Growth in Recovery
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he saw a city in ruins and a broken and desperate people. They had returned to the city after the Jewish people spent seventy years in Babylonian and Persian captivity. This was a people who had lost thousands of family members and friends. It was a people who had been enslaved in foreign lands. It was a people had lost everything; perhaps the greatest of those losses being a broken relationship with God.
When Nehemiah originally heard about the conditions in Jerusalem and the condition of the people there, he wept and mourned for several days. When He arrived in Jerusalem the first thing he did was gauge the faith of the people. Remember, recovery is founded in faith. When Nehemiah encouraged them to begin rebuilding they responded “Let us rise up and build.” Their faith was strengthened when they faced opposition in rebuilding. God demonstrated that he was with them in that process. As the people were rebuilding the wall, they made other changes regarding how they related to one another and how they related to God. They were on the path to recovery.
Once the wall is completed, the people gather in the city square and they ask Ezra, the priest, to read the Law to them. In other words they asked him to read the bible to them. They made a wooden platform for Ezra to stand on as he read from the scrolls containing the Law; the Word of God.
Most growth is gradual, but most growth also includes noticeable milestones. Many of us probably had marks on a wall or door frame where we marked the changing height of our small children. Maybe it was on their birthday that we measured and each year they were a little taller. Maybe some years there was more growth, maybe some years not quite as much, but there was growth none the less. As we get older many of us do not measure the growth in our height as much as we measure the width of our pants, or perhaps the number of prescriptions in the cabinet. My point is that my daughter never went to bed the night before her birthday and woke up two inches taller. She had been growing all year. The marks on the wall were just milestones.
Growth in recovery from a loss also has milestones. It is those times and events that we look back on and see as significant. It was a moment when we realized something we had never noticed before. It is that moment when we accomplish something we had been working on. It is that moment when we realize that we will survive the loss and be able to live a happy and productive life in the reality of the loss.
Our passage this morning illustrates some milestones that might indicate growth in recovery.
Prayer
So what are some some of the milestones that might indicate growth. Let me just say that I think what we see in our passage are milestones founded on or centered in truth.
Confronted with Truth
Confronted with Truth
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.
As I said earlier, the setting for this passage is the people in Jerusalem gathered around a platform while Ezra reads the Law to them. We should understand that Ezra was likely reading from scrolls that were written in Ancient Hebrew. The majority of the Jewish population probably did not understand Hebrew well enough to understand what they were hearing was really intended to mean.
8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
The law was read clearly. This means that Ezra read the scroll and then interpreted for the people with speech they could understand. But he did more than that. Ezra and the others involved in the reading gave the sense of what was written. In other words they explained what it meant. They did this so that the people could understand what was written and the meaning of what was written.
This all occurs on the 1st day of the 7th month. According to the Law, this was the day the Lord set aside for the Feast of Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets was also known as Rash Hashanah. It was intended to signal a call for nation to repent. It was also a day that caused the people to remember the provision of God as He delivered them from Egypt.
We should remember that repentance is is not an emotion. Repentance is an intellectual decision. It is often accompanied by emotions, and we see that here; but the decision is made based on truth. Repentance is a decision to change course or direction. Let me illustrate If I am going to drive to Northern California to visit Mary’s family, I will likely make my way to I-22 and go to Memphis, where I will hit I-40 and take that west to Barstow Ca. Then make my way northwest to Monterey. If I leave the house and make my way to I-20/59 and head east I am going in the wrong direction and will never make it to California. Mary will get upset and tell me I’m going the wrong way. I may refuse to acknowledge that I’m going the wrong way. But If I want to get to get to California, I am going to have to acknowledge the truth that I am going in the wrong direction and that I am never going to get to where I want to go. I am going to have to turn around and go in the opposite direction. That is repentance.
The people are confronted with the truth of the law and they mourn and weep. Perhaps because they realized that they had been forsaking the feasts mandated by the Law. Perhaps they realized they were forsaking the law in other areas, in the same way their ancestors had done. The truth is their ancestors brought about the losses they suffered. It was also true that this generation was on the same path. As Ezra read the Law they were confronted head on with the truth of the past and the present.
They were overwhelmed by thoughts of the past; the feelings of guilt; the sadness over what was lost; the what-ifs and thoughts of what might have been had they and their ancestors made different decisions. Perhaps they were also overwhelmed when Ezra read the promises in the law that expressed God’s love, concern, desires, and grace. They realized there was still a divine hope that awaited them.
When we suffer loss, we begin a cycle of grief and change that are part of that recovery. We have points in that recovery when we are confronted with truths. Perhaps they are truths about the past. Perhaps they are truths about the present. Perhaps they are truths related to the future. If we are going to grow beyond where we are, we have to be confronted with those truths, and acknowledge them.
