WEBVTT 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:13.080 What do you do when the walls are rebuilt but 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:17.399 your soul still is in ruins? What do you do when 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:19.559 you feel like you've made it home but it doesn't 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:23.280 feel like home anymore? That's the square we're 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.260 standing in today. Nehemiah chapter 8, the exile 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:29.760 is over, the city's been repaired, but the people... 00:00:30.269 --> 00:00:33.469 are still wrecked inside. And when something 00:00:33.469 --> 00:00:39.250 ancient happens, they ask for the scroll. They 00:00:39.250 --> 00:00:44.369 ask for the word. This isn't a sermon about triumph. 00:00:44.429 --> 00:00:48.429 It's actually about tears, about weeping when 00:00:48.429 --> 00:00:52.090 the word hits you just right, about remembering 00:00:52.090 --> 00:00:56.170 who you are after you thought it was all over. 00:00:57.549 --> 00:01:00.030 And if you've ever come back from a hard season, 00:01:00.210 --> 00:01:03.750 bruised, quiet, unsure, if the covenant still 00:01:03.750 --> 00:01:07.370 holds, this one is for you, friend. Because the 00:01:07.370 --> 00:01:10.430 word doesn't return to a throne room. It returns 00:01:10.430 --> 00:01:13.829 to the square. The ones who are still standing. 00:01:14.290 --> 00:01:17.609 The ones who need joy to become strength. And 00:01:17.609 --> 00:01:21.829 if that's you, then listen close. It may not 00:01:21.829 --> 00:01:24.540 be Sunday morning wherever you are, but... It 00:01:24.540 --> 00:01:27.079 is Sunday morning right now in your headphones, 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:30.340 and you've just pulled up a pew in our little 00:01:30.340 --> 00:01:33.799 Oklahoma church. This is the Semi -Seminarian. 00:01:33.819 --> 00:01:36.840 I'm Pastor Jim, and I'll see you on the other 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:47.180 side. So as I begin this morning, let me start 00:01:47.180 --> 00:01:52.670 with just a little sermon housekeeping. You guys 00:01:52.670 --> 00:01:55.090 may not know, we do have a new liturgical season 00:01:55.090 --> 00:01:57.769 just around the corner, and that's called Advent. 00:01:58.150 --> 00:02:02.049 It's the four weeks before Christmastime, and 00:02:02.049 --> 00:02:04.370 that's a time of preparation. It's a time in 00:02:04.370 --> 00:02:09.110 which we focus on the reality of the coming of 00:02:09.110 --> 00:02:13.830 Jesus into the world as a baby that will eventually 00:02:13.830 --> 00:02:21.159 end on a cross and his resurrection. take that 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:24.199 as a church, that we take that moment so seriously, 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:29.439 we actually pause ourselves a full month out 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:34.120 from that event and slowly contemplate what it 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:39.719 means for God to come to us in the flesh. That's 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:43.979 called Advent, right? Now, you may not have realized 00:02:43.979 --> 00:02:46.979 it, but we're going to spend, we will spend six 00:02:46.979 --> 00:02:51.120 weeks of preparation. To actually get us to the 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:54.199 four weeks of Advent. And we've been doing that 00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:56.439 through our sermon series that we've been doing. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:59.759 We just finished East of Eden. And that was a 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.039 series in which we looked at what happens from 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:06.419 the garden to the time that things got so bad 00:03:06.419 --> 00:03:10.520 we had to have a flood. Right? Now we're going 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:16.599 to fast forward in time. And we're in the 6th 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:21.819 century B .C. Okay? The temple in Jerusalem has 00:03:21.819 --> 00:03:25.259 fallen. The people have been exiled. And now 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:29.939 they are returning back to Jerusalem to enliven 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:33.719 the covenant with God once more. And in their 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:36.180 way, they're doing the exact same thing Noah 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:38.460 did. Right after the flood, what was the first 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:42.469 thing that Noah did? Built an altar. Here we 00:03:42.469 --> 00:03:45.990 are. The walls have just been rebuilt in Jerusalem. 