Sermons for the Month
Seeking To Hear God's Voice
DATE: January 25th, 2004
SERVICE: Third Sunday after the Epiphany
TEXT: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
I imagine that we all have experienced a time in our lives when we longed for healing, for connectedness with others and with God and for a sense of hope beyond life's challenges.
Do you remember the days that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001? Churches were full. People were seeking answers, but to an even greater degree they longed for a sense of connectedness with others who were confused and suffering and also with something beyond this unpredictable world. People felt a need for the comforting and directing presence of God.
Unfortunately this phenomenon did not last long. But, while it did, the quest for spiritual support and guidance was not initiated by clergy or even church leaders. It grew out of a need of the people.
That's what's so interesting about today's reading from the book of Nehemiah in which the events being described are "people-driven" as those who gathered express their need for a word from the Lord. We need to pay more attention to the Old Testament stories because in them we find important messages.
Today's account requires a little explaining if we are to fully understand it. Many of the people of Judah have been exiles in Babylon since their nation was conquered by the Babylonians, the city of Jerusalem was vanquished and the Holy Temple was destroyed. Now, nearly 150 years later, the exiles are beginning to return to their now barren homeland.
The man, for whom the book is named, Nehemiah, is a servant of the King of Persia, the nation that conquered the Babylonians and freed the Jewish exiles. He has a problem. Nehemiah is a Jew, he cares deeply about his community and is loyal to his God, yet he is employed by a foreign power that ultimately is in control.
Without going into a lot of detail let's just say that Nehemiah approaches the King in just the right way and ends up returning to Judah in the role of a Governor. His objective is to rebuild the city walls of Jerusalem, but it's no easy task.
Outsiders in the region are hostile toward him. The Jewish community is a broken community and is in turmoil due to severe taxation that pits people against one another. Nehemiah must take a stand against those in leadership positions who are taking advantage of the vulnerable, so he separates himself from a needed source of support. Then there are more plots against the repair work. Finally, the re-construction is completed.
That brings us, then, to today's lesson. The people of God gather; it's important to remember that this is a broken community, divisions and injustice have divided neighbor from neighbor. Did you notice what they do? The people themselves, not the religious leaders, request the reading of the law. As one writer said, "It is as if the fractured community goes in search of its own healing."
There they are, in the repaired city with a restored temple, but that in itself is not enough. They are in need of guidance, of direction. So, they turn to the Torah, the first five books of what we call the Old Testament, that is filled with material that will instruct the people as to where they have come from, who they are and how they should live. These people are listening for the voice of God.
The Word is read, and interpreted. And when they hear it, they are overwhelmed by a sense of loss and shame as they are confronted with their own unfaithfulness. But, that's not the end of the story. There is hope!
They are reminded that this is a Holy day, a day set aside for remembering who they are and, more importantly, who God is. They are to celebrate, to share with those who are in need and to remember that God has once more acted graciously. They can rejoice because of God's mercy, and in that joy there is strength.
I began this sermon by mentioning September 11, 2001 because it is the best recent example we have in our country of when a broken, frightened community was in need of healing, guidance, connectedness with the past and most, importantly, desperate to hear the voice of God.
Whether or not that voice was heard, whether or not people - and the country - acknowledged where we went wrong, whether or not hope was found in God's graciousness is difficult to asses. What I can say, though, is that the need is on-going, in both a corporate and individual sense.
Like the people of Judah we often live fractured lives that are marked by that longing for connectedness with one another and with God. I've been reading an interesting book about what people - particularly those between the ages of 20-30 - want and need from the church in this 21st century, post-9/11 world.
I won't go into all the details except to say that a theme emerges over and over again whether the topic is worship or education or youth ministry or evangelism. And that theme is that there is a desire for that which is "real" in this world of virtual reality and electronic communication.
The stress is on a genuine encounter with God and a genuine community, on depth and substance, on relationship building and on the "otherness" of God. People want an encounter with God that has life-changing results, the author reports.
Isn't that what the people of Nehemiah's time wanted when they requested that the Book of the Law be read to them? Obviously this broken people were searching to connect with their God and their community and the experience was so moving that it brought them to their knees. But, they didn't stay there. God's grace, God's mercy touched them. As they rejoiced in that gracious love, they were empowered to move forward. Thus, the joy of the Lord was their strength.
Like them, we too can seek to hear God's word. We too can be reminded of whose we are. We too may be grieved by our unfaithfulness but at the same time healed by God's mercy. And, we too can rejoice in the grace that transforms us, and be strengthened by it.
This is important because our job - our mission - is to show what it looks like to live under the reign of God. People should be drawn here not because, like Wal-Mart, we offer a lot at a low cost. Instead, they should see us - the ones who have been guided and healed by God's grace-filled word and presence - and enter a community that embodies the faith.
I like a story I read about a church that was in a growing area but was struggling to survive, with only 10 people coming regularly. A pastor was sent there for one year, with the agreement that if things did not change the church would be closed. About six months later the church had 60 people in attendance. The writer of this account said he was curious about this positive change and he visited the church. He said what happened during the passing of the peace told the story. The pastor held out his hands in a gesture of openness and said, "Our God is a welcoming God. The only way our guests will know that God is a welcoming God is if we are a welcoming people. The peace of the Lord be with you." In all that it was doing this church attempted to make God's welcome real in people's lives.
May that be our goal as well. We who have heard God's voice and experienced healing grace are the conveyors of hope, and light, in a broken world. AMEN