Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

the third sunday after the epiphany

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Listen with Care

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

1 All the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.  2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. 9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. 10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (NIV)

A porcelain figurine.  A set of fine china.  An antique vase.  These are items that we’d certainly handle with care, as they are delicate and could easily be shattered, broken, or chipped.  Now why would that matter?  Because chances are, such items are more than likely quite valuable.  But even if they don’t have very significant monetary value, there’s probably a story or history behind each one that gives it a special personal value.  The figurine is a keepsake from grandma.  The china has been handed down in the family for generations.  The vase was a wedding gift to the great grandparents from a prominent person.  For one reason or another, the items have significant value, and when you come across something of value, you handle it with care.

This morning we want to see how important it is that we take the same approach with something that far surpasses family china or antiques in value: the Bible.  We want to handle it with care, not because we’re afraid we might drop it and shatter it into a million pieces, but because there simply is nothing more valuable or important in our lives.  And the best way to handle it with care, is to Listen with Care.  That was exactly what God’s people were doing when God’s Word was brought before them to be read. 

But God’s blessing had been upon them in a number of ways long before that happened.  Even though they had been pummeled by their enemies and taken away into captivity in a land not their own, God did not withhold his blessing from them.  Being displaced from their homes was a temporary arrangement.  God’s goodness on behalf of his people stretched out into the secular world as he used worldly leaders to carry out his bidding.  God used the Persian rulers to allow his people to return back to their homeland in phases.  The first phase of exiles returned to rebuild their homes and the temple.  After some time, a second phase returned, under the direction of Ezra.  Then, when word had been received that Jerusalem’s walls were in disrepair, God raised up Nehemiah who, after pleading with King Artaxerxes, was permitted to return to rebuild the walls in a third phase of exiles.  Not only did Artexerxes allow it, but he also provided the materials to do so.  Then, when enemies around Jerusalem recognized that the walls were being rebuilt, and they felt threatened, they tried to thwart the efforts of the Jews who had returned from exile.  But blessed by God with Nehemiah’s leadership, they were able to complete the task and rebuild the walls. 

Great as that rebuilding project was, there was an even greater rebuilding project that God carried out through Nehemiah.  It didn’t involve walls, but hearts.  And when it comes to rebuilding hearts, there is no need for hammer, saw, or chisel, for only one tool can effectively provide what is needed: the Word. “All the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.  So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.  He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law” (v.1-3).  Just the location itself would have been an emotional high – being home again, back in the place where their families before them had previously dwelled, rich with history and stories passed down.  The smell of a fresh coat of paint lingered in the air, serving as a reminder that the old, burned down and dilapidated gates and walls had been made brand new again.

But then to hear the words, to hear the words of the Torah – the Law – what we know as the first five books of the Bible written by Moses, must have transformed an already memorable moment into remarkable one.  The Torah was truly their identity, their purpose, their calling as God’s chosen people.  The foreign language and customs that were gradually becoming second-hand to them while living as exiles must have seemed to waft away into the air suddenly as their Jewish heritage leapt off the pages of the scroll and into their hearts, reminding them who they were and why they were.  They were God’s special people.  He promised to love them with an everlasting love.  He promised to be their refuge and their fortress.  He promised never to abandon them, even though they had done the very same to him.  And there, as they stood together, home again, being reminded of promise after promise as they listened intently to Ezra’s reading, the reality of those promises and God’s faithfulness to them were being experienced in a profound way.  Hearts that had been squeezed in discouragement during captivity and exile were suddenly beating vibrantly again, having received spiritual CPR through God’s Word.

Should it be any different for us today?  Doesn’t the very same Word of God, which first gave us life, continue to abundantly enrich our lives?  The same gracious God has told us we are his special people.  He has also promised to love us with an everlasting love.  He has promised to be our refuge and fortress.  He has promised never to abandon us.  Promise after promise has been made in Scripture, and promise after promise has been kept.  Wouldn’t we expect the Word of God to have the same profound impact on us today as it did while Ezra read it to the mass of God’s people gathered there?

