Third Sunday after Epiphany 1/21/07 Text: Nehemiah 8:1-10 Title: The Joy of our Lord is our Strength
Third Sunday after Epiphany
1/21/2007
Text: Nehemiah 8:1-10
Title: The Joy of Our Lord is Our Strength
This morning I want to share with you a truth that is found in our Old Testament reading Nehemiah 8:1-10. Before I do that though, it helps to know why God directed Ezra to say what he said to the people that day. .
Many years earlier God had punished his chosen people, who had fallen into idolatry, by having the king of Babylon conquer them. At the time, it was the practice, for the conquering country to take the majority of the people, especially those with skills, back to their country. This did two things. It supplied the conquering country with slave labor they needed, and it weakened the conquered country so that it was easier to control.
After some time God used King Artaxerxes (ahr tuh ZUHRK seez), the king of Babylonia to bring the Jewish people back home, as God had promised them he would do.
They were allowed home in groups. The first two waves of people were beset by problems. Crops failed. They were harassed by the local population who had moved into the territory while they were exiled. They did not get along with themselves. They were falling back into idolatry. All of this meant that they could not get the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt, something that had to be done, if they were to survive in the hostile environment that they found themselves in.
So when the third wave of people were allowed back in 445 b.c,. the Persian King Artaxerxes (ahr tuh ZUHRK seez) sent Nehemiah, an Israelite who was a trusted official in his kingdom, to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Despite all that was going on, Nehemiah through his leadership was able to get the people to work together and rebuilt the walls. He overcame the threats from the local population by making wise defensive moves, by personal example, and by his obvious courage.
Nehemiah did what God had put in his heart, and found that the joy of the Lord was his strength. It was not always easy for Nehemiah, for the people were bent on falling back into willful sin.
Our reading for today focus on one particular occasion. Nehemiah found it necessary for Ezra the prophet to read from the book of the Law, what we would know as the Old Testament.
The Law was not just read, but explained to the people. This lasted for a whole day. We read that the Law caused a powerful reaction to the people. They acknowledged that the Law was the Word of God by bowing their heads with their faces to the ground. This was a sign of complete surrender for in doing so they exposed the back of their necks. The act of exposing one’s neck was to acknowledge to the person you were bowing to, “I am yours. I am defenseless, take my life if you want.”
We also see in the text that the Law caused them to repent of their evil ways, for we read that there was mourning and weeping. In other words, the law of God had done its job. It had brought the people to their knees and they repented. The people realized that there was not any way on God’s green earth that they could please God on their own. They saw their sin and despaired.
That is when Nehemiah told 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." Eating the fat is repulsive to us today, but to the people then it was a delicacy.
A natural question to ask, is, “Just what is the joy of the LORD, and how can it be my strength?” We get the meaning of joy of the Lord from John 15:11 where Jesus tells his disciples that the joy he has comes from his obedience to the Father. He is able to do what needs to be done, because he trusts in the Father.
Since we are joined to Christ in our Baptism we are able to do what we need to do, because of his joy. That is how we get strength from the joy of the Lord.
Or to say it another way, the joy of the Lord becomes your strength, when the joy of the Lord springs up in your heart, giving you the confidence to live your life as a child of God because you know that the will of the Father is perfect.
Let us compare a person without the joy of the Lord and one that has the joy of the Lord. The first wakes up in the morning, feeling unhappy, miserable, and troubled. You already know the type of day you are going to have. Everything that can go wrong is going to go wrong. Whatever work you are going to do that day is going to be difficult, and full of problems. You begin to wonder whether you are equal to it, whether you should not just pull the covers back over your head, quit your job, or just run away.
But, the person that has the joy of the Lord, on the other hand wakes up on a nasty day, knowing that there are going to be problems. The project that fell through yesterday is going to have to be worked on today. The same battles of life are going to have to be dealt with, and so forth.
But because they have the joy of the Lord, they hit the ground running, or at least they get out of bed, for they know that with God on their side that it is going to be a good day, even it does not look like it.
You see it is well known that your attitude toward life will determine for the most part what happens in your life. It will effect the way you do your work, your attitude towards your work, and your relationships with others.
Start the day with a less than joyful attitude, and you will have that type of day. On the other hand start the day with joy, the joy of the Lord, and you will have a blessed day, even if the day goes into the dumpster, as they have the habit of doing.
