Nehemiah 8:1-10 When the seventh month came—the people of Israel being settled in their towns— 1 all

the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told

the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3 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.

4 The

scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose;

and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand.

5 And

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,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

7 Also

Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita,

Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. 8 So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

9 And

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 when they heard the 1

words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

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2016.01.24

Reading Is Fundamental When I was a child there was a children’s nonprofit organization called RIF, which stood for Reading Is Fundamental [SLIDE]. They’re still around. In fact, this is their fiftieth year of operation. RIF is an organization that puts books in the hands of children who cannot otherwise afford them. I like the fact that the name RIF doesn’t describe who they are but instead makes a claim—that reading is fundamental.

“RIF” is an acronym, meaning that each letter in its name is the first letter of a word. Most organizations that go by an acronym use that acronym as a description of who they are [SLIDE]. For example, in America some well known organizations known by their acronyms include AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), AAA (the American Automobile Association), the NFL (National Football League), and the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association). For all those organizations, their acronyms are nouns that describe who they are [SLIDE]. But the acronym “RIF” isn’t a noun; it’s a full sentence: “Reading is fundamental.” And it doesn’t describe who they are; it makes a claim related to what they do.

According to the RIF website, reading is fundamental to fostering children’s imagination, to expanding their understanding of the world, and to fueling a lifelong love of learning. “Amen” to all of that. In addition, reading is also just plain fun. I was reminded of that simple truth last week when I finished reading a book that I read simply for pleasure. It wasn’t a Bible commentary or theology book. And, no, it wasn’t the Bible either, although I too am doing one of the one-year Bible reading plans. In fact, it wasn’t related to ministry at all. It was a novel that you may have heard of…1984, by George Orwell [SLIDE].

It’s difficult to go through high school or college in America without reading 1984. Somehow I managed to do just that (and as an English major!). But last week I finally addressed that gap in my education. 1984 was published in 1949, so the title looks 3

toward the future. It’s not a very bright future that Orwell imagines. It is a future in which a one-party totalitarian government controls all aspects of the lives of its citizens—including what they eat, what they wear, what they read.

The act of reading plays a big role in the book. The main character, Winston Smith, works as a clerk in the Records Department of the ironically named Ministry of Truth. I say “ironically named” because the sole focus of the Ministry of Truth is to produce propaganda for the party. Winston’s job is to revise historical documents so that they match whatever the party’s current narrative is. This involves editing old newspaper articles and altering photographs to reflect what the party currently holds to be the truth. In other words, the Ministry of Truth manufactures lies.

One of the themes of 1984 is the recollection of the past. In the book the past is constantly being rewritten to match what’s happening in the present. The past is not set in stone but blows about on ever-shifting sands. This means that, according to the party, memories cannot be trusted. Under the party’s ever watchful eye, anyone who remembers the past in a way that conflicts with the party’s point of view has committed a thoughtcrime and is in need of reeducation. They must be persuaded, through torture and brainwashing, that they have misremembered the past.

This is one of the most terrifying aspects of the book, not just the torture but the party’s power to literally rewrite history. If the past can be revised at will, then there is no objective truth. That means that we are defined by whatever our present experience is. Without proper knowledge of the past, it is impossible to know who we are here and now. Who we are is shaped by who we have been, and what we have experienced, and how we have been affected by that experience. This is true both for individuals and for nations. This is why we learn history in school. The past reminds us of who we are.

That is the lesson that Israel learns when Ezra reads from the book of the law [SLIDE]. Ezra’s reading from Scripture reminds the people of their identity. They 4

are God’s people. Their past may be one in which their kingdom was conquered, the temple was destroyed, and the people were carried off into exile. Their present, even with the exile over, may still seem uncertain and threatening. Nevertheless, their identity has not changed…they are still God’s people. God remains their rock, their refuge, their firm foundation. They may no longer believe this, but it is so. Ezra will remind them of it. And he does, with a simple but revolutionary act…he reads to them. This simple act of reading Scripture is fundamental to the people’s understanding of themselves. Reading Scripture is also fundamental for us, for it shapes how we understand ourselves in relation to this same God.

