…Before the Water Gate
Nehemiah 8: 1-12
A sermon preached by Charles J. Tomlin, DMin
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,1 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 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."
11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, "Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved."
12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
(Neh. 8:1-12 NRS)
The most Bible-quoting Hollywood movie I’ve ever watched was the post- Apocalyptic movie staring Denzel Washington, entitled “The Book of Eli.” The movie is completely fiction; science fiction, that is; placed in the setting of 30 years after “the war”.
“In the opening scene a man walks across the wasteland that was once America. Empty cities, broken highways, seared earth- all around him. There is no civilization and no law. Everyone left is either predator or prey. Water is so scarce that people bathe with leftover wet wipes from KFC. Food is so inadequate that many resort to cannibalism. Eli makes his way westward across the charred, barren landscape. He has an impressive amount of fighting equipment strapped to his torso and an iPod. A warrior, not by choice, but necessity. Eli will kill anyone who threatens him.
Interestingly, it’s not his own life he is guarding- but rather his hope for the future- a hope he has carried, wrapped and hidden in his pack for thirty years. The prize possession Eli so zealously guards is a heavy, leather bound Bible, that he calls “the book.” It’s the last known copy in existence. Now, maybe you’re beginning to understand why I watched this sci-fi movie.
According to the plot, this ‘book’ is also coveted by a sleazed named Carnegie who has assembled a bunch of thugs and runs a makeshift town in the middle of nowhere. Like Eli, Carnegie remembers the days before the war, and he also remembers his Bible. He tells his henchmen- “It’s not a book. It’s a weapon. People will do whatever I tell them if the word comes from that book.” He thinks that he can control and subjugate the world if he can only get his hands on a Bible. That’s the wrong way to use the Bible, which some still try to do.
Eli, however, is the good guy in the story, who is driven by his commitment and guided by his belief in something greater than himself. He keeps doing what he he knows he must do to survive. He keeps moving to the west where he believes he will deliver the Bible to restore a ravaged humanity. His strength comes from his belief in the power of the Book, the Bible he carries that he protects with his life” (Synopsis adapted from Dr. Teri Thomas, https://www.northminster-indy.org/sermon/the-book-of-eli-sermon/).
I must admit, that I have trouble imagining someone killing to get a copy of the Bible. I also have trouble imagining someone dying to protect one. It’s not because there’s no one left who cherishes the Bible, but it’s because we have so many—maybe even too many. What I mean is that we have lots of Bibles sitting on shelves gathering dust. Is that because we don’t fully appreciate its power to impact our thinking and our living?
As we near the end of this series of messages guided by Micah’s call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, in these final two messages we will conclude with two images of public readings from the Bible. In both accounts there is excitement among the people over the ‘power’ of The Book. In today’s text, the Bible, which was still in its Old Testament form, was the hope for redeeming a people called to bring hope into the world.
Gathering: Seeking a Moral Structure.
In our text Ezra and then later Nehemiah returned from exile in Babylon. Nehemiah has successfully led in the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls in just 52 days. In celebration of this near miraculous feat, all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They ask Ezra, their high priest and scribe, to bring the book which the LORD had given to Israel.
Anticipation builds. The book sits above the people and when it is opened the people stand and the LORD is praised and worshipped. The book is read for the entire morning. It’s words are read in Hebrew, then immediately interpreted into Aramaic so all the people might understand. During the pubic reading, the people are both weeping and rejoicing.
Why was this reading of the Book of Law so important and moving to the people? It is this Law Book that reminded them of who they are. It reminded them of what they have been through and endured. This ‘Book’ also reminded them of what they had forgotten and why their precious Jerusalem had been destroyed. Now, in rebuilding their city, they are given another chance.
Again, let’s remind ourselves again. This law Book, which was their Bible, part of the Bible we still have, gave them their true identity. This book said to them, loud and clear: This is who you are: ‘You are a people who celebrate the holy ways of the LORD. This is who you are called to be: You are a people whose strength is found in the joy of the LORD. This what you are called to do: You are a people who care and provide for each other. It was this Book that helped to fully restore the faith of this people. It reminded them that God was at work through them challenging them to be a people who bring God’s light into their world.
