August 15, 2024: Thursday Bible Study on the Old Testament book of Nehemiah 10:30-39
Good morning, and may God bless your day and all the things in which you are involved. I am home working this morning for two reasons. Piano practice in the sanctuary is pretty tough after about 11AM, and Melody and I are having solar put on our home, so that our electric bills can become month to month standard without the big jumps that TEP has been making every year. They are mandated by law to have a certain percentage of their power produced by wind or solar, and we are taking advantage of the state's free program to put solar on the house and stabilize our month-to-month bills. This program sounded just right for our needs for power in the future. In our prayers, keep Gerri in your prayers as she finishes her vacation and travels back to Tucson next week. Prayers too for Ron and Becky who are visiting their son in the Netherlands.
Today's reading in Nehemiah may remind us of the promises that we made in confirmation when we were back in our high school years. Back then you had to adjust to confirmation demands in addition to any paying job you might have and getting used to being in high school too. I guess we all have stressful times. In confirmation we promised our willingness to believe in Christ, and to follow the ten commandments, the Creeds, and the Lord's prayer as defined by Martin Luther and Philip Melancthon in the large and small catechisms. We renew this commitment every time we come to receive communion, confessing our sin, and taking part with the living Christ in His Holy Meal. Another time that this happens is when we approve the ministry and programs of the congregation at our annual meeting. There we pledge our support of our time, talents, and resources, and as we might expect many times at this annual gathering of the congregation there is need to continue our stewardship, and sometimes to move forward in how we offer ourselves to the work of the Gospel that happens through our congregation. In chapter 10 of Nehemiah, what we are reading is a delineation of all of the expectations of those who choose to place their relationship with God as a priority. It will mean regular offerings each year, money, farm goods which includes animals and produce. Even wine is offered. And the Levites will function as the collectors in all of this, administering it in such a way that it supports the temple and the people who work in the temple as well as the people in the community. All the people named in the earlier verses are making what can be called a pledge, which might be called a covenant or a testament of their commitment to the Temple, and to God. Like the Ten Commandments this pledge addresses the people's relationship with God, and with other people. (rejecting all outsiders in their country) I have the same questions as you. What about the people who had a foreign wife and shared with her in building a family. Does this mean that God would reject them because they were not full blooded Judahites? If we ever wonder where to find support for a view in our lives about racism and cultural and religious rejection, you could do worse than to start here. There is no excuse here for exclusion or racism! If indeed the heirs of Ishmael also have a commitment from the Holy One of the Heavens, then such action as the rejection of all of the outsiders is exactly the kind of thing that caused the Jews problems in the first place. Before the exile they did not care for the widow, the orphan, and resident alien in their midst. In the 40 years of wondering in the wilderness before arriving at the Promised Land, it is clear that the large number of Hebrews would have absorbed smaller desert families, their animals, and their wealth. Even after the people of Judah were taken into exile, there would have been in their midst "outsiders" who would have returned to rebuild Jerusalem. The great commandment includes all people, and it is just a compact version of the Torah. So, who calls for this rejection of outsiders? God? or Nehemiah? Just something to think about.
Be sure to read today's reading for what their pledge looked like.
With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim
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