Staying on Course

Introduction

In Matthew chapter 25, the Lord Jesus gave a special teaching to his disciples (his students) by telling them parables. Which is a story with a lesson behind it. In this story was a master who had 3 servants. The master was going to be gone awhile, so he called his 3 servants in. To one he gave 1 talent 1 coin, to another he gave 2, and to another he gave 5. After some time, When the master came back, he called in his servants and asked them to make an account of what they had done with his coins since he had left. The first came forward, the one that was given 5 and in excitement, he told his master, “Look, you gave me 5 and while you were gone, I have made you 5 more.” The servant that received 2 came forward and said, “Look, you gave me 2, and I have made you 2 more.” The master tells them, “Well done! Good and faithful servants, you have been put in charge of a little but now I will put you in charge of a lot. The last came forward. Well, he hadn’t done anything with his coin. Instead, he chose to hide it, not use it, because he feared his master. This one was punished because He had not fulfilled his master wishes and proved himself only self saving and self speaking, a wicked servant. Church family, let us all endeavor to not seek self and selfish wants and desires. But instead, look to the near future and the far away future in both our individual lives and life of our entire congregation. Let us be the kind of servants and church that our master Jesus will look on one day and tell us each, “Well done, my good and beloved child.”

Prayer

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can be more like You, and made more into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all too often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possibly can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

Context

Today’s text brings us to the conclusion of the book of Nehemiah in your bible, which is a historical account of revival in building and revival in spirit of the people of Israel. Remember, for quite some time, the people had been sent away from God in exile because of their egregious and serious rebellion against their God, their King, the King of King and Lord of Lords. Now, God called them back, because it was now time to start bring in the remnant back into relationship with Him, as the time was coming for Jesus Christ the messiah and certain events needed to happen before. This process and the fallout from it was among them.

In this final chapter, which accounts for a few last reforms that the governor Nehemiah instituted, it’s easy to miss something. This is that the timeline jumps forward some. You see, when Nehemiah began rebuilding the wall, it was the year 445BC. This was the year that all the events of the last few chapters took place, but then we see historical silence which is typically a sign of peace and prosperity. This silence lasted for 12 years. It’s at the end of this 12 years, when Nehemiah is called away back to serve King Artaxerxes and for a time give up his governorship of Jerusalem.

One big lesson that we can learn and take away from what happened in Jerusalem after Nehemiah left is one that has always and will always reign true until the Lord’s Jesus comes back, this is that Believers must stand vigilant against creeping sin. Yes, sin loves to creep in slowly, unseen, unnoticed. Yes, it can come into a person’s life in great big and noticeable chunks. But, the quit, unseen, sneaking in sin is much much more dangerous; as it can be easily normalized and looked past, not seen as the threat that it really is. For the people of Israel, many of them did not, so they found themselves on the fast track back into the mess that they had gotten themselves into before Ezra and Nehemiah. They began to slip and compromise little by little, just as the Israelites of old did, and so drastic and serious action had been done by Nehemiah to refocus themselves on God, His Laws, His Precepts, and His goodness.

Yes believer, even after a great revival, it is important to remember that you are to still remain diligent against evil, sins, and vices. Many a people over history have experienced, then in the good times become relaxed and fall of those people was great, do not be deceived. Instead, seek to be an always ready, always vigilant, always watch guard dog and warrior. A good and faithful servant of Jesus. Ready to move at a moment's notice. Be ready at any time to steady the ship, stay focused, and stay on course. Let’s see some of the fall out of not doing so today and what had to be done to correct the course for the text. So lets jump in and I want you to see, understand, and do these actions as you seek to say the course of a good and faithful servant.

Message

The first action to see, understand, and do is to: Remember to worship 1-14.

13 At that time the book of Moses was read publicly to[a] the people. The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, 2 because they did not meet the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they hired Balaam against them to curse them, but our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When they heard the law, they separated all those of mixed descent from Israel.4 Now before this, the priest Eliashib had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God. He was a relative[b] of Tobiah 5 and had prepared a large room for him where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, and the tenths of grain, new wine, and fresh oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests.6 While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. It was only later that I asked the king for a leave of absence 7 so I could return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of God’s house. 8 I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the room. 9 I ordered that the rooms be purified, and I had the articles of the house of God restored there, along with the grain offering and frankincense. 10 I also found out that because the portions for the Levites had not been given, each of the Levites and the singers performing the service had gone back to his own field. 11 Therefore, I rebuked the officials, asking, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts. 12 Then all Judah brought a tenth of the grain, new wine, and fresh oil into the storehouses. 13 I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for the distribution to their colleagues. 14 Remember me for this, my God, and don’t erase the deeds of faithful love I have done for the house of my God and for its services

