The Gospel of New Beginnings: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 - Third Sunday after Epiphany

¹All the people [of Israel] 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. ²Accordingly, 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. ³He 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. ⁵And 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. ⁶Then 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. ⁸So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

  ⁹And 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. ¹⁰Then 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.” (NRSV)

Winter Morning by Markus Trienke on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0

In your opinion, are new beginnings exciting or intimidating? 

In our first reading from the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, we witness what was a very difficult new beginning.

150 years prior to today’s events, the armies of Babylon destroyed the city of Jerusalem and carried many of its citizens off into exile. Then fifty years later, the Persians conquer Babylon. The king permits Jewish exiles to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild their city—which will prove easier said than done. 

For starters, not all the exiles even wanted to go back. Many were content to stay in Babylon—especially since they knew there wasn’t much left in Jerusalem to return to. 

The exiles who did return found that their ancestral lands were in the possession of fellow Jews that were not taken into exile—and they were not about to give it back. 

Then you have the centuries-old animosity between Jews and Samaritans. When Israel split into two kingdoms, each one believed the other to be illegitimate. Even now, the Jews would not allow Samaritans to rebuild the Jerusalem temple or worship inside of it. When Nehemiah begins rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem, the governors in the Samaritan territories do everything in their power to make it difficult for them. 

Nevertheless, the temple is rebuilt, and the city wall is rebuilt. 

Today, Ezra, the priest, has assembled all the people in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets. Not only was this the festival of the Jewish new year, but this was also the celebration of a new beginning. By the grace of God, a new Jerusalem has arisen out of the ashes! Ezra then reads from the book of the Law of Moses. A tremendous effort is made to ensure that everyone understood what was being read. Yet when the people hear God’s word, they weep.

They weep because the journey home has been very difficult, and so much has been lost. Once upon a time, Israel was the most powerful kingdom on earth. Now, it is but a tiny fraction of what it once was. They know that it is because of their sins, and the sins of their ancestors, that God allowed the city to be destroyed. Even though today marks a new beginning, a dark cloud hangs over their future—and the people know there will be no going back to the way things were before. 

Today, we find ourselves in a similar situation. The global pandemic has brought dramatic change to our lives, our schools, our workplaces, our society, and even our church. Just about everybody knows someone who has died of this terrible virus. 

Lockdowns and worker shortages have strangled the supply chains, making it harder and more expensive to get the things we need. People’s trust in governments and institutions has fallen to an all-time low; while partisan hostilities are at an all-time high. Everywhere you look, people are pointing fingers, hurling blame, lashing out in rage. 

Today, we as a congregation are looking back over the year that has passed. While God has been doing some amazing things in our life together, many of you will remember a time when 400 people worshiped in this sanctuary. And now, we are but a tiny fraction of that. Inside the annual reports you see the names of family and friends who are no longer with us. You look at the financial numbers, and you wonder how much longer we can possibly go as we’ve been going. 

As difficult as things may be for us right now, this is nothing compared to what people in other parts of the world are facing. 

But God is calling you into a new beginning, built on the solid rock of God’s Word. That’s what’s happening in Nehemiah. 

When Ezra tells them, “Do not weep,” he’s not criticizing their sorrow and grief. You cannot go through what they went through without it affecting you. But if they dwell on the pains in the past, they will not be moving forward into God’s promised future. There is hope—because God’s faithfulness is greater than our unfaithfulness; God’s love is more powerful  than everything we fear; and God’s joy will be their strength, no matter what he future brings.

They must listen; we must listen—because God’s Word reveals the way forward. This demands our coming together regularly to increase our understanding of it; this demands sharing in holy fellowship, and sending forth the fruits of our celebration to those who are absent. This is how God fills you with joy that will be your strength. 

We do well to express our grief over what has been lost; we do well to name aloud everything that causes us fear—because you can’t be in dialogue with God if you keep your mouths shut. There are no easy answers or quick fixes to our struggles here at church, or anywhere else. What I do know is that people need refuge from the chaos in the world; people need community when so much pulls us apart and divides us; people need hope to keep going when the outlook is bleak. 

It is God’s promise of joy which feeds our desire for new beginnings: including new and deeper relationships with neighbors; and new and deeper knowledge of God’s Word; new and deeper understandings of who we are. It is God’s promise of joy that we take risks, try new things, allowing our failures to teach us and our difficulties to challenge us. 

God’s future is not the resurrection of past glories. God’s new beginnings arise out of death, heartbreak, and loss. That is what the cross teaches us. The only way that the joy of the Lord will become your strength is to know the Word of God, do what it says, and to hold fast to one another though good times and bad. New beginnings are in the works and on the way.