First Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
1All the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3And he 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.
5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
8They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and 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 as 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 to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Psalm 19:1-14
1The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. 2One day tells its tale to another, and one night imparts knowledge to another. 3Although they have no words or language, and their voices are not heard, 4Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world. 5In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; it rejoices like a champion to run its course. 6It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again; nothing is hidden from its burning heat. 7The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent. 8The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes. 9The fear of the Lord is clean and endures forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb. 11By them also is your servant enlightened, and in keeping them there is great reward. 12Who can tell how often he offends? cleanse me from my secret faults. 13Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me; then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense. 14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
12Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
Gospel: Luke 4:16-30
16{Jesus} came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30But passing through their midst, he went away.
Return to the Source
As I explained to the kids a few moments ago, the Children of Israel, newly released from captivity, had found themselves in an interesting and explainable situation. After years of living in a foreign land, their distinctively Jewish religious practices had become either truncated, or forgotten all together. Without regular access to their written documents, things had been passed down by memory. Add to this the foreign influences of the Babylonian and Persian cultures, and that they had been in captivity a total of 70 years, it’s no wonder the Jewish laws and worship practices had fallen away. For some returning to Jerusalem, it’s quite possible that originally it had been their parents, grandparents, or possibly even their great grandparents who were taken into captivity. Keep all this in mind as we focus on our Old Testament reading for today.
As an aircraft maintenance supervisor in the Air Force, one of the things I struggled with was something we called maintenance practice creep. What I mean by this is, initially when a technician begins working on a new system they will follow the maintenance manuals step by step. As they gain experience, they slowly quit following the manuals and rely more and more on their memory. Before long, things are done by rote. After a while they quit opening the manuals all together and rely solely on memory. Next, they begin to develop shortcuts, leaving out important steps, and not long after that, they begin to do things incorrectly. It isn’t long before they’ve even forgotten which manual to use and simply do things, “their way.” In a way this was what happened with the Jews in exile.
The Torah contains 613 commandments or laws according to Jewish tradition. This number is somewhat debated as some will put that number at 761. Without access to the written word, imagine trying to remember all 600+ rules. When the bulk of the nation was carried off to Babylon, much of what identified them as Jews was taken away. The temple was destroyed, all the things they used in worship were carried away and put into the treasury of the king of Babylon, and all the sacred writings were locked away for safe keeping. Many thought these sacred writings were destroyed.
Because of this, the people simply relied on their memory for how to keep the laws God handed down to Moses. These laws and statutes were then passed on orally over the decades and were shorted, streamlined, and adjusted to fit the circumstances. Over time parts were dropped and others modified to fit the situation. Soon, things had changed to the point that they were seen as unimportant or were mere shells of what they were originally. By the end of their captivity, only three things remained of the Jewish culture, their dietary laws, their observance of the Sabbath, and circumcision.
The point I’m attempting to drive home is, that over time, and depending on the situation, we will lose sight of what it means to be a Christian, unless we constantly read and reread God’s words from the source. The longer we rely on our own memory and understanding of what we’ve read and been taught, the more things will get distorted and misunderstood. This is one of the main points being made in our Old Testament reading for today.
The account we have in the book of Nehemiah can be read in three parts. In part one, Nehemiah, a Jew living in Babylon, rose to a place of honor as a royal cupbearer in the Persian court. Sometime around the beginning of the 5th century BC, Nehemiah received a message from a relative who had just returned from a visit in Jerusalem. The relative, Hanani, reported bad news: The survivors who escaped exile, were in great trouble and shame; the walls of Jerusalem had been broken down, and its gates were destroyed by fire (Nehemiah 1:3). Deeply moved by the report, and remembering the promises given through the prophets that God would forgive and restore His chosen people, Nehemiah decided to return to Jerusalem and help rebuild the destroyed city. He sought and got permission from the Persian ruler Cyrus to return to his homeland.
Part two of the drama has Nehemiah returning to the land of his fathers and undertaking the task of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. This man of God called the Jewish leaders together and proposed the refortification of the holy city. They responded eagerly: “Let us rise and rebuild (Nehemiah 2:18).” Each of the business merchants and priests worked hard to rebuild an assigned section of the fortification of Jerusalem, opposite their home. This is the context for the entrance of Ezra, the scribe and priest who took the building theme beyond rebuilding. Ezra took on the responsibility of proclaiming the word of God and to reeducate the people. But instead of declaring God’s commands and statutes from memory, Ezra went back to the manual, back to the scrolls of the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Law.
