Who Are You Hitched To?

Introduction

Do you have any memories from your childhood that you will never forget?

I’m sure you do!

My wife always reminds me that I don’t have a good memory,

except when it comes to really dumb things,

and the story I’m about to tell you is one of those dumb things from my childhood.

One of the things we liked to do as kids,

is hitch a small trailer to our lawn tractor,

and pull each other around the yard.

The problem was our yard was only a half acre,

so when we would get bored of that,

we would venture outside of our property.

There was a field next to our house,

and during this particular season,

the farmer was growing something that looked to a dumb 13 year old Joe,

a lot like a bunch of weeds.

I didn’t even think twice, and launched forward into the weed jungle,

with the trailer hitched behind,

weaving in and out, making circles, u-turns…

we had a blast!

A few days later, I was sitting on the couch and heard a knock at the door.

It was the farmer who owned the field next to our house!

And he was wondering who had ruined so much of his winter wheat!

My mom got an ear full from the farmer,

and my family learned a valuable lesson:

Don’t hitch your trailer to Joe!

Transition to Sermon

My sermon title this morning is:

Who Are You Hitched To?

Who, or what, have you hitched your wagon to?

Who/what are you hitched to, hoping it will give you success, fame, or fortune?

Who/what are you hitched to, hoping it will satisfy you?

You’d better be very careful who you hitch yourself to,

or you might end up taking a joyride through a field of crops,

and end up with an angry farmer!

The truth is, it could be far worse than that!

You could hitch your wagon to:

the desire for wealth…

the desire for pleasure…

the desire for fame…

and one day find out it was all meaningless,

and have to deal with the consequences.

That’s exactly where the Israelites had found themselves.

Transition to Nehemiah

We’ve been going through the book of Nehemiah since the start of the year.

As we began, we found them suffering the consequences of hitching themselves to the wrong thing.

Rather than hitching themselves to God and His Word,

they hitched themselves to the gods of the nations around them,

and their own sinful, fleshly desires.

This is why they were suffering,

because God was disciplining themselves for their disobedience.

Thankfully, through the work of God’s Spirit through Nehemiah, they turned back to God and:

rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem…

reinstated the worship of God… and

put God’s Word back at the centre.

As Pastor Jake showed us last week,

this led to the people of Israel to realizing and confessing their sin before God.

Transition

This morning we are going to see them intentionally hitch themselves back to God and His Word!

Pray

Lord…

Summary

As the Israelites were hitching themselves back to God,

the first thing we learn from them is...

1.Look For Leaders Hitched to God

As Christians, what is the most important quality you should look for in a leader?

One who is hitched to God!

Look for leaders who have a heart for God,

and love and obey Him.

As we begin looking at our passage this morning,

we see the leaders of Israel hitching themselves to God!

They have recognized and confessed their sin,

and now they are putting their names on a covenant,

promising to be faithful to God and His Word.

Nehemiah 9:38–10:27 ESV

38 “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests. 1 “On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

EXPLAIN

I am so glad chose to give us all these names!

Each and every one of these men had the courage to allow their names to be recorded…

First:

as the leaders responsible for the sin that led to God’s judgement…

Second:

as the leaders committed to being faithful to God’s Word.

Summary

These men were worthy leaders,

because they were hitched to God!

They were devoted to following the Lord!

APPLY

These are exactly the kinds of leaders we should be looking to hitch ourselves to!

Leaders who love the Lord…

Leaders who are hitched to God’s Word…

Leaders who have the courage to do the hard things God’s Word tells them to do…

God’s Word tells us to do a lot of hard things, like:

love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…

forgive those who sin against you…

confess your sins to one another…

You need to look for leaders who are willing to do those hard things,

because it means they are hitched to God and His Word!

They love the Lord and are committed to Him and His ways.

Transition

What do you do if you find a leader who is hitched to God’s Word?

FOLLOW THEM!

2. Follow Leaders Hitched to God

The Israelites had leaders who were hitched to God,

and committed themselves to Him through His Word.

Now look at their response…

Nehemiah 10:28–29 ESV

28 “The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, 29 join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his rules and his statutes.

EXPLAIN

The people had found the right leaders…

Leaders who were hitched to God…

devoted to Him and His Word.

What was their response?

To follow them!

They joined them in separating themselves from the peoples of the land.

They didn’t want to follow the nations around them anymore,

they were committing themselves to God!

And they understood what that meant:

Blessings for their obedience; and

Curses for their disobedience…

but to them it was worth it,

because GOD IS EVERYTHING!

