Who Really Cares (Neh 1)

Who Really Cares? (Nehemiah 1:1-11) [Scripture reading = Psalm 147:1-11] Intro: Retweeting isn’t the only way to demonstrate what matters to you. Fb: “If you believe God is bigger than all the giants you’ll face today, repost this. Sharing is caring.” Or “Share this if you love Jesus. After all, if you love me, you will retweet what I command.” – ‘Blessed is the man’ Psalm 1 for social media… - But seriously, caring is demonstrated by feeling a burden, inquiring further about it, carrying it to God on behalf of another, and offering your help in any way possible.  Nehemiah was a man who really cared. We see it clearly in our passage today. – The one who cares asks. The one who cares reacts. The one who cares prays. (turns to God, making confession, pleading with Him according to his great character and his own word, appealing to his mercy) The one who cares volunteers. (offers himself or herself to be a part of God’s solution – the true demonstration of what you believe) Read Passage & Pray (God, you are good and glorious; we are forgetful and slow to change and often petty. As the sun evaporates the fog, we pray that the radiance of your glory would remove the mist of apathy from us this morning and cause us to desire you more.) I. Setting the stage for Nehemiah: A. This historical account is based on Nehemiah’s personal record. He would become instrumental in the process of God restoring a remnant of His exiled people back in Judah. His name means “Yahweh has comforted,” or “Jehovah comforts.” His father is mentioned no doubt do distinguish him from other people of the same name. B. The twentieth year is a reference to the reign of King Artaxerxes, whom we meet in ch. 2 (making it 445BC). – Fifth Persian King, third in the line of his grandfather Darius, but 6 more followed him over the next 100 years of Persian rule before Alexander the Great transferred rule of the known world over to Greece. C. “Kislev” was the ninth month in their calendar (November/December). Winter also meant that they were in Susa (Shushan), a seat of royal power, as opposed to Ecbatana, the summer home of the King. (Like the hamptons of Persia? ) [map of Persian Empire] D. Hanani – evidently Neh’s brother, but we really don’t know if he is one who had been left behind (no pun intended) or one who had returned with Ezra, or had just made a visit. II. The one who cares asks. (v. 2b) A. Nehemiah cared enough to ask. – He could have decided, I don’t want to know – Sometimes knowing makes you feel obligated to DO something!  When we care we want to know the truth, even when the truth hurts. (can be uncomfortable, even painful) B. Neh became the living example of the gracious love of God for His people. Listen to God’s words when he was just fed up with their rebellion – Jeremiah 15:5 C. Do we ask because of a burden for God’s people and God’s work? (or b/c we are curious about the calamity of others or b/c we want to wallow in the sad state of the church?) – Call it compassion. III. The one who cares reacts. (vv. 3-4) A. The report wasn’t gospel (good news). [That’s me poking fun at us a little for throwing around the word gospel in Christian circles these days like it’s an Olympic event.]  bad news: “remnant… great trouble and shame… broken down and destroyed” B. Why did it matter? – We said last week that Jerusalem was the central emblem of the identity of the people of God. It was the holy city that housed the temple of the one true God. – Neh would have known of God’s promises and recognized that the prophecied restoration had begun. So to hear of this continuing destruction, disarray, and disfunction was terrible news. C. Why did he care? Neh was getting bored and needed something else to do. Neh was no doubt comfortable and had an important position. And was it really his fault the mess that they were in? D. Nehemiah wept. – Caring deeply about something or especially someone generates an emotional response. [Unfortunately, we often care more about things that matter less and care less about things that matter more. – hair illust.]  “What makes people laugh or weep is often an indication of character.” (Wiersbe) – When God puts a burden on your heart, don’t bury it or cast it off. Consider it carefully, feel it deeply, and turn to God hopefully. 1. Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. 2. Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. E. Again, we often think of weeping as a sign of weakness (and it can be), but weeping can be a sign of strength (as in this case with Neh).  