help his people begin again, to start over. This is the story of the kind of person
God is looking for today and in every generation: the one through whom He can ...
1
Starting Over First Church (1-‐13-‐13) Nehemiah 1:1-‐2:5, 8b Michael T. Powers 1st of 4 in “Nehemiah” series Nehemiah is the story of the spiritual leadership of one man whom God raised up to help his people begin again, to start over. This is the story of the kind of person God is looking for today and in every generation: the one through whom He can accomplish his purposes. God’s design has always been to have a people in this world through whom He would make himself known and literally bless all the other people in the world. At this point in history, God needed a man like Nehemiah. So, over the next few weeks, we are going to discover the qualities God needed and found in this man through whom God brought healing and hope to a very discouraged people. In so doing, we will discover that God has a plan for us, too, in this day and time, to be people through whom He accomplishes his will. Keep this thought in mind: it is never too late to start over. Let me repeat that: it is never too late to start over. God is always ready and willing and able to work in us and through us, as Todd Nelson reminded our leaders yesterday, in ways that far exceed our greatest imagination.
First, a little background on the book of Nehemiah. This is the last chapter of Jewish
history in the Old Testament. The first returnees from the Babylonian exile had come to Jerusalem around 535 B.C., and under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the temple, the center of their religious life and community, was rebuilt. 58 years later, the priest Ezra led a second group of exiles home to Judah. Under his leadership, spiritual reforms took place in two major ways: (1) The people re-‐connected with God. In other words, they renewed their covenant relationship with God. Keep in mind that the primary catalyst for this spiritual renewal was through Ezra’s exposition of the Law, the Word of God. Ezra 7:10: Ezra determined to study and obey the law of the Lord and to teach those laws and regulations to the people of Israel. Much later, the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Spiritual renewal is rooted and flourishes through an awareness and obedience to God’s Word. (2) The basic unit of their society, the family, was re-‐established by breaking up marriages the Jewish people had made with unbelievers. This may sound rather strange to our 21st century ears, but we must understand the context. Ezra 9:1: ..the Jewish leaders came to
2
me and said, ‘Many of the people of Israel and even some of the priest and Levites have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages…. Their Jewish faith was being compromised by beliefs and practices brought by these women from their own cultures. So, Ezra ordered them to dissolve those marriages. Why such a radical command? When it comes to the devotion of our hearts, God is very jealous and will not share that space with any other. This set the stage for the third group of exiles to return to Jerusalem from Persia under Nehemiah, 13 years later. That brings us to Nehemiah, chapter 1.
Nehemiah had a rather menial, yet very responsible role as cupbearer to the king of
Persia, Artaxerxes. He was at his right hand, tasting whatever the king would drink, lest anyone would try to poison him. It was a risky task, but an honorable position, especially for a slave. He was in on the inner circle, comfortable, secure and trusted by the king himself. For a slave, Nehemiah’s status in exile was highly successful and enviable by others.
But, as we read, there was nothing complacent or lax about Nehemiah’s spirit. He heard
from a brother that all was not well in Jerusalem. Those who had returned to Jerusalem, their beloved home and center of their hopes and dreams, were in shame and danger because the walls of the city had been destroyed. That was significant because they were completely vulnerable to being overtaken and destroyed again by those outside forces who wanted to annihilate them from the face of the earth. The people through whom God promised to bless the world would no longer be. They had returned home. The temple had been rebuilt. Worship had been re-‐established. The Law was being honored. The faithful were re-‐ committing themselves to God’s purposes, but they were in extreme danger.
When Nehemiah heard this news, he wept. His heart was broken over concern for his
people, far removed from him and his safe and comfortable lifestyle in Susa. Geographically, he was far away from these troubles. Spiritually, he experienced the pain of his people. Here we see clearly demonstrated one of the primary witnesses of spiritual leadership: godly sorrow.
3
Bob Pierce traveled to Korea in the early 1950’s as part of a gospel evangelistic team.
While there, he was deeply moved by the physical, social, and spiritual needs of the Koreans who had suffered so much from the ‘conflict’ between the North and South. Returning to the United States, there was a prayer that he prayed which would not let him forget the plight of the Koreans: O God, break my heart with the things that break your heart. What a prayer! Bob Pierce’s heart stayed broken with the concerns of the Koreans as well as others around the globe. Out of that broken heart, God gave Pierce a vision. With like-‐minded people, he founded an organization we know today as World Vision, International. Over the past 60 years, millions upon millions around the globe have been fed, clothed, healed, educated, spiritually transformed, trained and sent out to share with others the love of Jesus Christ. It began with someone who offered to have his heart broken with the things that break God’s heart.
