The Winning Word
Sermon
Sermons on the First Readings
Series III, Cycle C
Object:
Tom Barnard tells of his great love for sports stories, especially where an athlete survives an ugly situation and is honored for his or her lifetime achievements. One of those celebrations occurred on baseball's opening day, 2008. It happened to William Joseph "Bill" Buckner, a former major league baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, California Angels, Kansas City Royals, and the Boston Red Sox.
Accompanied by a loud, standing ovation prior to the start of the Red Sox home opener against the Detroit Tigers, the former first baseman threw out the ceremonial "first pitch" to his former teammate, Dwight Evans. The full house of just under 38,000 fans celebrated as they enjoyed season opener 108 for the Sox.
By anyone's standards, Bill Buckner had an outstanding professional baseball career. In 2,517 games played over a period of 22 years, he accumulated 2,715 hits, averaged .289, and had only 453 strikeouts. Buckner led the National League in batting average in 1980 (.324) and was named an All-Star once (1981).
With all of his success, Bill Buckner is remembered most for one error he made while a member of the Red Sox. It happened during the World Series of 1986. Boston led the best-of-seven series against the New York Mets, 3 games to 2, and had a two-run lead with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning. New York came back to tie the game with three straight singles off Calvin Schiraldi and a wild pitch by Bob Stanley. The next batter was Mookie Wilson, who fouled off several pitches before hitting a routine ground ball to Buckner at first base. The ball rolled under Buckner's glove, through his legs, allowing the winning run to score and forcing a seventh game, which the Mets won, and along with it a World Series. In July 1987, the Red Sox released Bill. He rejoined the team briefly in 1990 and retired after 22 games.
In an April 9, 2008, Boston Globe article titled "Buckner's Appearance Marks the End of an Error," writer Amalie Benjamin wrote:
This was not the first time Buckner had faced Fenway and the fans since his infamous 1986 moment ... But since that time, there has been healing in Red Sox Nation. His name might still evoke a picture of the ball heading between his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, but with two championships in the meantime (2004 and 2007), the hurt has subsided.
While the Boston media remember the error that lost the team a possible World Series, the fans have put it behind them. And what management did to celebrate a player for what he had accomplished in life was a classy thing.1
There is no holiness hall of fame, but if there were, it would include the names of men like Nehemiah and Ezra. These two men made a lasting impression on their nation, the people, and the religious community for centuries. They were not looking for fame, or fortune, or a lasting name, but for something more valuable. Their desire was to spread the word of the Lord. Nehemiah did it as a layperson by physically building the safeguards of the walls of Jerusalem and Ezra did it as a priest by laying the spiritual foundation for the word of God at a time of spiritual ineptness.
The scriptural background finds the walls laid despite the continual interference from those jealous of the Jews, Senballat, Tobiah, and Geshem and the rest of the enemies of God's people. The people numbering approximately 50,000 (Nehemiah 7:66-67) have settled into their homes and a routine of life. Ezra was deeply committed to understanding and obeying God's law and will. He took seriously the job of communicating the laws of God to the people.
Gene Getz calls Ezra the priest a "diligent student" who devoted himself to learning the word of God. Ezra understood that before he could teach God's truth effectively, he had to grasp it himself. By wrestling with the truths he applied them to his own personal life. He was a "faithful practitioner" and did not ask people to do something he was not practicing himself. However, it was not just that Ezra had knowledge of the scriptures, and it wasn't just his innate ability to communicate. He was also an "anointed servant" of the master of the universe according to Ezra 7:6, "for the hand of the Lord his God was on him." Ezra had a dynamic relationship with God! It is no wonder that he was the "one person" who stood in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar on the first day and began reading the Book of the Law (Torah) to a waiting people. What he read was the word of God winning over sin and degradation.
We need to allow the Word of God to win in our lives!
We Need To Allow God To Break Through Our Sin
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are seamless in the Hebrew tradition. They are considered a unified work. When Ezra arrived in Jerusalem he was greeted with a deplorable situation of moral and spiritual decay. He was so distraught after hearing how unfaithful laity and clergy had been that in his auto-biographical writing he states, "When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled" (Ezra 9:3 NIV).
How many days and weeks and perhaps months Ezra prayed and wept before God, we're not told ... while he was "praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God," a large group of people involving whole families gathered one day and joined him in his weeping and confession (Ezra 10:1). This was a breakthrough -- the beginning point of revival and renewal in Israel.2
Spiritual renewal does not begin unless there is confession, sincerity, and spiritual transparency before God. We cannot possess a spirit of haughtiness, superiority, selfishness, or egotism.
God is ready to forgive us. He stands ready by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. Whatever language you read it in, God loves you and me!
