We have a new pulpit! Today is our first Sunday to share this new piece of furniture. It was carefully selected to replace our old pulpit which was built by Herb Perkins over 30 years ago. We wanted to have something smaller, easier to move and more contemporary in design. This pulpit has both Function AND Symbolism, and so today, I want to take some time to talk about the importance of preaching.
There is a poignant story from the Old Testament that illustrates the way that preaching impacts God’s people. It comes from Nehemiah 8:1-8. In this Old Testament event, the people of God gather to hear from the Law of God. It is a beautiful passage of Scripture. I am especially drawn to verse 8 which says,"They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading."
My question for us today is: Does Preaching Still Matter?
We listen to a sermon every Sunday morning and Evening, 40-50 minutes in length.
We bring our children to church, sometimes reluctantly, convincing them that we need to hear God’s word. Yet, we are told that it’s a modern era. The 30 minute sit-com has conditioned people to mentally tune out after 24 minutes of content. We are told that the visual stimulation of advertising, Television and hi-tech graphics makes auditory learning a thing of the past. I contend that there is nothing that can replace the preaching of the Word of God. Our commitment as a church to the Word of God needs to be upheld. In fact, it is the Word of God that brings HOPE and JOY in our cynical, impersonal, fast paced soceity.
BACKGROUND: Who Were the People that Stood All Day to Hear Ezra’s Sermon?
This was the Post-Captivity period for the Jewish people. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are one book in the Hebrew scriptures, and they document the return of the Jewish captives after the Babylonian captivity. The history of the Jews returning from Babylon and Persia spans over 170 years. This chapter from Nehemiah gives the details of the completion of the rebuilding project of the walls of Jerusalem.
These returning captives were part of the THIRD WAVE of Captives to return from PERSIA. Nehemiah gives careful documentation of the progression of time. He starts with his first knowledge of the condition of the city of Jerusalem. We read in Nehemiah 1:1-2 that he heard a report about Jerusalem in the month of Chislev. This Hebrew month corresponds to our calendar of somewhere in November or December. When he heard the report, he gained permission of King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem. He traveled with a group of Jews over 1,000 miles from IRAN to JERUSALEM to return.
These people Moved their families. They Found Jerusalem broken down and vulnerable. Imagine the DISAPPOINTMENT! Contended against Sanballat and Tobiah. These were farmers who Became builders and soldiers in order to rebuild the walls.
They rebuilt the walls in 52 days!
They had seen GOD’S POWERFUL HAND
They had already done a GREAT WORK motivated by FAITH
They were living through CHANGE
They were concerned for the future of their CHILDREN
But.....they were WEARY
and their WORK WASN’T DONE!
Sound’s a lot like Faith Bible Church!
We have seen God work POWERFULLY!
We are at the end of a SUCCESSFUL and GREAT BUILDING PROJECT
But we are WEARY.....
- weary from work
- weary from life
- weary from service
- weary from a building project and changes in the church ministry
- weary from financial uncertainty
- weary from cultural decay
- weary from others who have walked away from the CHURCH or from the FAITH
- weary from political disappointment
- weary from the news
Our leaders have been discussing this weariness.
We’ve used terms like FATIGUE, LETHARGY, MALAISE, LACK of ENTHUSIASM
I believe that we are a lot like the SAINTS that RETURNED from CAPTIVITY
A great DREAM
But still WORK AHEAD
What Does Preaching have to do with this?
I. God RESPONDS to His People When they HONOR his Word
Nehemiah 8:1–3 "And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. " "So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. " "And 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."
The PEOPLE gathered!
THEY TOLD Ezra to bring the Law
THEY WERE ATTENTIVE to the Law
God promises to respond to those who call on Him!
Psalm 145:18 "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth."
Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."
Psalm 119:2 "Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,"
II. God REFRESHES His People When they HONOR His WORD.
The walls were finished Nehemiah 6:15 "So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days."
The people returned to their homes Nehemiah 7:73 "So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns. And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns."
But the, almost immediately after they went home, they RETURNED again to Jerusalem because they had a desire to worship the Lord and hear from his word!