Part three of this drama is found in our reading for today and illustrates what the Word of God means to us. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We first need to look at Ezra’s approach to reeducating people. Ezra had led an expedition of the Jews back to Jerusalem from Babylon. Then, on the first day of the 7th month, Ezra, along with the other Levite priests, climbed the large wooden platform that had been built near the Water Gate in Jerusalem and Ezra and the Levites read from, and explained, the book of the Law of Moses. It’s here that we pick up the story from Nehemiah’s account.
“Now in mid-September, all the people assembled at the plaza in front of the Water Gate and requested Ezra, their religious leader, to read to them the law of God which he had given to Moses. So Ezra the priest brought out to them the scroll of Moses’ laws … He faced the square in front of the Water Gate and read from early morning until noon. Everyone stood up as he opened the scroll … All the people began sobbing when they heard the commands of the law” (Nehemiah 8:1-9).
The first question many have asked is, why did the thousands of people in Jerusalem weep when they heard the law of Moses? Two reasons: one, it had been a long time since, and for some never, they had heard the words of God read in their presence. Two, they wept as they realized how far they had drifted from the ways of God. They wept because of how far they had strayed from God’s original commands and statutes. They wept because they realized the depth of their sins. When we hear the words of God’s commands and statutes, what is our reaction? Do we examine ourselves and weep over how far we’ve drifted away from God’s will for us, or do we simply justify our actions as God is doing a new thing, or do we bend God’s words to meet our situation?
One of the more colorful eras of our country’s past is the old Wild West. We’ve all seen the TV shows and movies of the cowboys chasing stagecoaches over rough, barren terrain, and sheriffs swaggering down dusty main streets. The towns that sprang up virtually overnight were built in regions rich in natural resources such as lumber, borax, silver, and especially gold. These thriving communities “out west” revolved around a general store, a blacksmith shop, a livery stable, a prospectors’ office, a saloon, a jail, a sawmill, and a doctor’s office. There was even the occasional white clapboard church, complete with adjoining cemetery.
Sometimes these small settlements, vanished as quickly as they had burst upon the scene, leaving a ghost town full of abandoned buildings where once there had been a community of vibrant commercial enterprises. Jerusalem may have resembled a ghost town of sorts to the Hebrew people upon their return from being held captive in Babylon. More than 500 years before the birth of Christ, the Babylonians had conquered Jerusalem and carried the more prosperous, better-educated, residents of the region back to Babylon with them. Only a small number of peasants were allowed to remain in the area surrounding Jerusalem.
Ancient cities surrounded by their protective walls, usually several feet thick, were very much like forts. The walls, complete with massive gates and watchtowers, inspired feelings of security. After enduring a seventy-year absence as captives at the hands of the Babylonians, the Hebrew people found their old home place to be a sight for sore eyes. Time and the destruction at the hands of the Babylonians left the city dilapidated, its walls crumbling, and streets full of potholes. The narrow streets, which had once bustled with market traffic and international trade, were now strewn with rubble. Yet, it was home, the land God had given to their ancestors.
Most of the returning exiles were poor and had few resources for rebuilding their land. However, the people of God made some important accomplishments shortly after returning home. One immediate need in Jerusalem was to rebuild the city walls. Despite opposition from Israel’s enemies, and without the advantage of modern power tools, the building team accomplished most of the work in just 52 days. Thus, the rebuilding and restoration of Israel had begun. Nehemiah was one of the Jews who had actually prospered while residing in Babylon. As personal valet to the king, he had become a leader who was respected by both his own people and those in powerful positions in Babylon and Persia. But he gave all that up to return home and lead the people in the restoration of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah was also a man of prayer, and a man of action, devoted to God as well as to his people and their native land. With the blessings of the Persian government, Nehemiah organized a building team to travel back to their beloved Jerusalem on a mission trip. The Hebrew people journeyed 500 miles, returning to the land God had promised their ancestors. Travel was slow, largely on foot, since the camels and donkeys were needed to transport precious supplies. Nehemiah also recognized the need for spiritual reform and made plans for a city-wide revival. Ezra, the preacher for the revival, was a former resident of the area, who also traveled from Babylon back to Jerusalem. Ezra gathered the people on the plaza by the Water Gate, which now is securely embedded in their newly refurbished city wall.
