A Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany
The Rev. Patricia A. Gillespie
Nehemiah 8:2-10
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Luke 4:14-21
Psalm 113
When was the last time that reading the Bible brought tears to your eyes? When was the last time you stood for hours just to hear God's word?
What's with those Hebrew people in our reading from Nehemiah? The only reason I can figure to weep about our readings today would be the frustration of trying to pronounce all those Hebrew names.
Of course that's part of the "law" they were reading -- the genealogies, the list of the names of their ancestors. That's probably why they had so many guys up there on the platform -- to help figure out the right pronunciation. And all those other guys down in the crowd to interpret: "They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading."
Maybe that's our problem too: We need someone to interpret so we can understand. Sometimes Scripture doesn't seem to speak our language.
Once, when these readings came on Super Bowl Sunday, the second reading sounded like this:
"For the team is one and has many players, and all the players of the team, though many, are one team ... Indeed the team does not consist of one player, but of many. If the defensive end would say, 'Because I am not the quarterback, I do not belong to the team,' that would not make him any less a part of the team. And if the right tackle would say, 'Because I am not a wide receiver, I do not belong to the team,' that would not make him any less a part of the team.If the whole team were tackles, where would the running backs be? If the whole team were running backs, where would the kickers be? And if the whole team were kickers, where would the cornerbacks be? But as it is, the coach has arranged the players of the team, each one of them, as he chose. If all were quarterbacks, where would the team be?
As it is, there are many players, yet one team. The quarterback cannot say to the tackle, 'I don't need you.' Nor can the defensive ends say to the running backs, 'We don't need you.' On the contrary ... if one player suffers, the team suffers together with him; if one player is honored, the team rejoices with him." *
What! No tears? Didn't you understand it? Or maybe it's not personal enough. If you were a player whose team just won, that reading might bring tears; maybe even if you were a player's wife or parent.
When was the last time you heard anything read that brought you to tears? If you remember such a time, there was probably some strong personal connection.
Almost eighteen years ago I got a phone call from my kids' school. My ten-year-old daughter had won some kind of essay contest and they were inviting me to hear her read it at a school assembly. It would be difficult for me to get there because we had several foster kids as well, but I managed to arrange it, partly because I was feeling a bit guilty wondering if I had been giving my birth children enough attention because of the demands of the troubled emergency foster kids. I was a bit anxious when I discovered that the kids' essay topic was to write about their mothers for Mothers' Day: Was Miranda going to tell them about the chaos in our lives? -- about waking up each morning and not knowing how many brothers and sisters she had that day.
She writes well and reads it well. She tells the truth -- even about the chaos of our family life. But it's her conclusion that brings the tears: "No matter how many of us there are, she always has time for each of us."
The tears are not because of anything I did right. Or because of all the things I did wrong. The tears are because in her essay I hear her love for me stated publicly.
It's beautiful. It's embarrassing. It's overwhelming. It's a personal love letter read in public.
That's what the Bible is. The Bible is a personal love letter from God.
A love letter with all the passionate intensity -- the desire, the anger, the fears and the hopes -- that real love can bring.
That's what the Hebrew people heard Ezra read. The truth: The law including the things they did right and the things they did wrong. But the bottom line is God's overwhelming love for God's people. And they wept and they rejoiced.
All of them together wept and rejoiced because it's a community love letter. Because as God's beloved we are one body, one team in which every player is necessary.
The contest is for our salvation. The prize is unconditional love and eternal life. And the Bible says we're all on the winning team. Read it and weep. But do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is our strength. Hallelujah!
*The Super Bowl version of 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 from "Homiletics with Leonard Sweet", January-February, 1997, volume 10, number 1, page 36.