Sermon-08302026-Serve Joyfully

UMC New Vision Statement: “The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections.”

Serve Joyfully (Nehemiah 8:1-12)

This is the fourth sermon in our series on the UMC’s new vision statement. Although this series will continue through next week, I would like to remind you that my door is always open if there is anything you wish to share with me regarding the church’s vision while listening to these sermons.

We have been discussing the three things that we must cultivate together within a community of disciples living by the power of the Holy Spirit. Last week, we spoke about living a life of fervent love following God, who is true love. Today, let us talk about this: “Serve Joyfully.” In our congregational Bible, the NRSV translation, the word “serve” appears 300 times, and the word “joy” appears 267 times. The word “serve” in the Bible can generally be understood in two contexts. First, reflecting the historical context in which the Scriptures were written, it refers to serving someone higher in a social hierarchy. Second, in a more egalitarian context, it means doing work to meet the needs of another person. Since social status and hierarchy do not operate in 21st-century America as they once did, we are more familiar with the second concept—serving within an equal framework. However, let us remember its older meaning also: lowering oneself and lifting up the person being served.

You will likely remember our discussion a few weeks ago about Abraham, who entertained angels unaware. His act of service was precisely this: one’s heart that lowered itself to serve and host total strangers. That is the true spirit of biblical service.

How, then, does this connect with joy? In truth, service is not always easy to enjoy. It demands our labor and, at times, requires sacrifice. When we consider those realities, connecting service and joy may seem difficult. Yet, remember what Jesus said on the night he was betrayed—he who set the very example of service. In John 15, Jesus said:

 “9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:9-11, NRSV)

Jesus bound love, commandments, and joy together into one. Jesus, who personally set the example by washing his disciples’ feet, spoke of how bold love gains assurance in a life that follows God’s will, and how his joy makes our joy complete in doing so. Within the promise of this Word, we confirm that service and joy are interconnected, enabling us to joyfully obey a life of service that lowers oneself and elevates others.

This kind of joy is not self-centered. Sometimes we misunderstand church life: we separate what is pleasant to us from what is not, preferring to do only things that bring us personal enjoyment. That is our human instinct and a behavioral pattern shaped by long social experience. However, when the joy found in Jesus is within us, we see the communal joy being shaped together among us, and we live out a servant discipleship dedicated to others for that purpose.

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In today’s text, Nehemiah 8, we discover an example of such a life. The Book of Nehemiah is the story of how the people who returned to Jerusalem about 100 years after its destruction by Babylon restored a community pleasing to God. After rebuilding the fallen walls of Jerusalem and gathering in one place, what they did was worship God. Ezra, the priest and the scribe, stood before the people and read the Word of God. According to today’s text, he began reading the Law of Moses—what we call the Pentateuch or the Torah—from early morning until midday. They likely heard how God created the world, how humanity turned away from God’s will, the judgment of the flood and the promise of the rainbow, God’s calling of Abraham and His faithfulness to his descendants, how He delivered them from Egyptian oppression and established them as a covenant people at Mount Sinai, the story of His presence with them for 40 years in the wilderness, and all the laws regarding how they ought to live as God’s people in the Promised Land.

The Bible testifies that those who heard this began to weep. Why did they weep? With a bit of imagination, we can picture it: even before this day, they must have known about the God of their ancestors. If someone had asked about their faith, they would have answered, “We believe in the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors.” Yet, when God’s Word was given to them and the truth was proclaimed before them, did they not weep as they faced their spiritual poverty, blamed themselves for failing to live according to God’s law, and turned their hearts around?

When God’s truth is proclaimed in the community like this, holy self-reflection and repentance emerge in those moved by God. But Nehemiah did not want the people to stop there. So he said:

 “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep. (…) ‘Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’” (vv. 9-10)

When Nehemiah declared, “This day is holy to the Lord,” it was an affirmation that God had reclaimed them through the proclamation of His Word and the faithful response of the congregation. Therefore, rather than merely dwelling on self-reproach over our past conduct before knowing God’s Word, we must live a life that gives thanks and celebrates the fact that God has reclaimed us. For this reason, he commanded the people to go back, feast on good food, and meet the needs of those who could not prepare anything. While we hold a potluck once a month, for the other three Sundays, it is worthwhile to reflect on the meaning of today’s passage. Great joy is found not only in eating, drinking, and rejoicing where we are, but in caring for and serving people in need. The final verse of today’s reading, verse 12, records the congregation’s response:

“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.” (v. 12)

Consider this passage where celebrating God’s grace, rejoicing in eating and drinking together, and sending portions to others all combine to produce “great rejoicing.” This is what should happen daily in a community living within the Word of God. As Jesus said, this is the practice of love, the keeping of the commandments, and the fulfillment of making the joy that God pours into us entirely our own.

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How can we live a life of joyfully serving others? First, it happens through the organized life of the church. Participating in a meal train, supporting the food pantry ministry, or sending relief funds to those facing hardships are things we can do in and through the church. Thank you for doing these things together, and please help a bit more moving forward! However, remember that the focus of today’s text is less about those organized ministries and more about what each of us must do with our neighbors when we return to our everyday places. When each of us walks out those doors, we go forth into the world as ambassadors of the kingdom of God.

Therefore, remember the mission of our individual, unorganized efforts of service and love, and believe in their power. As Jesus said: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16, NRSV) I am not telling you simply to be better church members or to participate more in church activities. Rather, wherever you are placed, may you reveal love and service toward others with joy. Let the joy found in Jesus flow through you into the world. I pray that our church becomes a church that not only strives to gather together, but also strives to scatter and serve the world.