Paying Attention Yet?

It’s probably difficult for us to grasp the depth of emotion in today’s reading from Nehemiah. The occasion described in the Old Testament Lesson is a public reading of the Book of the Law of Moses--a public reading of the book of the law of Moses that lasted for hours. And already you might be thinking to yourself, “Yikes, what could be more boring?” That’s because it’s almost impossible for us to “put ourselves in the shoes” of the Judeans, who had lost everything, and were finally back home.
It might be easier to relate to these people, who stood listening to the Word of God with attentive ears, if our stories were similar. We might be more able to figure out why they would cry and bow and lift up their hands in response to God’s Word if we walked the proverbial mile in their shoes. That would mean living lives of practical atheism. That would include ignoring God’s Word for a long time and buying into the values of other cultures. That would include loving our possessions and building our world around getting more and better stuff. Well, gee, maybe we have more in common with them than we first thought. Oh, but then there’s this. Finally after this period of complacency and spiritual unfaithfulness, the Lord said, “No more.” He allowed the consequences of their sins to drop on them. Conquering armies swept into Jerusalem, leveling the city walls meant to protect them, and the people who felt that a life of luxury was their God-given birthright whether they paid any attention to God or not were captured and pulled from their homes and taken to other countries, where they would live as strangers in exile. Their homes; their temple; their customs; their treasures and the Word of God itself; all would be nothing but memories. They gambled on a life lived without paying attention to God, and they lost.
But a time of mercy came. The Lord allowed some to return to Jerusalem, and raised up a leader named Nehemiah, who would undertake a building project of epic proportions: nothing less than rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Many were dead set against the idea, and plotted to do harm to Nehemiah, but he remained committed. The project was completed in fifty-two days, and the result was that the nations surrounding Jerusalem were afraid, because they could read the writing on the wall: that the Lord God had caused this to happen with His blessing. And after many months of people coming back to their homes, this event that we started off talking about was scheduled and it went off as described in chapter eight.
Ezra, the high priest, read from the Book of Law from early morning until midday. The ears of the people were attentive to the Book of Law. This is truly a case of “you don’t know what you got ‘til its gone.” Hearing the Word of God again created a strong emotional reaction in the Judeans. They lifted up their hands. They bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with faces to the ground. And they wept, they cried, as they heard the words of the Law. We’re not told exactly why they cried, but it isn’t too hard to imagine. They cried because they were finally back home. They wept because they realized if they had only paid attention to God’s Word in the first place, all that pain and heartache could’ve been avoided. The tears came because they finally understood the value of God’s Word and they had another chance to listen and learn and live.
What is it going to take for you to really start paying attention to the Word of God? God permits all kinds of wake-up calls to take place in order to open our ears and our hearts. If you recall, in the immediate wake of 9/11, churches were full; ears were attentive to the Word that gives life; but when it seemed that the coast was clear, the attention went back to T.V. and sports and the tabloids and business as usual and the extra seats in church were no longer necessary.
God is urgently seeking your attention. Will you give it to Him? Or will he have to resort to a wake-up call? An invading army is probably not going to whisk you away from your home, like the Judeans, but there are many “exiles” that He can use to get your attention. There’s the message from the doctor saying, you’ve got to come in for some more tests. There’s the sudden and unexpected death of a loved one. There’s the threat of losing your job. There’s the disintegration of your marriage and home. In amongst all these troubles, the Lord is calling out to you, “Are you ready to listen to me? Now are you ready to hear what I have to say in my Word? Are you ready to hear the answers that I have for you? If not now, then when? When will you pay attention to Me?”
Nehemiah and Ezra the priest saw the people crying as the Law of God was being read. They saw the grief and sadness as their people realized they had brought their trials upon themselves. So they spoke gentle words of comfort, saying, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep. Celebrate and share what you have, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
When you are paying attention to God, this is the message that predominates. Your Heavenly Father wants to wipe your tears away. He wants you to know the greatness of His love. To that end, He gave you the gift of His Son Jesus. He made His Son to be the blood sacrifice that would erase your sin. He raised His Son from death to share eternal life with you. He purchased you with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, wrote His name on you in Holy Baptism, feeds you heavenly food and drink at his table, so that you can listen to him with attentive ears and a willing heart—so that the joy of the Lord—the enjoyment of what Jesus has done and is doing for you will be your strength—so that you will live right there—enjoying the Lord, loving Him, listening to Him, believing Him, serving Him.
Does He have your attention yet?