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THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

In the reading today from the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, you’ll notice that there were verses that were omitted. I would like to read them now:

The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for this purpose; and beside him stood Matthithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand.

Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherabiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places.

This is the Word of the Lord. (The congregation responds with “Thanks Be to God.)

Thanks be to God?!?

For names?

I bet you never heard of these people for today. Yet, thanks be to God for names.

Ezra-Nehemiah is the story of a people who have been devastated. The generation of their grandparents had been carried off into exile, to far away Babylon. Far away in space and place. With them went their culture, their sense of belonging and well-being. Many died in the Babylonian invasion, and more died on their way to slavery.

Even more died in slavery.

In order to rebuild their lives, they had to rebuild their spiritual lives, and they needed each other in order to do that.

Nehemiah goes to great lengths to include those names (all of those names) because the story of scripture is the story of peoples’ lives.

One of the largest criticisms of the Church today is that worship is not relevant to the modern human’s everyday life. People cannot see how they fit into centuries-old traditions and ancient words. This is valid criticism. However, people are not aware that the story of scripture is their story as well.

The passage from Nehemiah, and the passage from Luke’s Gospel (4:14-21) are the only places in scripture that give us a hint at how we should read Scripture. And that is not done as a vacuum, but that the ancient words become living words when each story is a story of each person valued and honored. You simply cannot read scripture and understand it without the presence of others.

When the church refused for centuries to ordain women, it was on the basis of a part of scripture. It was only after years of women wanting their voices to be heard did the realization and revelation that perhaps the scripture had been misunderstood, but now the truth was being revealed. The same holds true for slavery. The passages in the Bible that seem to sanction slavery were easily translated by slave holders. But nobody thought to ask the slaves.

Jump over to Luke’s Gospel. There is a lot of pressure in delivering a first sermon. Ask any seminarian; it can make you a nervous wreck. When you are doing it in your home congregation (as Jesus was), it should be easy. People want you to do well. When Yasmin preached a few weeks ago (and I understand she did a terrific job), she was very nervous about preaching in her home, and giving her first sermon. Well, she could have stood up and read from the New York Times and we all would have thought it was wonderful, because we know her and love her and want her to succeed.

When Jesus gave his first sermon, surely the hometown crowd was rooting for him. As far as sermons go, Jesus’ sermon contained no dramatic illustrations, no poetry. There are no opening jokes that I can see. He simply read the scripture “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he placed it in the hands of the congregation with these words:

“Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

It doesn’t seem like much as sermons go. But what Jesus did that was so remarkable and so radical was to give the congregation the permission and responsibility to take ancient sacred words and make them relevant to their lives. He was in essence building a community in which the word of God was central.

So here is the point of this Sermon:

We have been given a gift and that gift is that we are conduits and communicators of what God has to say.

We often hear “I wish I knew what God wants me to do in life. I need some direction, some clarity.”

We have been made conduits and communicators of what God has to say.

The scripture today promises us that God is speaking to us.

But perhaps we are looking in the wrong places for that voice. That voice of God is found in our interactions of our lives. When each voice is heard and cherished. When every name is valued. When Nehemiah listed all the names, he did so because every name is important. Every name is equally loved by God. And it behooves us to hear our own names in God’s word.

Thanks be to God that he speaks our names.

Each of us.

Amen.




		THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY In the reading today from the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, you’ll notice that there were verses that were omitted. I would like to read them now: The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for this purpose; and beside him stood Matthithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherabiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. This is the Word of the Lord. (The congregation responds with “Thanks Be to God.) Thanks be to God?!? For names? I bet you never heard of these people for today. Yet, thanks be to God for names. Ezra-Nehemiah is the story of a people who have been devastated. The generation of their grandparents had been carried off into exile, to far away Babylon. Far away in space and place. With them went their culture, their sense of belonging and well-being. Many died in the Babylonian invasion, and more died on their way to slavery. Even more died in slavery. In order to rebuild their lives, they had to rebuild their spiritual lives, and they needed each other in order to do that. Nehemiah goes to great lengths to include those names (all of those names) because the story of scripture is the story of peoples’ lives. One of the largest criticisms of the Church today is that worship is not relevant to the modern human’s everyday life. People cannot see how they fit into centuries-old traditions and ancient words. This is valid criticism. However, people are not aware that the story of scripture is their story as well. The passage from Nehemiah, and the passage from Luke’s Gospel (4:14-21) are the only places in scripture that give us a hint at how we should read Scripture. And that is not done as a vacuum, but that the ancient words become living words when each story is a story of each person valued and honored. You simply cannot read scripture and understand it without the presence of others. When the church refused for centuries to ordain women, it was on the basis of a part of scripture. It was only after years of women wanting their voices to be heard did the realization and revelation that perhaps the scripture had been misunderstood, but now the truth was being revealed. The same holds true for slavery. The passages in the Bible that seem to sanction slavery were easily translated by slave holders. But nobody thought to ask the slaves. Jump over to Luke’s Gospel. There is a lot of pressure in delivering a first sermon. Ask any seminarian; it can make you a nervous wreck. When you are doing it in your home congregation (as Jesus was), it should be easy. People want you to do well. When Yasmin preached a few weeks ago (and I understand she did a terrific job), she was very nervous about preaching in her home, and giving her first sermon. Well, she could have stood up and read from the New York Times and we all would have thought it was wonderful, because we know her and love her and want her to succeed. When Jesus gave his first sermon, surely the hometown crowd was rooting for him. As far as sermons go, Jesus’ sermon contained no dramatic illustrations, no poetry. There are no opening jokes that I can see. He simply read the scripture “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he placed it in the hands of the congregation with these words: “Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” It doesn’t seem like much as sermons go. But what Jesus did that was so remarkable and so radical was to give the congregation the permission and responsibility to take ancient sacred words and make them relevant to their lives. He was in essence building a community in which the word of God was central. So here is the point of this Sermon: We have been given a gift and that gift is that we are conduits and communicators of what God has to say. We often hear “I wish I knew what God wants me to do in life. I need some direction, some clarity.” We have been made conduits and communicators of what God has to say. The scripture today promises us that God is speaking to us. But perhaps we are looking in the wrong places for that voice. That voice of God is found in our interactions of our lives. When each voice is heard and cherished. When every name is valued. When Nehemiah listed all the names, he did so because every name is important. Every name is equally loved by God. And it behooves us to hear our own names in God’s word. Thanks be to God that he speaks our names. Each of us. Amen.