Nehemiah 8

As we continue our “Let’s Rebuild!” series this week we enter the heart of the Book of Nehemiah, chapter 8.  And, at the heart of the heart, God’s Word, and our responses to it.

It’s been several weeks since the rebuilding of the walls was completed.  The opposition of their enemies has quieted, the predatory practices of some of their nobles ended.  The people have returned to their villages and farms.  Happy ending!

But not quite.  There’s a hunger or longing for … something.  So the people—all of them, all “who were able to understand—regather in Jerusalem.  The people ask to hear the Word of God.  As we read on, it’s clear that this was not a spontaneous gathering—Ezra is able to speak to the people from a “high wooden platform built for the occasion.”  Nonetheless, it is the people—the ordinary folks, who some dismiss as mere “lay” people—who are presented as taking the lead.

A rebuilt Temple and rebuilt city walls are needed, but they do not in themselves bring new life.  Fresh hope can never reside in the works of our own hands.  If we aren’t hearing and responding to God all we have is some nice architecture.

And so they gather to listen—but not to speeches.  As Torah is read they stand at attention.  They are assisted in their hearing and understanding by skilled and gifted members of the community who “make clear” God’s Word, “giving the meaning so that the people could understand.”

And as they listen they weep.  As the Law is read they realize afresh that new life, new hope will never come through their own obedience.  Their obedience matters, of course, but not in the ways they, or we, think.  

Our obedience is ever partial, incomplete, inconsistent, at times begrudging or resentful.  The Law tells us who we ought to be as the people of God and what we are therefore called to do—and the Law tells us that we come up short.  Even at our very best we’re not so hot.

At the heart of the Book of Nehemiah is the Gospel, the good news of the grace of God.

If there is to be joy empowering the life of our community it will have to come to us from “outside,” as a gift.  God delights in the obedience of his beloved sons and daughters, but he is not obligated by it; God owes even the best among us nothing.  God remains free to give joy because God is graciously good, not because we have finally “measured up.”

“The joy of the LORD is your strength” is not a self-help technique, but a Gospel proclamation.  The joy that empowers our lives together is not something we need to wait on until we have earned it; instead, it is the strength that comes to us so that we may live in the life and hope of God.

Our Jewish neighbors have just finished celebrating Rosh Hashanah, “Jewish New Year.”  It’s what the people in Nehemiah 8 were celebrating, too—a new year, new life, new hope, empowered by the undeserved joy of the LORD, which is given as we attend to God’s Word of gracious Good News.

These haven’t been the most joyous of days.  What might a more joyful you look like this week, a joy that is rooted in your attending to God’s Word?