My preaching and teaching role as Rabbi in Residence here at Emmanuel Church, presents me with challenges and opportunities unique to this interfaith experiment. As I have shared with you before, a particular challenge is the encounter with Biblical texts from the New Testament that, as a rabbi, I have not often been called upon to interpret and preach on previously. This has been a growth-filled and broadening experience for me personally — and , I trust for many of you as well, as we ponder the parallels — and the counterpoints between our two traditions. On the other hand, it is always fascinating and exciting for me when the weekly lectionary offers clear links and connections between the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels ... often dramatically reflecting their deep, organic relationship, both historically and spiritually. This is indeed that case with this morning’s readings from Nehemiah and Luke!
The passage from the book of the prophet Nehemiah, Chapter 8, that we heard a few moments ago, may be a somewhat obscure text for Christians, but is very familiar and important to Jews. It is actually one of the major readings for our High Holy Days, and in fact describes the first Rosh Hashanah celebrated in Jerusalem following the exile of our ancestors in Babylonia in the Sixth Century BC. Nebuchadnezzar, the Mesopotamian emperor, had invaded the Kingdom of Judah, and destroyed Jerusalem and the great Temple of Solomon, in 586. For 50 years, the majority of the survivors of that destruction lived in captivity — cut off from their homeland and from the practice of Judaism as it had evolved since the days of Moses. While they retained their faith, and the hope for their eventual redemption and return, as promised by the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, they no longer could worship formally or even hear the words of the Torah as an organized community. When, in 536, the benevolent King Cyrus of Persia permitted the Jews to return to Israel, they began to rebuild Jerusalem, and eventually restored the Sanctuary with the construction of the Second Temple. It is this period, of the return to Jerusalem that is described in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The passage we read this morning is the vivid account of the dramatic events of their first organized gathering as a congregation to usher in the New Year in 536. On the first day of the Seventh month, still the date of Rosh Hashanah in the modern Jewish calendar, the people of Jerusalem paused in their communal rebuilding of the ruined walls of the city, to gather in the largest open square of the Holy City, since the Temple was still in ruins. This area, near the major springs and wells serving the city, was called the Water Gate — which of course always held a strange resonance for many of us back in the 70’s when we would read this text in the midst of the scandal that was rocking America at the time...
In the absence of the Sanctuary, this Rosh Hashanah Service took on a unique form. Instead of the colorful ritual of the sacrificial offering and the Levite’s chanting of the Psalms that marked the Temple liturgy, Ezra the Scribe began reading the entire Torah — or at least the early compilation of it which had been collected at that time — probably primarily the text of Deuteronomy, with early passages from Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus that had long been handed down and written. From early morning to mid afternoon, the sacred words were read aloud — heard, for the first time by most of the people assembled, who had been born in exile. In this gathering, it is significant that there was a shared experience by all the people — men and women stood together — something which would not have been possible in the formal worship of the Temple previously.
The text describes the reverence and awe that the congregation felt ... their words of thanks and praise to God for their deliverance ... their rapt attention to the sacred words. And the passage also narrates what we may well regard as the birth of worship as we have come to understand it in both Judaism and Christianity — a blending of prayer, reading of Scripture, and, for the first time, translation, interpretation and commentary! Many of the exiles, particularly the young people born in Babylonia had lost their knowledge of the Hebrew language — as well as the native familiarity with the Biblical stories and texts that would have pervaded Israelite culture before the destruction. And a major development from the days of exile, the teaching, interpretive role of the prophets and scribes, in the absence of the priestly rites of the Temple, was now evident as Ezra and the Levites added explanation and commentary to the literal text itself ... the first sermons in Biblical history!
A particularly touching dimension of this narrative is the powerful emotional response of the people to this first public gathering and reading of the Torah since the destruction 50 years before. They were overcome — and many wept openly. But Nehemiah, the new Jewish governor, and Ezra and the Levites encouraged the people not to mourn the sad events of the past or the ruins all around them — they challenged the people rather to rejoice and celebrate this great and holy moment — both by feasting and by sharing their blessings with the poor.
