Nehemiah 8:9-12, 12:43
Romans 12:9-18
“Celebrate: A Community Rejoicing”
Preached Sunday, October 17, 2021
When I was picking out hymns for this Sunday and the first of three weeks on a sermon series called Celebrate, any guess on what I couldn’t get out of my head?
“Celebrate Good times, come on, doo do doo do do do do doo”
Okay, now that I’ve gotten that earworm stuck inside your head let’s actually talk about the commandment to rejoice and to celebrate…
And yes, I said commandment! Joy is a fruit of the Spirit - joy is the deep seated trust in God that all shall be all, all shall be well, and all shall be well. One can have joy even when they are not happy and even in the darkest times of their lives. AND, signs of the moving of God’s Spirit in our lives are also levity, thankfulness, hope. When you have multiple people together who have deep joy, levity, a shared spirit of thankfulness, and hope - well, THAT is the recipe for a celebration! And Paul tells us that not only are we to weep with those who weep - a sensitive act of care, companionship, and love - we are also called to rejoice with those who rejoice! This is also an act of care, companionship, and love! Our burdens are lightened when we share them and our celebrations are multiplied when we share them!
But sometimes us Christians can get a reputation for being a little bit of...um...sticks in the mud? Sour-pusses? Fuddy-duddies? You know what I’m saying. And by and large this does NOT characterize us here at Grace. We truly are a joyous and caring Christian community where we celebrate together and laughter comes easily when we’re together.
But still, we know the reputation that some Christians have, right? Those Christians that are always so serious about everything and about their faith? I mean, not to say that faith isn’t about serious stuff, right? Like, we talk about life and we talk about death and we confess our sins and we are constantly challenged and called out to do better...and many people take that to just be, you know - so serious. We can think of the puritans clad all in black with dour expressions, tight-lipped faces that are not amused...and for some, that puritanical attitude toward the faith and life has continued on.
And yes, we are called to consider serious things as Christians...and let’s think about what we believe about those things
Life - That we are called to have life and to have it abundantly. That in life we are to love God and love neighbor as self, to treat every person, especially the least of these, the hungry, thirsty, imprisoned, homeless, immigrant, to treat every person like they are Jesus...to weep with those who weep, to rejoice with those who rejoicing...so that we may all have life and share in that abundant life together.
Death - That death does NOT have the final say! That Christ has rose again and defeated the grave. And Jesus is but the first fruit of the resurrection which we will all experience. That death has lost its sting and the grave has no victory of which to boast.
Confession of sin - That when we repent, we are forgiven. That there is freedom from all that holds us down. That we are loved, unconditionally.
Challenged to do better - we call that sanctification. That we know God wants our best from us and we are capable of reaching that perfect love where all we do is shaped by love of God and love of neighbor.
Wow. Instead of being all serious about life, death, confession, and being challenged to do better...it sounds like we have some things to celebrate! Right? Give me a “woo!”
When we remember all that God has done - promises made and promises fulfilled - and we remember all that God HAS promised and WILL fulfill, that is cause for celebration.
In the church we have seasons of fasts like Lent, we also have seasons of feasts like Christmas and Easter...but even in the fasts, Sundays are considered mini-feasts, mini-reflections of the great feast that is Easter. Because every Sunday is the Lord’s Day, a day to remember that Christ came, died and rose again. That Christ was resurrected and so too shall we be! Every Sunday, even on days we confess our sins and even on days when we are challenged and even on days we are mourning...Those Sundays, those Lord’s Days, are celebrations. Where we come together, to remember what God has promised, what God has done, and what God will do.
This is what the Israelite community does in the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is a short book in the Bible, one you can sit down and read in one sitting - and it’s even shorter if you skim over the long list of names. Now, the book is about a small re-constituted community of Israelites after Judah was destroyed by the Babylons. This community is smaller than they were, they have fallen from power, they are in exile. And they have forgotten the commandments they were supposed to be keeping. Enter Ezra and Nehemiah - the two books in the Bible were originally actually one book and somewhere along the way they got split into two. Ezra and Nehemiah work for the King but their loyalties are with Jerusalem. Nehemiah has a vision from God to go to Jerusalem and have them rebuild the walls, a way to remember who they are and what God has asked of them.
And so the walls are rebuilt with some strife from without and some strife from within. And as the walls were finished the whole community of Israelites gathered together outside of them and Ezra took out the scrolls, the law. And he read them to all gathered. Not only did he read them, priests stood among the people and walked around and explained what the scrolls meant - they were interpreting the law, preaching, and teaching.
And upon hearing the reading from the book of Moses, the people wept.
Why did they weep? Perhaps they wept cause of how far they had strayed. Perhaps they wept because of how much they had lost. Perhaps they wept cause they remembered the way things used to be.
But then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and all the Levites - the priests - told the people:
“This day is holy to the Lord your God. Don’t mourn or weep…Go, eat rich food and drink something sweet and send portions of this to any who have nothing ready! This day is holy to our Lord. Don’t be sad, because the joy from the Lord is your strength!”
And the people had a great celebration! After many days of celebration the people gathered together, communally confessed their sins, then dedicated the wall and celebrated some more!
They were to celebrate because they had received the law. They were read from the scrolls and called to remember who they were, who God was calling them to be, all that God had already done for them and all yet that God had promised to do for them!
God is not done with us yet and God keeps God’s promises!
Now there is a reason to celebrate!
And today we say the same thing here at Grace. Actually, say it with me, repeat after me:
God is not done with us yet! (repeat!)
And God keeps God’s promises! (repeat!)
Grace, today and over the next 2 Sundays, for the rest of the month of October, we are going to be in a season of celebration. In addition to a sermon series on celebration, we are going to be celebrating ministries in our church AND where we are feeling those ministries are being called to grow - and how through your faithful stewardship of your prayers, presence, gifts, and witness you can work alongside God in this church to better live out our mission to invite all into a joyous and caring Christian community.
After such a hard, well, almost 2 years. And a pandemic that has rocked us and isn’t done with us yet - it is more appropriate than ever to celebrate. To come together and remember all that God has done - and all that God will do.
So come on - celebrate good times come on, doo do do do do dooo
Amen.
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