You might be thinking, “Wait a minute pastor that is a personality issue and really has nothing to do with one’s relationship with God. What does it have to do with God and his joy being our strength?” Let me give you an example. During World War II when it looked like it could not get any worse for England, Winston Churchill would speak to the people over the radio. He would assure the nation that good would prevail, that in the end it was going to be okay. He did not sugarcoat the facts. He told the nation the way it was, but when he got through speaking he had given the nation assurance, he had given them a sense of joy. People trusted him and so life was better. Because of his assurance they felt that there was no task that could not be accomplished.
Now that analogy quickly falls apart, when we apply it our relationship with God, for we know that Winston Churchill was a man with many faults, while our God has no faults. But I think that it can still help us understand how the joy of the Lord can be our strength.
Let’s go back to our text for a moment. Ezra told the people that day, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." The people stopped grieving for they knew that God had forgiven them and that he would keep his promises to them. So they received strength in the joy of the Lord.
God talking to us, through his Holy Word tells us the same thing today. “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
Those words are as true today as they were when Ezra told them to the people thousands of years ago. God has forgiven you. God will keep his promise to you. What is your response? Have you been struck by God’s law in such a way that you are grieved?
I ask you those questions for until the Law of God has struck you in such a way that you have been driven to your knees in supplication you will not know the joy of the Lord. And because you will not know the joy of the Lord, you will never have the strength of the Lord to help you in your life.
Oh you might think that that is okay, for everything is under control right now. You have your life in order. Everything is going good and it really does not matter if the Lord gives you strength. You might be thinking those things and they might even be true for you right now.
But there will be a time when everything falls apart. You well thought out plans will fall apart. You loved on whom you stake everything will not meet your expectations, or do something you did not expect and everything collapses. There will be that time of illness and sudden death, like what happened to our beloved sister in the faith Cindy two weeks ago and you will be left with nothing.
That is, unless you have the joy of the Lord to give you strength. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is the only thing you can count on. The Lord is the only constant you have in this life.
You think you can have joy on your own. You think you can have strength on your own. That is just plain foolishness, for you have to have our Lord, to have true joy, to have true everlasting strength, for he is the one that came to this earth for your benefit. He came for one purpose to forgive you your sins. I do not care if you think you cannot be forgiven. You are forgiven, for God has told you in his Holy Word that you are and it has to be so because he cannot lie.
Jesus grabbed you from Satan’s grasp with this death and resurrection, and has promised to never let you go. That is the joy of the Lord. That is the strength of the Lord. Rejoice and be glad in it, for he is your strength, and salvation. Amen.
1/21/2007
Text: Nehemiah 8:1-10
Title: The Joy of Our Lord is Our Strength
This morning I want to share with you a truth that is found in our Old Testament reading Nehemiah 8:1-10. Before I do that though, it helps to know why God directed Ezra to say what he said to the people that day. .
Many years earlier God had punished his chosen people, who had fallen into idolatry, by having the king of Babylon conquer them. At the time, it was the practice, for the conquering country to take the majority of the people, especially those with skills, back to their country. This did two things. It supplied the conquering country with slave labor they needed, and it weakened the conquered country so that it was easier to control.
After some time God used King Artaxerxes (ahr tuh ZUHRK seez), the king of Babylonia to bring the Jewish people back home, as God had promised them he would do.
They were allowed home in groups. The first two waves of people were beset by problems. Crops failed. They were harassed by the local population who had moved into the territory while they were exiled. They did not get along with themselves. They were falling back into idolatry. All of this meant that they could not get the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt, something that had to be done, if they were to survive in the hostile environment that they found themselves in.
So when the third wave of people were allowed back in 445 b.c,. the Persian King Artaxerxes (ahr tuh ZUHRK seez) sent Nehemiah, an Israelite who was a trusted official in his kingdom, to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Despite all that was going on, Nehemiah through his leadership was able to get the people to work together and rebuilt the walls. He overcame the threats from the local population by making wise defensive moves, by personal example, and by his obvious courage.
Nehemiah did what God had put in his heart, and found that the joy of the Lord was his strength. It was not always easy for Nehemiah, for the people were bent on falling back into willful sin.
Our reading for today focus on one particular occasion. Nehemiah found it necessary for Ezra the prophet to read from the book of the Law, what we would know as the Old Testament.
The Law was not just read, but explained to the people. This lasted for a whole day. We read that the Law caused a powerful reaction to the people. They acknowledged that the Law was the Word of God by bowing their heads with their faces to the ground. This was a sign of complete surrender for in doing so they exposed the back of their necks. The act of exposing one’s neck was to acknowledge to the person you were bowing to, “I am yours. I am defenseless, take my life if you want.”
