One Holy Passion
Nehemiah 8:13-18
May 13, 2001
“Christians: Party Animals?”
Part 3
Here is the recipe: boil strong, black tea leaves. After you’ve made the tea, stir in rich milk—and…yak butter. And there you have the delicacy of Tibet: yak butter tea. When you visit a family there, good manners says that you must drink at least 3 cups of yak butter tea. To drink only 2 cups would be deeply offensive to one’s hosts. Question: could you drink 3 cups of yak butter tea—with the joy of the Lord in your heart?
Nehemiah 8 has proven to be a chapter rich in material to challenge and convict us, as it focuses us again on the centrality of the Bible in the life of the believer.
3 Responses to the Word of God
I. Understanding the Word - vv. 1-8
The first few verses of chapter 8 focus us on the importance of understanding God’s Word. We have said that the Bible is a book penned by men but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God; its final form is such that it reveals to us exactly what God intends for us to understand so that we might be completely equipped to live lives that please Him. The Bible gives us our marching orders for life. As such, we are obligated to read and understand it, and are reminded that growth as believers will not take place apart from the intake of the Word of God.
II. Rejoicing in the Word - vv. 9-12
We saw last week that, understood properly, the Bible reveals to us our sin, the ugly reality about ourselves and our natural desire to go our own way, but it also reveals to us the cure for our sin. We find in the Word the plan of forgiveness authored by God Himself, and when we experience that forgiveness of sin, we have cause for real joy—and for sharing that joy with others!
III. Obeying the Word - vv. 13-18
Today we talk about the importance of obeying the Word of God. We’re reminded by James that it is not merely the hearers of the Word—nor even those who intellectually grasp it—who are blessed, but rather those who fashion their lives in such a way as to come into line with the priorities the Word sets forth. We will look at the situation given at the end of Nehemiah 8 in order to be challenged by the example of the people in Jerusalem.
Stand with me, if you would, and let’s read Nehemiah 8:13-18!
PRAYER
If you know me, you know I’m one of those “get back to nature, get in touch with the outdoors, live off the land” types of guys…not! My family is planning vacation for late July this year, and the plan right now is for us to go…camping. Now understand, when I go on vacation, my idea of roughing it is when
The hotel doesn’t have ESPN 2.
My room isn’t ground-floor level.
The continental breakfast has only 3 choices of pastries.
The water in the hot tub isn’t warm enough.
But alas, we got a brand-new tent for Christmas this past year—a 3-room tent. Although I doubt one of those rooms is the Jacuzzi room, I’m going to have to find a way to enjoy this back-to-nature brand of vacation, I suppose.
Why do I bring this up? Well, because God, in Leviticus 23, had essentially commanded the children of Israel to have a once yearly, everybody included, weeklong, nationwide campout! And in Nehemiah 8, we see the people being reminded of this. Let’s explore
The situation:
a. The Circumstances
We find, on the day after the celebration, that the men of Jerusalem make their way back for another reading of the Law of God. It was their desire to “gain insight” into the Law, the Bible says. They wanted to know more about what it held for them, more about what God wanted them to do to please Him. The men came back; ostensibly, it was supposed that the women and children would be too worn-out from the previous day’s activities to come back again, and I imagine that some of these guys were pretty tired as well. So great was their desire to know the ways of God that the men made their way back to the square at the Water Gate to learn more. We get the impression that the words of Leviticus 23:39-43 (p.109) came to them as something of a discovery, if not a first time discovery, then certainly a re-awakening to the significance of this command of God. Let’s read together there. Notice
b. The Command of God
They were to have a gigantic campout every year, and to feast in the middle of it. Here’s God again commanding His people to have a big party! Now, in those days, there was no Dick’s Sporting Goods, so they would go and collect leafy branches and fashion their own makeshift tents. Basically, this was to be seven days of rejoicing and of hearing God’s Word—sort of the old camp meeting concept, I suppose! Then, at the end of seven days of feasting and partying before the Lord, they were to get serious for a day, calling a solemn assembly.
