There is a poem written by Robert Burns, Robert Burns is the Scottish national poet- school children in Scotland have to learn Robert Burns poems. He wrote 200 plus years ago a poem called ‘The Cotter’s Saturday Night.’ A Cotter was a poor peasant who lived working the farmland. And it tells how the poor cotters, relax on a Saturday night after their week’s work is done. The eldest daughter Jenny, comes round with her new boyfriend and the family eat their simple meal in the little cottage. Its written in Old Scots language, which is a dialect of English but a bit different. It goes:

November chill blaws loud wi angry sugh

The short’ning winter-day is near a close

The miry beasts retreating frae the pleugh

The black’ning trains o craws to their repose

Which means; 

The November cold wind blows loud with an angry sigh

The short winter day is nearly over

The muddy animals are retreating from the plough

The dark flocks of crows head to their resting place

But inside the family are together having their meal and then:

The chearfu supper done, wi serious face

They round the ingle form a circle wide

The sire turns o’er wi patriarchal grace

The big ha’Bible ance his father’s pride

His bonnet rev’rently is laid aside

In other words the family after the meal, comes round the fire place and the father of the household takes down the large family Bible and reverently takes off his hat. 

And they begin family worship.

Singing psalms, reading the Bible and praying.

Burns writes:

The priest-like father reads the sacred page,

How Abram was the friend of God on high

Or Moses bade eternal warfare wage 

With Amalek’s ungracious progeny

That kind of worship used to be normal family life in Scotland. It seems a world away from today doesn’t it –from ‘Strictly come dancing’ Saturday TV, (not that there is anything wrong with Strictly)! But Burns concludes the poem by saying 

From scenes like these Old Scotia’s grandeur springs, 

That makes her loved at home, revered abroad. 

The French author Victor Hugo said over a century ago, ‘England has two books, the Bible and Shakespeare. England made Shakespeare but the Bible made England.’ Scotland was just the same, it was called the land of the Book, the Book being the Bible. In past generations the Bible was the one book read with reverence and obedience and it really influenced society and from it as Burns puts it Scotland’s ‘grandeur springs’.

The modern moto of the city of Glasgow is simply ‘Let Glasgow Flourish’ but the original moto of the city was a prayer to the Lord- ‘ Lord, let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of thy word and the praising of thy name’. 

And when God’s words is preached and his name is praised, a city will flourish, a land will flourish.

In our journey through the book of Nehemiah, we saw how Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of his city, ancient Jerusalem but as soon as he completes the task, he redirects his attention from the physical needs of the people, the city walls to their spiritual needs, preaching the Bible. He wants Jerusalem to flourish and he knows that Jerusalem will if God’s Word is preached and believed. 

And so he organises a big bible conference. And he chooses the first day of the Jewish month of Tishri to have it, which is a holy day in the Jewish calendar called ‘The Feast of Trumpets’. The people of the city gathered in a great square in front of the Water Gate of the city. And from sunrise, so about 7 in the morning, till noon, that’s about five hours, the people heard the Bible read out and explained. No doubt there were breaks, but basically five hours of Bible reading and preaching. Ezra the scribe, stood on a specially constructed wooden platform and read out the words of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the first five books of the Bible, the Torah as its known and his words were then explained by a group of Levites, so everyone could understand what was being said. 

The Bible is not a magic book that changes people or circumstances because somebody reads it or recites it. God’s word must be understood before it can enter the heart and release its life changing power. Six times in this chapter you find the word ‘understanding’ mentioned. 

There was a hunger for the word of God in the people. There was a hunger for preaching. When the people have that kind of spiritual hunger, it’s a sign of spiritual health. 

Ray Stedman tells of how he was invited to speak to a group of Chinese professionals in Singapore. About four dozen doctors, lawyers, educators and engineers met on an upper level of a high-rise apartment building in the city. As he opened the Bible and began to speak, he discovered that these people, most of them non-believers, were fascinated by God’s Word. The Bible. Their faces shone with curiosity and enthusiasm and they asked question after question. 

When it was time for him to leave for another appointment, many of them crowded into the elevator with him and others took other elevators down to the lobby. They asked questions all the way out onto the street. Even as he got in to the car and pulled away from the curb, they were shouting questions to him. 

He never forgot the amazing display of hunger for God’s word among people who had never been taught the Scriptures before. When the Bible is opened and explained to people, it can provoke a hunger. That is the power of Scripture. 

When Ezra opened the book, he praised the Lord before he even read from it, and all the people lifted their hands in response and said ‘Amen, Amen’. Then they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

Its like the Burns poem I read out, the father, takes his hat off, before reading the Bible. There is a reverence for God’s words. We need to get that reverence back. That hunger, the appetite for the Bible and the reverence for it. 

By the way notice that this assembly was not in the Temple, it wasn’t in a religious building, it was outside. We can worship God anywhere. Parents, have you ever thought of trying family worship in your house? Some singing of worship songs, a Bible reading, prayer, discussion. It can show the children that God is not just for Sunday and not just for church. There are lots of resources on the internet if you are interested. 

