 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri January 20, 2022 Paula and Ryan Nehemiah (and Ezra)  Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10All the people (of Jerusalem) gathered 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. 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. He read from it facing the square from the Water Gate from early morning until midday in the presence of the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. 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. 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. So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. And Nehemiah who was 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. Then he said to them, “Go on 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.” About this text –As you probably know, this story tells what happened after the Jews who had been exiled, returned to Jerusalem. They no longer had a king, but were permitted by the rulers of Persia to come back to their land, to rebuild the Temple, to offer sacrifices and to resume their lives. According to the earlier text, they had just completed the wall around the city three days before this event. They gathered outdoors, on the first day of the new year – now celebrated as Rosh Hashanah – and asked Ezra to read from the law. I say this often, but please do NOT understand “the law” as merely a set of rules. The Torah is everything in Genesis through Deuteronomy. All of it. All the stories. All the evidence of God’s saving love for Israel. And the Torah tells of both the best times and the worst – the people’s faith and trust, as well as the unfaithfulness and sin of the community and God’s response to that. So Ezra read it all. And they were attentive And they wept. Everyone was there – old and young – those with understanding and those without. There was sorrow for the faithlessness and disobedience that made them susceptible to the allure of foreign gods or no gods at all – ready to make unjust alliances, to practice injustice, and to forget who they were – to abandon their uniqueness. They weep with repentance. But Ezra and Nehemiah (the governor) tell the people to rejoice instead. God’s story always ends with hope and joy and a fresh revelation of love. Their story is not ended, either, They have been brought back. They are forgiven, restored, cherished. They are given their home again. That calls for celebration. Everyone is supposed to eat and drink their best – to celebrate, even those who have nothing and are unprepared! The last line is ambiguous in the Hebrew – Is it the joy that comes from the Lord that is their strength? Or is it the joy that God experiences when God sees the people listening attentively and welcoming his words again? Or is it the people’s own joy as they recognize the overwhelming love of God for them despite their sin and failure? Or most likely, all of the above. That is what reading of the scriptures alone, together, in public or privately, is designed to accomplish.  Paula and Ryan If you have not yet read or listened to Paula’s homily please do. It is available on our Facebook page, and on our YouTube channel (St Albans Episcopal Church Bolivar Missouri) but not yet on our website. Becca Cox has been at the hospital with Bobby every day and has not been able to work on the website, and Father Jos Tharakan, who helped her set it up has not yet been able to teach her how to add new links for sermons and videos because he is also sick – but thankfully, not with COVID. This Sunday, Ryan Williams will preach from the 1 Corinthians passage that follows the reading Paula used last Sunday. We will try to make sure it is videotaped as well. If you are absent, or don’t hear well, or are distracted by illness or noise or fatigue, you might like to read or listen later. People who are not members also read what is posted on our Facebook page and our website – even the daily emails. This has been surprising to me, but it is true: We now have more regular readers of the daily emails who are not St Albans people than we have members. However, none of us stands up for six or seven hours to read everything from Genesis through Deuteronomy aloud – the whole “Torah” – the whole book of the law”, as Ezra did! But we all do try to convey the sense of what we read in the weekly lectionary. I am grateful for Paula, who is seeking a local preacher’s license, and for Ryan, who is moving towards ordination. And I would be thrilled to hear that others of you are also interested in interpreting scripture for us – in homilies, in teaching a class – in writing something on one of the weekly scriptures to put in our daily letter.  Eve Woosley moving up a level in her gymnastics class – and a photo of Xavier Cox and the water bottle Elijah had made for him as a gift. We are always ready to post photos of your kids and to celebrate their accomplishments! |
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