Remember last week I suggested that grief and gladness were never far apart in the life of the obedient child of God? There is a necessary place for both in the lives of Christians. Still, interesting that the people were to feast for seven days and then to fast for one. God’s design is that we live in the joy and freedom of forgiveness. Here, His command was that the people would enjoy a feast in His Name.
c. The Meaning of the Feast
What did this great big campout and feast signify? It was a teaching tool to both the people of Israel and to surrounding nations as well. There were two sides to this feast:
1. It was a vintage festival. It took place at the time of the ingathering of crops. Exodus 34:22 described this party, a time of celebration and thanksgiving to God for His provision for their needs. Perhaps we might roughly equate this to our own holiday of Thanksgiving, minus the turkey, stuffing, and NFL football, but with a stronger emphasis upon God, the One who ought to be thanked. Ironically, every Thanksgiving we will hear, from the secular media, the word that we as Americans ought to be thankful, but having jettisoned the idea of God, there is a big blank left as to just Who it is toward Whom we ought to be thankful! So at the time of the ingathering of crops, harvest time, there was to be a feast of thankfulness.
2. It was to serve as a memorial of the wilderness journey that Israel had undertaken after the exodus from Egypt. During that time, the people had lived in “booths”, makeshift shanties constructed of whatever could be found. This spectacle of campout shanties perched conspicuously on roofs of houses and filling city squares was a reminder of the pilgrim status of the people of Israel. This was an acted-out reminder of deep spiritual truths, about God Who was their provider, their protection, their deliverer, and about the fact that, whatever homes they occupied, they were nonetheless aliens as long as they lived here on earth, for they were destined for eternal dwelling.
It had to be particularly pertinent to these people now to be reminded that God was the One Who alone was their protector. They had just put up a wall, and the temptation for them would be to trust in what they could see to provide a hedge of safety for them. Of course, we struggle with the same issues today, believing that we can trust in our IRA’s, or our paid-off mortgages, or our Social Security, or whatever as our protection today. This festival was a reminder of God’s protection and provision in the past.
It also was a witness in the present. Traders and merchants visited Jerusalem on a regular basis; some made their homes there, and no doubt would be arrested by the sight of these booths. The natural question must have been asked, “What’s this all about?” And the reply would be natural—“I’m glad you asked!”
As I said, there existed a future element as well, as the people were reminded, in the words of the old spiritual, “this world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through…I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” They were reminded that the best was yet to come!
So that lays the groundwork for our understanding of what was taking place. Now I’d like to look for the remainder of our time together, at 5 questions which are answered here regarding obedience to the Word of God. It doesn’t’ matter what the issue of obedience is; these principles will likely apply!
5 Questions regarding Obedience:
1. Who should obey? Everyone
Now this might seem an obvious point, but I make it just to make one observation, and that is that there is no two-tiered system when it comes to obeying God. They were all there together: the priests and Levites, yes, but also the heads of households, along with Ezra, all determined to figure out what the Law said and all determined to obey it, as they did. Steve Van Slyke comes from a church background where there is effectively no division between the clergy and the laity, and while some might agree with that, I think that there are many who err on the opposite extreme. They seem to have the idea that some people are naturally more holy than others because they have “REV.” in front of their names, or they have the idea that they are somehow let off the hook when it comes to obeying God. “I mean, don’t we pay the pastor to be good? That means we gotta be good…for nothing!” Well, yeah, the demands of obedience are placed equally upon us all! The people here all got about the business of obeying God’s Law.