We can tell b/c Neh didn’t just weep. He also fasted and prayed. IV. The one who cares prays. (vv. 5-10)  The one who cares turns to God. (1st of 12 prayers recorded in this book) A. Praying according to God’s character. – Our prayers should be shaped around who God is. Vv. 5 & 10b  Prayer is a demonstration of whom you put your faith in, whom you trust. – We ascribe praise to God not b/c we need to butter him up for our petitions, but because praising God is the fuel and foundation for our prayers. (If God is not attentive, why am I talking at the sky? If God is not faithful, what am I talking about? If God is not loving, why am I coming to Him? If God is not just… as well as forgiving, why do I make confession? If God is not powerful, why do I seek his intervention?) God is great &awesome, permanent in love and keeping his covenant, abounding in mercy. That’s why we pray. B. Confessing sin. – Understanding God’s holy nature and corresponding righteous actions puts the magnifying glass over our own sinful nature and ungodly behavior. The only right response to that is agreeing with God about sin (confession) and aiming your feet in a new direction (repentance). [And not just because it burns when the light of his glory and goodness is concentrated on you. Rightly understood and accepted, it turns to warmth and joy.] 1. Rom. 3:23 – for all have sinned (Neh says “we” – their sin and shame was his too), and Is. 64:6 (Our self-righteousness isn’t righteousness at all. We need HIS righteousness.)  Rom. 3:21-26 2. (Accordingly, God forgives confessed sin) 2 Chr. 7:14-15 [turn there… context is perfect]  to 1 John 1:9 C. Appealing to God according to His word and His mercy. 1. Neh makes a passionate appeal. (6a) – Was God not listening, had he forgotten? 2. Neh comes before God with the promises of His word (8-9), knowing that God keeps his word (v.5). – Remember in v. 8 3. Neh rightly knows that the result is at the mercy of God. (10 & 11c) – We can thus pray with confidence, like Neh, because we are certain of not only God’s power but also His goodness. Particularly, Neh trusted that God could work in the heart of the king. (Proverbs 21:1 “The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.”  And with all the promises that he had already kept, all the mighty deeds he had done, couldn’t he now help them rebuild the city walls? (certainly) – We are quick to pounce on others for lack of faith, but don’t we do this frequently ourselves? (We say we want it God’s way then make plans and take steps the world’s way. We say we trust God but then we worry. Which is it? Calling on God to remember will in fact help YOU to remember!) V. [So Nehemiah sat and wept, knelt and prayed, then got up and got involved.] The one who cares volunteers. (v. 11) A. It’s not enough to pray for someone or some situation without also asking God, “What would you have me do?”  James and John talk about this in the context of brothers in need: 1. [illust. faith w/o works being dead] Jam 2:15-16 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 2. 1 Jn. 3:16-18 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. B. Neh saw a need and volunteered to fill it. – “When God wants to accomplish a work, He always prepares His workers and puts them in the right places at the right time.” (Wiersbe)  That’s fine, but we often pray for God to provide someone else. Neh didn’t make excuses or complain about being ill-equipped. He in essence, said, “Here am I.” C. While the greatness of God makes it abundantly clear that he doesn’t need me, the grace of God prods me to get involved and experience the abundance of God’s greatness. – However, because God has chosen to make his people the instruments of his grace, then God does, in a way, need us to be available for his use. – At the center of a man or woman after God’s own heart is a willingness to be used of God for his will, whether the task be mundane or great. – [So God would accomplish a remarkable task, beginning with a man who cared.] VI. Why did Nehemiah care? Why should you care? – Why does it matter? In other words, who really cares? A. Caring demonstrates an alignment with the heart of God. (Or Caring comes from God aligning our hearts with His.)  Psalm 147:11 but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. – (our passage, 11b) B. God’s expectation of you is that you know him for who he is, that you respond to the people and events around you in light of His glory and eternal purpose, that you seek his guidance and strength, and that you invest yourself in his work. C. When by God’s grace he keeps working that transformation in you, believe me, you will care. – When you pray rightly for God’s glory you will care deeply for God’s people and volunteer immediately for God’s work. D. My heart for our church is to be a sending church. – That begins with people who care enough to ask, to weep, to pray, and to volunteer. [Prayer – please keep your eyes open so that you can read this prayer as I pray it aloud for us] “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love…” Train our hearts to care deeply for one another and to pray earnestly for those who remain outside your favor. Make us to care deeply about the evil that defames your holy name. Cause us to repent sincerely when we sin against your perfect will. And teach us to volunteer wholeheartedly for any ministry you place in our path. We are “your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.” Align our hearts to love you as you have loved us. Amen. [Benediction] May the great and awesome God of Nehemiah send you out by his grace, and grant you mercy to care deeply as you do his work, so that his people will be a light for the great name of Jesus Christ.