Encouraged by truth
Encouraged by truth
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.”
What we see in this part of our passage is an attempt to encourage the people with truth. The audience had been confronted head on with the truth of the Word of God. They were mourning and weeping. Perhaps some thought they were too far gone. Perhaps some thought their was no possibility for recovery. Perhaps some were simply focused on the negative aspects of the truth.
Many criticize preachers that do not release fire and brimstone from the pulpit. Some will say that Jesus spoke about hell more than He spoke about heaven. That is simply not true. There are 19 passage where Jesus talked about hell. There are 90 where He spoke about heaven. My rule is simple; preach the text. If the text calls for the topics sin, condemnation, or judgment; then preach it. If however the text calls for the topics of love, grace, encouragement, and redemption; then preach those things. People need to hear both, with a focus on what the message of the text is. It is clear from the reported speech of our Lord Himself that He was far more interested in pointing people’s thoughts toward heaven than to hell.
Ezra and the others reading that day wanted the people to focus on and be encouraged by the truth of what their future could be, rather than what it had been. Rather than remain where they are, mourning the past, it was time to begin growing closer to the Lord and celebrate the future.
Like good Baptists, they are encouraged to worship and celebrate the Lord with a meal. Ezra tells them to “go their way” This is not simply a command to leave the square and go eat. This phrase is also a figure of speech that says leave with a new attitude and outlook. The meal was a celebration of the new found joy in their relationship with God. It was a celebration of new life; a life focused on the truth about who He is, what He has done, and will do. It was a celebration of the truth of His love and desire for a relationship with this people. It was a celebration that would serve as a milestone on this path to recovery from all they had lost.
There is not question that when we are confronted with the truth about our losses and the truth of where we might find ourselves as a result of those losses, we could find discouragement. But as a believer and follower of Christ, we can be encouraged by the knowledge that the best is yet to come. Ultimately that best life is found in THE TRUTH, that is the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is illustrated by the first recorded miracle in the Gospel of John. We know it as the miracle in Cana, when Jesus turns water to wine. After this miracle wine is served, this is what John reports
10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
There are many periods in history and life that we could apply the point of that verse. Paul associated the same idea when he said “to die is gain”.
Central to the idea of growing is the recognition that God is with us wherever we are in life. More than that, He does not desire to leave us there. He wants us to have an abundant life in this world; that is a life filled with His presence and activity. That abundant life is also focused on a future hope, that culminates with eternal glory.
Be encouraged by the truth.
Responding to Truth
Responding to Truth
12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
It is fine for us to be confronted by truth. It is fine for us to feel good when someone is encouraging us while speaking or expounding truth to us. But when the service is over; when the bible is closed and put back on the shelf, we are faced a decision to do something with that truth.
In our passage the people of Jerusalem are confronted with truth, encouraged by that truth, and respond in a positive way to that truth. How do we know that? Because verse 12 tells us that they did as they were instructed. That does not mean that life was perfect for them from that day forward. It does not even mean that they remained in a pattern of spiritual growth, focused on the truth and hope for the future.
There is some growth we cannot control. I used height as an illustration earlier. We cannot control how tall we are. That is determined by our genetic makeup. But there is other growth we can control. I also used the idea of growth in our waistlines as an illustration. Though not all of us do it, and some of us may repeatedly try to rationalize or make excuses for that growth, the truth is we have control over that growth.
We also have control over our spiritual growth. We have control over the pace of that growth in the reality of our losses, and how that growth impacts our recovery. If growth is centered in truth, then our response to that truth determines the rate of that growth.
We have to respond in a positive way to the truth we are confronted with. We need to wake up every day and recommit ourselves to that truth. We will have good days and bad days. Sometimes we may need to be confronted again and again. But through all of that growth is occurring as we respond to truth.
Conclusion
Conclusion
H. Norman Wright identified the truth that some people survive and grow in recovery from loss; and some do not. He identified a number of traits for survival and growth. The one who survives and grows
Plans ahead when possible. This is another way of saying they do everything they can to prepare for losses that are a certainty.
Learn from others.
Are not complainers.
Have positive role models
Have a heartfelt desire to learn and grow
Do not blame others
Have effective coping mechanisms
Find ways to live in the reality of the loss
Continue to enjoy life
Are flexible and adaptible
Has faith in God
To grow in recovery, we have to be confronted by truth, find encouragement in that truth, and then respond in a positive way to that truth.
The most important truth we must be confronted with and respond to is the truth about who God is, who we are. He is the perfect and holy God of creation and we are fallen human beings, living in a fallen creation. That is why loss is a reality to begin with. More than that, this condition has caused us to become separated from God.
The gospel.