Readings for today: Nehemiah 8-10
Why do we preach? Why is preaching one of the central elements of Christian worship services all over the world? Why do billions of people gather each week to hear a preacher? I get asked these questions all the time and they are good ones. Especially in a world where so much information is right at our fingertips. Just about everyone carries around a supercomputer in their pocket. They can access video content from anywhere in the world. They can see the top speakers and top communicators in any field. They can watch online worship at spectacular venues. So why do so many still gather every Sunday, watch someone get up, open a Bible, and listen to them preach?
The Book of Nehemiah gives us one of the clearest pictures of the roots of modern preaching. In Nehemiah 8, Ezra (yes, the same Ezra who has a book named after him in the Bible) stands before the gathered assembly of the people of Israel and opens the book of the law. This is what passed for a “Bible” in those days. It was the same book God had given Moses on Mt. Sinai. No New Testament as of yet obviously. Some scholars argue he read the entire Torah, the first five books of the Bible, while others argue he read from Deuteronomy. Regardless, the scene feels very familiar to anyone who has ever darkened the door of a church. He speaks from an elevated platform so everyone can see him. He reads God’s Word to the people and then explains it along with many of the Levites so the people could understand it. He finishes by charging them to keep the statutes and commands written in the book and to celebrate all God has done for them in bringing them back to Jerusalem and rebuilding both the Temple and the wall. Isn’t this what we do Sunday after Sunday as well?
Christian worship has always been driven by two things…Word and Sacrament. In fact, many of the Protestant Reformers in the 17th century argued that the church only existed where the Word was rightly preached and the sacraments rightly administered. As we gather to hear the Word of God proclaimed and participate in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, we are engaged in an ancient liturgy. One that connects not only with the early church but the people of God down through the ages. Yes, worship has taken different forms over the centuries. We gather in all kinds of diverse places. We sing all kinds of diverse music. We pray all kinds of diverse prayers. But the common thread that holds us all together is the preaching of the Word of God.
Readings for tomorrow: No devotionals on Sundays