The events described in Nehemiah chapter eight take place sometime in the middle of the fifth century BC. At this time the Babylonian exile is over. The people have returned to the land of Israel. It’s true that things may not be as good as they were when Israel was an independent kingdom. As things stand now Israel is a province in the great Persian Empire. But at least they are back home on their own land and not living in exile. The Persians have even been gracious enough to support the rebuilding of the temple.

But still, problems remain. The defensive wall around Jerusalem is in disrepair. The city is open to attack and has already been attacked. Word of this has reached Nehemiah. Who is Nehemiah? He is an official in the court of the Persian king. But he is not Persian; he is Jewish. Nehemiah asks the king to be allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall so that the city may be defended. The king grants him permission, provided that he returns once the wall is built. All of this takes place in the first two chapters of the book. By chapter seven, the wall has been rebuilt and the people can at last rest.

That catches us up to where we are in today’s passage from chapter eight. That may seem like a lot of background, but as I’ve already said, if you want to know where you are, you need to know where you’ve been. Where the people are now in chapter eight is in a state of readiness…readiness for a new beginning. With the wall rebuilt 5

and the people settled into their towns, they gather in the town square and ask Ezra the priest and scribe to read from the book of the law.

This event is the founding moment of modern Judaism [SLIDE]. This is the Judaism of Jesus, a Judaism in which the role of Scripture is becoming central and the temple and its system of sacrifice is moving into the background. So important is this day that it later becomes recognized by Jews as their New Year’s Day (Rosh Hashanah). It is a new day for Israel. The fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, the exile—they are all in the past. Israel is beginning anew.

Israel celebrates the new beginning with the reading of Scripture. Men and women and children old enough to understand gather in the town square. They listen to Ezra read from the book of the law from early morning until midday. That’s like six hours! Can you imagine? Their attention spans must have been a lot longer than ours. I thought the ten verses of today’s passage were long, especially with all those names in verses four and seven. I even had to reduce the type size to fit the whole passage in the bulletin.

The people respond to the reading of Scripture by weeping. They cry! Now, if you’re cynical, maybe you think that those are tears of boredom. I suppose that standing for six hours while listening to Scripture being read might not be everyone’s idea of a good time (it’s not mine). But the people are not weeping from boredom [SLIDE]. They are weeping with a mixture of sadness and joy—sadness because they are filled with remorse for their sin. The Israelites believed that it was their sin that led directly to their suffering. They understood the exile as God’s punishment for their many sins—sins like idolatry, religious hypocrisy, indifference toward the poor, and exploitation of the vulnerable. So, in listening to the law of Moses the people are being given an account of their many failings. They are confronted with all the evil did as well as all the good they did not do. In response, they weep with remorse.

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But those tears of sadness are mixed with tears of joy. Joy? Yes, joy! For despite their sin, God has not abandoned them. They remain God’s people. God’s promise to Israel is unbreakable. Yes, they have received judgment for their sin. The pain of the exile was real, but it was not lasting. For God’s judgment is followed by God’s grace. Judgment occurs within the context of grace. Israel was under the grace of God from the very beginning. God chose Israel from all the nations on Earth not for any merit on their part, but solely out of grace and love. The Scripture that Ezra reads to the people reminds them of that. Among the passages that they heard as they gathered in the town square is the following passage from Deuteronomy [SLIDE]:

7 It

was not because you were more numerous than any other people

that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors…(Deut. 7:7-8).

The Lord loved them and set his heart on them. Listening to the Scriptures that morning the Israelites were reminded of the judgment of God. They were reminded that there are serious consequences for sin. But they were also reminded of an even greater truth—that their sin would never separate them from the God who chose them in love. That is why they weep with a mixture of sadness but also joy.

