2203AFC012122 – Now hear ye the word of the Lord.
Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Nehemiah 8:2-4a – 2 Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. 4 The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. The readings for this third Sunday in Ordinary Time fit together perfectly. All of them are about hearing and learning the Word of God – today we would call it Bible study. I know some of you are regular participants in Bible study groups, and I commend you for that. I think you also probably jump feet first into the Word on your own; Scripture reading, studying, and learning are an integral part of your lives. There are a few of us who have committed Scripture to memory, and that’s terrific, too. With all of these states of being, though, it is important to put that learning to use. Of course, if you’re not learning about the Scriptures on a regular basis, if you are not challenging yourself to know what God has set forth in his APP for your edification, then you will find it difficult to grow “in wisdom and stature before God and man.” Hold up your hand if you can tell me what happens when we stop growing. I’ll wait.
There you go! Good answer! When we stop growing, we die. That is especially true when we stop growing in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom in the Word of God. It can get to the point where there’s nothing in our lives but some old dried-up bones. (↔ Music Link) I’ll bet most of us remember hearing that song long ago. It is based on the story of Ezekiel prophesying over the bones in an unnamed Valley. Here’s the beginning of that account
Ezekiel 37:1-6 – The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath* to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath* in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” *Ruach (↔ Click Link) – breath, spirit, the Spirit of the Lord. You can read the whole story here: Ezekiel 37
The bones represent Israel whose lack of faith in and awareness of the Lord made them like dead bones. They had ignored the Lord’s word, his Law, his Covenant, and – worst of all – his Love for them. The Word of God had become unimportant, forgotten, abandoned 
and it was replaced by idolatrous acts of worshiping other “gods” borrowed from their pagan neighbors. Some 200 years later, they were again “voluntarily ignorant” of The Law – the Scripture that God constantly fed to them over the millennia. Today, many in this wide wicked world are not only ignorant of Scripture but also dismiss it as fairy tales, mythology, and useless to the carnality in which they are immersed. They do not hear the Word of God, the Ruach is suffocated in their day-to-day lives, and they truly do walk like the living dead among us.
There are contemporary Prophets who are warning us of the perils we face by ignoring God, by failing to protect the innocent and the marginalized, and by ignoring and even mocking the Word of God. “What we do says who we are. Actions speak louder than words.” So far, in many quarters, the response is underwhelming; nonetheless, The Spirit is a-movin’ (↔ Music Link) and many are experiencing the Power of Renewal in the Holy Spirit. Living and walking in the Spirit is ahhhhhhhMAZing! If you’re there, you know what I mean. If you’re not there you might want to check your bones to see if they’ve dried out. When we move in the Holy Spirit, Great Things Happen! (↔ Music Link) In our Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus is moving in the power of the Spirit and a truly great thing happens. He announces he is the Messiah!
When Jesus went to Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry, he read from the scroll of Isaiah, sat down, and then told everyone in the synagogue that “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” To compare what he read with what he said, check out these two links: Isaiah 61 ↔ Luke 4:16-21 (Go ahead. It won’t take long, and you’ll be enriched by seeing how the passages fit together so well.) Jesus is, as we see in the selection from John 8 below, the Light of the World.” (↔ Music Link) After he sent us his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, taught us to understand how We are the Light of the World. (↔ Music Link)
Luke 4:14-15 – 14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned* to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. *Returned from his 40 days of fasting in the desert.
Luke 4:21 – 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
This didn’t go over very well in his home town of Nazareth. They heard the Word of God from God Himself, and rejected it. “Who does he think he is, carrying on like that? Moses? Ezekiel? How about Yeshua ben-Yosef? The kid was full of strange ideas after his dad brought him back from Egypt. What makes him think he is ‘the light of the world’?”
John 8:12 – 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Here again, Scripture points to those who treasure and obey God’s commandments as in Psalm 112:4 
– 4 They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous. Jesus echoes this when he says in Matthew 5:14-16 – 14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” This is the fulfillment of God’s reason for choosing Israel as his particular people peculiarly his own – to be a light to the nations and show the entire World how great and loving and just and powerful and wise their God is. YES! There’s an APP for that, and that’s how it works whenever you use it. The APP is based in Scripture, and if you don’t know Scripture, you don’t know … what you’re missing.
Maybe some of us 
are waiting for a man like Ezra or Nehemiah to show up and help us out with that. There are plenty of true Prophets out there in The World who are telling us the content and importance of the Word of God. There are also plenty of false Prophets turning the Word of God into a get-rich-quick book, or who will say that Yeshua ben Yosef was a pretender to the throne of Israel and convinced many people that he was the Messianic continuation of the Abrahamic Covenant. Our ability to discern among the defenders versus the pretenders in the Christian Life is based on our willingness and ongoing commitment to stay grounded in the Word. “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (See 1 Corinthians 12:3b); but how about the other folks who just can’t make the connection? How do we help them hear the word of God? Through faith we live the Word. (See Romans 10:17 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.) As you read that, I hope that in the back of your mind you’re hearing St. Francis say, “Preach the Gospel constantly, and when necessary, use words.”
We might object to that by claiming not to be able to witness or evangelize – just don’t have the skills for it. I would ask, “Have we tried?” Just for practice, repeat after me:
Me……………………..You
Jesus is Lord……….Jesus is Lord.
Jesus is Lord……….Jesus is Lord
Jesus is Lord…….…Jesus is Lord
Repeat ad lib until you are convinced you absolutely believe that is the Truth and part of the APP – the Absolutely Perfect Plan of God. “But, I’m such an outlaw, a real sinner, and I just can’t get over it.” Here’s something the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. See 2 Corinthians 4:2-4 – 2 We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Repeat after me (same format):
REPENT AND BELIEVE THE Gospel ……… REPENT AND BELIEVE THE Gospel.
How will that help? IF we get connected and stay connected to the Scriptures, we will find they put the Ruach into us, and we just can’t help but testify to the Wonderful Grace of Jesus. (↔ Music Link) We can choose to be blind to that Grace, or we can be immersed in it like this:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound (↔ Music Link)
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
If you never open that Precious Book, it probably won’t speak to you. Open it! Try it. You’ll like it when you “Hear Ye the Word of the Lord.” No more dry bones for us! We have the Word of God as our Banquet Feast.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
IMPORTANT UPDATES ON THE IPL.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO NEXT?