2. When should they obey? Immediately
Time was a-wastin’! The time for the celebration of the Feast of Booths was upon them, and so they wasted no time in getting things prepared to celebrate. They immediately got with the business of obeying God. And so for us. The Bible says, “To him who knows to do good, but does it not, to him it is sin!” There is no way to delay obedience to God and assume that I can catch that later. In fact, there is no way to delay salvation and have any assurance that there will be a later time when you can get serious about obeying God. Some of you sitting here have likely been thinking, maybe seriously, about this matter of committing your life to Jesus Christ. You know you ought to do it; you know you need to do it. But for whatever reason, you have said, “I’ll just wait awhile longer and scope this out more.” Now, I believe on the one hand that we as a church ought to respect the seriousness of your decision to the point where we allow you to consider the claims of Christ—Jesus talks about “counting the cost”—without feeling as though you are being beaten over the head with a Bible and strong-armed into a decision for Christ. If you feel any pressure to trust Christ as Savior when you come here, I hope that it is the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God moving in your heart. At the same time, you also ought to know this, that the Bible does say that “now is the accepted time; today is the day of salvation.” The Bible does say that we cannot boast about tomorrow, for life is a vapor and we don’t know what the next day will bring. The clear implication of that is that we had better weigh our decision in the light of eternity, and in the light of the reality that the time to be saved is now!
And for the Christian, obedience isn’t a “put it off” kind of thing. We sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit; it is time then to do what God is calling us to do. Hey, I struggle with this myself; I understand perfectly the temptation to put God off for a more convenient time. But these people set us an example of obedience in that they immediately got to the task of doing what the Law told them God expected of them.
3. Where should they obey? Everywhere
According to verse 16, they put these booths up everywhere. Everywhere the eye could see there were people who were camping out. I can only imagine the reaction from some of the Gentiles who came into Jerusalem—but I can only imagine the witness that these provoked! One commentator suggested that these different areas listed might even be seen as witness for God in different areas of our lives:
On the roofs of homes suggested that witness would be to families.
In the courtyards, where guests would be welcomed, suggesting witness to our social acquaintances.
In the courts of God’s house, suggesting that we ought to tell of God’s greatness in our religious observance.
In the square by the Water Gate, where commerce took place, suggesting that in our business lives as well we ought to obey God and testify to His goodness.
4. Why should they obey? Because the Bible is our authoritative guide
The Holy Scripture was becoming the guiding principle for the everyday living and decision-making of the people of Jerusalem. They obeyed God because the Bible told them so! This is very important for us to get a grasp on, because there are some (usually non-believers) who suggest that, while “religion” might have its place, we neatly compartmentalize our faith into a segment of our lives which doesn’t really touch on the way life is to be lived. There is an all-out attempt by these folks to marginalize faith, to suggest that people who just have to be “religious” shouldn’t attempt to bring their “religion” into the public square. Of course, they fail to see, or at least to admit, that they are religious as well; every person in the world is a spiritual being and has a religion, if you will. But that is for another time. My point here is that the people organized their very lives by the dictates of the Word of God. But there are people today who get very nervous if people take Christian faith seriously—at least seriously enough to let it affect their daily living.
Witness the outcry this week regarding a new report done by an Ivy League professor suggesting that some practicing homosexuals had effectively become heterosexual in their practice. The conclusion that this prominent researcher reached was that it could be done sometimes in some circumstances. But the reaction was swift and predictable from those in the homosexual lobby with a vested interested in the matter: these results couldn’t be trusted because many of the people interviewed were “religious”! Why, these people’s opinions and experiences couldn’t be trusted, because they had been duped by religion!
The Darwinists arrogantly attempt the same thing, condescendingly asking us to consign our naïve “religious” theories of origins to an intellectual backwater, telling us that it’s okay to “believe” those things (wink, wink) as long as we don’t confuse them with “real science”. But God will not be so easily segmented off to a lock box somewhere in the back of our minds which we only open once or twice a week. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that our entire worldview is shaped, not so much even by asking “what would Jesus do?”, but by developing the mind of Christ, as the Bible declares, and thus thinking as Jesus thinks! And we generally don’t have to wonder about how Jesus thinks either, for His mind is revealed to us in the Scripture. It remains for us to orient our entire lives around the Word!
