Staying Focused

Nehemiah 6:1–14 NASB95

1 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, 2 then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way. 5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports. 7 “You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent a message to him saying, “Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.” 9 For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, “They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands. 10 When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.” 11 But I said, “Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.” 12 Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. 14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.

INTRO: How many of you would say that you easily lose focus? OK, some of you are not being honest with yourselves… let me just remind you that I watch your eyes as I preach.

I’m teasing… Actually, that’s not all that fair - I too get distracted by the random bug that zooms around the room, the ever so timely cell phone notifications, and the crinkling candy wrappers.

These kind of distractions are not the target of my question. What I want to delve into is something a bit deeper. I want to talk about purpose. Your life has a purpose. And at different stages of life, we have to focus in on living out that purpose in different ways.

Ultimately, we exist to glorify God, and we desire to leverage our lives in such a way that when our time on earth is done, we know that we lived faithfully. Even as we all have this main purpose, the vision for our lives will play out differently. So, I want you to take just a moment and ask yourself:

What could and should my walk with Christ look like?

What could and should my marriage look like according to God’s Word?

What could and should my relationships look like?

These questions begin to shape a vision for our lives- we simply must choose to focus on the priorities and limit that which hinders us. This sounds easy, but the reality is that there are a number of distractions that divert us from our purpose.

These distractions can be cleverly disguised as positive events, criticisms, or even emergencies. In fact, some of the distractions are things that are really important- or at least they seem to be. Therefore, as Christians we need to be able to use discernment in order to make wise decisions so that we can remain focused on the most important things.

As you may have guessed, our passage for today is a model of discernment. Nehemiah demonstrates for us how to stay focused in the midst of temptations and distractions. Of course, the wisdom of discernment comes from God. If you and I hope to practice discernment, we will need to rely upon God and know His word.

In our time together, we are going to identify three types of distractions that can derail us from our mission. In so doing, we will develop some practices that will help us stay the course.

The sermon is titled “Staying Focused: A Model of Discernment”. My prayer is that you and I will be alerted to more subtle threats to our mission and can avoid falling into these traps.

Let us begin- if you have a bulletin, you can use the sermon guide to follow along and take notes.

The first distraction that Nehemiah avoided show us the category of

False Opportunity (1-4)

(READ 1-2)

So, Nehemiah and the Jews had made some great progress, despite all the challenges that have come. The wall was done- no more gaps or weak spots. The only thing left was to get the doors and gates complete.

No doubt, it would be tempting to coast- to relax a bit and celebrate the accomplishment. It was close, but not complete. It is in this moment that the distraction came to Nehemiah.

The guys who had opposed him the whole time wanted to meet. Surely this looked like an opportunity to make peace. In fact, most people would see this as a good thing- Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem all finally saw that they had been unsuccessful in thwarting the wall, so now they want to meet and call a truce.

Nehemiah has insight here (2) that they want to harm him. You know how he knew? Because they wanted him to come to the valley of “OH NO!” (JOKING)

Actually, I believe that this was reflective- remember this book is a memoir. In the moment, this would have looked like a great opportunity. I mean, Nehemiah could possibly meet and sign a peace treaty with his enemies that would allow everyone to be at ease for a bit… I imagine the people of Jerusalem heard this and were excited about the opportunity.

However, a closer examination at the opportunity reveals that this was a ploy. Look here:

Nehemiah saw the opportunity, but recognized his priority. His purpose in this season was not to sign a peace treaty, but to restore Jerusalem. God called Israel to be a people set apart in worship, in holiness, in conduct toward one another… peace may or may not come, but God’s plan was bigger than a cease fire.

Look with me to Nehemiah’s response. (READ 3)

Nehemiah knew that his work was too great to stop now. To meet with these guys would take a few days and would interrupt the most important work. Even if he did get a peace treaty, his primary job would suffer.

Notice the pressure that comes from the enemy - 4 times they sent this message.

ILL: This reminds me of a high pressure sales person- maybe a time-share sales guy. The time is now- you must act by midnight if you want to take advantage of our generous offer.

Here is the wisdom of discernment: If this opportunity were legit, then it would still be there when Nehemiah had accomplished his current mission. If these guys really wanted to concede and have peace, they would be willing to wait a couple more weeks.

Folks, you and I too need recognize our great work. God has called you for a purpose, and has given you an assignment to be completed. Other seemingly good opportunities will abound, but we must stay focused on the great work.

This primary assignment might be your leadership in your home. Moms and dads, you have just a limited amount of time to model godliness and lead your children in the most important years of development before they are launched into the world. Don’t leave the great work to do some other ‘good’ things.

This might be your involvement in the public square- your great work cannot be compromised to garner a few more votes, to earn a few more dollars in your business, or even to get a few enemies off your back.

Had Nehemiah went down to meet with these folks, he would have been harmed, likely killed. Likewise, False Opportunities can derail your mission and prevent you from accomplishing what God has called you to.