00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:49.189 The people have gathered. And what do they do? 00:03:49.370 --> 00:03:54.129 They worship. And the covenant of God is restored 00:03:54.129 --> 00:03:57.310 through this gigantic rupture in the lives of 00:03:57.310 --> 00:04:00.610 the people of God. Now we're going to, in another 00:04:00.610 --> 00:04:02.669 two weeks, we're going to fast forward again 00:04:02.669 --> 00:04:05.349 and we're going to see God saying, I am going 00:04:05.349 --> 00:04:09.650 to make this simple for all of you. I'm going 00:04:09.650 --> 00:04:13.229 to stop pursuing you from clouds. I'm actually 00:04:13.229 --> 00:04:16.790 going to come in the body and pursue you that 00:04:16.790 --> 00:04:20.329 way. I'm going to cut out the middleman, so to 00:04:20.329 --> 00:04:24.949 speak. And that's kind of the story that we find 00:04:24.949 --> 00:04:29.410 throughout the whole of Scripture. We keep breaking 00:04:29.410 --> 00:04:34.079 it. God keeps making it. Right? We're going to 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:36.680 see that. We saw that in Eden, east of Eden. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:39.360 We're going to see it now in a new Jerusalem. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.680 And then we're going to see it with the coming 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:46.000 of Jesus. But we're not there yet. Let's start 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.220 the middle part. Now, like I just said, we had 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:53.759 spent weeks east of Eden, and we followed a trail 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:58.899 of ash and blood. If you recall, we stood at 00:04:58.899 --> 00:05:04.329 Abel's altar and watched his smoke rise. And 00:05:04.329 --> 00:05:09.050 we stood with Cain in the aftermath of murder, 00:05:09.230 --> 00:05:14.149 and we saw that covenant bend but not break. 00:05:15.730 --> 00:05:19.290 Then we followed the lineage of Seth through 00:05:19.290 --> 00:05:24.189 the floodwaters of Noah. And last week we watched 00:05:24.189 --> 00:05:30.829 God lay down his bow in the clouds, not to say 00:05:30.829 --> 00:05:36.410 never again to judge, but never again to destroy 00:05:36.410 --> 00:05:41.009 without a promise to rebuild. And that is the 00:05:41.009 --> 00:05:45.389 arc that we have walked through these messages. 00:05:46.110 --> 00:05:50.490 Now the trail leads us forward, not from a garden 00:05:50.490 --> 00:05:55.709 to a grave, but from wreckage to renewal, from 00:05:55.709 --> 00:06:02.709 exile to something like hope. And I think... 00:06:03.129 --> 00:06:08.689 If you listen closely, you'll hear the footsteps 00:06:08.689 --> 00:06:16.750 of Advent walking with us. So here we stand between 00:06:16.750 --> 00:06:22.550 Eden and Bethlehem, between the smoking altar 00:06:22.550 --> 00:06:26.649 and the flickering lamp. But before we get to 00:06:26.649 --> 00:06:31.160 the manger, Before we get to the angel chorus 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:35.060 and the swaddled infant, we stop in the town 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:40.379 square. We stop in Nehemiah 8 with calloused 00:06:40.379 --> 00:06:45.300 hands and cracked lips, standing beside a whole 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:49.920 generation of God's people that had been broken 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:59.610 and is about to rebuild the word. This is a sermon 00:06:59.610 --> 00:07:04.290 for those who made it back. This is a sermon 00:07:04.290 --> 00:07:08.670 for the ones who wept too long to feel like they 00:07:08.670 --> 00:07:14.810 could sing again. This is a sermon for the ones 00:07:14.810 --> 00:07:18.509 who keep breaking it, and God keeps making it. 00:07:19.750 --> 00:07:25.819 Some of us know that journey far too well. We've 00:07:25.819 --> 00:07:30.120 been to our own Babylon. Maybe not a foreign 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:33.079 country with strange gods, but a foreign season 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:38.560 with strange comforts. Places where that covenant 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:44.620 felt distant, where the words got blurry, where 00:07:44.620 --> 00:07:48.300 you started singing someone else's song without 00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:54.899 even noticing. But like these returned exiles, 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:58.459 you're standing here today, not because you have 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:02.879 it all figured out, not because you have rebuilt 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:08.699 your life perfectly, but because something in 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:16.259 you, something deeper than your mistakes, remembers 00:08:16.259 --> 00:08:22.430 there's a word you need to hear again. It's been 00:08:22.430 --> 00:08:25.290 70 years since the temple had been destroyed. 00:08:27.149 --> 00:08:33.690 70 years since Jerusalem had burned. Since the 00:08:33.690 --> 00:08:38.789 walls had crumbled. Since the city of Zion was 00:08:38.789 --> 00:08:41.889 left to weeds and the wind and the buzzards. 00:08:42.590 --> 00:08:47.110 70 years of remembering the Psalms but forgetting 00:08:47.110 --> 00:08:54.649 the tune. 70 years of exile. Not just geographic 00:08:54.649 --> 00:09:00.710 exile, but spiritual exile. Not just being far 00:09:00.710 --> 00:09:04.690 from the land, but being far from the story. 00:09:06.129 --> 00:09:10.730 Some of the children born in Babylon don't even 00:09:10.730 --> 00:09:15.220 know how to speak Hebrew. They've heard the name 00:09:15.220 --> 00:09:18.840 Yahweh, but they've never stood before his word. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:25.720 And now they're home. But it doesn't feel like 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:31.320 home yet. They've rebuilt the walls, yes. They 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:34.940 got the rocks back in place, but there's still 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:40.360 something missing deeper. Because a house isn't 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:44.799 a home without the voice that fills it. And a 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.360 people aren't a people without the word that 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:53.000 calls them back. It's early in the morning. The 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.980 sky over Jerusalem is still a little pink around 00:09:55.980 --> 00:10:00.379 the edges. Dust hasn't started to rise from the 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:03.179 heat of the day just yet. And in the square by 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:08.860 the water gate, the people start to gather. Not 00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:11.879 for a festival, not for a battle, not even for 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:15.759 a vote. They come for the book. They've come 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:21.340 to ask for the scroll. No one hands out donuts, 00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:23.860 there's no light show, there's no posters or 00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:30.220 parking teams. Just this one ancient request. 00:10:31.939 --> 00:10:34.980 whispered from the broken -down generations like 00:10:34.980 --> 00:10:39.919 a prayer made of bone and breath, bring out the 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:48.279 book. And that's where it all starts. Not with 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:52.539 a miracle, not with a king, not with fire or 00:10:52.539 --> 00:10:58.200 wind or wine, but with Scripture. After the wreckage, 00:10:59.690 --> 00:11:04.169 The word returns. The wooden platform built for 00:11:04.169 --> 00:11:08.690 Ezra isn't fancy. No pulpit carved from mahogany. 00:11:08.830 --> 00:11:13.029 No stage lights, no sound system. Just planks 00:11:13.029 --> 00:11:16.250 of cedar thrown together so he can be seen above 00:11:16.250 --> 00:11:20.409 the crowd. The morning sun catches the edges 00:11:20.409 --> 00:11:24.990 of the scroll as he unfurls it. Some of the older 00:11:24.990 --> 00:11:28.009 folks, the ones who remember what Jerusalem looked 00:11:28.009 --> 00:11:34.700 like before, They catch their breath. They had 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:38.139 sworn they would never see this sight again. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:43.759 Some of them have tears before the first words 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:49.720 are ever spoken. The younger ones, these children 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:54.620 born in Babylon, they're not even sure what to 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:59.559 expect. Is this what their grandparents would 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:04.980 talk about in whispers? Is this the word that 00:12:04.980 --> 00:12:10.779 built and broke nations? Is this why their parents 00:12:10.779 --> 00:12:13.519 sometimes would stare off into the distance, 00:12:13.740 --> 00:12:16.600 humming tunes that didn't fit with the Babylonian 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:20.779 streets around them? Friends, the word of the 00:12:20.779 --> 00:12:24.519 Lord. Nehemiah chapter 8, beginning verse 1. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.720 And all the people gathered as one man into the 00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:33.759 square before the water gate. And they told Ezra 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:37.179 the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses 00:12:37.179 --> 00:12:41.600 and the book that the Lord had commanded of Israel. 00:12:41.700 --> 00:12:44.399 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:48.820 assembly, both men and women and all who could 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:52.120 understand what they had heard on the first day 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:56.470 of the seventh month. And he read from it, facing 00:12:56.470 --> 00:12:59.549 the square before the water gate from early morning 00:12:59.549 --> 00:13:04.549 until midday, in the presence of the men and 00:13:04.549 --> 00:13:07.629 the women and those who could understand. And 00:13:07.629 --> 00:13:10.649 the ears of all of the people were attentive 00:13:10.649 --> 00:13:15.690 to the book of the law. And Ezra the scribe stood 00:13:15.690 --> 00:13:18.460 on a wooden platform. that they had made for 00:13:18.460 --> 00:13:21.059 that purpose. And I leave out, it says who's 00:13:21.059 --> 00:13:23.059 all there, and it gives about 20 different names 00:13:23.059 --> 00:13:25.100 I can't pronounce, but that's not important. 