Reflections on Nehemiah 8

This morning as I read in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, I came to Chapter 8, where Ezra read the Law to all the people who had gathered in one large assembly for that purpose, and the Levites assisted the people in understanding the Law: "They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading" (Nehemiah 8:8, ESV). I was particularly struck by the connection that is made between the understanding of the Law (and the worship that accompanied it, see verse 6), and the celebration of the goodness of life. "Then he said to them, 'Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord'....And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them" (Nehemiah 8:10,12, ESV).

Two things in particular strike me as important in these verses. the first is that the people were instructed to "send portions to anyone who has nothing ready." This is one of many examples in the Bible of the integral link between our experience of life as God intends and the experience of this God-intended life by other people. It is too easy in our culture for us to be self-focused and enjoy the "good life" at the expense of others. Biblically speaking, we cannot and do not enjoy the "God-intended good life" unless we are also helping other people experience it. This reminds us of the need for sharing, generosity, creation care, justice, and deep relationships. God created us as relational beings, and the life that God intends for all creation is designed to be mutually shared with others. Through the gracious gift of Jesus in our lives, we are intended to experience the God-intended good life, but this experience must always include our participation in helping other people experience that same life, and conversely must not exclude our experience of that life at the expense of someone else. I am reminded of John Wesley's recommendation to "do all the good you can" AND "do no harm."

The second thing that strikes me about this passage, though, is that there is a real sense in which there is a fullness of life which God intendes for those who acknowledge Him as God and follow His ways, and that this life is intended to be experienced here and now, on this earth, in our current physical situation. The people "went away to EAT and DRINK and to send portions and MAKE GREAT REJOICING." This reminds us that the salvation which God intends and which Christ makes possible is not limited to being a "spiritual" entity that is "way out there" somewhere and has no connection with our daily lives. Salvation has a variety of possible meanings in New Testament Greek, among which include healing, blessing, and wholeness. In this sense, I am suggesting that Christian living is intended to involve more than a simple (yet important) peace of mind about where we will go when we die. The "God-intended good life" is something which we experience here on earth, now, while we are still in our current bodies. It is to be a fleshly, earthly, real experience of full living. When we follow Jesus, we are able to live with things in their proper perspective, putting God first, and then our living can truly be full, and we can "make great rejoicing."

I am not suggesting a hedonistic lifestyle. Allow me to repeat: I am not suggesting a hedonistic lifestyle. This is why I FIRST mentioned that we cannot experience the God-intended good life at the expense of others. I do not recommend nor condone hedonism. However, neither do I recommend walking through life with our sights always set so far ahead on heaven that we fail to experience a fullness and vitality of living NOW. We are to live with a strong sense of ethics and morality, but we sometimes mistakenly equate ethical living with asceticism. If we are called by God to asceticism for a special purpose, I'm all for that. But if we are not so called, I am suggesting that it is both possible and intended by God for Christians to experience full, vital living now, on this earth, in all its physicality: as long as we follow God's guidelines for what this means.

This not only impacts us, but it impacts non-Christians with whom we live and relate. It impacts their understandings and impressions of what it means to be a Christian. It influences the message that we communicate about what following Christ means. Should people be invited to follow Christ? Yes! When we invite them to follow Christ, though, are we inviting them to give up all chance of expeiencing life in fullness and vitality on this earth, so that we are really only saying "become a Christian so you'll go to heaven when you die"? I suggest that it is possible to say something else: "I invite you follow Christ so that you can experience life to its fullest, so that you and others around you can thrive, and so that you can enjoy this kind of life forever, even after you die. I invite you to join me in the great adventure of the God-intended good life."