5. How should they obey? Joyfully
End of verse 17 talks about “great rejoicing”. Verse 18 talks about “celebrating”. Once the work was done, it was probably a blast to have a campout, but even more than this, there was joy to be found in knowing that they were doing what God had commanded. Look at Deuteronomy 16:13-15 (p.171). Here’s God again commanding them to live it up, to party in His presence!
There is real joy to be found in obedience to God. What compares with knowing you are doing what God created you to do? Hey, when God gets ahold of our lives, obeying Him is not a drudgery so much as He changes our desires and it becomes a delight. And by the way, there is evidence that this feast had been celebrated before; the people of Israel had celebrated in Solomon’s day, and even as recently as Ezra 3 we read of the observance of this feast when the exiles had returned from Babylon. But perhaps what was different here is that the whole thing was attended by joy! There was more than a superficial happiness; there was joy in knowing that what they were doing was being done, not out of some perfunctory sense of obligation, but out of a sincere desire to do what God wanted—and that will reap a harvest of joy every time.
Got an email this week, and then had a phone conversation. You’ve heard me speak of my buddy Tommy; some of you met he and his wife Angie when they visited a few years back. Perhaps you remember me telling Tommy’s story. When they came to our church in NC, their lives and their marriage were all messed-up—and it is hard for me to overstate that. Tommy had nearly died of an overdose of drugs just a few months previously; he was a convicted felon. But he and Angie came to faith in Jesus, and the Lord began to work in his life, and to change him, and he learned that what he had to do was to orient his life around God’s Word and around obeying the Lord…with joy.
I want to close by sharing part of the email with you, as written by Angie:
We have been back from Asia for 3 weeks and 2 days. Our trip was great! We know that the Lord has Missions in our future. Where? When? How? Only God knows that!
I did many things that I did not think I would be able to do. First of all, I had never flown so I flew on a plane...10 of them! Second thing was I taught 140 women on how to raise small (preschool age) children. Third thing was I had to speak through a translator, if you know me then you know it was difficult because I talk kind of fast anyway. The fourth thing was when we were in Bangkok, Thailand our friend Sue wanted us to go on a boat ride in the canal. Well, I can’t swim but I thought...okay! The fifth thing was when we were in Thailand we were at a snake farm and the man there kept trying to encourage me to hold a snake...twice as long as me!...so I did that! The sixth thing was Tommy and our friend Sue rented motorcycles in Pokhara, Nepal. I don’t really care for motorcycles but I did that. We dodged people, little children, cars, cows...yes, lots of cows, motorcycles, bicycles, etc., etc. Tommy was riding all through the city like he knew exactly where he was going. That was weird because the roads there are like mazes, and there are no road signs. The seventh thing was eating the food. Now I have to tell you I had some "strange looking" food. That may be an understatement because it tasted strange as well!!!!! Tommy ate everything! He didn’t turn anything down. When we went into those Tibetan Refugee Camps we were served yak-butter tea in almost every home. It was real thick and looked like coffee with cream, it smelled like old grease, and was very thick and salty. I wouldn’t suggest anyone with high blood pressure to drink it. The eighth thing was getting in all those taxis on very dangerous roads with obstacles as I’ve mentioned and not to mention no speed limit! The ninth thing was not having the freedom to witness to people in public. The top ten thing was being away from Ashley and Tony. But the Lord sustained me. The reason I was able to do all these things is because I purposed in my heart to do what God wants me to do and go wherever He wants me to go. We all need to be like that, you know? God made those people in Asia just like He made us. He loves them like He loves us. How will they ever know if we never tell them?
Obeying God will bring a joy into our lives that enables us to do whatever God calls us to do—whether it is drink yak butter tea in Nepal, or to live faithfully right here in Mercer, PA.
