Reflection on Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

It is a curious thing, even though Bible studies are rarely attended (not just in Lutheran Churches, but in all of the nation's churches), people are still curious about the Bible. I will be asked about the scriptures in the strangest places. I have been asked about the meaning of the crucifixion while buying lumber…I wonder what they were building. I have been asked about what God thinks of suicide in the post office. I have even been asked what the Bible has to say about pets going to heaven while standing in the K-mart shopping line next to the cheap DVD bin which coincidentally had a copy of “All Dogs God To Heaven” sitting right there. I’m not sure if the DVD sparked the question or mysteriously and quietly gave the answer.

It is so strange, people want to hear the Bible spoken anywhere but in a group that is devoted to engaging with God’s written word. It is strange, but I think there is an explanation for it. People do not want to study the word of God. People want to live with the Word of God. People want to pull it out of the religious institutions and into their lives.

The people of Jerusalem pull the scribe Ezra out of the temple, place God’s word in his hand, and ask him to read to them beyond the temple, beyond the water gate. "We want to hear God’s word right where we are. Give it to us Ezra, let us hear what God has to say to our situation." And, so Ezra begins to read the Hebrew Bible, and then takes time to put it into simple language.

That is what is happening in K-mart or at the lumber yard when God’s Word is sought; people are dragging us pastors and God’s word out into the world where it really matters. I imagine you dragging me downtown to the steps of the courthouse. You throw the Bible in my hand and shout at me, “Read to us all morning!” Not knowing where to start, I take the Jesus’ lead and open to Isaiah. Clearing my throat I nervously read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

The poor, who are walking up toward the courthouse door, hoping to keep their rented house of 20 years that they suddenly can no longer afford, turn and hear that there is good news in store for them from God: “It is the year of the Lord’s favor! The oppressed will not be forgotten.” They cry with tears of hope and push the courthouse door open, prepared to fight to keep their housing. A landlord hears the same words and stops ever so briefly with head down reconsidering his recent housing deals. The scriptures stop him for one brief and terrifying moment as he considers for the first time that his good fortune is in fact another’s person’s nightmare.

You have dragged me and the scriptures out of the church, and in doing so you have set the Word of God loose in the world.

You drag me on a plane down to Haiti. Making our way through confused and suffering people…some ask for water or any food that we might have on us, and others ask if we have seen their family…you drag me to the top of a rubble pile, throw the Bible into my arms, and demand that I read.

While I thumb through the pages with nervous sweat beading on my forehead a man yells, “What did we do to deserve this? Does God hate us?” I stare long, first at the man and then down where the pages have haphazardly fallen open. I read loudly from Luke 13 where some people ask Jesus if the 14 individuals who were killed in a tower collapse were being punished by God. I also read loudly Jesus’ response, “No.”

Again, I read from Luke that this is the “year of the Lord’s favor” where the poor will not be forgotten. The words do not give an answer to the devastation as they echo through the cracks of the rubble and above the crying of children. It is not an answer, but it is a conversation between God and those who are searching through the piles that were their former homes.

This time it is my turn. I pull you into the hospital room where my brother lays on his back, heaving his chest up and down with the assistance of a machine in the corner, struggling to cling to life. I thrust the Bible into your hands, and you open to the story of the empty tomb. You read about Jesus overcoming death and showing his wounds. I am stunned, doubtful that good news might be true now, but glad to hear a word of hope. A couple of days later you read me the same scripture and it speaks of joy for a new start for my brother, and struggle for a new start with so many scars to deal with.

In all of our trips together with scripture, we have not learned about scripture. We have not taken notes and memorized facts. Instead, we have lived with scripture. We have talked with it and it has talked back to us. We have allowed it to breathe into our souls both words of challenge and words of hope. You have drug the scriptures out of the institution and have set God's Word free to live with God’s people. When the scriptures have been turned loose, there is no telling what will happen.

For instance, what will happen if I turn loose this scripture to you, “Go your way, eat a glorious meal today and drink some sweet wine and send some of this great meal out to those whom have nothing prepared to eat, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be sad this day, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." I do not know what will happen, but do you not think it will be fun to see?


All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.