July 18, 2024: Tuesday Bible Study on the Old Testament book of Nehemiah 8:9-18
My dear Bible Study Group, Thank you for your prayers for Jesse on the Prayer chain last evening late. For those of you not on the prayer chain, Jesse was to have teeth extracted today, but the appointment ended up being a consultation with the surgeon who will propose the surgery to Jesse's insurance. Otherwise, the bill will be $3,700. Yikes! Now we will pray for the insurance folks to give it all the go ahead. Remember that we will show a newly released family movie on Saturday at 2PM at the church. It is a current movie that did very well at the theaters. We will be showing it in the air-conditioned office due to the temperature of the Sanctuary at that time of the day. Also, this Sunday is Christmas in July, and we are asking you to bring a dozen of your favorite Christmas cookies to share in the Narthex after church. A week from tomorrow our Foodies of Faith will dine at the Cheesecake Factory at Tucson Mall at 11:30AM. Please sign up at church or call the church office if you are planning to come. 520-237-6442.
It has been a couple of weeks since we have been together to study Nehemiah. We had the July 4th holiday, and then My family was on vacation for the week after that. It is good to be back with you. In today's reading we find ourselves seeing the response of the Judahites to the reading of the Torah (the Law of God), which includes the 10 commandments and so much more. Remember that these people have just finished the wall and gates around Jerusalem and have already been away from their farms and businesses for quite a while. During this time, those who opposed the Judahites were working to undermine them, and there was also a great deal of usury between families within the Judahite community, which ultimately was forbidden by Nehemiah as the building of the wall progressed. In today's reading we are at the point where the wall is done, and now it is time for the people to make their life commitments to the way in which the LORD desires the people of O.T. to live in relationship with Him, and with other people. So, the Law is read, and the people start out with great enthusiasm, which begins to wain as they realize all that is being asked of them. It is like coming to church with all of the excitement of God's action of Love for our lives through Jesus Christ, excited at the freedom that we have from our sin, but then realizing that the Gospel is really about the very same covenant with God as the Judahites had, and still have today. It says, "I will be your God and you will be my people, if you are obedient to my law" The difference between the old covenant and the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, is that our obedience, when we fail, is met head on by the humble sacrifice of our Savior who pays the price and judgement of death so that you and I do not need to. Indeed, we will be found not guilty of our sin, because of Christ. However, like the Judahites, that does not mean that we can dismiss our part of the commitment in the relationship with God. Jesus Makes that all very clear, "You are to love the LORD with all of your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and your neighbor as you love yourself." This then is our way of saying thank you for the great gifts of God's grace. So, we may not like everything that the Gospel presents to us, but we must know, just as the Judahites had to know, the covenants are not a contract free of our participation. So, Nehemiah gets it. He says, when you have made this commitment, it is time to feast, to prepare food for those whose lives have had little time, who lack the money, and celebrate for the next 7 days! And this happens annually. For you and me the Feast is the grand meal of Holy Communion which restores us to Christ every time that we receive it. And for us, this great Feast comes three times each year in its glorious power and love, Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. It is in these feasts, our joy is renewed and celebrated right along with the Hosts of Heaven. I have to admit, I am so happy that you and I are not required to build a tent to live in on the roofs of our homes, or in our back yards, of on the land which we may own, but that became one of the demands of the new commitment to God as a reminder of the time of wandering in the wilderness and of God's provision in the face of very difficult times. No matter what is going on in our lives, the feasts of communion, Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost are really meant to restore our love of God for all that God has done! In our next reading from Nehemiah, we will talk about the place of confession and forgiveness in our relationship. God bless you all. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!
With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim
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