Still after many years, the people were still gathering to hear the books of Moses read in front of them, and it seemed that the people had the spiritual fortitude and maturity (at least some of them) to eliminate sin from among their midst. Here they read and heard about the treachery the ammonites and Moabites had made against them and their God in times past, so as a consequence God had separated Himself from them. During the time of this realization and reunderstanding, something had come up, something had crept in. Treachery. Under the direction of Eliashib the priest, who was in charge of the store rooms and offerings to supply for temple worship and for the people serving in it, the old enemy of Tobiah the ammonite was given sinful favor. He was allowed to take up residence in a now empty store room within the temple. This all happened during the 2 year period when Nehemiah was serving the king. When he returned, he found this dreadfully sinful situation, which was terrible on several accounts.

First of all, a moabite who had been so against them was allowed within the temple, but worse off he was given a room within it! Dreadful! Secondly, for some reason that store room was empty. Which meant what? That the people had stopped contributing their tithes and offerings, which they had before made a public covenant to remember and see through! As a consequence, all of those serving in the temple, its worship, and its function were forced away for their own survival, having to take up other jobs and working in the fields, meaning that the temple was not being tended to and worship was not offered up to God with the dignity and respect that it deserved. So, Nehemiah had Tobiah kicked out, the rooms purified. He confronted the leaders of the town asking them, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” He gathered back up the Levites, singers, and other workers and put them in the posts, and had the people give their tithes and offerings. With this, Nehemiah then appointed trustworthy and responsible men to oversee these areas and responsibilities, he then concludes this section with a prayer, asking God for help in these tasks and to remember how He loves God and His house.

You will remember, one of last week’s main points was to contribute to your portion of ministry. For the people here, their portion for sure was to see that worship to God could be done well within the temple. This was done by: giving their tithes and offerings, coming forward for festivals and celebrations, gathering for regular times of prayer and reading, and following God’s commands. Yet, they neglected much of this because sin had snuck in and was taking over. Believers must stand vigilant against creeping sin. Here is the thing, Ministry is part of your worship. How you participate in and give to whatever ministry that you have been called into is part of how you worship God. To ignore this, is sinful. To overlook it a few times, whether on purpose or on accident, how a habit of sin can creep in and take a strong hold. So then, where are you, where are we, where am I forgetting to worship? Where is your eye turned blind to either out accident or on purpose. Look deep and hard, and don’t be afraid to ask for help in identifying them, because these kinds can seem normal, when they should be very much abnormal. Which leads us to

The next action to see, understand, and do is to: Remember the Sabbath 15-22

15 At that time I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in stores of grain and loading them on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 The Tyrians living there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem.17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Didn’t your ancestors do the same, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling his anger against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”19 When shadows began to fall on the city gates of Jerusalem just before the Sabbath, I gave orders that the city gates be closed and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my men at the gates, so that no goods could enter during the Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem, 21 but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I’ll use force[c] against you.” After that they did not come again on the Sabbath. 22 Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the city gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.Remember me for this also, my God, and look on me with compassion according to the abundance of your faithful love.

Upon returning back to Jerusalem, Nehemiah discovered something else. On top of the people not seeing that House of God Honored and their worshiping, now they had stopped Sabbathing. As a result he discovered people working in ways that were specifically forbidden. He found people buying and selling goods on the Sabbath day as well. Once again, Nehemiah had to confront the nobles and leaders, the people who should be have been seeing to that this wasn’t going to happen. He reminded them, don’t you remember that our ancestors did this, and this was one the stepping stones that led to our city’s destruction?! How could you!? This is the day that was set appart by God for rest and worship, yet you have made it another weary work day. Apparently, while he was away, the business of this rebellion against God must have been quite lucrative, as traders had taken even so far as camping outside the city, hoping people would still come and purchase their wares. Nehemiah, in decisive action told them to go away and never come back on the Sabbath day, or he would be forced to use force against them. They left, and then he had the Levites stand guard over the gates on the Sabbath. Nehemiah, as he often does while in action, then concludes with prayer to God, to help him and show compassion on his efforts as a servant of God.

