The Discipline of Community
Nehemiah • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today we are going to be finishing our time in Nehemiah, where for the past couple of months we have been talking about the Good Work that we are called to do. And last week specifically we talked about how the work doesn’t stop when the building project is done, no…there is now a safe place for God’s people to come and worship, and there is more room for a whole bunch more to come in and join us. In fact, God has already called them here, we simply get to be a part of the blessing of going out and introducing them to him. And it’s not about building a grand building or about getting people into the church, no it’s all about getting Jesus into them. Amen...
So earmark your bibles in Nehemiah 8 because that is where we will be for a majority of this morning but I need to set the stage before we begin.
On Sunday nights we have been doing a spiritual formation bible study and talking about Spiritual Disciplines. Disciplines like solitude and margin, Finding time in our busy schedules to be alone with God, seeking His face. Disciplines like practicing the Sabbath, Communion and fasting.
And how we can use these practices, and more specifically how God uses these practices to help us grow in our walk with Christ. These disciplines help us mature into disciples who are able to do the works of the ministry.
Many of us have negative views of discipline and that’s because many of us believe that it is punitive by nature. Punitive meaning punishment, negative consequence for actions done.
But true discipline is not punitive by nature. It is training, its corrective and brings us back into alignment with the right path.
1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. 11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.
There is a spiritual discipline of community. There are spiritual disciplines that can only be found in community, that we sometimes miss out on, for various reasons but the author of Hebrews argues...
In Hebrews 10:24-25 the author writes,
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…
There is something that we can do together that will spur us on to love and good deeds. There are certain disciplines that we can do to help us have a better relationship with God.
- Do not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing.
I need to ask you, are you giving up meeting together? I already said it’s not about getting people into the door, that’s not the goal, but it is important to gather as the church.
We know from the experience of the past couple of years all the pain that comes from the neglecting of gathering together as God’s children. Many churches were torn to shreds about whether or not we should meet, should we social distance, should we mask, should we do this or should we do that. And I can tell you from my personal experience that even when you try to do your best to honor your government and be a good witness, it is so easy to get into the habit of neglecting or giving up on meeting together.
Online church has taken the place of regular corporate worship and people are content about staying home and “watching church”
And that is exactly what it is. It is watching church.
Online church/at home church/can never truly be church/why we won’t live stream/why am i talking about this to a room full of people that are here in person/
We are called to gather together for a purpose and there are so many reasons why we can prioritize other things over the importance of this gathering,
My son is only young once and baseball season is only so long. Your right, and so is the passage..
6 Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Effectively your training your child to prioritize other things over the gathering of the saints.
Four Generation Fade- Shane Pruitt
1)parents don’t make church a high priority for their kids 2)kids grow up & make it less of a priority for their kids 3)those kids grow up & make it no priority for their kids 4)those kids grow up w/ no concept of God priorities today, impact generations!
None of this is a guilt trip, but let the Spirit of God bring conviction where conviction is needed.
Attendance is important not because we need people in pews to look good or to turn in a growth report to the district or to increase our giving…but to spur one another on…to encourage one another. That is the call…and it’s discipline becasue it can be hard.
Hebrews 10:24-25
How do we spur one another on? How do we encourage one another?
That’s what brings us to today’s text in Nehemiah 8
1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. 2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. 4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam. 5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. 9 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. 10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.” 12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them. 13 On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law. 14 They found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month 15 and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”—as it is written. 16 So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great. 18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.
Nehemiah 8
Babylonian exile
King Artaxerxes
52 days
#1- Came Together- (Nehemiah 8:1)
1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.
Community - all the people came together as one. Unified body of believers. They all came together. Everyone came. And they were as one.
Community is made up of two words…
Common-Unity
When we gather together here in the name of Jesus Christ our king we gather as one.
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
I have peace with God because I’ve been set free and forgiven in Jesus name. You likewise have peace with God because you have been set free and forgiven in Jesus name. And we both have unity in the Spirit because the same spirit of God dwells within you and dwells within me, therefore we can be united. Not under a flag, not under a creed, not under a common purpose, not under a skin color, not under a political party but united in the person of Jesus Christ.
