The Rev. Jean Marie Peacock

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Sermon Title:  “God’s Holy People”

Scripture:  Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-12   Romans 12:1-8

Good morning.  It is good to be back, after a wonderful week with the youth in Montreat, North Carolina.  As you know, the youth group returned last night. Heidi Campbell and I had the pleasure to serve as the group’s chaperones.  We all had a wonderful time.  It was a week of renewal and spiritual growth as we reflected on the theme:  “Called by Name.”  During the week – through worship, keynote, small groups, bible study, and back home devotions, we were reminded that God claims us –the ordinary people that we are – and calls us by name to serve Christ in the world.  We celebrated our uniqueness – our identity as children of God.  We rejoiced in the fact that we have been claimed as God’s own and that we abide always in the love of God.  The youth are planning to share their experience with you at a later date, as they prepare to lead one of our worship services in the Fall.  We will look forward to hearing from them.  But today, as we turn to the second scripture reading, I encourage you to consider how God’s Word calls us, the ordinary people that we are, into a life of holiness, goodness and joy within the community of faith.  I am reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans, Chapter 12, verses 1-8, which you will find in the pew bible beginning on page 161 in the New Testament.  Listen for God’s word.

Reading of  scripture

Prayer:  Holy and merciful God, as your word is heard and proclaimed this day, may we hear again your claim on our lives and be reminded of who we are as your people.  Guide and direct us by your Word, strengthen us to respond to your call, that our lives may be changed by your holy presence in our midst.  This we pray in Christ’s name.  Amen.

              There is a Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown stops by Lucy’s “Help Stand.”  He tells Lucy, “My trouble is I never know if I’m doing the right thing.  I need to have someone around who can tell me when I’m doing the right thing.”

              Lucy says, “Okay.  You’re doing the right thing.  That’ll be five cents please!” 

              Charlie Brown pays her and walks away with a smile on his face.  But a few minutes later, he returns with a frown.

              “Back already?” asks Lucy, “What happened?”

              “I was wrong,” says Charlie Brown, “It didn’t help.  You need more in life than just having someone around to tell you when you’re doing the right thing.”

              To this, Lucy replies, “Now you’ve really learned something.  That’ll be another five cents please.”  

              Charlie Brown was looking for meaning.  He was looking for a way to know when he was on the right path.  He was seeking direction and guidance, and what he discovered was a need for more than cheap, five cent advice.

              We are fortunate to have God’s Word to guide us in life and God’s Word incarnate, in Jesus Christ, to show us the way.  One of today’s scripture readings is a story from the book of  Nehemiah that tells of a public reading of God’s Word among the people of Israel, a public reading of scripture that reminds people who they are and who God has called them to be.  

              This may not be a familiar story to many of us.  Your experience may be different from mine, but I don’t remember having many lessons from Nehemiah in church school as I grew up.  Yet, the book of Nehemiah tells a wonderful story of how the people of Israel rebuilt their city, their temple, and their lives after 50 years of exile in Babylon.  It is the story of a community of people whom God claimed for a purpose - ordinary people - people who had their share of conflict and complaining as they worked on rebuilding.  Some people even tried to sabotage the work.  They were not united in their efforts.  Issues around taxation, which hurt the poor, fractured the community.  Conflict divided neighbor from neighbor.

              Yet, this ordinary, fractured community did something extraordinary.  They recognized their need for guidance.  They took the initiative in asking Ezra, the priest, to bring the book of the law of Moses to the center of town for a reading.  Think about it, a community turns to scripture as they seek to heal their divisions.  They turn to scripture to seek guidance as they rebuild their lives and their community.  This story reminds us of the centrality of scripture as the rule of our faith and life.  God’s Word to us will guide us, if we only turn to it.

              We are told that Ezra stands before all the people in the center of town and reads from the “book of the law of Moses.”  Now, the book of the law of Moses is the Torah, the first five books of the Bible - Genesis through Deuteronomy.  The Torah includes stories and poems and long lists of names.  The Torah tells the story of the history of God’s people and God’s activity in the world.  It is a record that tells where we have come from, who we are, and how we should live.

