Remembering, Revived, and Relevant
Text: Nehemiah 2:11-20
Title: Remembering, Revived and Relevant
Thesis: Our mission is the driving force into the future.
Time: Sermon Series -The Mission-Driven Church
In the 1980s, Dave Dravecky pitched for the San Francisco Giants. He loved the game of baseball. He began having problems with his pitching arm. In 1988 doctors discovered he had a tumor in his pitching arm. And sadly, in 1991 his arm finally had to be amputated. He wrote a book called When You Can’t Come Back about his sense of loss. He wrote, “I miss doing things with my own two hands, and –of course –I really miss baseball. There is a scene in the movie Field of Dreams where Shoeless Joe Jackson –one of the eight White Sox players banned from baseball for conspiring to lose the 1919 World Series –said, ‘Getting thrown out of baseball was like having part of me amputated. I’d wake up at night with the smell of the ballpark in my nose, the cool of the grass on my feet. Man, I did love this game. I’d have played for food money. It was a game. The sounds, the smells, I’d have played for nuthin.’” Dave Dravecky likewise commented, “That scene had a powerful effect on me. I missed those feelings too. The fell of stitched seams as you cradle a new ball in your hand. The smell of seasoned leather as you bring the glove to your face. The sound of a bat cracking out a base hit. I’d have played for food money. I’d have played for nuthin.”
We’ve all had losses. Although our losses may be different than the loss of a pitching arm like Dave Dravecky, our losses also carry a sense of sadness and pain. Some can tell stories about losing a job or losing a loved one who died. Some know the pain of a relationship that has ended either through moving to a new location, or having a spouse die or going through a divorce. Like it or not, losses are a part of life. Losses come sometimes when we least expect, losses sometimes occur that make returning to how things were impossible. It may not matter how much we wish things could be how they were before, no matter how hard we may try, things will never be the same. Losses call for new ways, new routines and new relationships. So what do in a time of loss, when we can’t go back? What do we do when we long for how things used to be, like Dave Dravecky missing the smell of the ballpark, feeling the grass in the cleats of his shoes, hearing the sound of air swishing past the bat of a player and into the catcher’s mitt? As Dravecky titles his book, “When You Can’t Come Back,” we can add, “When You Can’t Come Back, Then You Go Forward.”
The Israelites were struggling with this very issue in the book of Nehemiah. They’ve just come through a time of great national loss. Some 50 years previously they were defeated in war, sent off into exile, their land and buildings destroyed. And now they’re back. But when they return to the city of Jerusalem they are deeply grieved. Things aren’t like they were before. If anything, they’re worse. The city is in total ruins, they have few resources by which to improve things. So how do they move forward? They capture a vision of who they can become. If they work together, then their nation can be restored.
As a nation we’re learning how to move beyond the national loss of the events of September 11th, 2001. A remarkable thing happened a week ago today. On July 4th last week, an emotional ceremony was held in New York at what is now known as ground zero, the place where the World Trade towers once stood. "Today is indeed a momentous day," said Gov. George Pataki at the ceremony to break ground for what is designed to be the world's tallest skyscraper, which will stand where the World Trade Center once stood.
"Today we take 20 tons of Adirondack granite -- the bedrock of our state -- and place it as the foundation, the bedrock of a new symbol of American strength and confidence. Today, we lay the cornerstone for a new symbol of this city and this country and of our resolve in the face of terror." An inscription on the cornerstone read, "To honor and remember those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001 and as a tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom -- July Fourth 2004." The skyscraper is expected to be 1,776 feet tall, so designed to mark the year of American independence. Initial occupancy is scheduled for 2008.
About 500 invited guests attended Sunday's ceremony -- 100 of them family members of those killed in the September 11 attacks. The 13-year-old son of a Port Authority police officer who died in the attacks read the Declaration of Independence and was the one speaker to receive a standing ovation.
"As we lay this cornerstone, we remember that the liberties, which are the bedrock of our nation, can never be shaken by violence or hate," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
"By laying this magnificent cornerstone of hope, we are sending a message to the people around the world that freedom will always prevail. The war on terror that we now fight requires courage and our freedoms will always be the source of our courage."
Daniel Libeskind, designer of the master plan for the World Trade Center site, added, "We commemorate not only the physical restoration of the site, we also celebrate the strength and resilience of the human spirit. This magnificent Freedom Tower ... will inspire New York, America and the entire world with the ideals of liberty and democracy."
While the sentiments were widely shared, some families of September 11 victims have criticized those in charge of the rebuilding effort for sidestepping historic preservation and a professed commitment not to rebuild on the acre-wide squares where the twin towers were anchored -- known as their "footprints."
"We are not opposed to the rebuilding moving forward" said Anthony Gardner, whose brother Harvey was killed inside the south tower. "We just don't want it to move forward and the physical remains of the footprints to be destroyed in that process."
The nation of Israel were starting a period of rebuilding. Literally, they were rebuilding the city of Jerusalem after a war that left destitute for many years. What they needed were a connection with their past, a sense of identity. They needed a driving vision, something that would see them through the hard work of building. They needed something that worked then and now.
Last Sunday on July the 4th, a celebration was held at ground zero, what we've come to call the place where the world trade center towers once stood. The celebration not only was held to remember the lives of those who died there, the celebration also unveiled the new Freedom tower-symbolism, place, driving force, not cement and steel but a determination to be free. Same for the church, what drives us into the future?
How will they build their future? They will find a mission to drive them. As we think about our future:
Remembering -We are not severed from our past. What do we value, who are we? What people and events are important to our past, what stories?
Revived -The energy source, our mission. Nehemiah brings revival through reading the Bible. The people gather around it.
Relevant -The mission reaches a new generation, in many ways unlike us. Nehemiah is preaching to a new generation, we are too. Who are the people we are reaching with the Gospel? New generation, Christ died just once.
How do we keep going in the midst of defeat and loss? We keep things in perspective.
In 1984, 1988 and 1992 American speed skater Dan Jansen suffered a series of disappointments in his attempts to win Olympic gold. How did he keep coming back time and time again? He says he learned to keep things in perspective. He said, “When I was nine years old, I was competing at the youth national championships in Minnesota. I was in good position to win my first national title when, coming around a turn, I tripped on a rubber hose set up as a lane marker. That slip cost me the title by one point. I started crying. I was crying as Mom took off my skates and during the award ceremonies. I was still crying when we got in the car and when we pulled into our driveway six hours later. My father hadn’t spoken a word to me all the way home. But as we got out of the car, he said quietly, “You know, Dan, there’s more to life than skating around in a circle.” With God there is much more to life than any disappointment we are now facing.