Remember the Sabbath Go To Church!
Reflection: As Nehemiah reflects on the state of the church in his
time, he notices two things. First, the people
were not honoring the Sabbath, but going about their business like any other
day. Second, they were intermarrying
with other people groups, which God had told them not to do. Even the priest’s son was doing this and
Nehemiah saw that the whole priestly order had to be cleaned up. Sound familiar?
As we look at our
situation today the link to this article shows that church attendance is
probably a lot less than the generally reported 40% by Gallup. See this link for more info:
This is not to say that
going to church is the only measure of someone’s faith, but if someone is
consistently not going to church, what does this say about what is a priority
in their lives. Some people say well I can
just worship and pray at home. True you
can, but at what time in the history of the church did not the church gather in
Jesus’ name for the Word and Sacrament and fellowship. See Acts 2 for the most dynamic model of
church growth, which is still applicable today.
In Hebrews the anonymous author says, “Do not forsake meeting together
once a week as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage each other more
and more as the Day approaches.” (paraphrase)
You may say well my church
is boring or I don’t get anything out of church. First, church is not necessarily what you get
out of it but what you put into it.
Worship of God is not about what you can consume to have a “good
experience”. But if the church you are
at is not teaching the Word and committed to the Great Commission find another
church that is and does. God’s purpose
to reach the world with the Good News of His Son and make disciples of all
nations has not changed. The only
question is will this happen through you and your Church. God has called you to be part of this Great
Commission, and your pastor needs your help to go and do it! And it starts with showing up on Sunday
morning and being fed with God’s Word and built up with your brothers and
sisters in Christ! As another pastor
friend of mine once quipped, “90% of life is just showing up!”
Psalm 38:1-8
A psalm of David. A petition.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me
in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Your arrows have pierced
me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3 Because of your wrath
there is no health in my body;
there is no soundness in my bones because
of my sin.
4 My guilt has overwhelmed
me
like a burden too heavy to bear.
5 My wounds fester and are
loathsome
because of my sinful folly.
6 I am bowed down and
brought very low;
all day long I go about mourning.
7 My back is filled with
searing pain;
there is no health in my body.
8 I am feeble and utterly
crushed;
I groan in anguish of heart.
Nehemiah 13:15-31
15 In those days I saw
people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and
loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of
loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore
I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 People from Tyre who lived
in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling
them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. 17 I rebuked the
nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are
doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? 18 Didn’t your ancestors do the same things,
so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are
stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.” 19 When
evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered
the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed
some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the
Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods
spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them and said, “Why do you
spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From
that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the
Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the
Sabbath day holy.
Remember me for this also,
my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.
23 Moreover, in those days
I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. 24 Half
of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the
other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. 25 I
rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled
out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not
to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their
daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. 26 Was it not because of
marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations
there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over
all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. 27 Must we hear now
that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to
our God by marrying foreign women?” 28 One of the sons of Joiada son of
Eliashib the high priest was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. And I drove
him away from me. 29 Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly
office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites. 30 So I purified
the priests and the Levites of everything foreign, and assigned them duties,
each to his own task. 31 I also made provision for contributions of wood at
designated times, and for the firstfruits.
Remember me with favor, my
God.
Romans 7:21-8:8
21 So I find this law at
work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my
inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me,
waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of
sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from
this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through
Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,
but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Life Through the Spirit
8 Therefore, there is now
no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ
Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin
and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by
the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be
a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the
righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according
to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live
in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit
is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does
not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the
flesh cannot please God.
Lord God, you are God, and your words are true. 2
Samuel 7:28
God our Savior desires everyone to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4
Jesus, your question, “What is truth?” challenges us
even today as we seek to discern what is good, right, and just. Call us from
our places of comfort to learn again and follow the truth of your inclusive
love. Amen.
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