What’s Bothering You? Nehemiah 2:1-8

Introduction

(Show picture of Ora Collier) Ora Collier passed away in 2017 in her 90’s, and preaching her funeral was one of the greatest privileges of my life. In her lifetime, she overcame segregation and racism as well as the loss of her husband and son, and she did all of it with heroic grace and humility. She settled in Heflin, AL after retiring as a teach in California, and there was a steady stream of men and women, former students, who came through from California to Chicago to Florida. And, they all said the same thing: “I’m here because Ora Collier changed my life.” I asked her one time how she had so many godchildren, as she called them. She said that when she was a teacher, if there was a child that everyone else was just done with and couldn’t make behave, that the principal would bring them to her classroom. And, she’d bring them home with her, cook for them, get to know them, and show affection to them. She was firm, but kind, and had a remarkable ability to soften a child’s spirit. And, before long, the children were making good grades and leaders at the school. They were family to her forever, and many of them became very successful.

Ora told me that it bothered her that there might be a child that had never experienced God’s love from another adult. So, this quiet, humble, jovial teacher made it her mission to make sure they did. And, that’s greatness. Ora’s favorite thing to say was: “God is everything to me. I cannot live without him. I cannot make it one minute without him.” And, she simply couldn’t stomach the thought of others, especially children, living without knowing how good God is.

God’s Word

What bothers you determines the shape of your life. In the book of Nehemiah, we meet the man whose name forms the title, and it’s a book that’s written as a result of the burden he felt for the broken condition of God’s people and the lack of glory God was getting as a result. And, in chapter two, there’s three questions that are asked by the king that would shape Nehemiah’s life, and they’re Three Questions that Shape Your Life: (headline)

What’s your “burden”?

Nehemiah 2:1–3 “In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?””

Nehemiah takes place around 70 years after the Temple has been rebuilt in Jerusalem and around 25 years after Ezra returned to preach the Law. So, in chapter 1, when he receives word that city is still rubble, it’s more than he could stand. God’s Temple is there with God’s presence, but the city has no homes, no economy, no defense. Not a lot of progress had been made. This was the City of God, and it was a shame to its people. The rubble of the city spoke against who God really is. That’s the city from which all the blessings of God are supposed to flow, and it’s uninhabitable.

So, after four months of praying, he simply can no longer contain his brokenness over the city, and King Art takes notice. Nehemiah’s job was only two things: 1) Keep the king from being poisoned. 2) Make the king’s day better. So, when he’s sad and depressed, the king takes notice and asks: “Why is your face sad?” He even notes that this is a “sadness of the heart.” That is, the king is really asking Nehemiah: What has you so burdened?

You can’t conceal a burden. It was Nehemiah’s job to keep it from King Art, and he couldn’t. If you’re curious as to what your burden is, ask the people close to you what bothers you. They know. They know how worried you are about your retirement or how bothered you are by the Democrats/Republicans. They know whether you’re concerned over the rubble of God’s church today, or if the lostness of your community ever crosses your mind. They know that you’re burdened over what’s happening with your kids or how slighted you feel by your boss.

What’s “bothering” you?

But, here’s the question that Nehemiah forces us to wrestle with: What does what’s bothering you say about your heart? Nehemiah’s heart reveals a burden for God and his people, but what does our reveal? Our hearts ought to be burdened and broken over what’s bothering us. A mark of the sinfulness of our hearts is that we worry about what doesn’t matter and don’t worry about what does matter. We worry ourselves sick over where our child bats in the lineup or over what furniture we have/don’t have, but we don’t give a second thought to the hopelessness that lives across the street. Our interests are too often self-centered, not God-centered. And, that’s why we’re so burdened about the politics and baseball and not such much over lostness. What’s your burden, and what does it say about your heart?

When the king asks Nehemiah why he’s sad, he’s “very much afraid.” First of all it was illegal to be unpleasant in the king’s presence, but Nehemiah was sad. But then, Ezra 4 says that it was King Art’s decision to shut down the rebuilding of the city because opponents had told him that Jerusalem was known for its rebellions. So, King Art could hear Nehemiah’s burden as a criticism of his leadership and as a rebel in his household. Both were punishable by death.

What’s “scaring” you?

Nehemiah was afraid for the same reason that you’re afraid of God’s call on your life: He knew what he had to do next, but he didn’t know what would happen next. But, if your burden is really from God, if your burden really is God directing your life toward his will, this ought to be expected. Your fear means that you know it’s not easy and that you don’t know what’s going to happen. That is, your fear recognizes that you need God. Fear is the context of faith. If your life never makes you nervous, you ought to ask whether you’re following God at all.

A while back, I met with a young man with a burden from God. He felt like God was calling him to take a big step, but he was filled with doubts because he didn’t know how it would go. So, I passed to him the wisdom that was passed to me. You will always be “very much afraid” in the most important moments of your life. But, your fear doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do it. Your fear means that you recognize how important it is and how much you need God. When we are burdened over the call of God, we should ask ourselves two questions: Do we believe in God, and do we believe that He’s with us? We ought to normalize doing hard things in the church so that we can see manifested the great power of our God!

You see, being sad about something isn’t enough, and that leads to the second question.

What’s your “commitment”?

Nehemiah 2:4–5 “Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.””

When King Art asks him, “What are you requesting?”, he’s asking him to clarify his request. He’s asking whether Nehemiah is proposing to go and do something about it. Nehemiah has a great job. He hangs with the king, drinks his wine, and calls it a day. Is he really asking to leave a great job to do a hard task? He’s asking Nehemiah really: “How committed to this are you?” Are you committed enough to leave a cushy job to go on a 900 mile journey on a donkey to go to swing a shovel?”

