The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Love of God, and The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Nehemiah 8:1 “And all the people gathered as one person at the public square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 Then Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read from it before the public square which was in front of the Water Gate, from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law… 5 Then 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. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then they kneeled down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground…8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading. 9 Then 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 were weeping when they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go, eat the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your refuge.” (NASB)

A father and mother visited their newly married daughter, who was preparing her first Thanksgiving dinner. The father noticed that the turkey was thawing in the kitchen sink with a dish drainer inverted over the bird. The father asked his daughter why a drainer covered the turkey. The daughter turned to her mother said, “Mom, you always did it that way.” “Yes,” her mother said, “but you don’t have a cat!” (Illustration Exchange)

Contrary to what some reformed and fundamentalists types would have you believe, not all religious traditions are bad. But all traditions should from time to time undergo evaluation. People should know why they do what they do.

This morning we consider the Old Testament lesson, Nehemiah 8. The personages and books of Ezra and Nehemiah are somewhat unique. The men and the books are intertwined in time, space, and purpose.

The Book of Ezra was written by Ezra who was a priest and scribe. His book covers the eighty years following the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. That means the period from about 538 to 458 B. C.

During this period the Temple was rebuilt and right worship of the Lord God was being restored to Jerusalem. But the Jews did not form an independent nation after their return. They remained a province of Persia and under control of the Persians until the Persian empire was conquered by Alexander the Great– 331 B. C. After that Judah came under the jurisdiction of Macedonia.

The Babylon captivity accomplished the purpose for which God had caused it. Their captivity cured the Jews of open idolatry. When they returned to Jerusalem and to the right worship of the Lord God.

Enter Nehemiah. Nehemiah held the office of cupbearer to the Persian King Longimanus. Think of a cupbearer as a butler who not only attends to the management of the king’s household, but also becomes an adviser to the king.

Eventually, Nehemiah became the Governor of Judah and held that position for fourteen years. During that time he introduced many reforms, among them, he abolished usury, lead an educational reform in the Torah, restored the observance of the Sabbath, enforced the payment of religious dues, and compelled those who had married foreign, idolatrous wives to divorce them to protect both the practice of the one true faith and the bloodline of the Jews.

The Book of Nehemiah is divided into three parts. Chapters 1 to 7 record the reason for Nehemiah’s journey to Jerusalem and his work in rebuilding the walls and city gates. Chapters 8 to 10 deals with his work with Ezra to restore orthodox worship to the temple. In chapters 11 to 13 we have lists of various kinds and a statements concerning Nehemiah’s last deeds. The book was probably written between 433 and 431 B.C.

Now picture in your mind’s eye the events recording in the Old Testament reading this morning– Nehemiah 8:1–10. Picture Ezra reading the Book of the Law to the people. As the sermon moves along, you might notice some similarities between our worship service and theirs. While the lines of influence from the way liturgical churches worship today and the services of the Old Testament period, the lines from now to then are not as clear as many of us would like. But still our church services and their’s have a lot in common.

Our reading began, 8:1 “All the people gathered as one person at the public square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 Then Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.”

First a little housekeeping on the “first day of the seventh month.” The Jerusalem wall and gates had been badly when the Babylonians invaded. Time had also taken its toll. When the Jews returned, they began restoration of the temple and city walls. The rebuilding of the city walls was finished on the twenty-fifty day of Elul––the sixth month––just days before the event that is recorded here in chapter 8.

Also the law required that the people observe a day of rest on the first day of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:23; Numbers 29:1). The beginning of the seventh month of the church-year was known as the Feast of Trumpets, which was to be a day of celebration.

Notice also that the people came together as one–– “all the people gathered as one person.” Today we might say they came together “with one mind.” There was a sense of unity––no divisions––no squabbling at the moment–just basic agreement on the importance of the Word of God, the mission, and work before them.

Also notice men, women, and children were all welcomed. That’s probably why they met outside at the Water Gate, instead of inside the temple. First, they needed a large area and second there were restrictions about where women and children could go in the temple. By holding the assembly outside the temple, everyone could attend.