              As Ezra read the Torah, he read about how God created the world and called it “good.”  He read the laws of Leviticus and the Ten Commandments.  He read about the times that humanity did not keep their covenant with God.  He read of how God chose the Israelites and loved them and delivered them from slavery.  He read the story of how God brought them to the promised land. 

              As Ezra read from the scriptures, the people were reminded that they had been created by God for a purpose and that their lives had a destiny.  They were not just any people – they were the people of God.  They were not to live just any old way – they were to live in such a way that their lives pleased God and glorified God.  The reading of the Torah helped to unify the community in understanding who they were and how they were to act in relationship to God and each other. And that is true for us today.  Scripture reminds us of who we are and to whom we belong.  It reminds us that we are claimed by God and called by God for a purpose.

              As Ezra read the stories and poems and songs and laws of the Torah, we are told that there were priests present who were “making it clear.”  They were “translating” the words. The Torah was written in Hebrew, but after 50 years under the Babylonian Empire, most of the people no longer spoke Hebrew or understood it.  They spoke Aramaic, the Babylonian language.  So, the translation helped to make the meaning of the words clear. 

              We recognize that we also depend on translations of scripture to make the meaning clear.  The orginal texts of scripture, written in Hebrew and Greek, have been translated into English for us.  There are many translations available -  the King James Version, the New Interpreter’s Bible, the Jerusalem Bible, the Good News Bible, the New Revised Standard Version and so forth.  In addition to translation in English, we also must interpret how words, spoken to a community long ago, translate to our use today.  As Presbyterians, we affirm that scripture is interpreted through the experience of the community of faith, inspired by the Holy Spirit.  I urge you to participate in worship each Sunday to hear the Word preached and interpreted and to take advantage of the many Christian Education opportunities that are offered here at the church. “Making God’s Word clear” is the work of the whole community of faith as we discern God’s call and God’s will for our lives.  Take the time for bible study, for devotions, and for daily reflection on God’s Word.  Take the time to listen to God’s Word as it instructs your life. 

              Take the time... Ezra read from the Torah from early morning until midday.  Did you hear that? Just imagine listening to a reading of scripture from sunrise until noon! (about 6 hours).  That would be the reading of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  In this bible, that is 230 pages of scripture.  You would suspect that these people must have gotten tired, standing there listening to a reading of 230 pages of scripture.  We can scarcely endure a sermon that exceeds 15 minutes or a worship service that goes over an hour.  But the account in Nehemiah says that “all the people were attentive to the book of the law.”  They praised God just for the opportunity to have the Word read to them.  

              And the people were not passive listeners.  Nehemiah records that they shouted, “Amen, Amen!”  while lifting their hands; then they bowed low and worshipped the Lord with their faces on the ground” (Neh 8:6).  Just think of the exercise involved in all the up and down of lifting your hands, then getting down on your knees to bow low, then getting up again to shout “Amen!”  Worship is not passive.  It is active.  It is a time of celebration, of praise, of joy.  We could learn from this passage that worship involves spontaneous response to God’s Word.   It’s ok if you want to shout AMEN or clap your hands.   Worship involves our whole selves – our hands, our heart, our voices, and our very being in praising and glorifying God.

              Not only did the people of Israel praise God when they heard the scriptures, but they were also moved to tears.  Nehemiah’s record says, "All the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law "(Neh. 8:9).  As Ezra read the Torah the people were reminded that they were the people of God and responsible to God.  They remembered that God had called them to lead holy lives, and they wept at the many ways that they had faltered.  The first five books of the Bible has many clear instructions for how we are to live, especially in terms of how we are to care for each other.  There are clear instructions on how we are to show compassion for the poor and the helpless, the orphan and the widow.  The Torah commands that we care for the weakest among us, just as God has cared for us.  The people heard this, as Ezra read from the Torah.  They knew they had fallen short of God’s desire for their lives.  They knew they were a fractured community where there was injustice toward the poor and division among the people.  They wept, because they realized they were not the covenant community that God had called them to be. 

                  Do our hearts weep as we confess our sins each Sunday before God and each other? Do our hearts weep for the brokenness of our lives?  Do we weep for fractured relationships, divisions caused by pride, prejudice and war?  Do we weep for the injustice and pain suffered by the poor, the weak, the helpless?  We confess our sins in worship, because we know that we have not lived up to God’s expectations.  Confession is how we weep for our shortcomings and bring them before God for healing, as we seek God’s strength.  God’s Word brings joy, but it also brings indictment, as we recognize where we have fallen short.