Ty så älskade Gud världen, att han utgav sin enfödde Son, på det att var och en som tror på honom skall icke förgås, utan hava evigt liv.
-- John 3:16 (Swedish)3
Car Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu'il a donné son Fils unique, afin que quiconque croit en lui ne périsse point, mais qu'il ait la vie éternelle.
-- John 3:16 (French)4
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
-- John 3:16 (NIV)
Every language, culture, nationality, age, or gender needs God's redeeming work! Have you confessed your sins and asked God into your life? John wrote, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9 NIV).
After Christ has come into your life you are ready for the journey.
We Need To Worship The Lord On Our Journey Of Life
The word of God began to speak to this holy man of God. Nehemiah 8:6 reveals that as Ezra opens the word of God at daybreak, he becomes overwhelmed with emotion and praises God overtly. The people observing Ezra in his excitement and joyful celebration raise their hands and respond, "Amen! Amen!" The word "amen" translates, "let it be so!" I believe the people were saying, "Let God's word speak to our hearts," and they bow with their faces to the ground in worship to their God. What a sight it must have been. Commentators estimate the crowd to be between 30,000 to 50,000 people. When God's Spirit comes upon a congregation there can be an overwhelming feeling of worship that must be expressed.
The act of divine worship is the inestimable privilege of man, the only created being who bows in humility and adoration.
-- Hosea Ballou5
As a congregation are we willing to worship God? Worship includes:
* a willingness to listen to God,
* an offering of ourselves to the glory of Christ,
* a sense of repentance ... a godly sorrow for sin,
* a sacrificial love for the sake of the Savior,
* a spirit of holy living as a community of believers as well as individual holiness,
* an inspirational quality that is the very breath of God, and
* a valuing of the promises that God gives his people as his holy possessions.
We Need To Respond To God With Appropriate Actions
The Israelites worshiped the God of the word, but they also responded with obedience. These worshipers translated their affirmative attitude into positive appropriate actions! We need to make the appropriate actions when God touches our lives.
The appropriate action occurred when Israel's leaders began to assume their God-given responsibilities for spiritual leadership. Gene Getz observed that after Ezra had shared the law of God with the total congregation, a smaller group gathered around Ezra to learn even more of God's law. He continued the point by writing,
This ... was a very important key in sustaining the renewal and revival that had begun in Israel. If this kind of work is to continue in the hearts of people, it must continue at the leadership level.6
The appropriate action occurred when the people remembered their heritage. As Ezra read the passage of the Feast of the Tabernacle, the people learned that God had given their forefathers this special festival. It was a reminder of their temporary wandering in the wilderness and dwelling places after fleeing Egypt and the forty years of displacement. It reminded them that even though they were out of God's will, they were not out of God's heart. All during their wandering experiences God protected them, provided for their needs, and never forsook them!
Now these descendents wanted to celebrate and remember their heritage. Today, we need to remember and celebrate the heritage of our ancestors who have passed the faith to us. We need to remember the God who led, guided, sustained, and nourished them and never forsook them in spite of their misgivings, misalignments, and mistakes will also lead us. Where does your spiritual heritage begin? Maybe you are the first in your family to have a spiritual relationship. Rejoice! You have been found by God. Start your family's spiritual heritage and someday your great-great-grandchildren will remember their legacy and tradition.
The appropriate action occurred when the people separated themselves from their pagan alliances and practices. The out of synch spiritual world will systematically try to draw you into its circle of immoral and illicit involvement. It will try to make you think you are the one out of step with reality. My friend, if you are in step with God, you will be out of step with the sinful side of humanity. We must determine, like the children of Israel on that memorial day thousands of years ago, to separate ourselves from anything that would cause us to sin, separate us from God, or detour our way to heaven. It can only be done as we learn his word and hide it in our hearts. Keep close to God through continual communication through prayer with him. Allow fellow believers to help you in your journey. Keep in step through the correction and guidance of the Holy Spirit who leads us into holy living.
Do your actions match your words?
As we apply this sermon today to our lives, focus on the divine principles that relate to the word of God. Ezra, the priest, laid the foundation through the scriptures that effectively brought renewal and revival to Israel. Without the spiritual foundation laid; Nehemiah could not have successfully rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days. Without the winning word of the Lord we cannot live successful holy lives. Be a winner ... let God and his word be the foundation upon which you build! Amen.
___________________
1. Dr. Tom Barnard, Tuesday Morning email devotional, April 15, 2008. Barnard22@cox.net or www.snu.edu. Used by permission.
2. Gene A. Getz, Nehemiah-Becoming a Disciplined Leader (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), p. 163.
3. NYA Testamentet och Psaltaren (Stockholm: Aktiebolaget P. Herzog & Soner, 1952).
4. Le Nouveau Testament (New Paris, Indiana: World Missionary Press, Inc.) Used by permission.
5. G. B. F. Hallock, Five Thousand Best Modern Illustrations (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1927), pp. 757-758.
