Sunday Worship Celebration

Sunday, April 12, 2026

Introduction It can be an awful, fearful thing to realize that you've been living a long time ignorant of some vital truth. You keep banging your head against the same walls, but you don't know why. And you wonder - these things you are building with your life - what are they actually FOR? But, when you get your answer, it's bigger and wilder than you imagined. You realize your life was not what you thought. This is the point the people of Israel come to, in Nehemiah 7 and 8. It's a long section, but it's really answering that one question - what's it all about? What's the point? In their case, they've risked life and limb to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, once destroyed by Babylon. But now that it's done, what's the point? What's the wall for? The answer, over lots of verses, is three simple words: People Word and Joy Sense of the Text First, People The wall exists for people. The first thing Nehemiah does, 7 v. 1, is install the worship personnel. That was the focus of Ezra - the restoration of WORSHIP. But we will see that Nehemiah aims at a different target. Then he delegates the task of governing the city to his brother Hananiah, one who is more faithful than most. He gives him very simple instruction, v. 3 - only open the doors during certain hours, since, v. 4, and v. 73, hardly anyone lives IN the city yet. Everyone continues to live in their towns. Houses must still be built. Then to prepare for bringing people back into the city, Nehemiah numbers the men, probably using the same list that Ezra made, 13 years earlier, and then making adjustments for changes. That's the rest of chapter 7. Nehemiah first thinks about people. But what are the people to do? For that, they must be guided by the second part . . . The Word In chapter 8, Ezra READS the book of the law, the Torah, to the people. Now, what follows probably happened, as I said, 13 years after the events of the book of Ezra. Which is why some scholars just can believe this - that it would take Ezra 13 years to do this. But v. 1 says that the PEOPLE TOLD Ezra to come and read the Bible. It's possible he had been trying to teach them all along, but only NOW, for some reason, they are now OPEN. They WANT the Word of God read aloud to them. Some might call this a revival. So, v. 2-3, everyone gathers - men, women, slaves, foreigners - ANYONE who could understand the language. Ezra stood on a wooden platform, and read aloud the Bible, from early morning, until noon. When he opened the Bible, v. 5, the people stood, out of reverence. Now you know why we do this. After reading the law, Ezra, v. 6, praises Yahweh, and all the people respond Amen, Amen. The word "Amen" means "True, True." And then they worshiped God - and this is an important detail - with their faces to the ground. We will see why in a moment. At the same time v. 7-8, other teachers went about the crowd, making sure that the words were heard clearly, and giving them the SENSE of the text, so that the people understood the meaning. This is our sermons begin with the sense of the text. Which leads to the third part: Joy But not yet, for, v. 9 - as the people heard the words of the text, they WEPT. Why? Because as they heard the Bible read, it exposed them, as if in a mirror. They realized they had sinned against this God for a long time, in lots of ways. Their guilt stretched like a stench to the heavens. One of the purposes of God's law is to show us ourselves. To melt our pride and make us realize our TRUE condition. Is the gospel about law or grace? It turns out, the law IS grace, even if hard, because it shows us our need FOR grace. And this God loves to cover abounding sin with grace. For the day that Ezra read the Word just so happened to be a HOLY DAY, v. 7, the Festival of Trumpets, described in Leviticus 23:23-24: ...on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD.” The trumpets announced the reign of God over them. So Nehemiah calls for a FEAST of JOY, v. 10: Do not be grieved. For the joy of the LORD is your strength. The words "of the Lord" could refer to OUR joy ABOUT the Lord, OR, it could mean God's OWN joy. I will return to this in a moment. For now, v. 11, the Levites calm the people, and, v. 12, they all ate the fat and drank the SWEET WINE, v. 10, which was like the French wine Sauterne, which is a golden nectar only reserved for the most important occasions. So there was, v. 12, great rejoicing, because of the words that were declared to them. Joy comes by grace, through faith. Which only produces MORE desire for God. So the people want to learn MORE about the Bible, v. 13. When they study they rediscover the Feast of Booths. This festival celebrated the Exodus, when God brought Israel out of Egypt and dwelt among them in the wilderness. So they celebrated the festival, with a joy that had not been seen since Joshua, v. 17, once again with GREAT FEASTING and rejoicing. Doctrines There are several doctrines we must understand from this passage. But first, the alert reader might remember what these same people were just doing in the previous chapter - enslaving their own neighbors, to live lives of luxury, drinking wine and eating the fatted calf. So we might think, you know, I'm not sure what these people need is another party, let alone TWO in the same chapter. But we must see the situation through the eyes of God. For this God of the OT, He is not sitting there looking for reasons to smite us. Instead He's like the father of the prodigal, looking at the horizon, waiting for His Son's return. And when he sees the first glimmers of repentance - here, in wanting to hear the Word read - he runs TOWARD His Son, in JOY, not in wrath, but in GRACE. We all are prone to WORK for GRACE, for love and acceptance - in a bottle, or create it in relationships, or build it with a better body. We've all tried to WORK for GRACE. But this love and acceptance, this GRACE - it's not something we EARN, but RECEIVE, as a gift. And the gift comes to us by FAITH, faith in Christ. For all that God demands from us, God provides FOR us. In Christ. For on Palm Sunday, Christ entered his city like the returning king. The people could not afford trumpets, but they hailed his kingdom all the same. And on Good Friday he died on that Roman cross, for ALL whose