Nehemiah 8:2-18 Joy in the Lord

The Fruit of the Spirit shows us what a mature faith and life looks like, and joy is part of a mature faith. I love the image of fruit as something healthy and tasty and good for our health and this is what faith should be like too. Joy is healthy, tasty and necessary for us to cultivate in our life. Galatians 5 tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” In order for us to become mature and healthy in our faith, we need to constantly pay attention to our soul and the state of the fruit in our soul.

Joy’s not really an emotion, it’s more an approach to life based on our relationship with God. The Bible connects joy and faith together, shaped by knowing what God has done for us and his commitment to us. We see this in Nehemiah's story of Israel's return to Judah after being gone 70 years. It hasn’t been easy; there’s opposition from the people in the land as they rebuild Jerusalem, the rebuilt temple is small and shabby, and there's sadness for how far they’ve fallen from the glory days of David and Solomon. The people are tired, they’ve been working hard with danger around them, but even their work doesn’t measure up to the dreams they had coming home. These past few weeks, I’ve heard of weariness all around me. This pandemic is weighing on everyone. In times of weariness, combined with loneliness, it’s difficult to feel joy.

It's near harvest-time and New Years, the same time of the year Israel first entered into the Promised Land hundreds of years earlier. That first year, Israel ate from the fruit of the land without doing the work. God provided for his people as they settled into the Promised Land. As part of the celebration, Ezra brings out the Book of the Law of Moses and reads it out loud to the people. While Ezra reads Scripture, the Levites teach the people, showing how the Law works in their lives. It's powerful. It’s also a reminder that if we’re not living the Bible out daily, it doesn’t mean a whole lot.

The people hear about the Feast of Booths when the people build booths to live in for a week to help them remember their time in the wilderness and how God protected, guided and provided for them for 40 years. It hits the people how much they've lost in their relationship with God. They’ve lost a sense of their history and the practices that point them back to God and who God has called them to be.

The peoples' reaction is sadness, not joy, but Nehemiah tells the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” I’ve heard some of you say, "We used to fill the sanctuary, we had so many families back then." There’s a longing in some of you for how things used to be, just like what the Israelites are feeling. Faith is a very emotional part of our lives; relationships are heart things, not head things, same for our relationship with God.

Nehemiah focuses them on the right now, on what God’s doing bringing them home. It's a new beginning, they’re getting back on track with God. God’s in control, even working in the king of Babylon's heart to allow Israel to rebuild their country again. This is a God thing! The time for weeping was back in Babylon. Now’s a time to look forward in hope because God is acting and inviting his people to join him. Our first worship service in our newly renovated church reminded us that God has plans for us and he calls us to join him in joyfully celebrating who he is and sharing this good news all around us.

Nehemiah says, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” It’s a time to feast, to celebrate God as God’s people. Everyone’s commanded to celebrate and to contribute to those who have nothing prepared or are poor; everyone celebrates together. Israel was punished with exile because they hadn’t cared for each other; the rich had taken advantage of the poor, the widow and the orphan. Everyone had been for themselves with little compassion or sense of responsibility for each other. God’s rebuilding a sense of community and responsibility among the Israelites; they’re all God's people together.

"Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Joy, one part of the fruit of the Spirit, isn’t always easy to experience or cultivate when life hasn't gone the way you’ve wanted or worked for. During times of deep sadness and distress, during times of loss or hurt or abuse, experiencing joy can seem impossible. But here God's people are reminded that joy’s important and rooted in knowing God and in being known by God, not by our circumstances in life. Joy comes from knowing that God saved them, provides for them, protects them, and chooses them as his people. Joy’s experienced in being God’s people together.

How can you experience joy, even if times are difficult? Nehemiah shows us it’s important to celebrate, even if we’re feeling sad, discouraged, or weary. The people are commanded to enjoy choice food and sweet drinks. Have you ever had a time when you were feeling sad or depressed and yet still were expected to attend a celebration? My mother died days before Christmas, yet I still participated in the Christmas Eve service at the Montreal Seafarer’s Centre and led the Christmas Day service at church. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, and yet, as we celebrated the gift of Jesus, I still experienced the joy of Christmas and the fellowship of seafarers and our church family. There was a strength that helped me go home and lead my mother’s funeral a few days later.

There’s something about coming together as fellow believers that blesses us in deep and unexpected ways. That’s the second point we see in this story. The people experience this all together: their joy grows as they remember and celebrate what God has done in the past, reassured that God is still with them and committed to them, even things look rough. Remembering in order to believe, remembering in order to know joy, is a key part of our faith. Joy is rooted in the hope we have in Jesus' death and resurrection from the grave. Through Jesus, our relationship to God is restored. Life can be hard; cancer, a cheating spouse, the death of a loved one, betrayal, abuse, pandemics and more, but Jesus promises to never leave us or abandon us. Grief and trials don’t last forever. "But I will still be glad because of what the LORD has done. God my Savior fills me with joy." Habakkuk 3:18. God is greater than any of your painful experiences. God uses those times to shape your character more deeply in Christ.

Hard times come and go. It's during those times that you discover how real your faith is and how much strength you receive from your faith through the Holy Spirit. I was surprised that at Mom’s funeral I could laugh at the memories that were shared. It happened with family and friends and Scripture reminding us that she’s with the Lord. There was joy because God was there and we knew the sorrow would soften. It never goes away completely, but God’s always with us. Looking back, there was joy, not happy, but joy through Jesus.

Generosity towards each other to make sure everyone can participate in the celebrations of our faith is a third way to grow joy. Nehemiah tells the people to send food and sweet drinks to those who unable to prepare. Randy Alcorn writes, “When we love God most, we will love others best.” Part of this is serving others, making sure they’re part of us. Alcorn says that part of the reward for generosity “is here and now, with the peace contentment, and joy we receive as we learn to be like God in our giving.” Joy in the Lord helps us to not just survive, but to thrive.

Looking for joy? Believe in Jesus and follow him with everything you are. Peter reminds us in his first letter, "you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls."  Joy is a way of approaching life with a focus on Jesus. "You always show me the path of life. You will fill me with joy when I am with you." Psalm 16:11. Israel’s joy comes in remembering what God has done for them and his commitment to them, today our joy is based on what Jesus has done for us and his commitment to us. The website, I Am Second, reminds us, “Choosing joy is a constant commitment you make when you follow Jesus. It's not always an easy choice, but you will find a joy that surpasses your circumstances by giving all your cares to Jesus. You can choose joy by trusting in the goodness of God.”