6. Op cit, Getz, p. 167.
Accompanied by a loud, standing ovation prior to the start of the Red Sox home opener against the Detroit Tigers, the former first baseman threw out the ceremonial "first pitch" to his former teammate, Dwight Evans. The full house of just under 38,000 fans celebrated as they enjoyed season opener 108 for the Sox.
By anyone's standards, Bill Buckner had an outstanding professional baseball career. In 2,517 games played over a period of 22 years, he accumulated 2,715 hits, averaged .289, and had only 453 strikeouts. Buckner led the National League in batting average in 1980 (.324) and was named an All-Star once (1981).
With all of his success, Bill Buckner is remembered most for one error he made while a member of the Red Sox. It happened during the World Series of 1986. Boston led the best-of-seven series against the New York Mets, 3 games to 2, and had a two-run lead with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning. New York came back to tie the game with three straight singles off Calvin Schiraldi and a wild pitch by Bob Stanley. The next batter was Mookie Wilson, who fouled off several pitches before hitting a routine ground ball to Buckner at first base. The ball rolled under Buckner's glove, through his legs, allowing the winning run to score and forcing a seventh game, which the Mets won, and along with it a World Series. In July 1987, the Red Sox released Bill. He rejoined the team briefly in 1990 and retired after 22 games.
In an April 9, 2008, Boston Globe article titled "Buckner's Appearance Marks the End of an Error," writer Amalie Benjamin wrote:
This was not the first time Buckner had faced Fenway and the fans since his infamous 1986 moment ... But since that time, there has been healing in Red Sox Nation. His name might still evoke a picture of the ball heading between his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, but with two championships in the meantime (2004 and 2007), the hurt has subsided.
While the Boston media remember the error that lost the team a possible World Series, the fans have put it behind them. And what management did to celebrate a player for what he had accomplished in life was a classy thing.1
There is no holiness hall of fame, but if there were, it would include the names of men like Nehemiah and Ezra. These two men made a lasting impression on their nation, the people, and the religious community for centuries. They were not looking for fame, or fortune, or a lasting name, but for something more valuable. Their desire was to spread the word of the Lord. Nehemiah did it as a layperson by physically building the safeguards of the walls of Jerusalem and Ezra did it as a priest by laying the spiritual foundation for the word of God at a time of spiritual ineptness.
The scriptural background finds the walls laid despite the continual interference from those jealous of the Jews, Senballat, Tobiah, and Geshem and the rest of the enemies of God's people. The people numbering approximately 50,000 (Nehemiah 7:66-67) have settled into their homes and a routine of life. Ezra was deeply committed to understanding and obeying God's law and will. He took seriously the job of communicating the laws of God to the people.
Gene Getz calls Ezra the priest a "diligent student" who devoted himself to learning the word of God. Ezra understood that before he could teach God's truth effectively, he had to grasp it himself. By wrestling with the truths he applied them to his own personal life. He was a "faithful practitioner" and did not ask people to do something he was not practicing himself. However, it was not just that Ezra had knowledge of the scriptures, and it wasn't just his innate ability to communicate. He was also an "anointed servant" of the master of the universe according to Ezra 7:6, "for the hand of the Lord his God was on him." Ezra had a dynamic relationship with God! It is no wonder that he was the "one person" who stood in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar on the first day and began reading the Book of the Law (Torah) to a waiting people. What he read was the word of God winning over sin and degradation.
We need to allow the Word of God to win in our lives!
We Need To Allow God To Break Through Our Sin
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are seamless in the Hebrew tradition. They are considered a unified work. When Ezra arrived in Jerusalem he was greeted with a deplorable situation of moral and spiritual decay. He was so distraught after hearing how unfaithful laity and clergy had been that in his auto-biographical writing he states, "When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled" (Ezra 9:3 NIV).
How many days and weeks and perhaps months Ezra prayed and wept before God, we're not told ... while he was "praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God," a large group of people involving whole families gathered one day and joined him in his weeping and confession (Ezra 10:1). This was a breakthrough -- the beginning point of revival and renewal in Israel.2
Spiritual renewal does not begin unless there is confession, sincerity, and spiritual transparency before God. We cannot possess a spirit of haughtiness, superiority, selfishness, or egotism.
God is ready to forgive us. He stands ready by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. Whatever language you read it in, God loves you and me!
Ty så älskade Gud världen, att han utgav sin enfödde Son, på det att var och en som tror på honom skall icke förgås, utan hava evigt liv.
-- John 3:16 (Swedish)3
Car Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu'il a donné son Fils unique, afin que quiconque croit en lui ne périsse point, mais qu'il ait la vie éternelle.