Israel began the new year with the reading of Scripture. We are still in January. New Year’s Day was just a few weeks ago. Many of us began our new year by making a commitment to read the Bible in its entirety by the end of the year. That may seem like a daunting task. After all, the Bible is a long book. But a year is also a long time. That is actually the challenging part. The challenge is not so much the length of the Bible but setting aside fifteen or twenty minutes a day to actually read it.

I joked earlier about the challenge the Israelites faced in standing for six hours and listening to Scripture read. That could not have been easy. And maybe setting aside fifteen minutes a day for 365 days to read the Bible doesn’t sound any easier to you. 7

Maybe it sounds harder, in fact. But here’s the thing…yes, the Israelites asked Ezra to read the Scriptures to them. And, yes, they stood from early morning until midday to listen to him read. But the Israelites didn’t stand for six hours to listen to the Scriptures because it was difficult. They weren’t masochists (someone who enjoys inflicting pain on themselves) [SLIDE].

The reason we commit to reading the Bible each day isn’t because it’s some great challenge that we want to see if we’re up to. We’re not trying to run a marathon or climb Mount Everest. Reading the Bible in a year is not a task to be completed. I know that’s often how we treat it. That’s often how I treat it. I’m doing the one-year plan, and each day after I’ve done the reading I take my pen and cross out that day’s reading from the reading plan. Finished! Now I can get on with the rest of the day.

At my first job I worked with a guy who crossed off every day on his calendar. He was the freight elevator operator. He had a wall calendar hanging in the elevator. He used a fat black marker and marked each day with a big X. He didn’t even wait for the end of the day. He would do it in the morning. He was literally marking time.

That is not how we are meant to go through life, nor is it how we are meant to read the Bible. Reading the Bible is not a task to be completed. It is not a burden to be endured. It is not even an obligation to be fulfilled. No, reading the Bible is fundamental. It is fundamental to understanding our own identity. Reading the Bible tells us not only about who God is, but also who we are in relation to God. Reading the Bible teaches us and reminds us—because we easily forget—that we have been chosen by God in love. Just as God did with Israel, we have been chosen by God for relationship…relationship with God and with each other.

We tend to think of reading as a passive experience. We sit at our desk or on the couch, or we lie on our bed and just read. Our eyes may move across the page. Our fingers may turn the pages, but for the most part our bodies remain passive.

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But that’s not entirely true. Appearances can be deceiving. Remember what the group RIF says about reading…that it is fundamental to fostering children’s imagination, to expanding their understanding of the world, and to fueling a lifelong love of learning. Fostering, expanding, and fueling. Those are active verbs. From the outside reading may seem like a passive experience, but when we read, so many things are happening inside of us—all those things that RIF mentions [SLIDE].

And reading the Bible is an even more active experience. When we read the Bible, it is not just the imagination that is stirred to action…our entire bodies are. What do I mean? I mean two things. First of all, reading the Bible forms community. Even when we read by ourselves, the Bible is drawing us beyond ourselves and into community with one another. That is what happens to the Israelites. They gather in community to hear the word read. They respond in community to what they hear. They are convicted, they are repentant, and they are encouraged in community.

But they are not just any community. They are God’s community, which means that they are a community brought together for a special purpose, which leads to the second point. Reading the Bible commissions us to carry out God’s mission in the world. After the people hear the Scripture read, Ezra commands them to celebrate. They celebrate the fact that after all that has happened to them, they are still God’s people. Ezra also commands them to “send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared” (Neh. 8:10). In other words, they are a community that is commissioned to love and care for those among them who are in need.

In the New Testament, Jesus, who emerges from this Jewish community, will greatly expand the notion of God’s community. Jesus will redefine God’s community to include all sorts of outsiders—tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, Samaritans, Romans, and especially in the Gospel of Luke, the poor. He will also expand the mission of God’s community by commissioning us to cross boundaries and make disciples of all nations.

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This is the community that God has called us to be a part of, a community that finds its strength in the joy of a loving and gracious God. This is who we are. How do I know this? The Bible tells me so.

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