Will Willimon tells about a brilliant mathematician, a professor off mathematics at a college who spent most of his days figuring out tough problems. But one day he told Pastor Willimon that there was something he just couldn’t figure out. He said he just couldn’t figure out what makes the church different from other organizations. He said he understood that the church can be a friendly, helpful, caring and mission-oriented place, but so are a lot of other groups and service organizations. ‘We get a lot of good advice there too, especially from the preacher.’ But we can also get most of that from the Ruritans, the Rotary, or other groups who meet at an even more convenient time in the week.’ (From Shaped by the Word, p.9ff.).
Truly, we could think of other groups who do as much good in our communities as the churches. We can even think of some groups who have done more good in some areas. The local school and sports programs have done more for racial reconciliation and are more intentional inclusive than many churches are. This leaves us still needing to answer the professor’s question: ‘What is it that makes the church, our church, your church different, utterly essential, without equal, irreplaceable and unique?
In this very first public reading of the Book of God in public worship, these people are defining just how they are particular and peculiar they are as God’s treasured possession of all peoples on earth. (Ex. 19:5). This wasn’t because they are better than all the others, but because they are called as a witness to God’s salvation in the world. That’s why this isn’t just any other book and they are a unique people. And what was true of God’s book and God’s people then, is still true of God’s people, his called and chosen people now (1 Peter 2:9).
Understanding: Attentive to hear from God.
In this moving account, the people stood for hours listening to the Torah being read to them in Hebrew. It was also translated and interpreted to them in their newly acquired, post-exilic language of Aramaic. We might wonder what made this so important? Why were the people gathering all morning long to hear this book read in their hearing? Did they not have something better to do?
As I have already stated, this Law book told them who God was and who God was still calling them to be. Knowing their identity as a people was important not only for their own future, but for the future of the world. Gathering to read, interpret and understand this book was to give a moral structure for their community, develop moral fiber in their character, and provide a moral foundation to insure their future. This would enable them, as the people of God, to fulfill their mission as a priestly and holy nation (Ex. 19: 5-6) so they would be a light to the Gentiles (Isa 42:6, 49:6, 52:10ff., 60:3) in a spiritually dark world.
When we begin to think about why the Jews needed their Bible, we must also begin to ask ourselves, why do we need our Bible. Going back to the plot of the Movie, The Book of Eli, even in Hollywood someone realized, even more than some in our churches do, how much humanity needs a moral standard. This standard given to Israel was not only a rule of law, but it was law that established holy ground for a relationship with this moral, righteous, and holy God who still speaks to us through this book. For people to know what is right and to learn to do what is right, we humans need more than rules, standards or laws. We are not robots. We need an encounter an experience that opens us up, heart, soul, mind and body, to a a living relationship with our good, moral and loving creator.
One of the great Christian thinkers in recent years was the Swiss Pastor-Professor Karl Barth. In one of his important writings about the Bible, entitled, The Word of God and the Word of Man, Barth spoke of the great problem we humans have in determining morality and defining what is good and right. His major point was that while we are aware of our human responsibility to be and do good, this is also where we discover our problem, which he says, is our greatest human problem. We know we have this moral need to be and do what is right and good, but within our human limitations we have no way of knowing what this good for everyone. Without the revealed truth in the Bible, he says, we humans cannot find agreement, have no way to fully settle among ourselves, nor can we determine with certainty what is good and what is right.
In thinking about this, we can see how this problem of knowing and doing the good even presents itself in the story of the Bible itself. We see it most clearly in the confused question Pilate asked Jesus, just before he ordered Jesus to crucified. In the gospel of John, Jesus stands on trial before the Roman governor, but you get the sense that Pilate and the world is on trial. Pilate questioned Jesus, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”“What is truth?” Pilate asked (John 19:37-38).