              Ezra knew this.  He saw the people crying, and he knew that the words of Scripture had reminded them that they had fallen short of being the people God called them to be.  But he also reminds them – and us – that God’s Word is not intended to cause one big guilt trip.  We do need to recognize our faults, confess them, and weep for them, but our confession does not stop there.  We are also called to move on and to be changed through our repentance. So Ezra says to the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God, so you are not to mourn or cry.  Now go home and have a feast.  Share your food and wine with those who don’t have enough.  Today is holy to our Lord, so don’t be sad.” 

              What Ezra is saying to the Israelites – and what is being communicated to us – is that this day and each day is holy, because God is present with you.  God is present with you, even when you fall short.  God’s love and grace holds on to you, even with all your faults.  That’s what makes your life holy and sacred, because you are claimed by God!  So live into the holiness of each day.  Celebrate!  Throw a party to celebrate God’s holiness, and share with those who have nothing as a response to God’s blessings.  That is good instruction for us -that our lives be filled with joy, sharing, service and celebration, even as we recognize our faults and confess our sins. 

              As the people listened to Ezra’s reading of the Torah, they knew they needed to change. They were called by the reading of scripture to become something greater – a holy people, a people who cared for each other, a people united as a community under God.  Folks, the power of scripture to change us is very real. God’s Word of redemption takes root in us, and it changes us.  Richard Norris, in his book “Understanding the Faith of the Church,” reminds us that “In the presence of God’s Word ..... we reach out to God by agreeing with God’s Word and by making it our own Word...(such that) the way we live begins to be shaped by the Word and the promise of our nature is fulfilled in a sharing of God’s life.”

              As Ezra read from the Torah, the people would have heard him read these words from Leviticus:  “For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy.” They were reminded that their lives were sacred and holy, not because of what they had done, but because they belonged to a holy God who loved them, claimed them, and cared for them.  Their lives were blessed, because they were God’s people.  They remembered who God had called them to be.

              The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, also reminds the community of faith of God’s call and claim on our lives.  “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”  Paul urges disciples to give their whole being in service to God.  He also reminds us that this life of service and faith is lived, not as individuals, but as a community – as the body of Christ – and that “in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

              This suggests that the holy life, a life which is pleasing and acceptable to God, is lived in faithful community where we witness to the unity we share in Christ.  It is not a fractured community.  It is not a community where folks are left to fend for themselves.  No, we are called to be a community that loves God, extending God’s love to neighbors near and far.  We are called to be a community that is fully immersed in God’s way of justice and peace.  We are called to be a community where our identity as God’s people is completely ingrained in our lives.

              I once attended worship at a Jewish synagogue where the Rabbi prepared to read a passage of the scripture about the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness.  Before he read, he gave some background.  He said, “You remember when WE were in the wilderness....”  Something did not sound quite right to me.  Then I realized why.  The Rabbi kept speaking about how “we” murmured in the desert, how “we” had experienced that event.  To be God’s people is to claim  our connection to the stories of scripture – that we are part of the history of God’s people – united by God’s Word and defined by God’s love.

              So, live that connection to God’s Word.  Study scripture and participate in bible studies that make the “meaning clearer.”  Listen to the Word read and preached during worship.  Confess, weep, repent and move forward as God shapes you and guides you through the Holy Word.  Celebrate God’s love and grace – throw parties and invite everyone, even strangers, to share in this community’s joy and strength, which comes only from Christ.  Live the unity that you share as Christ’s body – one people, but many – with many gifts and talents to be shared in God’s service.  Submerge yourselves in God’s way of holiness – recognizing that this day – and each day – is God’s gift to you.  Become a living sacrifice for God, seeking to do what is pleasing and good in God’s eyes.   For you are God’s people, holy people, claimed by God, loved by God, and blessed by God.  This is not cheap, five-cent advice.  It is God’s Word to you and God’s promise to you.   Live into the holiness of that claim on your lives, and you will be changed forever.  Amen!