When the people heard the words of the Bible, they responded emotionally. They began to weep and to mourn. Why were they so emotional? For different reasons, they were rediscovering their identity, how they as a people had been formed by God from Abraham and Sarah on. They were reminded of God’s goodness to them, in rescuing them from slavery in Egypt and providing for them in the desert, they were reminded of his covenant with them on Mount Sinai and most of all they were being shown how much they had gone against what God had commanded, how they and their ancestors had sinned and brought on themselves the curses of the covenant. It was guilt and shame that brought them to tears.

Until they heard God’s Word read to them, they maybe didn’t realise how far they had strayed from God’s standard for their lives. As they listened they realised the ruin and destruction in their lives. They realized that the city had been destroyed and the nation laid waste because of the sin of the people.

Through the reading of the Law, they finally saw the beauty of God’s moral code and the beauty of God’s nature contrasted with the ugliness of humanity and human sin. They were stricken in their own hearts, their own consciences and they realized the suffering they had inflicted on themselves and their children through sin and rebellion. That is the ministry of scripture to the human heart. 

But Ecclesiastes tells us there is a season for every activity under heaven, there is a time to cry and a time to laugh. And it takes wisdom to know what time it is. Well this wasn’t the time for tears. They were crying when they should have been rejoicing. And Nehemiah and Ezra and the Levites have to go around telling them to cheer up. 

Nehemiah gives them the famous encouragement- ‘Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ 

There are different reasons why they should be joyful

It was a holy day, the day called the Feast of Trumpets, and joy goes with holiness. When you think of holiness, do you think that it means being serious and sad? Well not normally. Nehemiah tells them, ‘this day is sacred to our God, do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength’ and then it says verse 12, ‘the people went out to eat and drink and give food to those who needed and to celebrate with great joy.’ 

Joy and holiness goes together and this was a holy day.

Remember the psalmist said in your presence is fullness of joy. What could be more holy than heaven? Do you think heaven will be sad? No, it will be full of God’s presence and full of joy. 

Church services should be joyful. Not overly serious. Yes we take God seriously, but God is a God of joy. The fruit of the Holy Spirit of God is love, joy, peace. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, not seriousness. God wants his people to have joy!

In 1904 in Wales there was a mighty move of the Holy Spirit where tens of thousands of people were converted. The figurehead of the revival was a man called Evan Roberts. Evan Roberts felt that the church in Wales had got into a rut, it had become too serious, too many heavy serious sermons and it was quenching the Spirit. Stopping the Holy Spirit moving. When revival came, the church gatherings were full of joyful singing, spontaneous testimonies, and freedom in prayer—it was a break from the overly serious church culture of his day.

Notice Nehemiah and the Levites told the people to be joyful, to have a good time, to party! Joy is a choice in other words. We need to choose to be joyful. 

We are actually told to be joyful in the New Testament. Paul says; ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!’ Philippians 4:4

We should be joyful even in difficulties. In hardship. James 1:2-4 says "consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance"

I heard persecuted Christians in China quoted as saying that joy is the energy of the Holy Spirit. These suffering Christians being persecuted had great joy and thus great strength.

If you want to be a stronger person, be more joyful. Joy is a serious business!

If you can laugh when things get really tough, if you can laugh with the joy of the Lord, then nothing will stop you! 

Jesus wants his disciples to be completely happy! In John 15 he tells his disciples to obey him and remain in his love and then he tells them why. He says, "I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete" . Jesus wants us to be completely joyful! And that comes from knowing and obeying his commands.

Psalm 119:111 states, "Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart" . 

When your words came, I ate them;
    they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
    Lord God Almighty. Jeremiah 15:16

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. Psalm 19:8

God’s word, the Bible is a joy giving book. 

In Nehemiah 8:12 the people celebrated with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them. Discovering truth, important truth is a very satisfying thing. There is joy in discovery. There is joy in knowledge of truth. 

When the Jews returned from exile and heard God’s Word with new understanding, they were uplifted and filled with joy. Their burdens were lightened because truth gave them perspective, hope, and clarity. Understanding truth often resolves confusion and inner conflict. Even if it’s just knowing the truth of where you left the house keys! Truth brings clarity, brings peace, which naturally fosters joy. Knowing the truth gives life coherence. When people grasp the truth about their purpose, their identity, about God given values, from reading the Bible, it leads to a great sense of fulfilment and thus joy. 

And so we can see how the Israelites were full of joy when they understood all the truths of God in the Bible. 

Yes there is a place for mourning in the Christian life. But those who mourn will be comforted is the promise. You know we need to laugh more!

Jesus mourned, but I believe he was full of humour also. And still is by the way! Have you ever thought of Jesus being funny, of being good fun? Actually you see his humour and sense of fun coming out in his teachings.

