Dream Small

Over the past year or so my family has been working on renovating my mothers home. It has been a serious undertaking and has at times been very overwhelming. It is easy when doing renovations to see where you want to be and become overwhelmed by the time that it will take to get there. When you go to replace a floor and find that you have to replace the beams underneath while maintaining the integrity of the other sections of the home. We have taken down drywall to find that we have to replace all the electrical and the studs. One surprise after another it has been a very overwhelming process and still has a long way to go. My brother has spent literal days and weeks working there and I am there when I can be. It could become so overwhelming and has at times made us think that burning it down and starting over would be easier. As we join Nehemiah and the Jews in the book of Nehemiah they are much in the same boat. The exiles and those who have survived are heading back to Jerusalem to find the walls destroyed and the temple destroyed and must find a way to rebuild their city. Nehemiah is allowed to return to Jerusalem by the ruling king. The Israelites have been in captivity and have long desired to return to Jerusalem. As we take this journey today we will look at 3 aspects of Dreaming Small. The first is the preparation where we will explore how every little detail of our lives is leading towards the goals that God has for us. Secondly we will explore the participation and we will see how God desires for us to participate in His plans for our lives not in major events but in the daily relationships and conversations that we are given. Lastly we will explore the perseverance that is required as we participate in the plans God has for us. Before we get into the Scripture this morning lets take a minute to pray for God to lead us in His will today.

The Preparation

Nehemiah 1 ESV

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah 2:1–7 ESV

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah,

Have you ever taken the time to consider your life? The relationships you have built, the neighborhood you live in, the stores you shop at? Do you believe that it is all a coincidence and that you are just wandering around in happenstance? We can see the evidence in Nehemiah that wile the things in our lives may not be pleasurable they are leading us towards Gods will in our lives. We find Nehemiah and he has been in captivity along with his fellow Jews to king Artaxerxes. They have long been in captivity at this point and long for their freedom. Nehemiah is a Godly man and has found favor in the Kings eyes. Nehemiah was selected by God before he was born to bring about the success of Jerusalem once more. We see that God has our lives planned in advance of us even knowing.

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Esther 4:14 ESV

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Take a moment to consider your life. Do you really believe that the home you are in was coincidence? How about your family? Were you born into your family without God knowing it? As if from Heaven God tosses babies down and is surprised by which families we are born into. What about your neighborhood, work, church? These places of our lives are set by God for a purpose.

Acts 17:26 ESV

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

You are not a coincidence and neither is your home, family, work, neighbors. We must take time to consider the preparation that God set in place for our lives. God has a divine design for our lives and we must keep this in mind. When our minds drift off of our purpose in the daily lives we live then we can begin to push the responsibility off and we do things like invite someone to church without being their real neighbor, we say nice things to others without helping them, we minimize our responsibilities and begin to push into corporate responsibility. We must maintain the truth that today is a gift from God and every encounter is designed by God for a purpose. Nehemiah had to be a captive to become the kings cupbearer and had to become the cupbearer to gain favor with the king. Nehemiah's life just like our lives were created with purpose. Nehemiah did not stop with being created with a purpose he actively participated in Gods purpose for his life.

The Participation

Nehemiah 2:5–6 ESV

And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time.

Nehemiah became a participant in God’s plan by stepping out in Faith following through with God’s will. Nehemiah seized the moment understanding that he was not the Kings cupbearer for no reason and that he was not given this message from his brothers for no reason. Nehemiah built the relationship with the king and understood Gods will to use that relationship for His plans. Nehemiah did not view his life as a happenstance he understood that God had a plan for his life and every relationship was designed to drive towards that goal. Could you imagine what would happen if we viewed those relationships in our lives as the most amazing parts of Gods plans? You see those relationships are often times minimized in our minds and hearts. We often times do not realize the value of the small things. Nehemiah was not some foreign diplomat, he was not rich ruler, he was a slave, a captive, someone that others would not view as powerful. Nehemiah viewed his life as important and having purpose, he maintained his Faith in times when it would have been easy to follow the status quo. Just the same as Nehemiah we must participate in Gods plans for our lives. It is time to stop minimizing the relationships in our lives and realize the importance of our relationships with our neighbors and family members. Imagine the change we can make in the world when we love our families the way God has called us to. Imagine if we loved each other in the church as God has called us to. What if we viewed ourselves as missionaries in our work and in our neighborhoods? You see I believe the devil has gotten us to overlook the importance of these relationships and we begin to push toward events instead of seeing the value in our relationships. You see events are fun and they are glamorous and flashy. Sunday services are rehearsed and planned and have all the good parts, we hit emotions with videos and we get into the word of God and the pastor even makes a call for people to give their hearts to Christ. Why do we need to be the ones living this every day? Why see our lives and the relationships as the best parts of God’s plans. After all our lives can be dirty and messy sometimes, we make mistakes and fail sometimes. Viewing my neighborhood and workplace as my mission field may require me to seek forgiveness from neighbors or co workers, or family members. Being participants in Gods will in the every day relationships will force us to see every encounter as a purposeful encounter. We tend to not think that the simple things in life make a big impact, I want to challenge that this morning.