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:29.320 Verse 5, And Ezra opened the book in the sight 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:34.000 of all the people, for he was above all the people. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:45.070 And as he opened it, all the people stood. And 00:13:45.070 --> 00:13:49.509 Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all 00:13:49.509 --> 00:13:54.149 of the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up 00:13:54.149 --> 00:13:57.149 their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped 00:13:57.149 --> 00:14:01.830 the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also, 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:04.590 a bunch of Levites named here, it doesn't matter, 00:14:04.730 --> 00:14:08.950 helped the people to understand the law. while 00:14:08.950 --> 00:14:11.450 the people remained in their places. They read 00:14:11.450 --> 00:14:14.909 from the book, from the law of God clearly, and 00:14:14.909 --> 00:14:17.590 they gave sense so that the people understood 00:14:17.590 --> 00:14:20.950 the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, 00:14:21.149 --> 00:14:25.470 and Ezra, the priest and scribes, and the Levites 00:14:25.470 --> 00:14:31.029 taught the people, saying, this day is holy to 00:14:31.029 --> 00:14:37.980 the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep. For 00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:44.379 all of the people wept as they heard the word 00:14:44.379 --> 00:14:49.279 of the law. Then he said to them, Go your way, 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.960 eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, and send portions 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:57.480 to anyone who has nothing already. For this day 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:02.720 is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:05.669 the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the 00:15:05.669 --> 00:15:08.529 Levites calmed all the people, saying, Be quiet, 00:15:08.690 --> 00:15:13.570 for this day is holy. Do not be grieved. And 00:15:13.570 --> 00:15:15.950 all the people went their way to eat and to drink 00:15:15.950 --> 00:15:18.710 and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, 00:15:18.809 --> 00:15:23.850 because they had understood words had been declared 00:15:23.850 --> 00:15:30.450 to them. No one told them to stand. No one... 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:33.899 waved a flag. No one passed out instructions 00:15:33.899 --> 00:15:37.720 before the meeting, but when Ezra opened the 00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:42.879 scroll, the whole crowd rose to its feet. Because 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:46.879 even after 70 years of silence, somewhere in 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:50.159 their bones, they still knew what to do when 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:55.440 the word returned. They stood like their ancestors 00:15:55.440 --> 00:16:00.210 stood. They lifted their hands and whispered 00:16:00.210 --> 00:16:07.889 amen and amen. Like perhaps they had been waiting 00:16:07.889 --> 00:16:15.230 a lifetime to remember how to say it again. They 00:16:15.230 --> 00:16:18.429 bowed their heads like the story still held them. 00:16:19.370 --> 00:16:22.690 They stood like a people who had wandered too 00:16:22.690 --> 00:16:29.340 far, cried too deep, sinned too long. but still 00:16:29.340 --> 00:16:31.620 knew they were being called back by something 00:16:31.620 --> 00:16:35.899 older than their failures, stronger than their 00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:42.879 shame. It's what happens when the word returns. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:49.539 It doesn't scold. It summons. It doesn't point 00:16:49.539 --> 00:16:54.139 to your exile. It pulls you forward towards your 00:16:54.139 --> 00:16:59.789 name. And it begins not with you being told what 00:16:59.789 --> 00:17:05.069 to do, but with you being reminded who you are. 00:17:06.549 --> 00:17:11.029 The first time God gave his law to his people, 00:17:11.089 --> 00:17:14.569 they were fresh out of Egypt. They were camped 00:17:14.569 --> 00:17:18.289 under fire and thunder. But this time, they're 00:17:18.289 --> 00:17:23.190 fresh from Babylon. No thunder, no fire, just 00:17:23.190 --> 00:17:29.130 memory. But it's enough, because the covenant 00:17:29.130 --> 00:17:35.009 from God still holds, even after exile, even 00:17:35.009 --> 00:17:39.829 after our forgetting, even after our failures. 00:17:40.809 --> 00:17:45.730 And God didn't meet them with a sword. He met 00:17:45.730 --> 00:17:50.690 them with a scroll. And when they heard it, they 00:17:50.690 --> 00:17:56.589 stood. From Sinai to the water gate, the pattern 00:17:56.589 --> 00:18:02.230 holds. God speaks and his people respond. But 00:18:02.230 --> 00:18:05.890 notice the difference here. At Sinai, they stood 00:18:05.890 --> 00:18:10.470 back in fear, begging Moses to be their middleman. 00:18:11.410 --> 00:18:16.390 Here, generations later, they press in closer. 