Forgetting to take a day of holy rest is one of the worldly most nonsensical things to do, and as a result one that the undiligent christian can fall into. God made you to rest, commanded you to rest, made you for worship and commanded you to come together with others to do so. I’ll admit it straight out. I have often failed in this command and it has done terrible damage to me, my mental state, my physical state, and damage to all of those around me, including you. Here is how bad it had gotten, get ready, you’re about to hear that the pastor is a sinner in need of grace too, at one point halfway through this year, I counted and discovered that outside of weeks where I was sick or out of town, I had went a total of 34 weeks in a row where I worked some job every single day of the week. And I would wager that I had streaks before that to rival that one. This continued and didn’t stop until this summer through the teaching and encouragement I received in my pastor's cohort to build in a day each week where I stop working, slowed down, and stepped away. And no, incase you were wondering, for pastors and church workers Sunday is not a Sabbath day for them, it is a work day. Which means they need to find another day of the week. Now after only a few weeks away and Sabbathing (mostly on Mondays), I can report these changes in my life: i’m going the gym regularly, my blood pressure is going down, i’m not always filled worry, the house is cleaner, we are eating healthier meals, i’ve made more time for family events, i’m finding joy in worship again, i’m listening to sermons out of interest again instead of obligation, and my mind/body/soul is not in a constant state of survival mode and panic. Why was I going through all of this? Because I thought God’s commands didn’t apply to me, but they do.

From the benefits it has done sabbatthing, I have actually found that I get much more done day by day/week by week then I did when I worked all 7 days. How crazy is that? I took one less day to do it all, but still I got more done! Believers must stand vigilant against creeping sin. For Israel and me, not Sabbathing was one creeping sin, that turned into a long, bad, and harmful habit. Is this a sin that you are finding yourself in? Do you take time to stop, be still (even from good deeds)? Why not? It’s an act of worship to do so, so then, do so! Do you need a test if you’re unsure, here is one. Take one day at home, and do nothing. If that was too hard to do, then you are out of practice with Holy rest and need to make a course correction. How about another, can you sit quietly alone in a calm and peaceful place with nothing and noone for several hours or more? Or does that sound hard or make your skin crawl? If you can’t then you are also out of practice with the silence and solitude side of rest and need to make a course correction. Remember to Sabbath, remember that you were created to do so, and you will run your race better, you will stay the course much much better. This takes us to

Another action to see, understand, and do is to: Remember the Covenant 23-31

23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples but could not speak Hebrew.[d] 25 I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves! 26 Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin. 27 Why then should we hear about you doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?” 28 Even one of the sons of Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. So I drove him away from me.29 Remember them, my God, for defiling the priesthood as well as the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.30 So I purified them from everything foreign and assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites. 31 I also arranged for the donation of wood at the appointed times and for the firstfruits.Remember me, my God, with favor.

Coming back home, Nehemiah discovered another treachery that had taken place. In his time away, he discovered that the Jewish men and women had been marrying outsiders from different religions. Another broken command. In fact, in such a short amount of time, children had been born and many of them did not know the Jewish language and culture, so false God’s would be sneaking into families. This was a tragedy of tragedies. As now they were not only working their way towards idol worship as their sinful forefathers had, but also they were turning away from God's commands that would lead to the birth of the Messiah, Jesus one day. So wicked was this sin that Nehemiah was forced to take drastic and dramatic action to right the course of the people (who as you will remember all vowed under covenant to not do this lest something bad should happen to them). So, to some of the worst offenders he had the punishment they agreed upon done, they were beaten as the previous agreement allowed and had their hair (most likely their beard hair) pulled out.

This sounds dramatic, yes, because it was. But, Nehemiah did allow them one mercy. You see, this had happened in the book of Ezra once as well, and Ezra had all the outside spouses and children packing. Nehemiah did not do this and allowed them to stay, but made them under oath agree to never give themselves or their sons or their daughters away like this again. This had reached such a terrible state, that even one of the sons of the high priest of Israel had taken a wife from an outsider, an old enemy at that, the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite. Nehemiah set out then, to restore the dignity and purity of the priesthood and ensured that the wood and firstfruits were donated, and asked God for favor with seeing these task through.

Believers must stand vigilant against creeping sin. Sins can creep in from all kinds of unauthorized and bad places. Here, these Jews were made to remember the covenant they had made and that their ancestors had made all the way back to Moses. We to, as followers of Jesus must remember the covenant that we have been placed into. The New Covenant, the Covenant (promise built relationship) with Christ The Covenant of Grace. Paul wrote about this covenant to the Hebrews in Chapter 7 saying: 20 None of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath made by the one who said to him:The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever.”[e]22 Because of this oath, Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant.23 Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. 24 But because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.26 For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever. What does this mean? That we are in a covenant based relationship with Him, He is our priest and offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. He did this once and for all time perfectly. Remember this covenant, where we you receive all the benefit, remember that Jesus died for your sin, keep your mind on that, it that will help you stay the course and hear those words, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Conclusion

Beloved, stand diligent against sin that loves to creep in. Don’t be like Israel here, search yourself often, search yourself with intent of finding, search yourself when some kind of change happens, search yourself when you’ve plateaued, search yourself during the good times too. Check yourself against these areas, worship, sabbath, and covenant, and if you find yourself lacking, make a change and discover something new and beautiful.

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can be more like You, and made more into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all too often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possibly can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.