Summary

The people had found leaders who realized that truth...

without God we have nothing, but with God we have everything!

So the people trusted and followed their leaders.

APPLY

This is exactly what we must do as well.

Find godly leaders who are hitched to God and His Word,

and follow them!

If you ever see a leader, or any Christian for that matter,

who is not willing to practice what they preach,

you should not follow them!

Do not model your life after them because,

They do not believe in the power of God working through His Word!

Look for men and women who:

love God;

who love His Word… and

obey it!

These are the kind of people you should follow!

Their faith is in God, and they believe in the power of His Word!

Transition

If you find leaders hitched to God’s Word,

and follow them,

then what should you do?

3. Worship the God Your Hitched To

Ultimately we must recognize that we are hitched to God!

Therefore, we must obey His Word!

There is no greater worship, than to obey God!

Obedience brings glory to His name!

Here the Israelites covenant to obey God in every area of their lives!

Nehemiah 10:30–39 ESV

30 We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. 32 “We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. 34 We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the Law. 35 We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; 36 also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; 37 and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. 38 And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. 39 For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.”

EXPLAIN

The Israelites commit to worship the God they are hitched to.

They worship Him through obeying His Word.

And His Word affects every area of their lives.

It affects their personal activity:

They promise not to intermarry their children with the nations around them.

2. It affects their business activity:

They promise not to do business on the Sabbath.

3. It affects their religious activity:

They promise to support the:

work of the house of God;

as well as the workers in the house of God.

Summary

The people of Israel wanted hitched themselves to the God of the universe,

who was worthy of their worship and obedience in every area of life.

APPLY

This is exactly what we need to understand today…

If you want to be hitched to God,

you must worship Him with all that you are!

He doesn’t want just a part of you,

He wants to change every aspect of your life!

the way you spend your time…

the way you spend your money…

the way you spend your gifts/talents…

God wants to transform all of your life!

He wants you to experience the joy of worshiping Him,

through obedience to ALL of His Word!

Christ Connection

But the truth is, we can never fully obey all of God’s Word.

We will always fall short,

and Jesus knew that,

which is why he said in…

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The truth is, that God doesn’t want to weigh you down,

He wants to give you rest!

God gives us His Word, not to be a burden,

but so that we will find true life!

God is not a harsh master, ready to punish us for every disobedience,

He is gentle… and lowly in heart…

and wants you to find rest for your soul.

Aren’t you tired of working so hard,

trying to feel satisfied?

Aren’t you sick and tired of feeling like if you:

just had a better job… or

had a little bit more money… or

could enjoy more experiences…

that you would happy?

The Lord is calling you today.

Come to Him!

Take His yoke upon you,

for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

When you come to God through faith in Jesus Christ,

all your sins are washed away…

He gives you His Spirit to help You… and

He promises that He will never leave You or forsake you.

Come to Him, and He will give you rest!

Pray

Announce Resignation

As many of you know, here at LEMC we have been going through a pastoral transition.

As part of that process, we hired a consultant to help us, to get an understanding where our congregation is at.

When I was asked a couple years ago if I would consider being Lead Pastor at LEMC,

I said I was willing to do it because I thought it was the Lord’s will,

but I also only wanted to do it if it was what the congregation wanted.

In the past few weeks we had church surveys to see how you all felt about me stepping in to the Lead Pastor role.

Our leadership team informed me last week that the results of the survey showed I would not have enough support to get the vote,

so they decided to hold off on the transition.

As Jessica and I have been praying about that,

we believe it’s the Lord’s will for me to resign and for us to move on.

We have peace about this decision, and trust the Lord is not finished with us.

We will be praying about what the Lord has in store for us!

Thank You

I want to thank you all for allowing me to lead you!

It has been a true joy and blessing to be able to invest in your lives!

I want to thank you for allowing me to grow and develop as a pastor,

evening bearing with me as I’ve made mistakes and had to learn from them.

I want to thank you for praying for me and my family,

for supporting us and being there for us.

I can say with a clear conscience that as I have served you,

I have always sought to do what was biblical:

what would bring glory and honour to God;

as well as what would be best for you all.

That doesn’t mean I’ve been perfect,

but that my heart has always been to do what was best according to God’s Word in leading you well.

We trust that the Lord will continue to lead and guide LEMC as you faithfully seek to follow God through His Word.

And we will be praying that He continues to use you to shine the light of the gospel!

We ask that you would pray for us as we continue to seek the Lord’s will for our lives.

Thank you so much!