Many people—maybe the majority of people—carry a skewed understanding of God. They think of the “Lord of the Old Testament” as a God of wrath and vengeance, and prefer to think of Jesus, God in flesh, as a God of love.
And Jesus IS God’s love embodied, but I don’t want to fall into a theological argument about the doctrine of God right now. I’d much rather disabuse us of the notion of an Old Testament God of wrath.
There are simply too many examples and illustrations of God in the Old Testament as God of love and mercy. . .and celebration!
I recall a wedding reception years ago after a ceremony I had officiated. It was an offsite wedding, where the ceremony took place in one room, and the reception in another. Once all of the guests and the wedding party were in the room and seated, the father of the bride stepped to the microphone and welcomed everyone and talked about the dining and drinking and dancing that was about to take place. The crowd was upbeat, lively, and cheering!
“But first,” he said, “I need to ask Chuck Roberts to offer a prayer.”
I felt that I’d been thrown under the bus, that I had morphed into a wet blanket thrown over everyone.
I stepped to the mic and reminded everyone that my Boss’s first miracle was turning about one hundred eighty gallons of water into aged wine. My Boss (Jesus) is a God who knows how to P-A-R-T-Y!!! The celebratory mood was revived!
In the passage above, Nehemiah, the governor of the district around Jerusalem, tells everyone to go home and party! This is right after they have heard the “Book of the Law” (most likely the book of Deuteronomy) read—not something that leads to a celebration. But Nehemiah helped the people recognize that laws—guidelines—are good things, worth celebrating.
Maybe we as followers of Jesus need to turn our Sunday meals into celebrations again?