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January 26, 2003 | Pastor Brian Shimer
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"The Joy of the Lord!"
Nehemiah 8: 1-10
I. (Jokes) A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5 and
Ryan 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here," she said, "He would say: 'Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.'" Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"
"After listening restlessly to a long and tedious sermon, a 6 year old boy asked his father what the preacher did the rest of the week. "Oh he's a very busy man," the father replied. "He takes care of church business, visits the sick, ministers to the poor. . and then he has to have time to rest up. Talking in public isn't an easy job, you know." The boy thought about that, and then said, "Well, listening ain't easy either."
Doesn't laughter feel good? "A merry heart brings health to your bones," Proverbs says. You just got healthier!
The gift of laughter is from God -- as is the gift of joy.
Joy is more and deeper than laughter. But sometimes it comes bursting forth in laughter. It is the quality God calls us into in which we learn to take life seriously but not solemnly.
"A housewife named Helen had the sense that the Lord God was "sitting at her elbow" as she said, all morning. She kept putting off paying God any heed. I mean, she knew He would just bring up some unconfessed sin. But all day, there was the sense, "God wanted to speak." Finally, she relented, knelt, and met with this message: The Lord said: 'I want to give you something' and instantly she entered into joy." A grief Observed, ch 3, CS Lewis (from A Mind Awake, Clyde Kilby p 103)
Joy is from the God who "sits in heaven and laughs" we read in Psalm 2 at the wicked kings of the earth and foolish people who believe they can rule God! It is from the God who says he "takes great delight in you; quiets you in His love; rejoices over you with singing, or actually, spins wildly about." (Zeph 3:17), the God who throws parties in heaven; the God before whom the angels sang at creation and praise.
II. In Nehemiah we read that Joy is God's possession.
God is both the source and object of joy.
In the Hebrew language there are over 10 words for joy and rejoicing-- which is more than any other language! The Jewish person knew how to rejoice. The word used in Neh 8:10 and Ezra 6:16 is used very seldom. It means "gladness" or "rejoicing".
At the time of this passage, the wall & temple have been reconstructed. And all Israel have gathered as one in front of the Water Gate to hear Ezra the Priest read the book of the law. He read for some 6 hours. All the people listened intently. This was the first time they have heard the Law for a generation. It is new to them. They are hearing God speak.
Did you get the picture that as Ezra reads and after he is through, the Levites instructed the people from the book of the law? This instruction may have been translating what was being read in Hebrew into the Aramaic, the language spoken by the people of Judea at that time.
In v 9 listen to Nehemiah, the governor, Ezra and all the Levites as they seek to encourage the people. The people are grieving, convicted by the law of their sinful condition. Hopeless, rightly condemned, the people mourn and weep.
Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites say: "This day is sacred to the Lord your God."
They identify something about the day. It is a Holy day, they say. This holy day is a feast day, not a fast day. It is a celebration day. Three times these speakers command the people not to grieve, mourn or weep!
Nehemiah tells them how God would have them celebrate this holy day:
1. EAT! Go and enjoy choice food (KJV eat the fat)
2. DRINK! Sweet drinks (KJV drink the wine)
3. SHARE! Give to the needy (KJV Send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared)
Sounds like a party!
And the reason for the party is significant. Party because the day is holy.
What makes a day "holy"?
Something is made holy by God's presence. When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, God said "Take off your shoes, for the place where you are standing is Holy Ground." God was there and that made that place holy, and the response of Moses was to take off his shoes. Also, a place, event, thing, person is made holy by God's declaration. At creation God sanctified the 7th day, that word "sanctified" comes from the same root word as "holy," and made it holy.
This day was holy - it was set apart. This brings in a different picture of a Sabbath - a day of celebration. A far cry from the Victorian era's Christianity, draping the Sabbath in austere black!
Sometimes we take life so seriously we become somber. Jesus never did that, and God doesn't want us to.
Nehemiah said celebrate, for "the joy of the Lord is your strength."
Here, hearing God's Word helped Nehemiah's people enter into God's joy!
I remember pastoring in San Jacinto and being stuck in just the pit of despondency -- poor at leadership, poor at preaching, poor at parenting, poor at everything… woe, woe, woe was me.
