Sermon Tone Analysis
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Making Things Happen
Nehemiah 1:1-2:9
Every person has the potential to make things happen by taking the actions Nehemiah took.
Introduction:
Automobile genius Henry Ford once came up with a revolutionary plan for a new kind of engine which we know today as the V-8.
Ford was eager to get his great new idea into production.
He had some men draw up the plans, and presented them to the engineers.
As the engineers studied the drawings, one by one they came to the same conclusion.
Their visionary boss just didn't know much about the fundamental principles of engineering.
He'd have to be told gently--his dream was impossible.
Ford said, "Produce it anyway."
They replied, "But it's impossible."
"Go ahead," Ford commanded, "and stay on the job until you succeed, no matter how much time is required."
For six months they struggled with drawing after drawing, design after design.
Nothing.
Another six months.
Nothing.
At the end of the year Ford checked with his engineers and they once again told him that what he wanted was impossible.
Ford told them to keep going.
They did.
And they discovered how to build a V-8 engine.
Napolean Hill, Think and Grow Rich, 1960.
I believe that Nehemiah felt a little like the engineers working for Henry Ford.
He wanted something that seemed impossible, but still he took actions that led to the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls.
Action I. Research
A. Over the past few weeks I have talked about Daniel, and Jeremiah.
These are men who lived during the exile.
They were taken from their homes and made to make new homes in a new place.
Nehemiah is at the other end.
Nehemiah is at the end of the exile and has a passion to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem.
Just like Jeremiah said this is taking place seventy years after the exile.
Nehemiah has no idea of what has been happening in Jerusalem, he would not have even been in the city.
His entire existence has been as an exile.
His home has been in Babylon.
B.
When some men return from Jerusalem he asks them for an update of what has been happening in Jerusalem.
The information they give him is not very uplifting.
The report he gets is laced with words like great trouble, disgrace, broken down and burned.
It does not sound like the sort of place you would look forward to returning too.
This causes the realization that there is a lot of work that needs to be done.
The city needs to be restored.
He got some information on what the city looked like.
He did what research he could.
This research taught him what needed to be done.
C.
Imagine someone who wanted to build a house.
They might find a piece of ground to build on and also identify the kind and size of house they wanted.
Then they might hire an architect to draw up plans.
They might want to calculate how much the house would cost.
They would also identify potential contractors.
They might start to get some of the necessary permits.
These are all very important steps in building a house.
They are not things we would want to miss out on.
These are similar to Nehemiah’s research.
Then imagine that the project never got any farther than this.
You might consider this to be wasted time.
Nehemiah could have gotten stuck here.
D.
Two dangers people can fall into when it comes to research are they do too much.
They don’t know when to stop the research and start the project.
In essence the research becomes the project, and the original project gets lost in the research.
The other danger is running into the project too quickly.
This would involve going into a project without any research.
When this happens no one really knows what the project is and the project can flop because of a lack of planning.
It is necessary to find a balance between over planning and under planning.
What is the project God has given you a passion for?
Action II.
Pray
A. There are three or four months which pass from the beginning of chapter one to the beginning of chapter 2. So the prayer of Nehemiah is not all wrapped up in the last few verses of Nehemiah 1.
This probably gives us a sample of what Nehemiah prayed during those months.
In v. 4 we are told that he fasted and prayed after he heard what had happened.
I think that the reason those bits of information are included here is so that you know how long Nehemiah had been praying for the walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt.
B.
As I look at the prayer in Nehemiah 1 I see it broken up into a few distinct parts.
In vv. 5, 6 he seems to be recognizing God’s greatness and ability to rescue them from this situation.
He is doing what I would call praising God.
In vv.
6, 7 he begins a series of confessions for the sins that have been committed.
Remember many of these are sins that had been committed 70 years earlier.
It does not make sense that Nehemiah would be asked to repent of the sins of his grandparents and great grandparents.
These are not his sins.
He does not place the blame on past generations.
He says these are things we have done, including himself.
In vv.
8-11 Nehemiah makes his petition and reminds God of the promises he had made in the past.
He remembers instructions given to Moses warning that unfaithfulness will lead to exile.
He also remembers the promise that returning to God will lead to restoration.
He is asking that God would bring his people back.
C.
At the end of chapter 1 it says, “I was cupbearer to the king.”
While Nehemiah is praying this prayer there is a statement at the end indicating that he has no power to make anything happen.
He is serving the king of Babylon as cupbearer.
This was an important position, since the king would need someone trustworthy in this position.
The cupbearer would taste the king’s wine to make sure it had not been poisoned.
Certainly this created a situation in which the king could be poisoned, so the king needed someone he trusted in this position.
So we know that Nehemiah has been placed in position of trust, but he does not have the freedom to go and do as he wants.
D.
A key here is for us to understand that Nehemiah does not have the power or the authority to do anything with the report he has received concerning the city of Jerusalem.
It is something that makes him very sad, but there is nothing he can do about it.
However, he can pray and so he begins to pray and fast for the situation in Jerusalem.
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