Now here’s the thing that is odd about this gathering. The people gathered together and asked to hear the Book of Moses, the Torah read to them. They were thirsty for it. They wanted to learn the Word of God. It wasn’t an inconvenience or an interruption to a day of rest or a day of celebration. In fact, they wanted to hear the Word of God so much they were willing to stand outside and listen for hours, “from early morning until midday.”

It’s almost as if they knew the 3rd Commandment and knew Luther’s explanation in the Small Catechism. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. What does this mean? — Answer. We should fear and love God that we may not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it.”

Captivity in a foreign land and under the heal of oppressors had taught them that the Torah and the freedom to worship the Lord God was a gift from God that should not be taken for granted. The Torah, it’s laws and its promises was their identity, as the Law and Gospel, the Word of God and our own baptism should be our identity. It was their center and their starting place. No doubt some in the crowd remembered the time in exile when they couldn’t gather together and hear the Word of God. They had lost that in the exile, as we are losing it in our day and age. Our loss though is self-inflicted. No one hauled us off into captivity. Today our people are starving their faith to death by the neglect of the Word of God and church.

3 “And he [Ezra] read from it [the Torah] before the public square which was in front of the Water Gate, from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. . . 5 Then 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.”

The event was outdoors. A platform and podium (pulpit/lectern) had been built on the platform. Ezra and several elders stood on the platform. Ezra stood behind the lectern, just as the pastor today stands on a raised floor and behind a lectern or in a pulpit when he reads or preaches the Word of God today.

Ezra read to them from early morning until midday. They were there for hours, not just one hour, yet “all the people were attentive.” They sat at times, they knelt at times, and they stood at times. In the ancient world, standing was a sign of respect. If an official proclamation from the king or governor was read, or if a person who held a high office addressed the people, the people stood as a sign of respect. Thus, it is the custom of liturgical churches for the people to stand for the reading of the Gospel lesson. They stood in reverence to the Word of God and listened. How do we know that they listened? Well the Bible says they were attentive. What did that attentiveness produce. They wept.

Ezra 9 & 10; “‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, ‘Go, eat the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your refuge.’”

When the people heard God’s Law, they wept. They realized the depth of their sin and disobedience. Ezra and Nehemiah had a bit of a situation on their hands. As the people hear the Word, they respond in tears and were visibly moved. Ezra and Nehemiah called for the weeping to stop, because the day was to be a day of praise, joy, and rejoicing. So they send the people off. “Go, eat the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks” to celebrate and provide for those who aren’t prepared for such a feast. It was to be a holy day of joy.

The Jews had gone through exile. They had been rebuilding their city and temple for year. God had freed them from captivity, as He promised. He had forgiven them their sins, as He promised. He had returned them to Jerusalem, to Judah as He promised. He had enabled them to rebuild Jerusalem, as He promised. And now He had gathered the people together, with one mind to hear the Word of God, to reaffirm their adoption as His children, and to respond with their confession of sin with forgiveness of sin and joy.

The comparisons between then and now, us and them should be clear. They gathered together not as individuals, as we commonly think of ourselves in our churches. The text says, “the people gathered as one person.”

Contrary to what we might appear to be the case, we too gather as one, into one body as the baptized children of God. This morning’s Epistle lesson teaches that. We “are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body….” 1 Corinthians 12:12

Galatians 3:28; “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Romans 12:5; “so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

We too gather together to hear the Word of God, the Law and Gospel read from a lectern and preached from a pulpit, both built on a platform. We too mourn and confess our sin as we recite the general confession of sin together. We too raise our voices as one in our confession of faith. Think here of when we all stand and recite the words of the Nicene or Apostle’s Creed.

When the Gospel lesson is read in this place, we stand, not just out of respect for the authority office of priest or out of respect for tradition, but knowing that the Word that is being read contains life, light, forgiveness, and salvation.

The Savior to which Ezra, Nehemiah, and their people looked forward to has come, has died for our sins, and has risen on account of our justification. He comes to us in our temple, His Word and sacrament ministry. Sunday is our day of celebration and the worship service is the place where we listen to the word of God being read and preach, where we sit and stand, confess our sins and the faith as one, baptize our children, and we eat the bread/body and drink the wine/blood for the remission of sins. We for all this “for this day is holy to our Lord and the Lord is your refuge.”

 

AMEN

May the peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Third Sunday in Epiphany, 2022 – This is a Holy Day

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