And so when we gather together, we gather as One in Christ.
#2- Hearing the Word of God (Nehemiah 8:3)
3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
The word of God was read, and they actively listened
#3- Praising God & Worship (Nehemiah 8:6)
6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Worship means to bow down. To prostrate oneself below the holiness of God.
One thing I was challenged on this weekend was the worship. The band at the Men’s Retreat kept playing songs I didn’t know and could hardly understand. I found myself having a hard time worshiping, but God kept calling me to worship him even though I wasn’t that into the music. See one thing that is happening in our culture is that if we don’t like something in a church service, we are consumeristic enough to leave and find someplace that will fit our preferences.
But God is calling us to worship him. And he was calling me to worship him this weekend and every time my flesh kept telling me, man I can’t worship God through this song, God kept reminding me that worship isn’t about me, or my preferences.
Francis Chan Story:
Random Churchgoer- You know I really didn’t like worship today.
Francis- That’s ok, we were not worshiping you.
Worship is about esteeming God above yourself, to bow down at his throne and praise him for who his is.
Helpful hints, focus on the message of the song instead of the lyrics,
Pray through a song you don’t know.
Approach worship from an attire of humilty. And so a vital part of gathering together in community is to worship together. To redirect our hearts toward heaven.
#4- Preaching (Nehemiah 8:7-8)
Making the word of God clear so that it can be understood by all the people.
Explaining the word of God and applying it to our lives.
It is significant that all of Israel gathered near the water gate. For the water gate is where they brought in water and without water, there is no life. The water gate symbolizes the Word of God. The people had an appetite for the Word, and they asked Ezra to bring the Book and to preach it. Ezra read it and explained it for hours assisted by the Levites.
This scene reminds me of John 4 and the woman at the well.
The word of God is a living well. It is the very nourishment our bodies need in order to live. Without water, life dies, Without the living water, our spirits are dead. We continually need the water from the well of Christ, that living water which we find in the word of God.
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
And so a regular part of our gatherings is the proclaimation and teaching of the Word of God.
#5- Responding (Nehemiah 8:9)
The people were cut to the heart. They were weeping and mourning because the word of God convicted them and convinced them that they needed help.
The law’s whole purpose was to show people that they needed help. That they couldn’t live up to God’s expectations and they needed a savior.
Romans 3:20-24
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faithin[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
If they responded to hearing the law, how much more should our response be to hearing the gospel.
The law says your condemned because of your sin…the gospel says, your made alive in Christ. You are now a new creation. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life!
That is something we need to preach and respond to.
#6- Celebrating (Nehemiah 8:10-12)
One of the best ways to respond is to practice the discipline of celebration.
- Celebrate the good things. Celebrate them together with God’s people. When I hear about God doing something amazing in the life of one our brothers or sisters in Christ, it does something to me. It lights a fire in my soul. It encourages me that God is working.
Celebration is a hard discipline to get in the habit of doing.
The worries of this world are many, and it may be hard to focus on the good things that are going on, but there are celebrations that we need to get in the habit of celebrating.
When someone comes to faith in Jesus, when someone devotes their life, we as a body should celebrate. The angles in heaven are doing so, they are rejoicing, so should we.
When someone receives a healing touch, when someone gets a post it note from God saying, Hey, I love you…we should be sharing that in community, so we can spur one another on. Encourage one another with what God is up to.
What if we came to church with the expectation to share what God is doing in our lives and to hear what he is up to in others lives?
How much would we be spurred on to love and good works then?
This is why we come to church
This is why we need to make it a discipline of coming to church so that we can be in the habit of spurring one another and encouraging one another.
Let us not forsake this special place of fellowship.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
This is why we do what we do, church. We gather together in unity to hear the word, praise God, proclaim the word, respond to the Lord and celebrate what God has done. And as we go about doing this on a regular bassis, the Lord will add daily to those who were being saved.