Unity, Focus and (the) Spirit
School begins this week and… though I have not been in school for about ten years now… I would guess that one of the things that students… teachers… and parents will experience in the first few weeks is something called an assembly… a convocation… or a rally. Lots of people will be gathered in one place so that policies can be explained… information can be shared… and enthusiasm can be generated for the year that lies ahead. No one really knows where or when this all began, but I imagine that, even among cave dwellers in our early history, the “hunter-gatherers” among us came together to discuss the hunt before they set off to find the plants and animals that would comprise dinner that evening. So, the next time you are sitting in the bleachers… listening to an administrator speak… or watching the cheerleaders whip up enthusiasm among the troops, know that you are part of a long tradition that predates civilization as we know it.
Why do we do it? Because experience has taught us that getting a group of people together around a common agenda… and injecting a little entertainment and audience participation into the mix… provides the unity… focus… and spirit that are needed for our efforts to be successful. In short, it works! The most obvious example of this is the ubiquitous pep rally that precedes a sporting event. We gather folks together in some common place to talk about our athletes… to focus our attention on their efforts… to unify our commitment to them and to the school they represent… and to whip up enthusiasm and excitement that creates an environment where our athletes want to perform well. By the time we are finished parading our athletes before the crowd… playing triumphant music on brass and wind instruments and drums… and encouraging everyone to scream their support until they are hoarse… our own hearts are pumping so hard that we want to get into the game as well.
That is exactly what is happening in our text today, but let me set the stage for you. The great monarchy that existed under King David and King Solomon no longer exists. After King Solomon’s death, the monarchy split into two separate countries… Israel and Judah… to be ruled by different kings for centuries. The Northern Kingdom of Israel survived for the next two hundred years before falling to the Assyrians in 722 BCE. The Southern Kingdom of Judah survived for almost three hundred and fifty years before falling to the Babylonians in 587 BCE. With the fall of Jerusalem, the children of Israel were taken in chains to Babylon, where they served as slaves to their captors for more than a generation. Then, the Persian Empire came to power and, in 515 BCE, its king, Artaxerxes, permitted Nehemiah, a Hebrew slave in the king’s court, to return to Jerusalem for the stated purpose of rebuilding that city. Nehemiah took a remnant of the children of Israel… about forty thousand of them, including the great priest, Ezra… back to this destroyed city… along with all the treasures of the Temple that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken out the Temple in Jerusalem when it was destroyed. Together, this band of exiles began to rebuild the walls and restore community life in Jerusalem. When the city walls were completed, Nehemiah invited Ezra, who had been serving as the high priest of this band of exiles, to gather the people and read from the Holy Scriptures. And that is where our story begins.
Nehemiah was a military man by training… one of the few lay people who wrote a book in the Bible. In all probability, he was one or two generations removed from those who were taken as captives to Babylon. Thus, he probably grew up hearing stories of the greatness of Israel’s monarchies and the longing of his grandparents to return to their native land. He apparently came from a devout Hebrew family, for he practiced the Jewish faith and knew the fundamentals of Jewish law. More than once in this grand adventure, he rallied the people that he brought back from Babylon under the flag of Hebrew nationalism and the Jewish faith. In fact, I would say that he was a master at what we call assemblies, convocations or ‘pep rallies,’ for he understood what he needed to accomplish in order to gain the enthusiastic support and commitment from this rag-tag group of returnees for the task that lay before them… the task of rebuilding the city and establishing a strong and prosperous community in the middle of enemy territory.
Whether we look at Nehemiah’s efforts 2500 years ago… or King David gathering the Israelites in Jerusalem 3000 years ago… or Moses gathering the people at Mount Sinai 3500 years ago… or our own pep rallies today… we can see three major purposes for gathering the people in such an event. Nehemiah gathered the people together to strengthen their unity… clarify their focus… and engage their spirit… and the Spirit of God in their objective and purpose. Why did he think he needed to do it at this point? Well, there were several reasons. First of all, the Israelites who returned to Jerusalem were a relatively small company of God’s people. They were surrounded by peoples and nations who greatly outnumbered them. The odds were not in their favor. They needed to stick together… to be united as one people with a common goal… to be successful.
The returnees were also surrounded by people who worshipped other gods… those who worshipped fire… or the sun… or animals… or rocks. In the barren wasteland that was the former monarchy, Nehemiah knew that it would be easy for this small group to become frustrated with a God they could not see… or touch… or taste. They might be tempted to turn to the gods of their neighbors in their struggle to survive. Nehemiah needed to remind them of who they worshipped and to focus attention on their own God.
Finally, Nehemiah knew that the Israelites had a challenging, labor-intensive task ahead of them that would take the commitment and enthusiasm of the all the people who returned with him. Completion of the walls was only part of the job. There was still a lot of work to do. Nehemiah knew that without God’s help, they would surely fail. They needed God’s Spirit working among them to equip them for the task… and to succeed.