A friend in San Jacinto printed out all the Joy verses in the Bible for me, and gave them to me. He wrote on the first page what they were and said, "Brian, read these and let them get inside of you. Don't you do them, let the Word of God do you."
Let God's Word do you. Sometimes just to open it up makes a difference.
The Joy of the Lord is your Strength!
"Why are you in despair my soul, put your hope in God!" David wrote, "for I will yet praise Him."
God's Word was significant in birthing joy, but the people also chose to respond. Choice is so powerful.
I have received so many letters over the years from our dear friend many of you now know, David Luce, in England. And in every letter for so long would be many paragraphs of encouragement. If David has a life verse, Nehemiah 8:10 would be it. He exudes God's joy, and often quotes this verse. He especially has quoted it to me. "Brian, my beloved brother, the joy of the Lord is your strength!" I would write him, moaning about something. He would write back with joy. Again and again our letters crossed the Atlantic, his always encouraging me to choose joy.
We choose joy by looking up to God in our circumstances and giving thanks. We choose to have confidence in God. We can choose to obey what the Word says. Bible Teacher Dennis Kinlaw wrote that : "Christian joy is not something that solves all our problems, and it is not something that comes automatically. Joy is not even necessarily something that is given to us, but is something that we choose." march 10
A couple who had erupted into an argument right after work because he growled into the house with some flippant comment about the stuff strewn everywhere, and she had been up to her eyeteeth in diapers and difficulties, made a choice. They stopped. He went back outside and re-entered the home. They began again. What wisdom. They choose joy.
What if you and I responded to life today, as if God knew everything and was in control?
What if we believed that Jesus died for every sin ever committed by us - thought, word or deed, so never held onto a one but brought each to the cross for cleansing?
What if the best things in life were not always just around the corner, but are in your today? What if, instead of despairing over what is not there, you simply said "Yes" to what is?
What if we simply celebrated more often?
One man I love for his stories is Tony Campolo. He is a Sociologist from Pennsylvania who does a great deal of preaching all around the world. He writes that one thing a traveler from his area of the world knows about going to Hawaii is that the time change makes 3 am feel like 9 am. And he finds when he goes that he is awake at 3 am and wanting breakfast.
This explains why on one such trip, we would have found him wandering the streets of Honolulu at 3 am looking for some place open where he could get something to eat.
He wrote:
"Up a side street I found a little place that was still open. I went in, took a seat on one of the stools at the counter, and waited to be served. This was one of those sleazy places that deserves the name "greasy spoon." I mean, I did not even touch the menu. I was afraid that if I opened the thing something gruesome would crawl out. But it was the only place I could find."
The fat guy behind the counter came over and asked me, "What d'ya want?"
I told him, "A cup of coffee and a donut."
He poured a cup of coffee, wiped his grimy hand on his smudged apron, then grabbed a donut off the shelf behind him. I'm a realist. I know that in the back room of that restaurant, donuts are probably dropped on the floor and kicked around. But when everything is out in front where I could see it, I really would have appreciated it if he had used a pair of tongs and placed the donut on some wax paper.
As I sat there munching on my donut and sipping my coffee at 3:30 in the morning the door of the diner suddenly swung open, and to my discomfort, in marched 8 or 9 provocative and boisterous prostitutes.
It was a small place and they sat on either side of me. Their talk was loud and crude. I felt completely out of place and was just about to make my getaway when I overheard the woman sitting beside me say, "Tomorrow's my birthday. I'm going to be 39."
Her "friend" responded in a nasty tone, "So what do you want from me? A birthday party? What do you want? Ya want me to get you a cake and sing 'Happy Birthday?'"
"Come on!" said the woman next to me. "Why do you have to be so mean? I was just telling you, that's all. Why do you have to put me down? I was just telling you it was my birthday. I don't want anything from you. I mean, why should you give me a birthday party? I've never had a birthday party in my whole life. Why should I have one now?"
When I heard that, I made a decision. I sat and waited until the women had left. Then I called over the fat guy behind the counter and I asked him, "Do they come in here every night?"
"Yeah!" he answered.
"The one right next to me, does she come here every night?"
"Yeah!" he said. "That's Agnes. Yeah, she comes in here very night. Why d'ya wanna know?"
"Because I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday," I told him. 'What do you think about us throwing a birthday party for her - right here - tomorrow night?"