00:18:18.230 --> 00:18:22.930 They hunger for the word. They don't want distance 00:18:22.930 --> 00:18:27.710 from it. They want understanding of it. That's 00:18:27.710 --> 00:18:31.950 what exile had taught them. You can rebuild your 00:18:31.950 --> 00:18:35.549 walls, but without the word, you're still lost. 00:18:38.549 --> 00:18:41.589 We all know what it's like to come back from 00:18:41.589 --> 00:18:46.930 something, to stumble home after the worst of 00:18:46.930 --> 00:18:50.970 it. The dust still on our shoes. The ache still 00:18:50.970 --> 00:18:56.910 in our chests. We don't come back whole. We just 00:18:56.910 --> 00:19:01.910 come back tired. That's how they had come back 00:19:01.910 --> 00:19:07.829 to Jerusalem. Yes, the walls are up. The temple 00:19:07.829 --> 00:19:13.799 being rebuilt. But nobody throwing parties. Nobody 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:16.500 passing out medals. They weren't celebrating 00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:20.880 yet. They were gathering together. Something 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:25.559 in them remembered. They needed something more 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:29.180 than just brick and mortar. They needed the word. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:36.619 And so they showed up. They stood shoulder to 00:19:36.619 --> 00:19:38.920 shoulder in the square. No one coerced them. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:44.900 No one guilted them into it. They just knew something 00:19:44.900 --> 00:19:50.000 sacred had to be heard again. And they asked 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.779 for the book. And when it was open, they stood 00:19:54.779 --> 00:20:05.039 up and they wept. Have you ever wept at the sound 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:08.079 of God's voice breaking through after a long 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:16.420 silence? These people did. Have you ever felt 00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:22.039 that pull in your chest when you know the word 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:26.740 finally finds you, names you, and claims you 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:33.839 again? These people did. There in that square 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.980 with the morning sun still climbing higher, they 00:20:37.980 --> 00:20:42.359 remembered what they had forgotten. Before they 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:45.839 were exiles, before they were survivors, before 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:51.140 they were rebuilders, they were a covenant people, 00:20:51.259 --> 00:21:03.420 named, chosen, spoken to by the living God. Do 00:21:03.420 --> 00:21:05.900 you remember when the word first caught you? 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:09.240 I mean really found you, not just hearing it, 00:21:09.299 --> 00:21:12.910 not... not even just knowing it existed, but 00:21:12.910 --> 00:21:17.569 that moment when it opened something inside of 00:21:17.569 --> 00:21:21.670 you, when you suddenly realized it's not just 00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:26.009 some ancient text, but it's speaking my name. 00:21:28.170 --> 00:21:33.569 That is what happened that morning in the Watergate 00:21:33.569 --> 00:21:40.759 Square. After 70 years of exile, The word returned, 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:49.920 and with it, their identity. As I'm reading this, 00:21:50.019 --> 00:21:54.660 I do think one of the first questions I had was, 00:21:54.799 --> 00:22:01.500 why the weeping? I mean, really, why all the 00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:07.259 tears now? They've come home. They've survived 00:22:07.259 --> 00:22:12.339 exile. The wall's been rebuilt. Shouldn't this 00:22:12.339 --> 00:22:18.099 be a day of triumph? That's not how grace works. 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:25.839 Grace doesn't just pat you on the back. Grace 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:28.259 grabs you by the collar and reminds you who you 00:22:28.259 --> 00:22:33.240 are. Sometimes when the word hits you just right, 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:36.759 when it slices through all of the excuses and 00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:43.450 hits that ache, You cry, not because you're ashamed, 00:22:43.609 --> 00:22:49.009 but because you now remember. You remember the 00:22:49.009 --> 00:22:52.210 voice that called you by name. You remember the 00:22:52.210 --> 00:22:55.210 promises you have forgotten. You remember the 00:22:55.210 --> 00:22:57.910 story you tried to bury under busy schedules 00:22:57.910 --> 00:23:03.509 and your own survival mode. That's what the people 00:23:03.509 --> 00:23:10.289 in Nehemiah's day were feeling. This wasn't guilt 00:23:10.289 --> 00:23:16.210 for guilt's sake. This was sacred memory rising 00:23:16.210 --> 00:23:23.230 like the smoke from that altar. They weren't 00:23:23.230 --> 00:23:26.690 crying because they were in trouble. They were 00:23:26.690 --> 00:23:30.910 crying because they had been found. We know how 00:23:30.910 --> 00:23:34.509 this feels. Those moments when a verse you've 00:23:34.509 --> 00:23:37.369 heard a hundred times suddenly strikes you new. 