Rejoicing in the WORD
Nehemiah 8: 9-18
A young girl became a Christian in a revival at her church and was baptized the closing Sunday morning. That afternoon she ran through the house singing and dancing. Her grandfather yelled at her, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You just joined the church and you’re singing and dancing on the Lord’s Day!” Crushed by her grandfather’s attitude, the little girl went out to the barn, climbed up on the corral fence, and observed an old mule standing there with a sad, droopy face and bleary eyes. As she reached over and patted the mule sympathetically, she said, “Don’t cry, ole mule. I guess you’ve got the same kind of religion that Grandpa has!”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years. At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career by saying: "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers." So where is the joy? Where is the "always" rejoicing in the Lord? Where is the "always" giving praise with joy in our hearts for the great things He has done?
Chapter 8 reflects a major change in the book of Nehemiah. Up to this point, the book has been about re-construction, but now the focus changes to the re-instruction of God’s people. Today we’re going to focus on the impact of the Word on our lives when we read it, study it and act on it. When you allow the word to penetrate your life on a daily basis, it has the power to transform. We see several things the Word can do in your life.
First, it has the power of conviction. When they heard the Book of the Law read, the people began to weep. When you read the word on a daily basis, something begins to happen in your life. You become aware of the brokenness that you weren’t aware of before and that only God could do things that I was truly seeking. Hebrews 4:12 puts it this way: "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword . . ." What’s sharper than a double-edged sword? A scalpel. A sword is used for condemnation and death but a scalpel is used for healing. When I allow the word to be part of my everyday life, it gets to those places that are unresolved inside of me that I’ve repressed and often are not even aware of. Any time you’re not allowing the word to penetrate the core of who you are, you’re practicing "religion" rather than having a radical relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s why so many religious people only go so far in living for God and they appear to be hypocrites. Many religious people are like whitewashed tombs. On the outside they look great and do all of these religious things, appearing very spiritual but on the inside there was nothing but death. And here’s the problem: religion creates self-righteousness. I’m right, you’re wrong. When you’re dealing with religion, you’re always pointing out the splinter that’s in your sister or brother’s eye and you are never dealing with the log that is in your eye. It’s why the Pharisees had such problems with Jesus and why ultimately the religious people crucified Jesus. But when you allow the Word to penetrate your heart and mind, it’s no longer about other people’s sin but yours.
Second, God moves from being a God of condemnation to a God of redemption, healing and forgiveness. While the people were convicted by the word and weeping, Ezra says: "Go enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those that have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." In other words, you have been forgiven. Weeping indicates guilt and confession but the moment that you repent, you can celebrate because God has relieved you of your guilt through His forgiveness. Because of this, all the people went away to eat and drink and to celebrate with great joy. Now they know the God they worship and serve is not one of condemnation but redemption. He has commuted the punishment of their sin and forgiven them, restoring that relationship. When you read the word, the Spirit makes known to you the God you worship, who is not a God of condemnation but one of redemption.
The problem is many people don’t see that and it’s the difference between religion and relationship. If you have a religious interpretation, then you read the Bible as a legal document. If you interpret the Bible relationally, then you see the Bible as a love letter. In religion, you are look at God as judge, but relationally, you see God as a Father. If you come from a legal interpretation, your focus is on commandments, but if you approach the Bible relationally, it’s about covenant of God’s unfailing, unbreakable love. From a legal perspective, it’s about condemning the lost, but from the relational perspective, it’s about saving the lost. We all know the scripture, (put 16 on one screen and 17 on the next) John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." We ought to memorize 17 too. It says, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." This is not about punishment. It’s about redemption, salvation and relationship.
Jesus put this most clearly when he called God “Abba”. In the Jewish community, when you talked about God, you would say “Yahweh” which means “I am who I am.” Jesus came into the religious culture of his day and said, "No, it’s not YHWH, it’s Abba.” Jesus went past Father here. Abba was the Aramaic word, which was the common language of the people, and was what a child would use, a term of endearment, it was Papa or Daddy. If you see God relationally and understand that it’s not a commandment, but covenant, and that God is not a God who punishes, but redeems, then we can come as a little child in trust saying, Abba. This is the type of relationship God wants to have with you: personal, trusting and intimate, not one of condemnation but salvation. God is a God of life, resurrecting life, restoring life.
