“The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength”
Nehemiah 8:8-10
This morning’s service is a first for us at the First Presbyterian Church of Ashland. I call it, “Mardi Gras Sunday”. The idea is to have a celebration before beginning the season of Lent, which begins with our Ash Wednesday service this coming Wednesday at 6. Many of us associate Mardi Gras with lavish and over the top celebrations in places such as New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. Not the sort of thing you’d expect to show up in a Presbyterian church service. After all, one of our denomination’s monikers comes from the Apostle, Paul, that we do things “Decently and in order.” (1 Corinthians 14:40) That doesn’t exactly scream, “Party on, Dudes!” So why have this kind of service now?
Scripture does encourage times set aside to celebrate. You can see that throughout the book of Psalms. Today’s passage from Nehemiah specifically calls for a celebration. Now I am not suggesting that there is any biblical mandate for most of what happens down in New Orleans this weekend through Tuesday at midnight, even though its beginnings were closely tied to the Christian faith. I don’t want us to reenact a scene from Exodus 32 when Moses went up Mt. Sinai and the Israelites worshiped a golden calf and did some not so faithful things with one another. But times of celebration can be holy and meaningful. And, as we’ll see with the back story of Nehemiah, even amid great tension and despair, we can still celebrate, which certainly fits the state of things in our nation at the moment, at least in my mind.
First, let’s look a bit at the history of Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday.” For centuries, it has been a Christian tradition to empty the larder of all fatty foods before Lent, and eat those foods on Shrove Tuesday. Our version of that will be eating pancakes with butter, syrup and bacon, topped off by a yummy King cake in just a bit! “Shrove” refers to “shriving” or confessing, meant to prepare the Christian for the Lenten journey ahead.
The first Mardi Gras parade in America dates back to 1699 when two French explorers reached present-day New Orleans just before Lent and held a celebration they named Pointe du Mardi Gras.
The colors of Mardi Gras have spiritual significance. Purple stands for God’s justice, green stands for faith, and gold stands for God’s power and strength. So, look at your beads right now and consider which of those three aspects of faith is around your neck.
Three days from now, Lent begins, which helps us consider another spiritual significance. Lent is fasting and denying oneself rich and yummy foods to draw us nearer to God and remind us of Christ's suffering. We, in effect, “Die to ourselves” by denying ourselves. I hope to see you at our Ash Wednesday service this coming Wednesday at 6 to help us start our Lenten journeys off to a good start.
Before we move into such solemn times, it is good for us to celebrate community, God, faith life, and food! We will be doing just that very soon. That call to celebration also happened for the people of Jerusalem during Nehemiah's time. Let’s look at today’s passage to find out why they chew the fat, hoist a glass, and share their bounty amid great tension and despair.
The book of Nehemiah was originally the second half of a single work, Ezra-Nehemiah. This book in the Bible deals with the return of those exiled in Babylon to Jerusalem, who begin the long, grueling process of rebuilding the Holy City, around 538 B.C. The temple rebuild was completed around 516 B. C. Ezra the priest took another group of exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem to work on rebuilding the city in 455 B.C. Nehemiah’s part comes some 10 years later, around 445 B.C. Nehemiah was the cup bearer for the King of Babylon in the capital city of Susa at that time. One of Nehemiah’s brothers and some other stragglers from Judah came to Babylon to update the Babylonian King on the state of things in Jerusalem. Their report was difficult for Nehemiah to hear. Those survivors who weren’t exiled lived complicated lives. Although the temple had been rebuilt, the city walls were still in rubble. Nehemiah’s family was from Jerusalem. This news of the city’s disarray troubled him greatly, and the King took notice and asked him what was wrong. He came up with the courage to ask his king for permission to return to his ancestral homeland and help rebuild the walls. The King agreed, appointed him Governor of Jerusalem, and sent him on his way.
The book of Nehemiah reads more like a journal, or even at times like a daily construction log. Much of the beginning of the book records who worked on what part of rebuilding the city walls, and who was next to them. For example, Chapter 3:1 says, “Then Eli’ashib the high priest rose up fellow priests and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors; they consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Han’anel. And next to them, Zaccur, the son of Imri built.” The first four chapters or so read pretty much just like that.