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:41.200 When a line of scripture you've skimmed over 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:48.039 for years stops you dead in your tracks? When 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:53.059 words you have memorized as a kid finally have 00:23:53.059 --> 00:23:58.940 meaning? That holy interruption when God's truth 00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:02.400 bypasses your defenses and touches that tender 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:04.940 spot where you've been hiding, where you've been 00:24:04.940 --> 00:24:07.599 hurting, when you've been trying to forget who 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:13.359 you really are. The Hebrew word for law here 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:19.559 is Torah. But it means more than rules. It means 00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:25.500 instruction or teaching or direction. What these 00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:28.740 people were hearing wasn't just a list of do's 00:24:28.740 --> 00:24:32.720 and don'ts. They were hearing a story that had 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:37.940 shaped them. The promises spoken over their ancestors. 00:24:39.059 --> 00:24:44.660 The covenant that defined them. No wonder they 00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:48.000 wept. They weren't just remembering the rules. 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:54.059 They were remembering their roots. Let's walk 00:24:54.059 --> 00:24:57.019 through what's happening. Ezra opens the scroll 00:24:57.019 --> 00:25:01.420 and reads morning to midday. The people don't 00:25:01.420 --> 00:25:06.680 fidget. They don't wander. They listen. And the 00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:09.720 Levites move through the crowd, not just reading, 00:25:09.880 --> 00:25:14.680 but explaining, making sure everybody understands 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:19.759 it. That's not performance. Heck, that's good 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:25.210 pastoring. They gave the sense of the word. They 00:25:25.210 --> 00:25:28.569 gave the people an understanding of it. This 00:25:28.569 --> 00:25:31.089 wasn't just about hearing and learning Hebrew. 00:25:32.450 --> 00:25:36.990 It was about making the word real again. They 00:25:36.990 --> 00:25:39.609 weren't just reacquainting themselves with the 00:25:39.609 --> 00:25:42.250 rules. They were remembering the relationship. 00:25:44.490 --> 00:25:47.769 Covenant isn't a checklist. It's a story. It's 00:25:47.769 --> 00:25:51.289 their story. And the story hadn't ended yet. 00:25:51.369 --> 00:25:55.529 Not with exile. Not with rubble. Not even with 00:25:55.529 --> 00:25:59.630 the tears. Because God is still speaking. And 00:25:59.630 --> 00:26:05.150 they were still his. So when Nehemiah stands 00:26:05.150 --> 00:26:08.410 up, governor, scribe, priest, preachers, all 00:26:08.410 --> 00:26:16.099 together, he doesn't say, Good. You should cry. 00:26:18.660 --> 00:26:24.099 He says, don't mourn. Don't weep. Because the 00:26:24.099 --> 00:26:27.660 word, friends, has not been given to crush you. 00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:33.819 It's been given to restore you. And he says, 00:26:33.940 --> 00:26:38.079 this day is holy. Eat the fat. Drink the sweet. 00:26:39.099 --> 00:26:42.490 Share with the ones who have nothing. Because 00:26:42.490 --> 00:26:48.589 the joy of the Lord is your strength. Let's look 00:26:48.589 --> 00:26:51.349 at verse 8 one more time. They read from the 00:26:51.349 --> 00:26:54.309 book, from the law of God clearly, and they gave 00:26:54.309 --> 00:26:57.650 the sense so that the people understood the reading. 00:26:57.829 --> 00:27:04.369 The Hebrew phrase is Vesem Sekel. Vesem Sekel. 00:27:04.410 --> 00:27:07.529 It literally means putting sense or giving understanding. 00:27:08.609 --> 00:27:12.430 It wasn't just enough to hear the words. They 00:27:12.430 --> 00:27:15.789 needed to grasp the meaning. The Levites weren't 00:27:15.789 --> 00:27:21.130 just translating. They were interpreters. They 00:27:21.130 --> 00:27:23.910 were building a bridge between an ancient text 00:27:23.910 --> 00:27:28.230 and a present reality, between Mosaic commandments 00:27:28.230 --> 00:27:34.670 and post -elixir application. What? The stuff 00:27:34.670 --> 00:27:37.890 Moses talked about in the reality of our new 00:27:37.890 --> 00:27:43.990 world. Between what was written and what's needed. 00:27:45.950 --> 00:27:51.990 And isn't that what we're doing right now? Giving 00:27:51.990 --> 00:27:57.130 the sense of scripture. Building a bridge between 00:27:57.130 --> 00:28:02.190 the then and the now. Between the Watergate Square 00:28:02.190 --> 00:28:07.410 and this sanctuary. That's what preaching is 00:28:07.410 --> 00:28:11.299 supposed to be. Not performance, but illumination. 00:28:11.940 --> 00:28:16.420 Not guilt, but understanding. Kind of understanding 00:28:16.420 --> 00:28:21.559 that leads not to burden, but to joy. And did 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:24.319 you catch what Nehemiah told them? He didn't 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:27.039 say go clean yourselves up first. He didn't say 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:32.079 sit in your guilt a little bit longer. He said 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:37.279 this day is holy. Go feast. That right there, 00:28:37.339 --> 00:28:40.839 friends, is the gospel. Because what makes the 00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:45.819 day holy is not how hard they wept. It's how 00:28:45.819 --> 00:28:49.500 fully God meets them in it. It's not their performance. 