Today’s Gospel reading from Luke echoes these same themes, in a different setting and context. By the First Century A.D., the Temple in Jerusalem had long been rebuilt — but would soon be destroyed once again ... this time by Rome. The people now suffered under the oppression of Roman tyranny. The local gatherings for prayer and teaching, which had also developed since the Babylonian Exile, the synagogues, were not only supplements to the central Jerusalem Sanctuary, but they were also in a sense, grass-roots centers of protest and dissent against the corruption of the Temple by the puppet priests installed there by the Roman governor. In Luke’s narrative, Jesus, who is part of the evolved tradition of the teaching role of the rabbis, that had its roots back in the passage from Nehemiah, attends Sabbath worship at the synagogue in Nazareth. As is still the custom today, he was invited, as a scholar, to read the assigned text for the day from the Prophetic books — in this case, from Isaiah, Chapter 61. He recites the words that had brought comfort and hope to those in exile in Nehemiah’s time — proclaiming that “the Spirit of God will bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, and freedom for the oppressed” ... promises sorely yearned for by Jesus’ fellow Jews assembled in the synagogue under the eye of the Roman legions. Like that assembly on Rosh Hashanah in Jerusalem five centuries before, the people of Nazareth listen to the reading of Scripture with rapt attention ... and like the assurance of deliverance and hope offered by Ezra and Nehemiah, Jesus declares that deliverance and fulfillment of God’s eternal promises are at hand.
Now there are always a number of levels upon which we can understand Scripture, and seek its meaning and message for our time. We can always deepen our understanding by placing the sacred text in its historic and cultural context. I hope that the links and parallels we have reflected on so far have helped to accomplish this important function of Bible study. It can greatly add to our appreciation of our own worship, as we discover its historic roots and development in ancient times. In particular, we can trace, in today’s readings, some of the earliest examples of the combination of liturgy, Bible reading and homiletical teaching, that still are the basis for the Services of both the Synagogue and the Church.
There is also always a context in which we can perceive powerful messages and challenges in Scripture, as we confront the great social, ethical and political issues of our own time. The stirring contemporary hymn we have just sung together, “We’ll Build A Land” * , is based on the Nehemiah and Isaiah texts we have been reflecting on. These words call us build a new land in our time ... ‘building up devastations, old and new ... binding up the broken ... a land where brothers and sisters, anointed by God may then create peace ... where justice shall roll down like waters, and peace like an everlasting stream!’ What a compelling message for our country and our world — living in a self-imposed exile of war, hatred and injustice ... waiting still to come home to healing and reconciliation!
But there is also always an even more intimate, personal way in which God’s Word can shed light on our own human experience, that often brings these ancient texts to life with all of their fresh, life-transforming meaning...
If we approach these passages with creativity and sensitivity, the historical narratives and theological concepts of the Bible can serve as timeless and universal paradigms — as metaphors for the varied experiences of our own lives. All of us go through dark periods of exile ... times of emotional and spiritual dislocation and wandering, as painful as those years in Babylonia. All of us live through circumstances of oppression, when we feel powerless, and yearn for deliverance and redemption from forces that seem as bleak and overwhelming as the legions of Rome must have been for their victims. And the powerful spiritual lesson that we can take from our two readings today, is the promise that we too can emerge from exile and return home ... to rebuild our lives, and hear the Word of God and sense the Divine Presence anew. Standing amidst the ruins of our own shattered hopes and dreams, we too have an enduring faith to bring us hope ... that we will reach a time when we need no longer weep and mourn, but will have abundant cause to rejoice and celebrate. And when we do, we will feel empowered once again, with new strength and vision, to reach out to help others who are still suffering.
If we are open in mind and heart, to learn these lessons of our experiences ... if we can hold on until we find healing ... and then, having been in exile, or pain, then try to bring hope and comfort to others ... if we can hear the timeless messages of faith with new understanding and meaning ... then we too can say with confidence, as those in Jerusalem, and in Nazareth, proclaimed so long ago:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon us! We have been anointed to bring good news to the poor ... to release the captives ... to give sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free…and to proclaim God’s favor...
“This day is holy unto the Lord our God ... do not mourn nor weep, and do not be grieved ... for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
Amen!
* “We’ll Build A Land” From Singing the Living Tradition, #121. Lyrics: Barbara Zanotti ( adapt. Isaiah); Music: Carolyn McDade. Unitarian Universalist Association.