Nehemiah oversaw the reconstruction of Jerusalem's city walls, which were very important in those days. By completing the walls, they could defend themselves against attack from surrounding nations and hopefully live in peace. As the rebuilding process began, neighboring countries began to take notice. At first, they made fun of the builders, and thought their efforts were a waste of time. Yet as more and more exiles returned to help in the rebuilding efforts, they saw Jerusalem regaining its standing and therefore becoming a potential threat and target for war. Those who rebuild the walls see the foreign adversaries sending scouting parties around the city looking for weak spots. As a result, those who rebuilt the walls were forced to have stone axes in one hand and swords in the other. In addition, defensive parties were formed hiding in spaces near the reconstruction to be able to respond to any threat. They also put together night watches. The people were on full alert as they rebuilt the walls while in a posture for battle. It was a time of great tension.
It was also a time of regret and despair. The people regretted having been unfaithful and turned away from God, which is part of why they ended up living in exile for some seventy-plus years. As they rebuilt, they pondered past mistakes and hoped to live faithfully with God again once the temple was rebuilt.
We pick up the story in this morning’s passage just as the rebuilding process has been completed, which took 52 days. Then Ezra assembled the people and read the book of Moses, the Torah or first five books of the Bible. Upon hearing God’s Word, the people began to weep. Between their despair over past unfaithfulness, and those nations around them plotting to go to war, they could not control their emotions. Ezra the Priest, the Levites and Governor Nehemiah took notice. Much like the beginning of this morning’s worship service and the current state of things, they also knew it was time for a reset.
Nehemiah told the people to go their way, chew the fat, drink wine, and share what they had with others. Despite how difficult life had been, it was time to celebrate. Why? People were sad when they understood how they had disobeyed and neglected God. However, God wanted them to rejoice in their repentance, not grovel in guilt. They came to understand God’s Word and that God forgave them. Nehemiah told them not to be grieved, “For the joy of the Lord is your strength.” So, the people celebrated. They got together in community and thanked God for their lives, their faith, and the strength they found in God. Somehow amid a difficult time, they found joy.
Is that possible for us, here today? We’ve had some inklings of joy in jazz-filled music. Joy can be found when our toes tap and our bodies move in rhythm. Joy and give us energy. Joy in God can help us reset and refocus. Perhaps “Joy” is too strong a word for us today. The original meaning of the word translated as joy in this morning’s passage means “Gladness.” חֶדְוָה Pronunciation: khed-vah'- gladness That fits my spirit a little better. I think I can make it to gladness today. I also found a resource that may help us get there through theologian Nadia Bolz-Weber.
After Friday’s disastrous meeting in the Oval Office, Rev. Bolz-Weber wrote, “I wish to God I had some answers to give right now. Some words of solace. Little pellets of wisdom that help can lower cortisol levels. But this morning, as my dog snores on her bed next to my writing chair and the sun has yet to rise, all I can think of is that what I know isn’t helping us. And that is: being lousy to each other for our reactions to what is happening right now. I know why I do this. Because it’s an easy thing to default to when I feel powerless. I just don’t think it’s helpful.
I’m just trying to ask what is helping. (And by helping I don’t mean “feels good for a minute”) Is being mad about others whose reactions differ from mine helping? No. Is spending MORE time reading stuff online helping? Not for me. Is spending less time online helping? For me, yes. Is rehearsing my fears helping? Nope. Are long walks outside helping? Absolutely, yes. Is being angry at people I love who voted differently than I did helping? Not really. Is gathering with people and breaking bread together helping? Without a doubt.”
Friends, as we gather together in community, as we celebrate the addition of more members to our community, as we share in God’s meal of grace meant for all people, as we support one another and fellowship together, as we give thanks for God during worship, as we give thanks to God for the blessings of food, and share what we have with others, we too can claim that the Joy of the Lord is our strength. So, let’s party in Mardi Gras style with a slight nod to “Decently and in order.” We don’t want things to get too far out of control😊 Who knows? You might even feel a little bit of gladness, or even joy creep into your soul. Alleluia! Amen.
