What’s your favorite movie of all time? There’s a lot of great movies that have been made. If you would have asked my grandfather on my dad’s side of the family, he would have told you Gone With the Wind. For others, it might be one of the Marvel movies. Still others may love the Star Wars trilogy… “Luke, I’m your father.” “Nooooooooooo.” For me, there are a few greats. Iron Eagle. Top Gun. Karate Kid. But none of those compare to The Goonies.

The Goonies. My all-time favorite movie. It’s all about adventure. It’s hilarious. I mean who doesn’t love Chunk and Mikey and Data and Sloth. Not to mention the Truffle Shuffle. But the main reason this movie is my all-time favorite? The secret passages and treasure hunting. I would have given anything at age nine to go on an adventure like that to look for a giant pirate ship and One-Eyed Willy’s treasure. Coming up from under the water and looking to see One-Eyed Willy’s pirate ship would have been amazing. Finding a treasure like that would have been life changing.

There’s another moment regarding another found treasure that must have been life changing as well. Only this treasure was found hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth. Check it out:

“While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses. Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 34:14-15

Can you imagine the awe and utter excitement Hilkiah would have had!? This Book of the Law, God’s testimony through Moses, was lost for an amount of time we really don’t know. The priest, at the very least though, would have heard of stories past down through his Jewish culture about Moses and this Book of the Law. And for Hilkiah to accidentally find it would have been huge… Like finding One-Eyed Willy’s pirate ship and treasure.

Now, fast forward almost 200 years later during the time of Nehemiah. Now Nehemiah had made his way to a top position in the great Persian Empire, one of the greatest empires in the history of the world. And he asked the king if he could go back to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. And the king of the Persian empire gave him permission to go and rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. Now, after the wall was completed and after the Israelites had settled into their towns, all the people assembled in the square. And Ezra the priest, brought the Law before the people. He stood on a high, wooden platform and read it from daybreak until noon. And as the people listened to Ezra reading the Book of the Law, they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. And then the Bible tells us:

“Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.” Nehemiah 8:9

Can you imagine, a large quiet crowd watching as Ezra steps up on a newly built platform in the town square. As Ezra opens the Book, the crowd stands up. They praise God with hands lifted high. Then, they bow down, faces in the dirt. Ezra begins to read and his helpers walk through the crowd to explain what God’s Word says. The people, listen giving their full attention to Ezra. And then, a sound begins to rise. It starts with one person. Then another. And as the people continue to listen to God’s Word being spoken, this sound continues to spread throughout the town square. It’s the sound of weeping.

The Book of the Law that Ezra was reading was super old… It was ancient. But that day marked something new. The Jewish people were becoming something that they had never been before… A people of the Book. They were, in essence, being rebuilt with material as strong as the stones used in their newly built city wall. You see, throughout their history, they had drawn their strength from two sources besides the Law. One was the temple, where they worshipped God. It was a beautiful building, magnificent even, in which they met God. The other was their leadership. First Moses, then Joshua, then the judges, and finally David and the other kings.

But these things couldn’t save them from disgrace. The temple? Even though it was a beautiful, crazy magnificent building, it had become a meaningless symbol to most Jewish people. They had even defiled it by putting idols in the temple. They disregarded it so badly that God had finally allowed the Babylonians to burn the temple down. Now, after the Jewish people returned from exile, they rebuilt the temple. But it was never again seen as a substitute for real devotion to God. What about their leaders? Not one king, over hundreds of years, had come close to matching God’s ideal or standard. Most kings, in fact, were people who didn’t worship or follow the God of Israel and were said to have “done evil in they eyes of the Lord.” And when the Israelites returned from exile, they had no king of their own. They instead were under the rule of a Persian king who wanted to keep all the power to himself.

So, with no king of their own and a temple where the God of Israel wouldn’t dwell, they turned to another source of power… The Word of God. This gathering that we see here is nothing like the jewels in the crowns of kings or the gold within the temple. It’s instead replaced by a single man standing on a simple wooden platform, reading words written on a simple scroll. But the words Ezra reads show their power in the way they affect the very people who hear them… Moved to praise God, to weep over their sins, to change their behavior and to make renewed promises to God. From this time on, the Jewish people were known as the people of the Book.

And I can’t help but draw similarities between our world, country, state, city and my life. As I look out from my small window at home, how many times do I give my strength over to our political leaders. For some of us, when Trump was in office, we looked to a new president for hope. Now that we have a new president, for some of us we can’t wait for the next election for our hope. For others, we draw our strength and hope based on our own abilities. If we’re honest, real power and strength comes from our work, where we live and our political views. And the Word of God becomes an after-thought, tucked away in the corner of our temples or forgotten about like One-eyed Willy’s pirate ship and treasure.

We focus on the pretty, shiny things of this world. The news makers. But the real earth shaking, life changing comes from what looks like an ordinary book, but in reality is an Extraordinary Word from God Himself. Just like the temple, the kings, and Moses, the worldly things we draw our energy and strength from can go away or be destroyed. In the end they can’t ultimately change us. Only the Word of God never changes. Only the Word of God is full of life. And when we become people of the Book, we become a people who find true joy and rejoicing, hope and direction for our lives (Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to walk by, and a light to illumine my path.).

You see, after the Israelites weeped over their sin and began a new devotion to God, Nehemiah told all the people, “This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

And just as the Israelites learned, when we become people of the Book, we learn too that the joy of the Lord is our strength. We find true joy, hope, direction for our lives and can rejoice fully in the love of Jesus. So, go now, and be people of the Book.