We're All In This Together!
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Introduction - There is a local radio station, WCSG, that uses the tag line - “We are stronger together than we could ever be apart.” I love that line and it makes a great deal of sense to me...
Main Idea - The Vision of One Must Grow into the Passion of Many
Explain...
The last time we encountered Nehemiah is when he was before King Artaxerxes. If you remember, four months prior, Nehemiah heard from his brother Hanania that the walls in Jerusalem were broken down and in major disrepair. The enemies who surrounded Jerusalem where continuing to harass the children of Israel. Nehemiah was devastated because of the situation about his homeland. He prayed to the God of heaven. He fasted and begged God to forgive he and his people. He prayed and reminded God of His covenant promise to His people, that He would restore His people to the promised land.
For four months he prayed like this, until the day that he stood before the King and the King asked why he seemed so sad. Nehemiah was ready. He not only prayed for the last for months, but he made a plan that when the time was right, he would ask the King to be relieved of his duties and go to his homeland to rebuild the wall, protect his people and restore the glory and splendor of God to the land! And after he made the request of the King, he said yes! The reason the King said yes? Nehemiah answers that question for us in verse 8...
“And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me ().”
God’s good hand was upon Nehemiah! God answered Nehemiah’s prayers in the affirmative. All systems go! Nehemiah was headed to Jerusalem. No longer as a Cupbearer, but as a King authorized Governor ()!
(vs. 9) The King was not going to have his trusted cupbearer, make this 2-3 month journey alone. He sent with Nehemiah, his “officers of the army and horsemen.”
(vs. 10) Anytime anything is attempted for God, there will always be opposition. Enter the bad guys! In verse ten we Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite heard about Nehemiah’s intentions and they were not happy about it!
Vs. 11-20 is where I’d really like to draw your attention. Listen as I read verses 11-16 and see if you notice anything...
11 So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13 I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15 Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. 17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” 18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”
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There are 19 “I’s” from verses 11-20. Nehemiah had a vision and a purpose in being there. It was to follow the directive from God to repair the wall and restore the glory of God to this city and to this people.
And as he inspected the devestation caused by the surrounding enemies, he soon realized that everything his brother told him was true. The state of his beloved city was in desperate disrepair. And the scope of the project began to sink into his thinking.
Because Nehemiah is a planner, I have no doubt he had thought about this already, but now that he was seeing the devastation first hand, he had to be thinking this will be an “all hands on deck” project! It will take a tremendous effort on the part of God’s people. There was no way this former cupbearer and now, newly minted Building Contractor, would be able to pull this off single handed. Even with the unbridled support of the King, Nehemiah would still need God’s people to step up to the plate and serve!
And so we see a dramatic shift in his language starting in verse 17.
In verse 16...
And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.
But then in verse 17, the “i’s” turn to “we’s”...
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.”
Do you see it? Nehemiah’s “i’s” turn into “we’s”! He knows he cannot tackle this project alone. (This is hard for me, but I work at it everyday. I must get things started and then train people, and then hand it off! If this church is going to flourish and thrive it’s if you, the people do the work of the ministry!
Notice what Nehemiah does.
First, he opens their eyes to the problem - “You see the trouble...” Sometimes when you are deep in the mess you grow accustom to the mess and even grow comfortable with the mess.
Second, he associated with their problem - “You see the trouble WE are in...” He doesn’t separate himself from them, but includes himself in the challenge.
Third, he casts vision of what could be - “Come, let US build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” He doesn’t deride or shame them because of the condition of the walls. No! Instead, this outsider shows them what could be! Those broken down and burned wallbs and gates can be restored! God’s glory can return! This can actually happen!
What does he men by “that we may no longer suffer derision”? The word derision means disgrace or reproach. He is lighting a fire underneath them and says, it doesn’t have to be this way any longer. By the way, this was 94 years after King Cyrus decreed that the Jews could return to Judah! Obviously, it wasn’t a simple return process. Judah had a lot of enemies that didn’t want them to succeed. God moved in Nehemiah’s heart to go and lead them out of this discrace!
NIV and NLT = “disgrace,” NASB and NKJV = “reproach.”
Fourth, he is clear that the Lord is in this vision - “And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me.” He testified to what God had already accomplished by just getting him to this point! No turning back!
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
Fifth, Warning! There will always be “nattering nabobs of negativism” -
nattering nabobs of negativism
nattering nabobs of negativism
Well, Nehemiah was up against people outside the people of God who had a vested interest in seeing the Children of Israel fail!
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
They will alway be there. People who know better, who sit back and armchair quarterback the whole process, they are the ones who say, “if I were in charge” Yet they don’t do anything to help move the process forword.
Judas and the expensive ointment -
“Rowing the boat verses rocking the boat.”
Sixth, Keep Speaking and listenting to God focused, Bible Saturated encouragement!
No turning back! The wall was going to get rebuilt! God had already made this abundangly clear by clearing the path for Nehemiah to get to Jerusalem.
Nehemiah promises that “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”
Pastor Bob is a huge encourager…It’s easy to see the negative. It takes a special person of faith who can see through the fog of doubt and despaire to see a vision of what God has in the future!
Can you imagine being the downtrodden Jews, priests, nobles, the officials and the rest who were to do the work, seeing Nehemiah stand up to Sandballot and Tobiah! Can you imagine how refeshing it must have been to hear this New Governor of Jerusalem look them in the eye and tell them with all the confidence of God himself, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build!”
Look at the Congregation - We too have prayed often and passionately (almost daily for the past 3 years.)
“The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build!”
And I too have all confidence in the God of heaven that he will make us prosper, and WE HIS SERVANTS WILL ARISE AND BUILD a building for the GLORY, HONOR AND MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST OUR BLESSED SAVIOR!
But it won’t happen unless we are unified. The “I’s” must be “We’s” - We must work together to achieve this goal for the glory of God!
The Vision of One Must Grow into the Passion of Many
Today, like the first of every month, we celebrate communion.
Communion is about unity - We must be unified in purpose around here.
What are we here for? Why do we exist as a church? To make Jesus Christ famous and to make disciples of all nations!
Have a positive atttude
Yes, we are to make Christ famous! We are to glorify him by the way we live our lives in the public realm as well as the private! We are to glorify him by loving the lost in our community as well as loving each other in the church. We glorify him by having Him who lives in us, to live through us!
And we all must be on the same page with this! A Christian Body of believers that is unfied and of one mind is a powerful tool in the hand of God.
This is why we the Lord commands us to celebrate communion on a regular basis.
First, that we would never forget what Christ went through on our behalf to rescue and redeem us from the penalty of sin.
Second, to ensure that the Body of Christ is in sync with one another. Unity is very important to the Lord.
So, as we celebrate this table today, if you are not unified with this body, then you are not unified with the Lord. If there is something going on between you and another believer or believers in this body, you have a responsibility to humble yourself and get it right. You can’t wait for them to come to you, you must go to them!
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
This table is about unity around Christ’s sacrifice for our sins.
Pray
Bread
Pray
Cup
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Offering (remember benevolence