Delivered May 27, 2007
by Pastor Eric Henderson
Marilyn and the children have done a great job building a booth with branches and telling us about the festival. The children didn't know why the Festival of Booths was celebrated. Adults - Do you know why the Jews celebrated a Festival with Booths?
I have an idea which we'll get to in due time.
There were about 50,000 Jews who returned to Jerusalem and surrounding towns. They were part of the huge Persian empire that extended from the Mediterranean east including present day Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia.
Cyrus, Artexerxes and other Persian kings allowed people to worship the god of their choice and in the way they chose. Nehemiah served King Artaxerxes who granted him permission to return to Jerusalem and help with the rebuilding. The king gave the people money and timbers to help rebuild.
With God's help, under the leadership of Nehemiah, the people who already lived in and around Jerusalem, and those who had moved back to Judah successfully united their efforts to rebuild the walls and a temple. The temple, symbolizing God's presence, was rebuilt and there was a great celebration. But the people desired or felt a need for more than a wall, temple, security, and a harvest.
This little group was continually in danger of loosing its unique identity and melting into the surrounding culture. What would this small group of 50,000 Jews say or do to create some unique identity amidst the huge Persian Empire?
PMC is part of a small group of 37,000 people, known as Mennonites in the large Empire of Canada which has a population of 33 million. We're allowed freedom of religion. We can gather and practice what we choose, unless there's a law prohibiting it. We are allowed to create and use buildings for worship or carry on other legal activities. This little group is continually in danger of loosing its unique identity and melting into the surrounding culture. We could melt into the Canadian or Christian culture or do something to remain distinct. What will we do?
Here's what the Jews decided to do. (Read 8.1 - 3)
When the seventh month came - the people of Israel being settled in their town - all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had given to Israel. Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.
After settling in various places, harvesting crops, the people gathered in Jerusalem sometime in September or October. The people asked Ezra, a priest, to read the law.
For some reason, the law was so important people were willing to make the trip to Jerusalem, stand for half - a - day to listen to the law and interpretation and bow their heads and worship.
The next verses tell us what prompted the people to make booths. (8.13 - 19)
On the second day the heads of ancestral houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to the scribe Ezra in order to study the words of the law. And they found it written in the law, which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the people of Israel should live in booths during the festival of the seventh month, and that they should publish and proclaim in all their towns and in Jerusalem as follows, "Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written." So the people went out and brought them, and made booths for themselves, each on the roofs of their houses, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them; for from the days of Jeshua son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the book of the law of God. They kept their festival seven days; and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.
People celebrated the Feast of Booths because they read about it in the law. Leviticus 23.33 - 43 gives instructions.
The LORD instructed people to stop work, gather, and participate in various activities during festivals.
But what's the big deal with the law and the festivals, what value does the law and the festivals have? Why did God insist that people remember, obey, and celebrate particular events?
I thought about special days when large groups of people stop work, gather, and do certain things. Canada and the US have special days such as Canada Day, Independence Day, Remembrance Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, and other days.
What's the purpose of those days?
- For some it's a day off school or work,
- or a day to have a party,
- for me sometimes it's a day to get some work done or visit family or friends.
But what does the nation hope to accomplish?
Then I thought about reading the law and what happens when a large group abides by a group of laws and repeats things.
Each morning when I attended elementary school in the US all the children were expected to stand and say,
I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Repeating that pledge and having special days are intended to create in children and adults, a loyalty a country and it's laws and beliefs. The special days are set aside to remember important events in the history of the formation of Canada or the United States.
Each morning many Jews past and present repeat a passage from Deut.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.
Are you beginning to understand why the law was so important and why the Jews celebrated a Festival with Booths?
Repeating part of the law helped them remember that they were and are God's people. They celebrated the Festival of Booths to help them remember God's great deliverance. The law was intended to help people live in a healthy relationship with God and others. Obedience to God's law identified people as God's people.
Celebrating God's past activities help those celebrating create their present identity.
PMC is a group of close to 40 people calling themselves Mennonites in a province of close to One Million. Having a common book and celebrating God's activities in the past will help us continue our identity as Christians and Mennonites.
What book and what celebrations of God's activities in the past will help us maintain an identity as followers of Jesus Christ or Christians and Mennonites?
The Bible is the obvious answer for the book that helps shape our identity. The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective calls the Bible the essential book of the church.
The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective says that we believe that all Scripture is inspired by God through the Holy Spirit for instruction and as a trustworthy standard for Christian faith and life. We do not worship the Bible, but believe it helps us know and follow Jesus Christ and is one way God is revealed to us. We believe understanding Jesus teaching, life, death and resurrection helps us understand what the Bible means for us. As the law was and is important for Jewish identity, so understanding and interpreting Scripture in harmony with Jesus Christ is important for our Christian Mennonite identity.
The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, Hymnal and books of history about the Mennonite Church also help us understand the past which shapes our present identity.
Wednesday evening at the congregational meeting here we considered the past reason or vision that motivated people to begin a Mennonite Church. There was consensus that the original vision or purpose for creating a Mennonite Church was to create a community of believers serving others undergirded by a Mennonite Theology. I believe many people have been blessed as God motivated many in this congregation to implement that vision in various ways. As we become clearer about that original vision, testing it with Scripture, we will become clearer about our present and future identity as disciples of Jesus.
Another main way to maintain a unique identity is to celebrate special days. Today we invite you to celebrate one of the great acts of God recorded in Scripture - Pentecost. Acts 2:1 - 4 reads,
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
After Peter explained the outpouring of God's spirit and spoke of Jesus many repented, were baptized, received the Holy Spirit and joined with other believers for teaching, fellowship, mutual aid and worship.
We believe that same spirit empowers the church and each of us to be followers of Jesus Christ. Let us remember and celebrate our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Petitcodiac Mennonite Church