00:28:50.420 --> 00:28:55.480 It's his presence. This is what covenant grace 00:28:55.480 --> 00:29:00.079 looks like. Shows up in that square after exile. 00:29:02.190 --> 00:29:05.490 It doesn't scold or shame. It speaks, explains, 00:29:05.750 --> 00:29:10.289 and then it invites. It invites them to eat the 00:29:10.289 --> 00:29:13.490 fat, the good stuff, to drink the sweet wine, 00:29:13.730 --> 00:29:18.430 the best stuff, to send portions to those without 00:29:18.430 --> 00:29:23.690 the shared stuff. Because the word of God never 00:29:23.690 --> 00:29:27.390 ends with just head knowledge. It ends in heart 00:29:27.390 --> 00:29:33.150 transformation and community restoration. turns 00:29:33.150 --> 00:29:37.490 understanding into joy, and that joy becomes 00:29:37.490 --> 00:29:44.670 our strength. So let's be clear. It's not joy 00:29:44.670 --> 00:29:49.230 instead of weeping. It's joy through understanding. 00:29:51.609 --> 00:29:56.869 It's not about pretending the exile didn't happen. 00:29:57.910 --> 00:30:01.049 It's about realizing that the covenant never 00:30:01.049 --> 00:30:05.559 left. They didn't just rebuild the wall, God 00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:10.740 rebuilt their name. Now notice what else happens. 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:14.559 The first day of the seventh month, we find that 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:18.500 date in verse 2. The first day, the seventh month. 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:24.039 That's Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, Feast 00:30:24.039 --> 00:30:28.299 of New Trumpets. It's the day that begins the 00:30:28.299 --> 00:30:31.579 High Holy Days, leading to another festival called 00:30:31.579 --> 00:30:35.650 Yom Kippur. In the old calendar, this was a day 00:30:35.650 --> 00:30:40.390 to blow the shofar, to gather, to remember. And 00:30:40.390 --> 00:30:43.869 now, post -exile, it becomes the day the word 00:30:43.869 --> 00:30:50.210 returns. Think about that timing. God doesn't 00:30:50.210 --> 00:30:54.309 wait for them to get everything perfect. He doesn't 00:30:54.309 --> 00:30:56.990 wait for the temple service to get fully restored. 00:30:57.269 --> 00:31:00.799 He meets them where they are. In a half -built 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:05.319 city, a motley crowd, a wooden platform, because 00:31:05.319 --> 00:31:09.539 covenant isn't about perfect circumstance. It's 00:31:09.539 --> 00:31:12.380 about divine faithfulness showing up in the midst 00:31:12.380 --> 00:31:16.119 of human brokenness. It's about the word finding 00:31:16.119 --> 00:31:19.299 its people, even when the people have forgotten 00:31:19.299 --> 00:31:26.299 how to find it themselves. So now, what about 00:31:26.299 --> 00:31:29.940 you? You've come back from things too, maybe 00:31:29.940 --> 00:31:36.579 not Babylon, maybe a rough few years, maybe your 00:31:36.579 --> 00:31:40.920 own kind of exile, spiritual numbness, emotional 00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:45.339 burnout. Maybe you've rebuilt the walls, and 00:31:45.339 --> 00:31:50.519 on paper, you're back, baby. Something inside 00:31:50.519 --> 00:31:56.380 of you still cracked. You showed up to church. 00:31:57.079 --> 00:32:00.119 You stood when the word was read. Maybe you didn't 00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:04.359 even know why you came, but here you are. Scroll 00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:09.500 was open. The word was speaking. Friends, I am 00:32:09.500 --> 00:32:17.119 here to tell you, this day is holy. Don't mourn 00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:20.079 like God's presence is a threat in your lives. 00:32:21.559 --> 00:32:24.460 Don't sit in the shame like the covenant depends 00:32:24.460 --> 00:32:30.390 somehow on your behavior. Don't miss what Nehemiah 00:32:30.390 --> 00:32:34.789 says. Go your way. It doesn't mean walk away 00:32:34.789 --> 00:32:38.750 from conviction. It means walk instead into joy. 00:32:40.130 --> 00:32:45.170 Eat the good meal. Call someone who doesn't have 00:32:45.170 --> 00:32:49.210 one. Lift a glass and remember you're still named, 00:32:49.390 --> 00:32:53.710 still known, still his. Why? Because the joy 00:32:53.710 --> 00:32:57.099 of the Lord is your strength. Not the joy you 00:32:57.099 --> 00:33:01.619 manufacture. Not the shallow happiness of distraction. 00:33:03.079 --> 00:33:08.140 Not the fake it till you make it grin. His joy. 00:33:09.160 --> 00:33:14.359 God delights in you, his people. And he delights 00:33:14.359 --> 00:33:19.559 in the covenant that still stands. That's what 00:33:19.559 --> 00:33:23.619 will hold you. Not your grit. Not your effort. 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:30.740 Not your weeping, but your remembering. Remembering 00:33:30.740 --> 00:33:33.700 the word that is called you. The scroll that 00:33:33.700 --> 00:33:37.019 still opens. The voice that still names you. 00:33:37.140 --> 00:33:41.660 The joy that still strengthens you. So go ahead. 