Rally Day within our Presbyterian tradition serves the same purpose: to gather people around a common agenda… to focus their attention on what is really important… and to generate enthusiasm for the task that lies ahead… asking for God’s blessing. Like the Israelites in Nehemiah’s time, we are a small band of the faithful building God’s kingdom in this place. If even half of the population of Erath County showed up for worship on Sunday morning, there would not be enough seats in all the churches combined for that group to participate. Like the Israelites, we, too, are surrounded by a secular world that worships other gods… gods that have the potential to distract us from the God that we worship. It is tempting to follow these other gods… and we often fool ourselves into thinking that we can follow other gods and still be faithful to our God. “Good luck with that!” as my son would say. Our God is a jealous god… and those who have tried to follow other gods and still serve our God run into conflicting priorities and goals that often force us to make a choice. Church fellowship… prayer meetings… Bible studies… youth programs… and sometimes even Sunday morning worship can lose out to sporting events… work… or the pull of entertainment… or this weekend, shopping.
Being a faithful Christian in today’s world is not easy. If it were, everyone would be one. Being a faithful Christian means making intentional choices about the way in which we live our lives… not simply allowing the current in the stream to carry us along. Sometimes, it means giving up things that are attractive… enticing… lucrative and even fun… because we believe that the life God gave us is more than glitz and glamour… material goods… or temporary pleasures. We believe that God created us for a purpose… shared in his life with us on this earth in the person of Jesus Christ to interpret that purpose in word and deed… and that he calls us to continue to build his kingdom through our Christian ministry. Yes, it is a challenging task. No, it is not yet complete. Yes, we are a small remnant of the faithful… and yet we have all that we need to accomplish this task. No, the Christian life is not always attractive… or enticing… or lucrative… but the rewards that we seek are not the rewards of this world. Instead, they are eternal rewards that those who are focused on this world can never understand. And yet, there is a crowd of onlookers… the cloud of witnesses that the Apostle Paul speaks of in his letters… who cheer us on with wild enthusiasm. If we will but take the time to listen, we can hear their shouts of encouragement… and their hands guiding us on the path that they walked before us. And we need to… as Ralph reminded us… put on the whole armor of God to stand against the forces of evil in this world.
The activities of the church year are all part of a master plan to unify us as Christians… to keep us focused upon our long-term goal… and to generate a spirit of enthusiasm for the task that lies ahead… inviting God’s Spirit to always work among us. God was the one who created the plan. Christ has called us to unity… to be one in him as his church in this world. And the Holy Spirit works among us each and every day to give us the courage… the determination… and the will to complete our task… equipping us for what lies ahead. Our Worship Committee focuses their efforts on the experience of worshipping God that gives expression to the love of God and God’s covenant with us through scripture… music… proclamation and our rededication to the task each week. Our Christian Education Committee focuses their efforts on equipping us for the task by teaching us Biblical concepts that guide our faith, encouraging us, and giving us countless stories of those who have gone before us and their struggles with be ‘in the world, but not of the world’… showing us how to apply what we know to what we do each day. Our Congregational Care Committee provides opportunities for Christian fellowship… like our Two-Cent-A-Meal next Sunday…and supports our struggles with cards and casseroles when the need arises.
As fall begins, we have some new opportunities to explore our Christian faith and worship. The Adult Sunday School class begins a new curriculum that will explore covenant communities… how we live together in faith… and Raymond Kenny will begin that study in two weeks. The Presbyterian Women will begin a new study of Joshua and his leadership of the children of Israel in the new Promised Land… calling them to commitment. That study begins the first Thursday in September. In September, we will also be showing the movie “Fireproof” which tells the story of a couple who face struggles with their marriage in today’s world. For those who wish to take the ‘Love Dare’ and strengthen that commitment, Cathy Wittie and Raymond Kenny will provide leadership and support during that six-week effort. Even those who are not married will find that the application of these Christian principles will strengthen any significant relationship in their lives.
Next Sunday evening, we will offer the first ‘Service of Healing and Wholeness’ for those who have suffered loss… or who desire a different worship experience. This informal and more contemplative time of worship will allow those who come to choose their level of participation… from simply being present to actively seeking a connection with God through music… scripture… prayer… the contemplation of Christ’s life and ministry… and the Lord’s Supper.
On that great day two thousand five hundred years ago, Nehemiah gathered the people… Ezra read God’s law to them… musicians played their instruments… and God’s Spirit moved among them. The people responded by seeking God with a renewed unity… purpose … and commitment to God’s work in that desolate place… only to discover that God was there among them. We gather here today… and every Sunday… for the same purpose. Every Sunday, we close our service singing “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.” Let us do that with a renewed commitment this fall. And may God grant that we will also discover… in the many activities of our congregation in the coming months… a renewed sense of unity… purpose… and commitment to God’s kingdom in this place… as we walk in his way together. Amen.
Nehemiah 8:1-10