Do you see it? Pilate is morally confused and ethically challenged. The innocence of Jesus had taken him completely out of his element. He does not know how to understand him, take him, nor how to rightly or justly deal with him. Pilate ends up as the judge who is being judged by the true judge. He has no moral or ethical understanding of truth except what suited him and would keep him in power. It was a moral darkness in him that only drew him deeper and deeper into the dark of the immoral world.
We might understand why this worldly man corrupted by human power was so morally confused, but the Old Testament makes a similar point even about the people of God. This very obvious moral and religious confusion was dominate in Israel before the people had any centralized leadership in Jerusalem or any Law Book to read or to follow. It clarifies the situation twice, stating that before there was a King in Israel everyone did what was right in their own eyes (17:6, 21: 25).
This was well illustrated by a story of a young man named Micah (not the Prophet), who one day, as a grown man, finally admitted to his mother that he was the one who had stolen money from her. Being thankful that her son finally became honest, she melted the money he returned to her and they made an idol so they could worship his particularly good deed. Not long thereafter, Micah became wealthy enough to hire his own priest and created his own shrine where his whole community could worship this goodness. Again, they were worshipping not because of the goodness of God but because of his own goodness which challenged others to be good to each other.
This particular story gives us insight into the typical individualized morality that developed as the people scattered and settled in the various tribal areas. As they grew larger and became more diverse, they lost their simple centralized altar and common worship of the God who delivered them from Egypt and devised their own personal ways to worship. With no one judge over them, but many differing judges, there was nothing solid or unifying to keep them conformed to the law God had given them to follow.
So, perhaps this story gives us some needed insight. When the biblical writer comments that Everyone did what was right in their own eyes this does not mean that everyone were evil. That is not what the text says here. It was because the people were losing their common knowledge and shared understanding of the good and that they still had no king, no guide, and of course, no holy law book to follow. They were still struggling to develop and come together around their true calling that was preventing them from finding their true purpose and mission in the world.
This different situations of both moral and mission confusion are fitting examples of what Barth was talking about. We human beings, even good human beings, have no way to answer, to stay on track, nor do we have any sure way to maintain our care or concern about the good and right, except that is, only when it is to our own advantage.
Our constant human problem is that we cannot know, at least not on our own, what we what we ought to do and should do in and for the world. That is the major point Karl Barth was making, and it was the very hope of answering this moral, ethical, and religious dilemma that brought these Jews together to publicly hear this the very first reading of the written word before the Watergate. They had learned the hard way that only through a constant, living, relationship with this God who is revealed in the Bible, could they ever hope to have any kind of answer to the pressing moral or ethical questions that both living and dying forced upon them, and still forces upon us.
This great moral crisis, both within ourselves and in our world too, cannot be answered by simply asking or philosophically answering what should I do or what is right or good. The only way to get a true answer we must learn to ask more personally, within ourselves and with others too; What is the Word of the LORD and what is the will of God for me, and for us?
This is the reality we must live in and we live with. What is right and what is good is not something that scholars can answer in a classroom, nor is something that can actually be written up in a textbook. This cannot be answered except through and in response to this living God who still speaks. The question comes straight to us, as we, ourselves, must stand in our conscience and in our own hearts before a holy God and we must answer for our own still today; what is the will of God which is more than our own desire or our own wish.
Weeping, Rejoicing and Strength: Life Shaped by the Word
Strangely, and most surprisingly too, the truth of this Bible which has been finally and fully clarified once and for all in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is that none of us are able to do the good or be good, at least not on our own.
This is the negative side of the final answer in this Book of God. Even when we humans know what is good and right, we still cannot do it, at least not on our own.
Could this not have been part of the reason the people were weeping before this open book? Were they not weeping before the magnificent beauty of this law they could never, ever fully keep. It is this book that not only revealed to them who God is, but also revealed to them who they were not. How did they find joy when this law forced them to have to face this truth about themselves? How did this weeping turn to rejoicing and how did this joy in the Lord, which was not a joy about themselves, become their strength?
Most importantly, where does this leave us, as we watch the people of God at this Watergate, weeping before the Word of God and finally being encouraged to find joy of the Lord that can become their strength? (Neh. 8:10)? Can we also be made strong by a truth that reveals how weak we are in doing what we should be doing and becoming who we should become? How can we do what is required of us, as Micah said, when the word from God is that none of us are righteous, no not one, and we cannot be who we are supposed become?
