Pastor's Column 9/1/2024

PASTOR’S COLUMN

“And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10, NLT

“Accepting The Joy!”

The cure for what we’re lacking may be closer than we imagine. God often places somewhere within our reach the remedy needed for what may debilitate us for a time. It is so human for us to take for granted the good God does for us. A momentous accomplishment often is followed by a feeling of despair. Few knew this better than the prophet Elijah, who after defeating the false prophets on Mt. Carmel, fled to the cave of fear and depression. There also are times we neglect to understand and celebrate the continuity of history. A subsequent generation may be reticent and dismissive about the retelling of what a past generation experienced to overcome and achieve. They may feel given the advantages they now have, the reminders of past times are irrelevant. Psychologists, and many of us as leaders in the faith community believe this dismissive state accounts for much of the depression and emotional displacement we see in this present era. Despite all our advances in communication through cyber and digital systems, there is a great “joy- deficit.” Rage and acrimonious behavior have replaced kindness and joy for life and the hope that comes through faith. The congregation who sat under Ezra’s teaching on that early autumn day in 444 B. C. were living in the shadow of a rebuilt Temple on sacred land that their parents and grandparents were forced from and driven into Exile. Once work on the restored Temple occurred, it was completed in about 7 years. Such an accomplishment elicited much joy and gave the nation a renewed sense of peace. Some seven decades later, the subsequent generation, although some aging, were unsettled. After hearing the sacred Word read and explained to them, their sadness escalated. Ezra, as their priest, sensed this foreboding. He reminded the congregation that the Lord’s joy was present; life will go on!