A sermon for Bible Sunday
Nehemiah 8:1-12, Colossians 3:12-17, Matthew 24:30-35
One of my favourite television shows at the moment is The Repair Shop, if you’ve not seen it it’s on BBC so you should be able to find it on i-Player. The simple premise is crafts people repair family treasures using their skills and ingenuity, not to make as new but in a way which respects the items history and ensures its future. Perhaps the best bit is the final reveal the wonder (and often tears) as owner is reunited with their cherished possession.
This is not just feel good telly however it speaks to something deep in human nature, which is also illustrated in the reading from Nehemiah this morning. There comes a time for all of us when we need to connect deeply with where we have come from, our history, so we can then move forward confidently with hope.
Some context… Nehemiah and Ezra led the people of God back to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, Nehemiah as Governor and leader Ezra as priest and teacher of God’s word. In our Reading the people have returned from the rivers of Babylon where they struggled to sing the Lord’s song, worked together to rebuild the walls and Temple in Jerusalem, and now they have gathered to hear again God’s word, God’s promises for them…
We too have been in exile, we too have been working hard to rebuild, cleaning, rearranging furniture and wrestling with wires and tech. We’ve all had to learn new skills and we’ve worked together to keep connected with folk who aren’t online, but now on Bible Sunday we are called to return to the source, just as Ezra and Nehemiah called the Jewish people to the source… God’s word.
Be assured I don’t plan on reading the Torah from dawn till noon, but I do hope we can find God’s word as inspiring and engaging as those people encountering God’s promises again after their exile.
Instead I’d like to read the New Testament set for today… (Colossians 3:12-17)
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
We are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved… we are loved, not because we are good but because God is good. That is the truth, the source, we are heirs of the covenant, God’s promises are for us. We may sometimes feel unworthy of that love, and feel like weeping, just as the Jewish people did that day, but hear this you are loved.
It has been an uncertain road back from exile and it may well feel a little precarious, but we can rest in God’s promises, and hopefully find forgiveness and strength to continue rebuilding our common life together.
It might not always be easy, but here again we can take instruction from the Bible, above all clothe yourselves in Love, we cannot currently sing together (as the reading suggests) but we can continue to bear with each other, forgive each other, forgive ourselves and build God’s kingdom here in this place.
Those of you in the What’s App group and on Facebook will know Frances shares mini reflections, they are also on our Youtube channel; this week she challenged us to read part of the Bible we might be unfamiliar with. I cannot think of a better suggestion for Bible Sunday. You might want to read the Torah (the first five books of the Law) as Ezra did, or you might find it easier to follow Frances’ suggestion of Ecclesiastes or perhaps the books which feature in the readings today, Nehemiah, Ezra, Matthew and Paul’s letter to the Colossians.
I feel confident in saying that you will find something which meets you afresh, and I would love to hear more about what you have discovered through your reading. Do please get in touch if you would like to talk or would like reading suggestions.
The final reveal of The Repair Shop has the item under a cover, with the owner and craftsperson looking on, the cover is drawn back and the item revealed, transformed but still obviously the same object.
I hope as you pull back the covers on your Bible this week you find new treasures in God’s word for us, and that any tears will be tears of Joy…
Amen
Rutter’s Celtic Blessing, recorded by St Martin in the Fields, Photos by Mary Fleeson @LindisfarneScriptorium
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