A smile slowly crossed his chubby face and he answered with measured delight. "That's great! I like it! That's a great idea!" Calling to his wife, who did the cooking in the back room, he shouted, "Hey! Come out here! This guy's got a great idea. Tomorrow's Agnes' birthday. They guy wants us to go in with him and throw a birthday party for her - right here - tomorrow night!"
His wife came out of the back room all bright and smiley. She said, "That's wonderful! You know Agnes is one of those people who is really nice and kind, and nobody ever does anything nice and kind for her."
"Look," I told them, "If it's okay with you, I'll get back here tomorrow morning at 2:30 a.m. and decorate the place. I'll even get a birthday cake!"
"No way," said Harry (that was his name). "The birthday cake's my thing. I'll make the cake."
At 2:30 the next morning I was back at the diner. I had picked up some crepe paper decorations at the store and had made a sign out of big pieces of cardboard that read, "Happy Birthday, Agnes!" I decorated the diner form one end to the other. I had that diner looking good.
The woman who did the cooking must have gotten the word out on the street, for by 3:15 every prostitute in Honolulu was in the place. It was wall-to-wall prostitutes…and me!
At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open and in came Agnes and her friend. I had everybody ready (after all, I was kind of the MC of the affair) and when they came in we all screamed, "Happy Birthday!"
Never have I seen a person so flabbergasted… so stunned… so shaken. Her mouth fell open. Her legs seemed to buckle a bit. Her friend grabbed her arm to steady her. As she was led to one of the stools along the counter we all sang, "Happy Birthday" to her. As we came to the end of our singing, "Happy birthday, dear Agnes, Happy Birthday to you," her eyes moistened. then, when the birthday cake with all the candles on it was carried out, she lost it and just openly cried.
Harry gruffly mumbled, "Blow out the candles, Agnes! Come on! Blow out the candles! IF you don't blow out the candles, I'm gonna hafta blow out the candles." And, after an endless few seconds, he did. Then he handed her a knife and told her, "Cut the cake, Agnes. Yo, Agnes, we all want some cake."
Agneslooked down at the cake. Then without taking her eyes off it, she slowly and softly said, "Look, Harry, is it all right with you if I… I mean is it okay if I kind of… What I want to ask you is…is it okay if I keep the cake a little while? I mean is it all right if we don't eat it right away?"
Harry shrugged and answered, "Sure! It's okay. If you want to keep the cake, keep the cake. Take it home if you want to."
"Can I?" she aksed. Then looking at me she said, "I live just down the street a couple of doors. I want to take the cake hom and show it to my mother, okay? I'll be right back. Honest!"
She got off the stool, picked up the cake, and carrying it like it was the Holy Grail, walked slowly toward the door. As we all stood there motionless, sheleft.
When the door closed there was a stunned silence in the place. Not knowing what else to do, I broke the silence by saying, "what do you say we pray?"
Looking back on it now it seems more than strange for a sociologist to be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning. But it just felt like the right thing to do. I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would be changed and that God would be good to her.
When I finished, Harry leaned over the counter, and said, "Hey! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?"
In one of those moments when just the right words came, I answered, "I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning."
Harry waited a moment, then he answered, "No you don't. There's no church like that. If there was, I'd join it. I'd join a church like that!"
Wouldn't we all? Wouldn't we all love to join a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning?
Well, that's the kind of church Jesus came to create! I don't know where we got the other one that's so prim and proper. But anybody who reads the New Testament will discover a Jesus who loved to party with whores and with all kinds of left-out people. The publicans and "sinners" loved Him because He partied with them. The lepers of society found in Him someone who would eat and drink with them. And while the solemnly pious could not relate to what He was about, those lonely people who usually didn't get invited to parties took to Him with excitement.
Our Jesus was the Lord of the party." (Tony Campolo, pp 216-220, Let me Tell you a Story, c 2000 T Campolo ubp)
And our God is the God of the Party.
A God who invites us into joy and to share that joy with people around us, like Agnes, who has never known what it is to have joy nor to have love.
Notes for 2/2
"quote by professor john knox that Jesus took His life very seriously, there is no reason to think He took it solemnly; perhaps He took it too seriously to take it solemnly…" p 38 JW
"In the book of Philippians joy is thus a continuous 'defiant 'Nevertheless'' (Barth, brown, p 360)
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