-- John 3:16 (French)4
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
-- John 3:16 (NIV)
Every language, culture, nationality, age, or gender needs God's redeeming work! Have you confessed your sins and asked God into your life? John wrote, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9 NIV).
After Christ has come into your life you are ready for the journey.
We Need To Worship The Lord On Our Journey Of Life
The word of God began to speak to this holy man of God. Nehemiah 8:6 reveals that as Ezra opens the word of God at daybreak, he becomes overwhelmed with emotion and praises God overtly. The people observing Ezra in his excitement and joyful celebration raise their hands and respond, "Amen! Amen!" The word "amen" translates, "let it be so!" I believe the people were saying, "Let God's word speak to our hearts," and they bow with their faces to the ground in worship to their God. What a sight it must have been. Commentators estimate the crowd to be between 30,000 to 50,000 people. When God's Spirit comes upon a congregation there can be an overwhelming feeling of worship that must be expressed.
The act of divine worship is the inestimable privilege of man, the only created being who bows in humility and adoration.
-- Hosea Ballou5
As a congregation are we willing to worship God? Worship includes:
* a willingness to listen to God,
* an offering of ourselves to the glory of Christ,
* a sense of repentance ... a godly sorrow for sin,
* a sacrificial love for the sake of the Savior,
* a spirit of holy living as a community of believers as well as individual holiness,
* an inspirational quality that is the very breath of God, and
* a valuing of the promises that God gives his people as his holy possessions.
We Need To Respond To God With Appropriate Actions
The Israelites worshiped the God of the word, but they also responded with obedience. These worshipers translated their affirmative attitude into positive appropriate actions! We need to make the appropriate actions when God touches our lives.
The appropriate action occurred when Israel's leaders began to assume their God-given responsibilities for spiritual leadership. Gene Getz observed that after Ezra had shared the law of God with the total congregation, a smaller group gathered around Ezra to learn even more of God's law. He continued the point by writing,
This ... was a very important key in sustaining the renewal and revival that had begun in Israel. If this kind of work is to continue in the hearts of people, it must continue at the leadership level.6
The appropriate action occurred when the people remembered their heritage. As Ezra read the passage of the Feast of the Tabernacle, the people learned that God had given their forefathers this special festival. It was a reminder of their temporary wandering in the wilderness and dwelling places after fleeing Egypt and the forty years of displacement. It reminded them that even though they were out of God's will, they were not out of God's heart. All during their wandering experiences God protected them, provided for their needs, and never forsook them!
Now these descendents wanted to celebrate and remember their heritage. Today, we need to remember and celebrate the heritage of our ancestors who have passed the faith to us. We need to remember the God who led, guided, sustained, and nourished them and never forsook them in spite of their misgivings, misalignments, and mistakes will also lead us. Where does your spiritual heritage begin? Maybe you are the first in your family to have a spiritual relationship. Rejoice! You have been found by God. Start your family's spiritual heritage and someday your great-great-grandchildren will remember their legacy and tradition.
The appropriate action occurred when the people separated themselves from their pagan alliances and practices. The out of synch spiritual world will systematically try to draw you into its circle of immoral and illicit involvement. It will try to make you think you are the one out of step with reality. My friend, if you are in step with God, you will be out of step with the sinful side of humanity. We must determine, like the children of Israel on that memorial day thousands of years ago, to separate ourselves from anything that would cause us to sin, separate us from God, or detour our way to heaven. It can only be done as we learn his word and hide it in our hearts. Keep close to God through continual communication through prayer with him. Allow fellow believers to help you in your journey. Keep in step through the correction and guidance of the Holy Spirit who leads us into holy living.
Do your actions match your words?
As we apply this sermon today to our lives, focus on the divine principles that relate to the word of God. Ezra, the priest, laid the foundation through the scriptures that effectively brought renewal and revival to Israel. Without the spiritual foundation laid; Nehemiah could not have successfully rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days. Without the winning word of the Lord we cannot live successful holy lives. Be a winner ... let God and his word be the foundation upon which you build! Amen.
___________________
1. Dr. Tom Barnard, Tuesday Morning email devotional, April 15, 2008. Barnard22@cox.net or www.snu.edu. Used by permission.
2. Gene A. Getz, Nehemiah-Becoming a Disciplined Leader (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), p. 163.
3. NYA Testamentet och Psaltaren (Stockholm: Aktiebolaget P. Herzog & Soner, 1952).
4. Le Nouveau Testament (New Paris, Indiana: World Missionary Press, Inc.) Used by permission.
5. G. B. F. Hallock, Five Thousand Best Modern Illustrations (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1927), pp. 757-758.
6. Op cit, Getz, p. 167.