Third, God’s word helps you reclaim your identity. Bishop Zan Holmes tells the story of growing up. Every afternoon, all of the kids would gather to play. They’d come and knock on his door and ask if he could come play too. Zan would run and put on his shoes and then just as he was about to step out the door, his mother would say, “Zan, remember who you are.” There are times we forget who we are, that is, followers of Christ to live and be like Jesu. And because of that, we need to be reminded.
That’s exactly where the Israelites were for they had been living like Persians. Nehemiah 8:13. After being separated for over 150 years, the Israelites finally returned to Jerusalem. When they did, it was so important for them to reclaim their identity. Up until this point, they didn’t really know who they were. They were under slavery in Babylon, but now they returned home and for the first time, they heard the word of God in their lives and it began to help them reclaim their identity. When Ezra read the word of God, they heard for the first time of a God who had chosen them, who had set them apart. He had allowed them to go through the Red Sea and loved them so much and provided for them for the 40 years that they were in the wilderness, but it was through hearing the word for the first time that they were able to reclaim their identity.
The festivals were used to commemorate the power of God, but also to reconnect people to the purpose of God. When they read the word of God, they heard about the Festival of Booths. Now the Festival of Booths commemorates the 40-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Biblical Scholar and teacher Warren Wiersbe says that it was a time of three things. First is looking back- to their days of wandering through the wilderness. It was so important that the Israelite’s identity was rooted as a people of Passover because God never delivers people from something, He always delivers people to something. In the Passover, the Israelites realized God brought them from death to life, from slavery to freedom and from meaningless work as slaves to be a light unto the nations. So it was through reading the word of God that they rediscovered their identity and realized that they were a people of purpose. They rediscovered who and whose they were and that they couldn’t stop halfway, but had to keep pressing forward to God’s place of promise for their lives.
Whenever you lack identity, you begin to live with no purpose. If you don’t understand your true identity and purpose, you’re lost and wandering in the wilderness. God’s calling and your identity in God is only revealed through the word.
Second, Weirsbe says, the Festival of Booths is about looking around- at all the blessings that God had bestowed upon them. The Festival of Booths was also a harvest festival coinciding with the harvest of the summer crops. Many Americans, upon seeing the Festival of Booths celebration say it reminds them of Thanksgiving. It’s said that the American pilgrims, who originated the Thanksgiving holiday, borrowed the idea from the Festival of Booths. The pilgrims were deeply religious people. When they were trying to find a way to express their thanks for their survival and for the harvest, they looked to the Bible for an appropriate way of celebrating and found the festival. Thanksgiving was "a harvest festival that included feasts, sporting events, and other activities," concepts very much in keeping with the Jewish religious observance of The Festival of Booths. When we are immersed in the word we have a heightened awareness of the blessings of God in our lives. The Word of God empowers us to recognize the blessings we’re experiencing right now and give thanks to God.
Third, Weirsbe says, the Festival of Booths is about looking ahead. It was a time to look at how God is calling you to be a part of His redeeming and renewing work in the world in the days, months and years ahead. Past, present and future, with God at the center, defining not only who we are but more importantly, who we are becoming. The Bible is God’s call on our lives and who we are created to become. Maria Shriver was interviewed on the Today show last week about her knew book which sprung from an experience of being asked to speak at a College Graduation. When she sat down to collect her thoughts she didn’t know who they wanted her to be: Maria Shriver the journalist, the First Lady of California or Maria Shriver Kennedy. She then began to realize that most of us define ourselves by what we do and when she was no longer an NBC journalist, she didn’t really know who she was. The who question is not who am I but as the title of her book asks, Just Who will you be?” This is the power of the word to help us answer that question by inspiring, guiding and calling us to something more that we are today. When we make the Word a regular part of our lives and allow it to imbed itself in our hearts and minds, we then begin to see just who we will be in God.