00:33:42.779 --> 00:33:48.359 Weep if you must. But don't stay in it. Because 00:33:48.359 --> 00:33:52.480 joy is what God has for you. Joy is what covenant 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:56.519 grace leads to. Joy, my friend, is the strength 00:33:56.519 --> 00:34:02.259 that rebuilds everything. And maybe you're sitting 00:34:02.259 --> 00:34:05.059 there thinking, Pastor, you just don't understand 00:34:05.059 --> 00:34:08.800 what I've been through, what I have done, how 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:13.159 far I have wandered. I don't have to understand. 00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:18.179 Because the God who spoke at Sinai, who met them 00:34:18.179 --> 00:34:22.519 in the Watergate Square, who has found you today, 00:34:23.559 --> 00:34:28.860 He understands. And his word to you this morning 00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:35.960 is not try harder. It's this day is holy. So 00:34:35.960 --> 00:34:40.280 here's what I want you to do this week. Find 00:34:40.280 --> 00:34:43.539 a place in your house, a kitchen table, a back 00:34:43.539 --> 00:34:50.340 porch, favorite chair, and open the word. Not 00:34:50.340 --> 00:34:55.300 out of duty. Not out of guilt, but out of hunger. 00:34:56.340 --> 00:35:02.280 Like these exiles who asked for the scroll. Read 00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:07.719 it slowly. Let it find you again. And when it 00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:12.099 does, when that moment of recognition hits, don't 00:35:12.099 --> 00:35:16.420 just weep, rejoice. Because the covenant remains. 00:35:17.219 --> 00:35:23.750 The word returns. And you? You're being rebuilt. 00:35:24.949 --> 00:35:30.329 So let me say it plainly. If you walked in here 00:35:30.329 --> 00:35:33.670 today feeling like you've been in exile from 00:35:33.670 --> 00:35:38.030 God, from yourself, from hope, today is your 00:35:38.030 --> 00:35:43.030 Watergate Square moment. Today is the day when 00:35:43.030 --> 00:35:48.469 the word finds you again. And yes, it might make 00:35:48.469 --> 00:35:54.199 you weep. But it will not leave you there. Because 00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:57.920 after the wreckage, after the exile, after the 00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:04.260 long silences, the word returns. And with it, 00:36:04.280 --> 00:36:09.440 joy. Joy strong enough to rebuild everything 00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:20.440 that's been broken. Amen? Amen. If the word found 00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:23.940 you today, right there in the quiet of your headphones 00:36:23.940 --> 00:36:28.059 or the chaos of your kitchen, take a breath. 00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:31.860 You don't have to fix it all. You don't have 00:36:31.860 --> 00:36:35.699 to carry it alone. Maybe you wept a little. Maybe 00:36:35.699 --> 00:36:39.099 something stirred. Maybe you remembered a name 00:36:39.099 --> 00:36:43.519 you'd forgotten. Your own. It's what happens 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:45.880 when the word returns. It doesn't shout you down. 00:36:45.940 --> 00:36:49.750 It draws you back. Remind you who you are. Still 00:36:49.750 --> 00:36:53.429 called. Still named. Still a part of the story. 00:36:53.630 --> 00:36:57.590 So go ahead. Eat the good stuff. Drink the sweet. 00:36:57.789 --> 00:37:00.090 Call somebody and share what's left in the pot. 00:37:01.030 --> 00:37:04.489 Because this day is holy. Not because it's easy. 00:37:05.409 --> 00:37:07.829 But because the joy of the Lord is your strength. 00:37:09.070 --> 00:37:13.070 And if this hit home, if something sacred stirred 00:37:13.070 --> 00:37:16.739 in you today, Remember, it might not be Sunday 00:37:16.739 --> 00:37:19.019 morning wherever you are, but it is Sunday morning 00:37:19.019 --> 00:37:21.579 right here in your headphones. We pulled up a 00:37:21.579 --> 00:37:23.400 little pew in our little Oklahoma church, and, 00:37:23.460 --> 00:37:25.300 man, we're glad you did. Now, if it brought you 00:37:25.300 --> 00:37:27.719 comfort, if it gave you something worth holding 00:37:27.719 --> 00:37:30.820 on to, go ahead, throw a like in the offering 00:37:30.820 --> 00:37:33.780 plate. It's not about algorithms. It's about 00:37:33.780 --> 00:37:37.260 witness. It tells us somebody's still listening, 00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:40.599 somebody's tuning in, still holding on to grace. 00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:44.679 And if you'd like to know when church meets again, 00:37:44.760 --> 00:37:47.900 just tithe your subscribe. That way you won't 00:37:47.900 --> 00:37:51.000 miss it when the word shows up again. Hey, be 00:37:51.000 --> 00:38:05.500 good. And until next time, be blessed. You're 00:38:05.500 --> 00:38:08.679 tuned to the Late Night Revival Line, the semi 00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:12.900 -seminarian. where the gospel still rides the 00:38:12.900 --> 00:38:17.900 static and grace don't charge admission. If you 00:38:17.900 --> 00:38:21.059 believe a click can be a witness, then, friend, 00:38:21.099 --> 00:38:27.159 you know what to do. Throw it in the plate.