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Nehemiah 8
Why are you here? And why on earth are
you listening to a sermon? [Dangerous Q to ask at the start] They’re not the
most popular things, I assure you. One man who absolutely had his fill of
sermons was Anthony Trollope. In his book Barchester Towers, he says this
about preaching.
“There is perhaps no greater hardship at present inflicted on
mankind… than the necessity of listening to sermons. No-one but a
preaching clergyman has in these realms the power of compelling an
audience to sit silent and be tormented… A member of parliament can be
coughed down or counted out, town councilors can be tabooed, but no-one
can rid himself of a preaching clergyman. He is the bore of the age and
the nightmare that disturbs our Sunday’s rest.”
I know when I was growing up – sermons
bored me silly. As a family we went to an older more traditional church
in Australia (I think it was founded in the 70s) and it had old fashioned
hymn books and at the front of church was a board listing all the numbers
of the hymns we were going to sing. To while away the sermon time I used
add up the numbers of the hymns and try to make an even thousand out of
them. I know some people who try to alleviate the boredom by counting all
the people in the congregation. It’s a good tactic but I’d recommend if
you’re going to do that, to sit at the back.
But the question is a real one – why
spend your Sunday morning here, listening to us? You’ve worked hard all
week. It’s Sunday, the sun is shining, and many of your friends will be
going for walks or playing golf or cricket, having a picnic. There’s a
lot of attractive options available to you this morning.
Why are you here?
In the part of the Bible we’re
studying this morning, Nehemiah chapter 8, we read about an ancient
church service that went on in Jerusalem. Recorded here is an account of
a sermon that was delivered almost two and a half thousand years ago. It
was extremely popular; it was life-changing and it left those who heard
it brimming with joy. This is the kind of church we’d get out of bed to
come to. Popular, life-changing, joyful. We must learn the lessons of
Nehemiah.
Because the people of Nehemiah’s day
were no different to us today. They were tired – they’d been working for
nearly two months solidly on the construction of Jerusalem’s wall. And in
chapter 8 – here was the chance to have a break – to take it easy for a
while. But the people of Nehemiah chapter 8 chose against the lie-ins and
the picnics and the rounds of golf, and they went to church. And the
remarkable thing is – in going to church, they weren’t choosing against
fun – they went to church because it brought them tremendous happiness.
Verse 10 of chapter 8 says “The joy of the LORD is your strength.” Verse
17 sums up the whole church service saying “there was great joy.” These
people were hedonists. And their hunger for more pleasure drove them to
church.
If you want real pleasure – lasting
and radical joy – forget the barbecues and the Frisbees or curling up
under the duvet. Come on in to the white hot gratification of church.
Nehemiah chapter 8 will tell us how.
The book of Nehemiah is all about the
work and worship of the church. In the chapters prior to Nehemiah 8 we’ve
seen Nehemiah lead his people – the ancient Israelites – in rebuilding
the wall around Jerusalem.
Why did this have to be done?
Because the earthly Jerusalem situated
in Palestine was, in the Old Testament, a picture of the heavenly
Jerusalem – the city of God – heaven itself. Jerusalem was designed to be
a picture of heaven.
The Old Testament is full of all these
kind of earthly pictures. For instance – the Temple with its sacrifices
was a picture of the cross of Christ. In the same way, the city of
Jerusalem was a picture of the eternal city. The city with foundations
whose Maker and Builder is God.
Building up the walls was not about
urban re-development – it was witnessing to a watching world that Christ
the LORD will prepare a much better and lasting city for those who trust
in Him.
And by the time we get to Nehemiah 8
we see that wall has been finished. Miraculously, in 52 days, this mile
of wall around Jerusalem was erected. The Jews had made their witness to
the nations. God’s picture of heaven on earth had been restored.
The question is – what would they do
now? They had the attention of the watching world. The surrounding
nations were Very interested in what the LORD was doing through the Jews.
They had the eyes of the world on
them. What will the Israelites say to the world now?
Well chapter 8 tells us.
Verse 1 – all the people assembled as
one man in the square before the Water Gate. We read in verse 2 that the
people comprised of the men, the women and all those who could understand
(so presumably that means the children who were old enough). Probably
around 30 000 people, gathered together.
The nations must have been wondering –
what’s going on? 30 000 people. Is it a football match? A march? A rock
concert? What would draw 30 000 people to gather as one man?