Ah, but then how do we explain the crisp, clean pages, unbent and unfolded, that belong to a book in nearly mint condition, virtually unopened and unread?  How do we explain not even knowing at this very moment where an available Bible is in our home, or that we do know exactly where it is, only because we see it more often in its permanent place on the shelf instead of right under our nose while being read?  Why is it so much easier to blow twenty minutes on a game on my phone than it is to spend only five in my Bible?  Why is it always so much more challenging for us to actually study the Bible than it is to pull us away from it?  Why can I so easily come up with ten complaints about worship and what’s wrong with it, but struggle to come up with half as many benefits that result from it?  Now ask yourselves if such unflattering descriptions could likely have been applied to those listening to Ezra as he read the Torah.  It sure didn’t sound like it based on our First Lesson this morning, did it?

So how do we explain why these descriptions seem to describe us with such alarming accuracy?  Here is why: because, like those listening attentively to the Word of God as Ezra read it, we are God’s specially chosen people.  And you and I know that Satan takes issue with that.  And, since he knows exactly what the Lord God uses to keep his chosen people connected to him, Satan shows no shame in an all-out, no holds barred attack on the Bible.  See, he’s already convinced unbelievers it’s just a plain old book – nothing special about it and certainly not real high on the must-read list.  So the ones he needs to work on are you and me, and anything he can do to keep us as far from the Bible as possible, he considers gain.  And when he’s successful, it shows that we’re more convinced by his lies that minimize the Bible than we are about God’s truths that elevate it to the highest place of prominence.  At such times we do well to be warned that hell is full of souls who have gone before us who bought those lies one time too many.

Instead, let us return from the captivity of such deception and the exile of indifference toward the Word.  Let us, like God’s people who returned home and became reacquainted with the Word, renew our vows to Christ, to his Church, and to his Word.  After all, isn’t that when his Word, with its forgiveness and grace, truly hits the mark?  Isn’t it after we’ve wandered, we’ve ignored, we’ve disregarded and despised his Word – which is nothing short of a revelation of God himself – that forgiveness and grace truly sink in? 

Think of the husband who ends the affair with another women because he genuinely regrets it with all his heart.  He is convinced far beyond the shadow of a doubt that his marriage is over and that his wife will forever loathe and detest him.  Divorce, he believes, is imminent.  But then she speaks to him the words, “I love you, and I forgive you.”  Surely he’s heard those words from her lips before, many times, perhaps.  But never have they had meaning as they do at that moment.  Never had his own sin been so shameful as to make those words so sweet.

And that is why we return to the sweet words of forgiveness found in Scripture, words which mean so much both because of the magnitude of our Savior’s sacrifice, but also because of the seriousness of our sin.  In God’s Word we find over and over that we wandering, wayward sons are never turned away from the longing, loving Father.  Another pass through the pages of Scripture assures us that all guilt has been removed.  It takes us by the hand back to the manger, then passes the place of skulls on its way to the open tomb, stepping in where even our own feelings and emotions cannot convince, and guarantees to us that all is well with God.

Of that assurance we never tire.  It is why we treasure the Word.  It is why we begin to understand the many pictures painted in the Psalms about how lovely the law of the Lord is.  Because we love the Lord’s Word, we want to know how to read and hear it.

We note that as God’s people gathered to hear the Word, the Word was read “making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read” (v.8).  There is always value in reading the Word, but we also want to make sure we understand what we’re reading, or that those with whom we’re sharing it understand.  It is necessary to explain and clarify what is meant when the Word is read, so that the Holy Spirit might enlighten us as we understand it.

Then also, as we’re hearing the Word, we do so attentively, as the people listened to Ezra.  We know that Satan wants to distract us and shut our ears to the Word, so let us recognize that it takes work and effort to pay attention so that nothing would come between the Word being read and keeping it from being heard by our ears. 

We do all that we can when reading and hearing the Word, to ensure that hearts are truly touched by its message.  We do all that we can to see that we handle the Word with care.  More than anything else, that means that we Listen with Care.  For then we will hear the Savior speak, and there is no sweeter sound.  Amen. 

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)