UCC Church of Charlotte

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Listening Together
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Grace and Peace to you this morning.  Grace and Peace.
    
The reading in Nehemiah comes at a particular moment.
    
King David united Israel and Judah into one kingdom, but it did not
last.  For many generations, there were two separate kingdoms: Israel
to the north, with its capital, Samaria; Judah to the south, with its
capital, Jerusalem.
In 722 BC, the Assyrian empire conquered Israel, the northern kingdom.
They deported some of the citizens, and occupied the land.
    
In 587 BC, the Babylonians, having defeated the Assyrian empire,
captured Judah, the southern kingdom, and so too Jerusalem.  They
deported the wealthy, the military leaders, the artisans, the scholars
and others seen as worthy to Babylon.  Jerusalem was destroyed,
including the palace of the king and the Temple of God.

All of the tangible reminders and symbols of the faith are gone.  No
more Temple, no more sacrifices, no more festivals, no more Holy of
Holies, where God makes God’s residence when on earth.  There is no
more living in the Promised Land for those seen as worthy by the
empire, and for those left back, the land of promise is now desolate,
overrun and used to the benefit of the Babylonians.
    
Less than a century later, Cyrus II of Persia defeats the Babylonian
empire.  Cyrus’s reign is marked by more tolerance; enough so that the
prophet Isaiah calls him anointed by God to release Israel from
captivity.  Under Cyrus and his successors, some people are allowed to
return to Jerusalem and Israel and Judah.  Many return over the next
century, but not all of them.  From this point on, many of the people
of Israel remain scattered throughout the Middle East.
    
Now, in this morning's reading, Nehemiah is governor.  He is not king;
they are still ruled by outsiders, but they have one of their own in
charge locally.  Nehemiah is in the process of getting permission to
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple, albeit on a
smaller scale.
    
And in this moment, we have today’s reading.  Ezra reads the Torah,
the laws handed down by Moses, starting with the Ten Commandments
handed down by God, to all the people.  And there are priests among
the people to help them all understand it, to help interpret it.
    
The people who hear it are the families who have returned from exile
in a foreign land, recently or over the past few generations, and
families of those who were left here, seen as unworthy by their
conquerors.
    
Some have struggled for their existence here in the ruins of the city,
and some have been serving foreign kings in far off palaces.
    
It is a homecoming, but it is bittersweet.
    
They stand together, these families who were told to sing songs of
Zion in a foreign land, those who hung their harps by the rivers of
Babylon and wept, and those families who continued to till the soil of
the land God had promised, in sight of the ruined walls of Jerusalem.
    
And to this gathering of people Ezra reads the Torah, the law and
teachings of God, and all the people wept when they heard the words of
the law.

Ezra tells them this is a time of festival, this is a time of
celebration, this is a time holy to the Lord, and they shall eat of
the fat and drink of the fruit of the vine, and all shall worship and
celebrate.
    
But first, they weep
    
We too stand at a particular moment, among particular difficulties.
We are in a contentious time, made more difficult by the economic
situations.  All I have to do is mention a word or two, and we start
to pick sides.
    
Health care.  Some start decrying socialism while others speak of
social justice.
    
Haiti.  Limbaugh and Robertson aside, some say we have plenty of
problems here at home, while others lambast the relief efforts for
being too slow.
    
Katrina.  Some say we just need to write off lower Louisiana, while
others, including some from our own congregation, seek to rebuild.
    
The list goes on and on.  Iraq.  Afghanistan.  The war on terror.  The
war on drugs.  Immigration.  Climate change.  Same-sex marriage.

How about closer to home: the Capital Campaign.

Not having reached the full goal which would allow for the whole
project, and keeping to our promise not to take a mortgage, we see the
camps lining up for which pieces “by God better be done.”  Some say to
use the money raised on the main building of the church, while others
say to put a second floor on the annex.  Some have expressed that
there is only one way to be faithful; and some have said they will
stop their giving unless their vision of what the church ought to be
is the one adopted.
    
And it is in our particular moment that we hear of Ezra reading the
Torah, and the whole of the gathered people, those who have returned
and those who never left, weeping.
    
There are churches splitting right now.  Some are right here in our
town, splitting over finances, over disputes with their pastors, over
the sins of previous pastors never to be discussed so never dealt
with.  There are churches and denominations throughout our world
splitting over who can and cannot be a member, who can and cannot be a
minister, who can and cannot commit to a relationship in the eyes of
the church.
    
And I know that we as individual members of this congregation fall on
both sides of most of these disagreements as well.
    
What makes the church the church is not the declaration that there is
only one way to be faithful and kicking out all those who don’t agree.
What makes the church the church is not taking a vote and deciding
51%-49% (or whatever percentages a vote might come out) on what God
wants us to do.  What makes the church the church what we hear in
Nehemiah: listening together to the covenant of God.

Congregationalists affirm the right of individual conscience.  That’s
how we became Congregationalists in the first place.  Disagreements
are allowed, especially when they lead to conversation and listening
to one another.  We draw on the gifts and talents of so many people to
get done what we are called to do.

We all stand before God: pastor and parishioner, deacon and trustee,
Sunday School teacher and Sunday School student, long-time,
multigenerational member and first-time visitor.  We all stand
together before the covenant, listening for what is right and good and
best to do.

The idea that there is only one right way to be faithful, whether we
are talking the color of the carpeting or the shape of national
policies, oversimplifies our faith, oversimplifies the Bible and
oversimplifies God who is still speaking.

We all stand before God.  In doing so, all of our personal agendas
become secondary.

And listening together, we probably ought to weep together: for the
mistakes we have made (and we have all made mistakes), for the ways we
have not listened well to God or one another, for the ways we have
tried to limit faithfulness to our own vision alone.

But when we stand together before God, listening as best we can, then
as Ezra says, we ought to celebrate, for that is how we are faithful.
That is the beginning of being the church.

Thanks be to God.
Amen.