The only realistic answer I know to the most astute human problem of doing what the Lord requires, comes from the very Jewish apostle Paul when he also faced the truth of the law he was also not able do, but knew he should. It was in the moment of his own moral despair that Paul discovered a strength beyond himself—beyond his successes, beyond his failures—beyond all his knowledge of the law of God he could never, ever fully live up to or live out in his life (See Rom. 7-8). It was only by fully understanding his own moral defeat before the law that he discovered the victory of God in the saving life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Only this God, who gave the holy law and makes liars out of all of us, is the very God who also gives his grace to forgive, restore and redeem us through our weeping to find hopeful, heart-felt, and healing joy and strength.
Is is not even now, in our very modern, if not Post-modern world of high tech and human innovation, that we need to open this book and humbly walk with this God more than ever before? In the ancient world you could have a flaw or do a wrong, and it could take days, months, or even years, or might never be known by anyone what you did wrong or did not do right. Think about it. Before he became Paul, Saul got away with murder and he even did it in the name of true religion too. There was still no right understanding of law to stop what he did in the name of God.
Today, the ability and speed to have to confront the truth (or the lie) about ourselves can happen with warped speed, as very young lives can be openly humiliated, if not socially destroyed through the power of the Internet. More than ever before, we need God’s grace to be our greatest joy and strength. It was the realization of this grace in God’s forgiveness that gave this people gathered at the Watergate a new desire to become obedient this God who, as the saying goes, knew them best but still loved them most.
It was this God who does justice by loving mercy that enabled this failed people to walk humbly with their God their redemption made possible only through grace. It was the joy and strength of this grace that became obvious in how the people went back to work with Nehemiah to rebuild their city and it was through these Words read by Ezra, that they returned to answer God’s call in their own lives.
Jurgen Moltmann is one of the most influential theologians of our time. Jurgen was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1926. His German upbringing was thoroughly secular. At sixteen, he idolized Albert Einstein, and anticipated studying mathematics at university. He took his entrance exam to proceed with his education, but went to war instead. He was drafted into military service in 1944 and became a soldier in the German army under the Nazis. Ordered to the front lines, he surrendered in 1945 to the first British soldier he met. For the next few years (1945-48), he was confined as a prisoner of war and moved from camp to camp, first in Belgium, then Scotland, and finally England.
Jurgen lost all hope and confidence in the German culture because of the horrific death camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. His remorse was so great, he often felt he would have rather died along with many of his comrades than live to face what his nation had done. At this point Juergen was a thoroughly broken man. And then, one day, a well-meaning American chaplain came by, handing out English-language New Testaments to these German POWs. Imagine that. German soldiers receiving English-language Bibles. Talk about a hopeless gesture.
Fortunately, Jurgen Moltmann knew just enough English to make some sense of out of one of these New Testaments. There in the prison camp, under the influence of this English-language New Testament, Jurgen became a disciple of Jesus Christ. He would later sum it up like this, “I didn’t find Christ, he found me.”
After his release in 1948, Jurgen Moltmann abandoned his field of physics and went on to study theology. Now his theological works are read all over the world. He is best known for his ground-breaking book The Theology of Hope. To this day Jurgen carries that New Testament with him as a reminder of what God can do through his word.
Does this make sense to you? The Bible, this book of Law that is proven to be the redeeming story of God’s grace, is the book provides moral structure for good in our lives, but it actually shapes our lives, with God’s loving mercy and grace, if we will let allow this book to prove its redeeming truth in our lives.
So, what I see on display at this Watergate, which I hope will also be on display after our own Watergate (pun intended), is that here was a people begging to hear and understand a Word from God because they wanted to do the will of God. This is the reality, our mission, if we choose to accept it, that still makes the church, the people of God different and God’s peculiar people of all peoples. In and through Jesus Christ, we are especially chosen to hear and receive this Word because God still loves the whole world. Amen.