Nehemiah 8:1 "And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel."
Their work was FINISHED. BUT they didn’t seek to be refreshed through INACTIVITY. “Refreshment does not come from prolonged periods of inactivity. It comes from soul refreshing REST focused on God’s SUFFICIENCY and not MY PROBLEMS or NEEDS!”
We have taken SABBATH REST and turned it into LEISURE TIME
We need REST. But The BEST REST is found when we cease from our activity to focus on GOD, not to engage in entertainment!
Here is how they Honored God’s Word ....
Neh 8:3. Tells us that they STOOD from early morning to mid day! No one was watching their watch. No one was texting on their phone pretending to be looking up the Bible verses on their on line Bible. No one was fidgeting. No one was day dreaming about what’s for lunch.
They were standing in the Fall Jerusalem Sun
Note the definition of preaching! Nehemiah 8:8 "They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading."
III. God REWARDS His People When they OBEY His Word
He rewards us with JOY. Nehemiah 8:8-10 “ the joy of the Lord is your strength!”He rewards us with FELLOWSHIP. Nehemiah 8:12 The people went their way with great joy!
He rewards us with FAMILY WORSHIP. Nehemiah 8:14-17. As a result of the reading of the Law, they were reminded about the importance of the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles - a festival which God instructed the Jews to celebrate in Leviticus 23. This feast was one of the Pilgrim Feasts during which Jews were instructed to return to Jerusalem to celebrate.
This feast is called SUKKOT and is the most JOYOUS of Jewish Feasts! To this day, families builds BOOTHS in which they eat during the 7 day feast. Some families sleep in these booths - a reminder of the 40 years provisions from the Lord while the Israelites wandered in the wilderness.
The booths are decorated by the children, and everyone enjoys the festival. What kid doesn’t like camping out! This is a 7 day camping trip for the whole family! It is in the fall during Harvest time, and is the Jewish equivalent to THANKSGIVING, except it lasts 8 days!!!!
As a result of the preaching of the Word, Their MOURNING was turned to JOY. There is an important principle that the Lord brings us to JOY after periods of SORROW. Just think about your salvation. You learned that you were a sinner. This produced sorrow. But the Lord doesn’t leave you with your sorrow. He assures you of forgiveness. He comforts you in your affliction. The agony of the CROSS is followed by the JOY of the RESURRECTION!
Let’s return to the blessings that God gives to those who seek him..
He rewards us with OPEN HEARTS. Nehemiah 9:1–2 "Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. " "And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers."
Their JOY brought confession of sin
Their TIME in the WORD resulted in changes in their hearts
He rewards us with WORSHIP. Nehemiah 9:6 "“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you."
He rewards us with a NEW GENERATION of Faith. Nehemiah 9:38 " “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests."
Does Preaching Still Matter?
What else would you suggest?
JESUS came to preach -
Mark 1:38 "And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”"
The APOSTLES were SENT to preach. Mark 3:14–15 "And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.”
The EARLY CHURCH preached. Acts 8:4 "Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word."
Peter and Paul preached! Galatians 2:7 "When they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised"
1 Corinthians 9:16 "For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!"
YOU and I are Commanded to PREACH. 2 Timothy 4:2 "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."
SO, our NEW PULPIT serves in both FUNCTION and SYMBOLISM
- Symbolizes that we still believe that God’s Word is our authority
- Symbolizes that we desire to be Up-To-Date
- Symbolizes that we Don’t want to ABANDON the PAST
- Symbolizes that our BUILDING PROGRAM is ended and a new phase of ministry has begun
- Symbolizes our Commitment to Dsicipleship “Go into all the world and make disciples”
- Symbolizes that we are concerned with PEOPLE
- Symbolizes that all that we can offer them is the CROSS of CHRIST
- Symbolizes that the WORD of GOD is the authority for our message
SO, I INVITE YOU TODAY,
If you are WEARY.... Find your REST in GOD’S WORD
If you have grown cold to the WORD, return to the SOURCE of LIFE
TRUST GOD to bring refreshment through His WORD
REJOICE that the JOY of the LORD is your strength!
