Homily: 26th Week of Ordinary Time - Thursday - Tremble at the Word

Nehemiah 8:1-12 View Readings

Psalm 19:8-11

Luke 10:1-12

Remember last week, how we heard from the book of Ezra.  How Ezra the priest was tasked with rebuilding the religious identity of the Jews he returned to Jerusalem from Babylon.  The walls of the city had been knocked down, the great temple destroyed.

We heard a very moving account from the book of Nehemiah this morning.  Remember, not only the City and the Temple was in ruins, but this was a whole generation who had grown up without knowing really, or practicing their faith.  They might have heard bits and pieces from the grandparents. 

So Ezra gathered the men, and women, and children, and read to them from the Torah.  He stood, on a raised platform in the rebuilt Temple, and from morning until midday read the Torah, from beginning to end:  Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Levitcus, and Deuteronomy.  Hours and hours the men, women, and children listened to their story, their family history, the laws which God had given them; they discovered who there were. They raised their hands in the air, and proclaimed, “Amen, Amen”. And they wept for joy.

Why?  Why were they so moved?  Why did they tremble at the Word so? Finally, they understood who they were, who God had called them to be.  They encountered for the first time, first-hand, the promises God had made to Abraham, and the commandments which were to guide their lives.

 

They knew, by clinging to the Word of God proclaimed to them, they could have another chance at freedom and living as God wished them to live.

The Word of God is meant to be read, respected, praised, studied, shared, obey in humility, revered, and cherished.  It is more valuable than gold.  How can we be filled with hope unless we meditate on its promises?  How can we be filled with wisdom if we do not meditate on its teachings?

God comes in Word and Sacrament to strengthen us in holiness. The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.