March 6: Insight Post by Karenna Rowenhorst
Friday Insight Post
by Karenna Rowenhorst
While trying to lead the charge to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, Nehemiah endures ridicule about their building skills, mocking from his enemies, threatening letters, and complaints from the volunteers who are rebuilding; it’s a lot to handle, and I’m sure he was exhausted.
When the wall is finished and the people hear the word of God read to them, they begin crying. Maybe because they were so relieved to be done with such a huge project? More likely, it’s because they saw how far they were from God’s holy laws. They had a deep desire to understand what God expected from them and sorrow about how out of alignment with God they were. Is this a good response? Isn’t it appropriate to be sad about our sins?
But their leaders lead them in a way that might see counterintuitive at first. Here is what Nehemiah and Ezra said to the people:
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah 8:9 (NLT)
The people are instructed not to weep, but to celebrate because they had heard and understood God’s word. Nehemiah leads them beyond the sin and through to repentance. They were to feast and share with those in need, because true turning from our selfish actions should make us glad. When we experience forgiveness, we don’t have to stay trapped in feelings of sadness over how many bad things we’ve done.
Nehemiah tells them:
Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength! Nehemiah 8:10b (NLT)
How can joy be strength? These are not quite opposing words, but they can seem like distant cousins instead of siblings. Joy from God can hold us up when we admit that we don’t have the ability to figure out life apart from God. Just as love is stronger than hate, I think joy is stronger than sorrow. We are not stuck in all the ways that humans turn from God: greed, jealousy, lying…the list is so long. We can celebrate because God has made a way to restore us into a relationship with Him. Focusing on celebrating how God has rescued us can give us strength to keep going when things get hard.
Our future hope for restoration comes from the new covenant that God creates through the sacrifice of Jesus. This passage from Jeremiah gives us a picture of that new partnership God will make to reach every person:
31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.
33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:31-33 (NLT)
One way we can do this is to celebrate important milestones in our faith. Do you celebrate your baptism or your acceptance of Christ “anniversary” dates? Do you share stories of how God supported you through difficulty? I’ve never baked a “God has done some amazing things for me cake” to share with my family or small group, but I am going to think about how I can bring more celebration to my walk with God. What will you do today to celebrate?
Karenna Rowenhorst
Senior Director of Education
New Hope Church
Lorton, Virginia
www.newhope.org