Since the Water Gate wasn’t restricted to “men only” like other gates, women and children were able to participate in the gathering. It was an appropriate location to hear the living water of God’s Word. As the event starts, Ezra unrolls the scroll of Moses and begins to remind the people of who they are, and what’s required of members of God’s chosen people. He advises this congregation that the Law of Moses isn’t a burden, but a gift, one they can receive with gratitude.
Centuries before, Moses met with God on Mount Sinai. There, God gave Moses His laws, instructions, and guidance to pass on to the people of Israel. Carrying on the ministry of Moses, Ezra reads scripture from early morning until midday, about six hours. During this time, the people, hungry for God’s Word, listen intently. As they listened, the word of God was explained in light of their present circumstances, so they would be able to apply it to their daily lives. They are reminded that their covenant with God involves promises and responsibilities on both sides. God had chosen to enter into a relationship with them, and their ancestors had agreed to follow God’s laws and statutes, and this new generation was moved to tears and begin to reclaim their understanding of themselves as the people of God.
The reading of God’s Word inspires repentance, praise, thanksgiving, and action. Once again, the people were becoming a nation of priests to the other nations. The community of returnees began to reorganize around the requirements of the law. What was true then, is still true today, God’s Word can change hearts and shape behavior today, just as it did in Nehemiah’s time. The law shows us how God’s people are supposed to act and how we’re to relate to one another.
According to the prophet Jeremiah, people will know in their hearts right from wrong and want to keep the law. The psalmist declares, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul, and giving wisdom to the simple. It is more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey” (Psalm 19:7, 10). Martin Luther reminds us that the law is also full of God’s grace. “The law says, ‘Do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘believe in this’ and everything is already done.”
Before sending His disciples out, Jesus gathered them to give them instructions. He advises them to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Nehemiah would have understood this advice of Jesus. He had already employed this strategy with those who are trying to undermine his work on the wall. Nehemiah shows us how to put Jesus’ words into actions. Our reading and study of scripture instructs us in virtuous living, but reading isn’t enough. We read to learn and obey God’s will, and to be equipped for God’s work in our world.
Sadly, today, we live in a society in which right and wrong have become largely a matter of personal opinion. All individuals are seen as a law unto themselves, and what’s right for one person isn’t necessarily right for anyone else. The result is that there is no common standard of conduct that governs our lives. The country is split into a multiplicity of little groups, each pursuing its own values and setting its own ethical agendas. Frequently there’s conflict, each group trying to gain power for its point of view and scorning the standards and lifestyles of other groups. A scathing statement at the end of the book of Judges could apply to our society: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
In some sense, we might see that as the situation of the Israelites when they returned to Jerusalem after the exile. Their religious traditions and knowledge of God’s directions for their lives had been largely forgotten, and they were left with nothing but their own desires and wisdom to reconstruct their shattered community. It’s important to note that a community that has forgotten its founding story and common ethic cannot be a community. It can only be a conglomeration of competing groups and interests, as our society often is, and apparently the people in post-exilic Jerusalem were wise enough to realize that.
According to our text in Nehemiah, the people of Jerusalem all gathered and “they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel” (v. 1). They demanded to hear the Torah. They wanted to know and understand God’s wishes and will for their lives and their community. Would that we were that hungry to hear God’s word. They were hungry not just for the promises of God’s mercy, but they longed to know how to please God through their lives.
God’s word, both Law and Gospel, are all instructions that Jesus, Paul, and all the other writers set down for us; they are expressions of God’s love. God, despite our rebellion, has delivered us from slavery to sin and death, just as He delivered Israel from Egypt. And in Jesus, God has given us a new life. As Paul writes, “The old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17) — all those sins and guilts of the past, our inability to do the good, all of our despairs and anxieties that we’ve gone through, these are now done. God has forgiven us in Jesus and sent to us His Holy Spirit so that we may walk in righteousness and in newness of life.
God points the way to abundant life by means of His commandments, because He loves us and wants only what’s good for us. But we can’t know this unless we constantly remind ourselves of God’s will for our lives. We cannot rely solely on our memories, or by simply listening to the Bible teacher or preacher. To truly know God’s will for us, we must read and reread straight from the source. When we do, we will truly know the joy of being one of God’s chosen people.
Amen