THEY WERE ALL IN TEARS

THEY WERE ALL IN TEARS

“I just love going to work!” Those who can say that are indeed fortunate. They love teaching: the challenge of communicating with young minds, the interaction and the unexpected responses. Or they love constantly meeting new people as a bus conductor; always taking an interest in their passengers, brightening their day with comments and laughter. There are people whose lives fit together: their marriage, their work, their interests and their recreation.

And there are others who can’t “get it all together.” Their work is drudgery, their marriage is an endurance and they find no way of relaxing. Life is really hard and there is no prospect of “light at the end of the tunnel.”

There is an unusual passage in Nehemiah where Ezra reads from the book of the law, newly recovered after the Babylonian captivity. The people all listen intently and “they were all in tears.” They were tears of sadness and joy. Sadness, because they recognised that they had forgotten the treasure their ancestors had been given and had abandoned; the way marked out by Moses and the prophets. But they were also tears of joy because they recognised that everything that was said fitted with their deepest longings. This is our inheritance, they said to one another. And Ezra told them to rejoice and celebrate.

We need those moments when everything makes sense; everything fits together. If we support Man U we rejoice when they win. Their victory is somehow our victory. But they don’t always win. The longing that we have is to reach that point where it is all win – for ourselves and for others. Jesus came to announce that that is precisely what he had come to inaugurate. He called it “the kingdom of God” and there was a moment when he too read the scriptures to the people and ended by saying, “This text is being fulfilled today, even as you listen. And he won the approval of all and they were astonished…”

The “perfect fit” is attainable and each year we get closer to it. Despite the horrific wars today, in Yemen for instance, there is energy at work, the Spirit of God, nudging people forward towards peace. You can see it also in the Colombian peace process. Months and months – even years - of talks are moving to a climax and there will be peace after forty years of war. Things will fit together a bit better and we will move forward and people will weep tears of joy.   

24 January 2016                                 Sunday 3 C

Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10                        I Corinthians 12:12-20           Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21