Well at this gathering the crowd in
verse 1 began chanting for Ezra to get cracking [Ezra – Ezra]. And he
comes out verse 4 onto a stage specially built for the occasion. And he
has an entourage next to him, verse 4, those presumably are his backing
vocalists. The nations are watching. The whole thing is set up for a
spectacular occasion. And what happens?
Verse three tells us. Ezra reads to a
captivated audience, the words of the Bible. From daybreak until noon.
Ezra reads from the books written by Moses – the first five books of the
Bible – Genesis and Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. He reads
them all and explains them to an eager congregation.
Now that the walls had been built,
what was the first thing the ancient church demonstrated to the
surrounding nations? They showed the world that they loved the Bible very
much.
That was their attitude to the Bible,
the attitudes of those in Clerkenwell today is a little different – as we
found when we went onto the streets with our cameras.
[VIDEO – Vox Pop interviews “Do you read the Bible?”]
Very different to Nehemiah 8.
Can you imagine a six hour sermon? You
have to love the Bible to stand reverently and attentively for six hours,
no bathroom breaks, no coffee breaks. Just standing and listening to God
speak.
And these Israelites were pleased to
do it. The lure of the weekend barbeque or the caravan down the coast
couldn’t keep them away.
Their attitude to the Bible is very
much like that which is described in the law of Moses which Ezra was
reading to them. In Deuteronomy chapter 8 Moses declares:
[SLIDE – Deut 8:3]
“Man does not live on bread alone but
on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”
It’s a very good description of the
scene in Nehemiah. It’s the picture of hungry beggars waiting for crumbs
that are dropping from the King’s table. And every single word that falls
from the mouth of God is food for these people. They are feasting on
God’s word.
Nehemiah chapter 8 is about 30 000
people who crave to hear God speak to them more than any earthly thing.
Can you relate to that? Or is this
sounding like a foreign language to you? Are you thrilled by the prospect
of coming to church to hear God speak? If the answer is no – maybe it’s
because you’re not hungry for God. Perhaps you haven’t made any room for
God’s thoughts, God’s agenda, God’s verdict on your life. Perhaps you
have filled up on your own views and opinions. As John Piper says in his
book “Hunger for God”:
“If we don’t feel strong desires for
God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is
because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is
stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.”
Is your soul stuffed with small
things? Television, hobbies, holidays, magazines, the kids’ school-work,
gossip, alcohol, sex – all crammed in to try to make you whole. These
aren’t bad in themselves but so often they crowd out the voice of God.
Like the Mars Bar that spoils your dinner of sirloin steak.
One speaker demonstrated this well.
During a talk he brought out a bucket and began filling it with rocks
until it was full up. He asked the audience whether the bucket was full.
They all said ‘Yes’. Then he got out some pebbles and poured them into
the bucket and they filled the space in between the rocks. He asked “Now
is it full?’ The audience said ‘Yes’. But they were wrong. He pulled out
an envelope of sand and filled the bucket still further. Was it full now?
No, the man finally added a cup of water which filled the remaining
space. “Now” said the consultant “what is the moral of the story?” One
woman spoke up and said “The moral is ‘you can always fit more in.’ The
man said “Wrong! The moral of the story is that if you’re going to fill
your bucket you must start with the rocks. Get the rocks in place first,
and then the pebbles and the sand can fit in around it. If you start with
the sand you’ll never get the rocks in.
Well people how are you filling up
your diaries? How are you filling up your souls? I’m talking to you if
you’ve been a Christian 30 years. I’m talking to you if this the first
time you’ve been in church. Are you filling up on the small things of
life? Have you left no room for Jesus Christ?
Well in the Bible, God is offering
Himself to you. He has commissioned a self-portrait called the Bible. He
has asked the Holy Spirit to write, through the Prophets and Apostles, a
biography of His Son Jesus Christ who is the exact image of His Father.
So the Father has given this Spirit-inspired account of His Son, and He’s
done it because He wants to be understood. He wants to speak into your
life – to let you know about the wonder of His Son and so to realize the
wonder of His love.
How will God speak into your life? He speaks as the Bible is read and
explained. Do you see that in verse 8? Whereas in verse 1, it was called
the Book of the Law of Moses – in verse 8 Nehemiah is absolutely clear
that it is also ‘the book of the Law of God.’ Moses might have been the human
writer – but God, by His Spirit, is the ultimate author. And just as he
used Moses to write the Bible – so He uses people to explain the Bible.