When we begin to rediscover and read the word of God for ourselves, we realize that we are just like the Israelites: a people on mission and a work in progress. We can’t stop halfway. We have to keep pressing through to experience real life purpose in God. Many of us fall short of God’s intended purpose for our lives because we don’t know who we are. We’ve settled halfway and have stopped in the wilderness because we’ve made past mistakes or we’ve allowed others’ opinions or desires to determine who we are, only to realize that’s not us. Once the Israelites heard the word of God for themselves, they realized that God had a purpose and a plan for their lives. As followers of Jesus, we must remember that our identity is rooted in God’s word, and it’s so important for us to remember that whatever we do, we have to keep moving forward to God’s purpose and promises for our lives. We can’t settle in places of mediocrity and moments of complacency. It was through the word of God that the Israelites realized God wasn’t through with them yet. And He sure isn’t finished with you either, which means, you have to keep pressing through to get to that place of promise. Every day it is essential that you want to grow deeper in the word of God as a means of discovering who you will be, you want to take a step forward and keep moving toward God’s place of promise for your life.
Fourth, the word moves us into the work of God. The people were told to go take food and the celebration and proclaim the word throughout their towns and in Jerusalem. The word doesn’t let you sit around and enjoy the blessings of God. We are called to be in mission to others. For those who can’t afford the party, we take the party to them. It’s not enough to just experience God’s healing and health in our own life. We don’t experience joy until we carry that healing and health to the life of other people. God doesn’t want anyone to perish or to live apart from Him. Our job is Nehemiah’s work: re-building economy, schools and water safety; but true transformation can only happen in Jesus Christ. We are called to be a witness in word and deed. God wants to do a great thing.
Fifth, the Word brings joy into our life. Happiness verses joy. That is where joy come into your life. Most of us are seeking happiness but happiness is an illusion. There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is based on temporal external circumstances. "I’ll be happy when the results of my cancer test come back and they say the cancer has been eradicated." "I’ll be happy when this divorce settlement is over." "I’ll be happy when we get out from under the burden of this debt." Joy is found in God. But joy is not automatic. We know joy is not circumstantial that is, based on external circumstances. But what we may not be aware of is this: Joy is Conditional meaning the Joy of the Lord comes to us through channels that he has established and it is our choice whether or not we choose to pursue and access that joy in God. First, You must choose joy. And second, you must pursue Joy. Joy is not merely an experience, it is an inward disposition of the heart, that you must pursue, and maintain.
How can I experience the Joy of the Lord in my life? Three things the Israelites learned in their understanding of the Word and their subsequent experience of joy in their hearts and life together: first, joy comes through experiencing God’s forgiveness in your life. Second, joy comes from relationship with God. It comes through not only knowing who we are but whose we are. Third, joy comes through knowing and living your life purpose and mission.
But God has also created other avenues to experience joy in him. Joy comes to us when we seek out the avenues through which God has promised that joy would come.
#1 Joy comes through whole hearted and faithful service.
1 Chro 29:9 Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
Matt 25:23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
#2 Joy that comes from making God’s word personal.
Jer 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.”
#3 Joy comes through knowing that your heart is right with God
Psalms 32:11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
#4 Joy comes through participating in God’s plan of redemption through evangelism
Psalms 126:5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Psalms 126:6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
#5 Joy comes through answered prayers
John 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
#6 Joy comes through experiencing the presence of the Lord
Psalms 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
#7 Joy comes through knowing your spiritual children are walking in the truth
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
When you immerse yourself in the word, confess your sins, receive forgiveness in Christ, understand who God has called you to be and begin living and doing His will then you will experience a joy in life that will exceed your happiest moments. And it is in that moment that the day becomes holy. Here’s the key to life: this day, each day and every day when we begin with the Word, commit ourselves to God and serve him, the day becomes holy to the Lord. The key to life is when you realize that every day is God’s day and you commit yourself to live in such a way that gives God joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength, so when I do the things that give him joy, when I live in such a way that it blesses God, that is my strength, my joy, my meaning. This is what it says about Jesus in Hebrews 12:2, "For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, . . ." The cross wasn’t about happiness. Jesus was willing to endure the cross, and by enduring the cross, he gave the Father joy. And by giving the Father joy, that was the strength of Jesus’ life. ". . . and that can be the strength of your life too.
