powerful moment in the life of God’s people.
I suspect, along with many scholars, that many of them weep because when they hear God’s word they recognize the many ways they have failed to live into God’s Word as they should have.
3. Reading God’s Word can do that to us, can’t it?
We hear about God’s love and discover how lacking our own love seems.
we read about God’s faithfulness, and see so clearly our unfaithfulness.
We hear Jesus tell us how to live our lives and know that we have failed to do so time and again.
God’s Word not only guides us by giving us instructions, but it also reveals how we fall short of how God desires we live our lives.
4. But notice how the leaders respond to the weeping
“do not be grieved. for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
5. The Word that convicts us of our shortcomings also reveals the God who continues to extend forgiveness
who continues to redeem us
who continues to love us,
who continues to save us.
if you don’t believe me, go read God’s Word and discover again and again God’s love and saving grace.
Conclusion: All the people way back when gathered because they needed to hear God’s Word.
Just like we do.
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