We see in verse 7 there were many who were employed in the task of making
God’s voice heard. In verse 8 “They read from the Book of the Law of God,
making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could
understand what was being read.”
The Bible should not simply be read,
it should be explained. And this is a wonderful thing. The Father does
not simply send down the Bible like a text book and expect us to study it
on our own. So often people complain that they just can’t get a handle on
the Bible and they need help. And I always say – yes you do need help –
we all need help, and God gives us help. The Bible is not just to be read
– it’s to be explained. Maybe you’ve never picked up a Bible before in
your life, you wouldn’t know where to start. Well that’s ok. As brothers
and sisters we work together to understand what our Father is saying.
Well what will be the effect of
hearing God speak in this way? Look at verse 9 with me: “All the people
had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.”
The Bible had exposed them in their
rebellion against the Living God. It had diagnosed their love of the
small things, the fleeting things, the selfish things of this world, and
their wicked neglect of the God who had given them such goodness. The
Bible brought all this home and it made them weep.
But then verse 10 – Nehemiah
pronounces this order to rejoice. “Do not grieve” he says “for the joy of
the LORD is your strength.” In spite of your rebellion – there is
forgiveness in the LORD, therefore rejoice. Go! Enjoy Sunday lunch – the
God of the universe knows what you’re like and He loves you anyway. If that’s
not cause for celebration, I don’t know what is.
And these Israelites went out
rejoicing in the LORD. The Bible had taken them to weeping and mourning
and then to rejoicing and celebrating.
It is the pattern of every great
adventure story. All adventure stories follow the same sort of pattern.
The pattern is – there are some ordinary people living ordinary lives and
they are plucked out of their ordinary circumstances and transported to
another land, another kingdom, another world, another planet, where they
are caught up in a cosmic battle of good and evil. And there are
dangerous baddies and there are wonderful goodies and at the end there is
a decisive battle fought and the good guys snatch victory from the jaws
of defeat. And at the end of the book the heroes are placed back in their
ordinary lives, but now they are changed. They are stronger, braver, more
caring, more centred, more joyful. Why? Because they had been caught up
in something so grand and so important – that their everyday lives took
on a proper perspective.
It’s the same as we come to the pages
of Scripture. As we read the Holy Spirit’s history of the world – it is a
cosmic tale of good and evil and victory in the LORD Jesus Christ. And
the believer in Jesus is caught up in the events of the Bible. We were in
the enemy camp – waging war against Jesus and deserving eternal death –
but Jesus in His mercy has come and died in our place and scooped us up
in the Resurrection and brought us into the family of God to sing His
praises forever. What a story!
But I have to ask you – are you
immersing yourself in this story? I’m talking to the Christians now. Are
you daily reminding yourself of reality? Are you daily making room for
God to speak into your life? If you’re not, those gaps you’re leaving
won’t be left empty – they’ll be filled. By the job, by the mortgage, by
that hobby, that past-time. You will nibble on the snacks, and your
appetite for God will diminish. It is a dangerous thing the neglect the
word of God. But it’s also a foolish thing. Look at verse 10. Don’t you
want verse 10 to be a reality in your life? “The joy of the LORD is your
strength”?
The highway to a joyless existence is
one cut off from God’s gracious word to us. If we refuse to listen to God’s
word, we’re like the sullen child who pokes his fingers in his ears while
his parents try to tell him of a wonderful holiday.
The Word of God brings life and
salvation. In it, the Holy Spirit declares that all our sins can be
forgiven in Jesus, if only we will believe Him. If we would unstop our
ears and listen there would be tremendous joy. The minute we think life
is about striking out on our own we enter a very joyless and peaceless
existence. The minute we think life is about our approach to God (rather
than His approach to us) we lead the unhappy life of the Pharisee. When
we understand that the Bible declares to us Jesus Christ’s approach to
us, to bring light and life, then the joy of the LORD will be our
strength.
Putting the Bible at the center of our
lives is crucial to understanding the wonderful grace of God. The Bible
is where the Holy Spirit gives to us Jesus Christ and in Him all the
goodness and grace which the Father longs to grant His creation. If we
want to be people of enduring joy then we must constantly hear the Spirit
speak God’s good news to us.
This week – whether you’re a follower
of Jesus Christ or whether you’re just looking, will you please make time
to hear God speak. Will you pick up the Bible and make room for His word in
your life. It’s when we get those rocks established, that everything else
falls into place.
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