The second distraction we see in our passage comes in the form of:

False Accusations (5-9)

Nehemiah’s enemies did not fool him with their first ploy, so onto the next. Since they could not get him to come down with enticement, they decided to bring some allegations that he would surely need to respond to.

(READ 5-7)

So, basically, they accused him of planning a rebellion against the king of Persia- treason! Actually, this accusation is a little more subtle than that. First, notice the message- “It is reported among the nations...” IOW- people are saying… or there is a serious rumor going around- let me help you...

ILL: This is what happens when someone doesn’t like what is happening, but they don’t have a good reason to not like it. I read of a pastor who tried to lead his church to reach the poor black folks in the neighborhood. Some people in his congregation disapproved and one came to him and said, “Preacher, people are talking… some say you are trying to divide the church… there are even some who say that you are having an affair with one of these women...”

Now, anyone who was close to the situation knew the truth. But in Jerusalem, the last thing they needed is for the king to be against them! You can imagine how this kind of thing might paralyze the workers. Even Nehemiah’s allies likely wanted this to be cleared up.

But again, Nehemiah demonstrated discernment in his response. And this response is twofold- the response to his enemies and the response to his personal weakness.

(READ 8-9)

Essentially, Nehemiah says to his enemy, “You are delusional- You and I both know that none of what you are saying has merit.” This was a smear campaign and Nehemiah was not going to waste time defending himself against such lies. The truth would prevail, after all- this was God’s work.

And at the same time, we see Nehemiah give this to God. Nehemiah was as weak and needy as any of us. This accusation, if it were believed, would ruin Nehemiah and the effort to restore Jerusalem. Nehemiah’s admission of dependence would weaken him in the eyes of men, but God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

The temptation here is to immediately clear your name. To stop everything and hire a lawyer, private investigators, expert witnesses, etc. Ultimately, this is in God’s hands. He is the judge, no matter what men may do. Our primary concern is what God knows to be true… our character even above our reputation.

We must avoid the distraction to defend ourselves from every false accusation- especially if that draws us away from the great work God has called us to.

The final distraction that we see in our passage is the temptation of:

False Security (10-14)

(READ 10-11)

One of humanity’s great desires is security- to be safe and stable.

That’s why we buy insurance, so we can feel secure about our risks, whether physical or otherwise.

It’s why we wear our seat belts, why we lock our doors, why we put our money in a bank instead of a pillowcase under our mattress.

And no greater threat to our security is the emergency that we have not anticipated. I want you to think about this: In times of emergency, people tend to make decisions that are not well thought out.

For example, how many people are trampled when there is a fire in a crowded building? That’s why we need clear exits and even the reassuring directive: “REMAIN CALM AND PROCEED....” We feel more secure when someone seems to know what’s going on and can direct us.

ILL: During COVID, how many people were constantly panicking and watching the news to see how they could act… can I go to work? Can I talk to my neighbor? Can my kids go to school? And just remember all the actions that were taken just so people could feel safe and secure… even the ones that have since been proven to be a false sense of security.

Nehemiah had real death threats against him. This guy, Shemaiah, claimed to be trying to help, but look at what he suggests- “Let’s close ourselves in the temple...”

This might not seem like a big deal to us, but the suggestion was that Nehemiah sin by entering into the holy place to save his life. The holy place of the temple was for priests who were administering worship.

Nehemiah recognized this as problematic and discerned that this was not from God. God will not violate His Word.

This man was working for the enemy. He was attempting to convince Nehemiah to sin so that the enemy would have a legitimate claim against him. (13)

So the question is, “Would God have you sin in order to accomplish his will?” Obviously the answer is no.

So many in the world and in the church have been distracted by a false promise of security:

Save your life by denying God’s Word - in the early church, in the reformation, and even in some parts of the world today, that is the temptation being put before Christians. There is a real danger - in fact, many Christians were martyred because they refused to deny God’s Word.

Thrive in life by not applying God’s Word - This is the message that Christianity need not influence your behavior. Do whatever it takes to get rich, live your best life now, even if that means ignoring God’s Word.

Follow your emotions - This is the message that it is more important that you are comfortable than to sacrifice for the sake of a greater purpose.

Allow me to return to our mission - We have a great work- to bring the world to follow Jesus. That includes our families, neighbors, coworkers and friends.

Satan desires to derail us with many distractions and temptations. His ploys are the same as they always have been- False Opportunity - like he offered Eve in the Garden. False Accusation, like that which comes to bring doubt upon the work of redemption. And False Security - Lies that pervert God’s word and authority.

As we close this morning, I want to encourage you stay focused- prioritize the mission and learn to say,

“I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down!”

[PRAY]

What distractions do we face when we are actively bringing the world to follow Jesus?

How can we practice discernment to stay focused?

What is one temptation or distraction that you find most difficult to avoid?