Nehemiah grieved over his people. And he prayed, confessing how great and good God
is, and how sinful he, his family and all God’s people had been. Someone once said that spiritual renewal begins when we stop talking about everyone else’s sins and start confessing our own. They had hardened their hearts and turned their backs on God, suffering the consequences for their sin. But now, they were starting over. This was a new beginning. God was doing a new thing with them, giving them a new chance, another opportunity. So Nehemiah made his request known to God: O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success as I go to ask the king for a great favor. Put it into his heart to be kind to me. This humble servant with nothing to gain personally from this effort has grieved over the plight of his people, but now he is ready to act and do whatever he can to help them.
Let me remind you where this vision for the well-‐being of God’s people began: A
cupbearer to the king of Persia. God looks for those whose hearts are open to what is on his heart, willing to listen, ready to obey and be courageous enough to do whatever is required. Almost reminds one of Bilbo Baggins or Frodo – if you are a Hobbit fan. The attention is not on their gifted leadership or positions they hold or the accomplishments they have made. What is remarkable about these servant leaders is their faith and obedience. They are convinced that regardless of the past, God is the God of new beginnings. Starting over is never passé.
4
This prayer that Nehemiah prayed in verse 11 is significant for another reason: it was
not answered for four months. He heard the news about Jerusalem in the month of Chislev; in chapter two, when he had the opportunity to share his heart with the king, it was in the month of Nisan – four months later. What do you think he was doing during those four months? There is no record of this, but can you not imagine that he was continuing to pray, trusting God, bearing the burden for his loved ones, asking for wisdom to recognize the appropriate time to approach the king with his request? So, when the opportunity came, he was ready to respond. When the king asked him why he looked so sad, the text says that Nehemiah was “badly frightened” – “very much afraid.” Fear and respect of the king? The anxiety of the moment? Personal insecurity? Yes. Yes. And probably, Yes. However, he was ready because he had prepared for that moment in prayer.
Funny thing about prayer: some will testify to prayer as the greatest power in the
universe. Others will scoff and relegate the practice of prayer to the mystics or superstitious. There is no science to prayer, no method or pattern that guarantees certain desired results. Nor is prayer simply an art form: an esoteric impression or expression of words, phrases and experiences. Here is how I perceive prayer from those spiritual leaders like Nehemiah who impress me with their prayers: Prayer is the opportunity for God to get involved in our lives. NOT to pray is another way of saying “God, I really do not need you to bother with me. I can handle this on my own.” Or “I don’t believe even you can do anything about this.” Yet, when we pray believing, we enter the presence of God and participate in his Kingdom where He alone rules. Prayer is when we create that space where the possibilities of God’s grace are unlimited. And, it is the privilege God has given us to share with him, receiving and enjoying what we could never do for ourselves. Again, many years later, Paul exhorted the Thessalonian believers to pray without ceasing (“keep on praying” -‐ 5:17). Whether the answer comes quickly, or after four months, four years or even four decades, we pray, asking above all else for God’s Kingdom to come, for his will to be done, on earth, in our lives, as it is in heaven.
With a broken heart, Nehemiah kept praying. He made himself available as an advocate
for his people, ready to do whatever he could to help. When the moment came, with fear and trembling, he poured out his request and asked for the king’s help. And, in the words of
5
Nehemiah, the good hand of God was on me. This most unlikely man, a mere cupbearer in the court of a pagan king, was on his way to accomplish a truly remarkable task for the good of his people. God has given us a vision to rebuild this church. Over these past few months, we have made some important decisions to do just that. We have re-‐organized our administrative structure so we can live more fully into our mission to develop fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ across the streets of Lexington and around the world. We have demonstrated a willingness to live that out by committing the first 10% of our giving to missions, 15% to support our United Methodist connectional ministries, and living faithfully with the remaining 75%. We literally are seeking to re-‐build the walls of our facilities, making improvements as needed while assessing carefully what is needed. People have agreed to serve on committees, take on various responsibilities, and, of course, attend many meetings. This is a wonderful, exciting, challenging and a very interesting time to be part of this congregation. Our future, however, will not be shaped simply by our organizational charts, mission statements, financial statements, buildings or the number of meetings we attend. Rather, it will be shaped by our willingness to ask God to lay upon our hearts the things that are on his heart; to share the burden of his heart with us for the least, the last, the loneliest and the lost across the street and around the world. It will be shaped by our unceasing prayers, seeking God’s presence and purpose, trusting and obeying, ready to respond when the moment comes. All this begins with you and me. We have the opportunity to start over right now. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about ‘starting over.’ Jesus told Nicodemus, You can/must be born again. He told the woman caught in adultery, Go, and sin no more. He spoke to his friend, four days in the grave, Lazarus, come forth! He assured the thief on the cross, Today, you will be with me in Paradise. Impossible? Not really. The Gospel is all about starting over. And God has this wonderful way of accomplishing what seems to be absolutely impossible. God wanted to do a new thing, start over with the Jewish nation. God needed someone with a heart after his own heart, and he found Nehemiah. God is looking today for an opportunity to do a new thing in this church, community, world. Let us pray to be that opportunity.