“Actions” clarify “burdens.”

Actions over time clarify real burdens. It doesn’t really bother you until you’re willing to do something about it. Burdens are proven through costs paid. It’s leaving a good job to do hard work. It’s lowering your standard of living to raise someone else’s. It’s leaving heaven and laying on a cross.

Dr. Kent Brantley contracted the ebola virus in 2014. And, he contracted it because his love for Jesus compelled him to forsake a good job with big pay as a medical doctor in the states to go to one of the least desirable countries in the world — West Africa. That’s a good scale to measure Nehemiah by. When the ebola epidemic broke out, he and his family were offered transport back to the United States, but he refused. Instead, they remained among the sick people, who needed their doctors more than ever, so that he could treat them and share with them Jesus’ love. He was called selfish for staying by Ann Coulter, but he’ll be called “faithful servant” by the living God. That’s what a burden looks like. I’ve seen it when brilliant students have foregone illustrious careers to serve in obscure ministry instead. I’ve seen it when moms were felt burdened to stay home, and embraced modest living, old cars, and vacations in the woods to make it happen. I’ve seen it when people lower their standard of living to support the mission of their church to reach the community and to build up the people. Many of you do that. Actions over time clarify real burdens.

It’s interesting that Nehemiah prays and answers the king at the same time, isn’t it? “So I prayed” “and I said” happen simultaneously here. There’s a beautiful blending here of the God’s sovereignty and Nehemiah’s responsibility, isn’t there? Chapter 1 shows us that he’s prayed and fasted solid for four months, and he can’t help but throw up one more rocket prayer here. The future is in God’s hands, not Nehemiah’s. But, he speaks to the king recognizing that he still had a job to do. We learn a lot about the nature of commitment from Nehemiah here, of accepting your responsibility. Commitment is the willingness to do whatever is necessary. (“You send me to Judah”). Commitment makes the work personal. (“to the city of my fathers’ graves.”) This is my burden AND my responsibility! I have to do it! And, it’s a commitment to see it all the way through. (“that I may rebuild it.”)

“Commitment” clarifies “prayers.”

Nehemiah has prayed and prayed. But, he hasn’t prayed, “God please raise up someone.” Nehemiah has prayed, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” His burden has been solidified in his commitment. So, I don’t just want to ask you: what’s bothering you? Complaints are meant for a roundtable at Jack’s. I want to ask you: What are you going to do about it? Are you willing to join Jesus on the cross with your calendar and debit card? If you’re burdened and broken that people are hungry and hopeless, lost and wandering, broken and lonely, are you ready to leave a good job for a hard task? What’s your commitment?

Our burdens don’t shape our lives until they become commitments. And then, we have to ask: What shape should our commitments take? Or…

What’s your “plan”?

Nehemiah 2:6–8 “And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.”

God “plans” to work through our “plans.”

I love when the king asks Nehemiah, “How long will you be gone?” On one hand, he’s saying, “Sure, you can go. You’re not going to die today.” On the other hand, he’s saying, “But, what’s the plan?” One commentator says that the main theme of Nehemiah is that “God works sovereignly through responsible human agents to accomplish his redemptive purposes.” We might simplify that. God plans to work through our plans.

There’s nothing spiritual about a lack of planning. There’s no verse that tells pastors to stand and preach without studying because they have the Spirit, and there’s no verse that tells us to stand and wait to fix a problem until God does it without us. Instead, Jesus tells a Parable of the Talents Matthew 25 that says a man who simply buries what God has given him and doesn’t seek to strategically invest it is a “wicked, lazy servant.” Laziness isn’t spiritual. Planning is. Because God plans to work through our plans. God’s a planner himself, and we’re made in his image.

Planning is the result of understanding both the enormity of the task in light of your accountability to God. My plan may not work, and God may go another way. But, in light of who He is and what He’s done for me, I want to offer him my best work to correct. A commitment to alleviate a burden always finds its way to a plan. So, it starts with “what’s bothering you?” Then, it’s “What are you going to do about it?” And, ultimately, “What’s your strategy?”

So, you’ll notice in Nehemiah that a good plan come to two realizations. First, “I must do my best because I’m responsible.” For four months, Nehemiah hadn’t just been praying. He’d been planning too. Immediately upon request, he offers King Art a schedule (6b), travel plans (7), a supply list (8a), and building phases (8b). But, notice where he lands in verse 8. The king grants his request, and he recognizes that it was only because “the good hand of my God was upon me.” That is, Nehemiah recognized that he was responsible for having a plan, but he was really just a sub-planner. God was the one who actually bore the burden of bringing it to be.

God “reveals” his plans through our “plans.”

You’re a planner and God is a sub-planner. He plans to work through your plans, but they’re always subject to revision. In fact, God works through our plans to reveal his plans. When I graduated from high school, I honestly thought I was going to work in management at Winn Dixie. That was my plan. Then, my planned change to do bi-vocational youth ministry. Then, I planned to do youth ministry forever. One day, my senior pastor told me that he thought I could be a senior pastor. And, so now that’s my plan. Every step of the way throughout my life and ministry, God has worked through my plan to ultimately reveal to me his plan. That’s how sovereign He is. That’s how detailed He is.

So, make your plans while remembering the sovereign grace of God’s plan. He’ll work through your plans to accomplish his plans, no matter how far off your plans are. Just look at the cross. Acts 2:23 “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” Do you know why Jesus died? God planned it. And, do you know why Jesus died? We planned it. So, God planned to use even the most evil of our plans to carry out his greatest plan. And, that proves that his plan is for you. And, that proves that his plan includes you. So, plan your life wisely, but plan it as a sub-planner to plan of God.