For example, think for a moment about the image Jesus used to describe how hard it is for a proud, self-confident rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. He said it would be like a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle (see Luke 18:25). Can you imagine His audience not laughing as they tried to picture this in their minds? His point was serious—but He used an exaggerated, humorous image to get it across.

Or think about this episode in his life, in Mark 7:25-30. 

News of him at once reached a woman who had a young daughter with an unclean spirit. She came and threw herself down at his feet. She was Greek, a Syrophoenician by race; and she asked him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

“Let the children eat what they want first,” Jesus replied. “It’s not right to take children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

“Well, Master,” she said, “even the dogs under the table eat the crumbs that the children drop.”

“Well said!” replied Jesus. “Off you go; the demon has left your daughter.”

So she went home, and found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone. 

When it comes to understanding this story, it seems to me we have only two options.

Option one: Jesus responds to this woman in a rude and racially demeaning way, but then, thankfully, he has a sudden (and somewhat inexplicable) change of heart and decides to heal the woman’s daughter after all.

Option two: there is something in the look of Jesus’ eyes, in the tone of his voice, in the expression on his face that enables this woman to realize she is being asked a riddle of sorts, and she nails the answer.

From everything we know of Jesus, the second option is really the only option. Clearly, Jesus is joking with this woman.

(Can you imagine Jesus with a grin on his face in this story, on the verge of laughter all the way through, nodding his head in proud approval of the woman’s quick wit, and finally giving his bewildered disciples a look of “Isn’t she great!”)

Jesus loved to tell a good story, particularly when it had a surprising punch line. He was all about the use of hyperbole and irony, and he occasionally employed a little sarcasm too. 

“How can you say to your neighbor, ‘Here—let me get that splinter out of your eye,’” Jesus asked, “when you’ve got the plank in your own?” (Matt. 7:4). Plain and simple, Jesus is making a joke here and people probably would have laughed out loud when he said it.

But they would have laughed even harder when Jesus turned his quick wit on the Pharisees with this cultural zinger: “You’re blind guides! You filter out a gnat, but you gulp down a camel!” (Matt. 23:24). Picture it: the overly-religious Pharisees are carefully straining every sip of water to make sure they don’t swallow a minuscule gnat, but they’ve never noticed the massive hairy hump of a camel swishing around in their mouths.

Regardless of your cultural background, that’s a pretty funny picture, but one of the reasons Jesus and his first-century Jewish audience would have found the gnat-and-camel imagery really funny is because it’s also a witty wordplay in Aramaic: “You filter out a galma,” Jesus says, “but you gulp down a gamla!”

That’s unforgettable imagery, real humour.

Having heard Jesus mock the Pharisees in this way, people would have walked away that day laughing with one another, talking about Jesus’ sharp wit, and going home to tell their friends and family, “Did you hear the one about the Pharisee straining a galma and swallowing a gamla!”

If joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, love joy, peace. Do you think Jesus was full of the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Do you think he had a lot of joy? Do you think he has a lot of joy now? A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Yes he was and is still. But his basic attitude is one of love, joy and peace. 

As the river of the Holy Spirit flows deeper and deeper in this church, we will experience more and more joy, I believe that. We will be more holy and that holiness will result in joy. And joy is attractive. People want joy. People will be drawn to Christians and churches who are happy! 

Lets laugh more.

Well back to Nehemiah. As the people heard the Bible read, they discovered that they were getting something wrong. Two weeks after the feast of Trumpets was another festival called the Feast of Tabernacles which God had ordered the Jews to celebrate. Every September or October in our calendar, on the 15thd day of the Jewish month of Tishri, God had ordained that the people celebrate for eight days the feast of Tabernacles. It was a happy feast celebrating the harvest which had just been taken in, a harvest thanksgiving celebration, but also it was a celebration of God’s care and provision of the children of Israel as they lived in the wilderness for 40 years. The Israelites in the days of Moses had lived in tents or shelters and to remember this, at the feast of Tabernacles, everyone would make little shelters on the flat roofs of their houses or out on the streets out of tree branches and leaves. They might sleep in them. 

But this way of celebrating the feast of tabernacles had been forgotten about over time. The Feast of Tabernacles hadn’t been forgotten, but the God given way of celebrating it by making and living in booths had been forgotten. So the people go out into the hills and they cut down branches and they make themselves booths and they celebrate the feast. It says that in all their history from the days of Joshua until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated the Feast in such a way. And verse 17 says ‘their joy was very great’. 

My friends when we get back to the Word, when we do what the Bible tells us and are willing to relearn things we have forgotten, or learn new things, then God will give us joy. It’s really quite simple. Tradition, or our own opinions, our own human thinking gets in the way of simply obeying God’s commands. Coming back to the word, coming back to the simple words of the Bible and not adding to them and not taking away from them, brings joy. 

The most fun, happy thing in the world is to be a Christian. Lets choose joy!