A young man was in the middle of deciding if he was being called by God into ministry and grappling with the though of even being able to be used by God. He considered going up on a mountain top to gain perspective and maybe have some spiritual, emotional time with the Lord that would clear things up for him. He then considered going to a Christian concert where he might be moved to finally understand what it was that God wanted of him. In the meantime he went to hang out with 2 of his friends, one was a worship leader and one was his youth minister. As they sat there playing a board game and laughing at jokes God began to work on the young mans heart. In the moments following the young man understood that God was calling him to ministry. To every day ministry, to preach the truth not only on a stage but in his every day life, with his friends, family, and co workers. That young man was me. I am not perfect, I make mistakes. Sometimes I come to church and feel like a hypocrite and am reminded of gods grace. I try to continually remind myself that the simple every day interactions with my children, my wife, my neighbors, the guy at the grocery store, these are all designed for a purpose. God has shown me more in the simple interactions than in any major event I have ever been a part of. I have seen the spirit of God work less in this building than in the world with those who God has designed me to be with. I am going to present you with a challenge this morning to be a participant in Gods will. Don’ simply be a promoter but be active and involved. Promoters tell everyone come to church with me and see what Christianity is about, participants meet the needs of their friends and family, neighbors and coworkers without the desire for something in return. Promoters tell the homeless Ill pray for you while participants give a few dollars of provide food. It is time for us to see the importance in our simple relationships. It does not take a Billy graham event to change the world, Jesus did it by building 12 strong relationships. Take the time to be a participant in what God is doing. You want to grow your church? Be a good neighbor, be a Godly husband or wife, show your co-workers the love of Christ. When we rely on corporate events to reach those God has called us to reach we will fail every time and God will use someone else to accomplish His plans. Just as Nehemiah was an active participant in Gods plans we must be as well. Nehemiah found that as he became more active in the will of God on his life the more he had to understand how to preserver because of the pressure from the world to stop him from following through with Gods will.

The Perseverance

As Nehemiah became more active in realizing the relationships were designed by God and he began to use those relationships to reach Gods will he also found that the devil would try to stop him. When we begin to see the power in our every day relationships to point to Christ it will also increase our pressure to give in to the world. You will notice pretty quickly that there are events and there are people who want to discourage from the will of God.

Nehemiah 2:10 ESV

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

As soon as Nehemiah began to work the plan of God in his life there were those who were upset and not happy to see God’s will being worked for the children of Israel. As you begin using your every day relationships for the will of God there will be those who desire to discourage and stop you. It will take perseverance to continue in God’s will.

“There is nothing so fatal to character as half-finished tasks.  David Lloyd George.”

The devil wants to stop us in our tracks. Today when you leave here and you begin to apply this message by reaching out to your neighbors you will be presented with a challenge. Maybe your neighbor is grumpy, maybe they are atheist. When you reach out to your family they may remind you of your many sins and accuse you of being a hypocrite. Reaching out to coworkers and presenting the love of Christ at work may bring with it challenges related to employment. How will we respond when we are challenged? In many cases we fold under the pressure and we give in to the world. I’m convinced that is what has gotten the church into to come and see mentality instead of the go and show mentality. We don’t have to persevere when we are only inviting to church. There is nothing to overcome in our lives when we are not required to be the example to our children or spouse. The Jews began to dream small each one taking on responsibility for the wall in front of their homes and doing small sections at a time. They were not planning a huge work day they simply got out and did something with their family with what they had and did the best they could. As this began to happen the ones that hated the Jews began to see how much was being accomplished and so what happened? That’s right, the Jews were met with opposition.

Nehemiah 4:1–6 ESV

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

You see the Jews did not let the opposition stop them they allowed it to encourage them and to force them to work harder and with more diligence. As you begin to dream small and we all reach out in our homes and in our neighborhoods we will meet persecution. It may never be someone trying to kill us it may be as simple as having our job threatened, or having our neighbors mock us. When these things begin to happen it should not weaken us it should push us to be stronger.

James 1:2–3 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

As we close today out I challenge you to dream small. Never overlook the simple relationships that we have and see them as important tools in Gods hands. See your position at your place of employment as a gift from God. I challenge you to take the view off the things God has given you and look at the purpose of those things He has given you. When you face persecution may you be strengthened and may we view our church a church that dreams small. We don't need big events to reach the lost we simply need to talk to our neighbors, love our families, and reach out to our co-workers.