sins are piled high to the heavens. He paid for them, earning forgiveness FOR us. Then on Easter Sunday, he was raised from the dead, the firstborn of a new creation - the new Adam, the firstborn of a new humanity. God gives him to us, as a gift, to be received by faith and repentance - turning from our old life. Thus the first doctrine: Grace is God's gift of love and acceptance, that we receive by faith . . . Which secondly... ...produces JOY for our souls... For when God sees the first glimpses of this faith, He rejoices over us. Just as at Jesus' baptism, when he said, this is my Son, with whom I am well-pleased, so God says the same over us. It's then the LORD's joy over US, that then produces JOY for HIM IN us. That HE would rejoice over US - this is amazing grace. For God's grace is not some trinket, some lifehack. By definition, if it is to be grace, it must be greater than our sin. Which means it extends to the heavens, for us. It reaches to the farthest depths, to find us. There is no stain of guilt, no odor of wretchedness that it cannot cleanse. The joy matches the size of the grace. Proud people are not joyful, because they have no grace. But show me someone who KNOWS they need grace, and has received it, and I will show you a person of JOY, of gratitude - a person ALIVE. ...which strengthens our whole person. Which leads to a life of true strength, risk and courage. The joy of the Lord is our strength, to move into our world in love, just as it was for the JOY set before him, that Jesus endured the cross. So the feast of Trumpets anticipates the last trumpet, when Christ will return and setup his kingdom in full. Confident of that day, we can joyfully love our world. We can willingly risk danger. We can give up our worldly treasures, for the treasure still to come. How Then Shall We Live Get Grace If you are not a Christian, put your faith in Christ. Now, you say, why? I'm a good person, right? Well, let's test that. As we go through the Bible, the law does not get loosened, but deepened. For instance, Jesus said if you LOOK at a man or woman with lust in your heart, you've already committed adultery. He also said that slander or hatred in your heart is the same as murder. Have you ever lied? Stolen time from your employer? Coveted your neighbor's stuff? Disobedient to your parents? Well, let's see, that means you've broken ALL of the Ten Commandments. You may be NICE, but that's much different than GOOD. But, you say, everyone else does the same things. Yes, but why be like everyone, destined to eternal life APART from God? Why suffer hell, like the crowd? Why not receive the gift, that's right in front of you? Give yourself to Christ, be baptized, be washed and forgiven, with HIM as your King. Receive GRACE. Which should then produce a life of . . . Quick-Trigger Grace We who have been shown such grace, should be agents of grace ourselves, one to another. That begins with quick-trigger forgiveness. In your marriage, use biblical words for your sins, and then say the words, "Will you forgive me?" and "I forgive you." You were shown grace to be an agent of grace yourself. You were born again to be like God, and we are never more like Him than when we forgive. Employ the Law, as a Tutor, for Grace This shows up most importantly in parenting. Parenting is all about law - this was wrong, this was right. But the law exists as BOTH a moral training device AND as a tutor, for showing our children that they too need GRACE. When a child is left frustrated, because they're trying to keep the law, but they can't - that's a good thing. Now they're ready to hear from you: "You know you THINK you need this or that - be it a cookie or perfection - but what you really need is GRACE." And in time, they will understand what that means. Especially as mom and dad learn to live on grace ourselves. Which is found in the Word, in prayer and in vital fellowship with each other. The Word shows us our true selves - AND it provides the antidote, in the gospel. Then we must be learners of how to come alongside the world for ITS joy, too. Which, again, means showing the world its true condition. The reason the larger church does not see many conversions is that we are not willing to risk offending people by giving them the bad news of the law. Yet sin itself has a blinding effect. This is why John the Baptist told people to repent of their sins BEFORE Christ came - so that their hearts would be READY. So we must learn to talk openly about sin in ten different ways. This is not underhanded; this is what the Bible does. Sometimes it says "sin," but other times it says "transgress", which means to cross God's lines. Pray for Fire But all of this is but setting up the kindling and the thick wood, and waiting for the light. For as we saw in the text, so it has happened throughout history: it ALL must begin with GOD moving, in the hearts of the people, to WANT the Word. So our job is to not water down the truth but instead make it really, really clear, with jolly hearts like Elijah, who confidently poured water on HIS sacrifice. We put the truth right out there, in the public eye, respectfully, cordially, and without dilution. Then we pray, asking God, bring down FIRE. Consume this sacrifice we have constructed. Let it be pleasing in your sight. Let us be fit vessels to share the law and then apply grace, for the JOY of the nations - especially all the nations gathered here. Aim for your own joy, in Christ Some people think that you should not aim for your own joy. That Christianity should be sad and then comes heaven. But if the JOY of the Lord really is our strength, then what we are doing in our Bible reading, in our praying, and in our relationships with each other is the pursuit of OUR joy. We get joy, and then come alongside the other for THEIR joy (2 Cor. 1:24). We are pursuing God as our HIGHEST joy, IN every other joy. This is how someone can celebrate GOD and His grace with the SWEET WINE, yet it not be idolatry. Or, how an addict can give up wine, until the great marriage supper of the Lamb. For it's how Jesus endured the cross - for the JOY set before him. The joy OF THE LORD is our strength. So whatever you do, get this joy. Kill whatever sin gets in its way. Build relationships that feed. Learn to read your Bible again. For the JOY of the Lord IS our strength.