We also see in the text that the Law caused them to repent of their evil ways, for we read that there was mourning and weeping. In other words, the law of God had done its job. It had brought the people to their knees and they repented. The people realized that there was not any way on God’s green earth that they could please God on their own. They saw their sin and despaired.
That is when Nehemiah told 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." Eating the fat is repulsive to us today, but to the people then it was a delicacy.
A natural question to ask, is, “Just what is the joy of the LORD, and how can it be my strength?” We get the meaning of joy of the Lord from John 15:11 where Jesus tells his disciples that the joy he has comes from his obedience to the Father. He is able to do what needs to be done, because he trusts in the Father.
Since we are joined to Christ in our Baptism we are able to do what we need to do, because of his joy. That is how we get strength from the joy of the Lord.
Or to say it another way, the joy of the Lord becomes your strength, when the joy of the Lord springs up in your heart, giving you the confidence to live your life as a child of God because you know that the will of the Father is perfect.
Let us compare a person without the joy of the Lord and one that has the joy of the Lord. The first wakes up in the morning, feeling unhappy, miserable, and troubled. You already know the type of day you are going to have. Everything that can go wrong is going to go wrong. Whatever work you are going to do that day is going to be difficult, and full of problems. You begin to wonder whether you are equal to it, whether you should not just pull the covers back over your head, quit your job, or just run away.
But, the person that has the joy of the Lord, on the other hand wakes up on a nasty day, knowing that there are going to be problems. The project that fell through yesterday is going to have to be worked on today. The same battles of life are going to have to be dealt with, and so forth.
But because they have the joy of the Lord, they hit the ground running, or at least they get out of bed, for they know that with God on their side that it is going to be a good day, even it does not look like it.
You see it is well known that your attitude toward life will determine for the most part what happens in your life. It will effect the way you do your work, your attitude towards your work, and your relationships with others.
Start the day with a less than joyful attitude, and you will have that type of day. On the other hand start the day with joy, the joy of the Lord, and you will have a blessed day, even if the day goes into the dumpster, as they have the habit of doing.
You might be thinking, “Wait a minute pastor that is a personality issue and really has nothing to do with one’s relationship with God. What does it have to do with God and his joy being our strength?” Let me give you an example. During World War II when it looked like it could not get any worse for England, Winston Churchill would speak to the people over the radio. He would assure the nation that good would prevail, that in the end it was going to be okay. He did not sugarcoat the facts. He told the nation the way it was, but when he got through speaking he had given the nation assurance, he had given them a sense of joy. People trusted him and so life was better. Because of his assurance they felt that there was no task that could not be accomplished.
Now that analogy quickly falls apart, when we apply it our relationship with God, for we know that Winston Churchill was a man with many faults, while our God has no faults. But I think that it can still help us understand how the joy of the Lord can be our strength.
Let’s go back to our text for a moment. Ezra told the people that day, “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." The people stopped grieving for they knew that God had forgiven them and that he would keep his promises to them. So they received strength in the joy of the Lord.
God talking to us, through his Holy Word tells us the same thing today. “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
Those words are as true today as they were when Ezra told them to the people thousands of years ago. God has forgiven you. God will keep his promise to you. What is your response? Have you been struck by God’s law in such a way that you are grieved?
I ask you those questions for until the Law of God has struck you in such a way that you have been driven to your knees in supplication you will not know the joy of the Lord. And because you will not know the joy of the Lord, you will never have the strength of the Lord to help you in your life.
Oh you might think that that is okay, for everything is under control right now. You have your life in order. Everything is going good and it really does not matter if the Lord gives you strength. You might be thinking those things and they might even be true for you right now.
But there will be a time when everything falls apart. You well thought out plans will fall apart. You loved on whom you stake everything will not meet your expectations, or do something you did not expect and everything collapses. There will be that time of illness and sudden death, like what happened to our beloved sister in the faith Cindy two weeks ago and you will be left with nothing.
That is, unless you have the joy of the Lord to give you strength. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is the only thing you can count on. The Lord is the only constant you have in this life.
You think you can have joy on your own. You think you can have strength on your own. That is just plain foolishness, for you have to have our Lord, to have true joy, to have true everlasting strength, for he is the one that came to this earth for your benefit. He came for one purpose to forgive you your sins. I do not care if you think you cannot be forgiven. You are forgiven, for God has told you in his Holy Word that you are and it has to be so because he cannot lie.
Jesus grabbed you from Satan’s grasp with this death and resurrection, and has promised to never let you go. That is the joy of the Lord. That is the strength of the Lord. Rejoice and be glad in it, for he is your strength, and salvation. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 8:31 AM
|
0 comments
