4.1.28 6.6.2021 Nehemiah 1 Repent

Restoring Hope by Restoring our Kingdom Focus

Entice:

Engage: Israel was destroyed because they confused the way of Kingdom with the ways of Empire. Judah, having seen Israel abandon YHWH...did the same thing. Kingdom and Empire are like oil and water. They do not mix. Loyalty must be absolute.

It is interesting that the Exile produced a number of Judean leaders who worked both in domains. Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. Esther and the individual who will be our focus for the next several weeks: Nehemiah.

Expand: Nehemiah understood that his position, his privilege, and his political connections prevented him from coming to a place of repentance. He could not lead Judah towards its Kingdom purpose by relying on the methods of Empire. He and his contemporaries needed to understand that their shame and loss could only be accurately understood in the context of God's faithfulness and kingdom-driven covenant-keeping purposes. So he left the palace. Though he was a confidante, maybe even friends with the emperor he realized that you cannot serve two individuals who thought of themselves as “King of Kings.” To lead his people toward a hopeful purpose he had to leave the palace. It all began for him with a report

Nehemiah 1:1–4 ESV

1 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, 2 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. 3 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.” 4 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.

The report drove Nehemiah to prayer, repentance, and sorrow.

Here is a signal and important insight. In our circumstances a report like that would cause us to question, resent, and blame God; to assume it was His fault. In this particular scripture, and many others, the exact opposite is assumed. The more Biblical or should we say best Biblical response is Nehemiah’s; prayer flowing from sorrow for and repentance from our own

Excite: Prayers of repentance are not magic formulas. The ouchies don't just go away. Prayers of repentance are affirmations of faith which abide regardless of outcomes.

Explore: This series title Restoring Hope by Restoring our Kingdom Focus assumes a couple of defining realities.

Our Hope needs Restoring

Our Focus needs Realignment

Nehemiah models this entire process for us and the process, like most significant things in our lives, begins at the beginning—Repentance.

Hope means abandoning self and accepting the sole sovereignty of God

over the entirety of our lives.

Nehemiah 1:5–11 ESV

5 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, 6 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. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 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.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 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.

Explain: To understand Nehemiah's choice of Kingdom over Empire you have to understand the two foundations upon which his prayer of repentance rests.

The first foundation of repentance is that we must...

Be Responsible.

This is a matter of ownership. Prayer that acknowledges God’s faithfulness but not my fecklessness is irresponsible. Prayer that acknowledges God’s power but not my weakness is irresponsible. Prayer that accepts and pleads for all that God can do without asking forgiveness for my own disobedience goes beyond irresponsible; it is grasping, and proud, and selfish. All of those things which had brought Judah ruin and which bring us ruin in the first place.

So responsible prayer is...

Personal

When we approach God personally that prayer will...

Humble

Wept

mourned

fasting

praying

love and keep His commandments

we have acted corruptly

we have disobeyed

The final measure of responsible prayer is that it should be...

Biblical

Acts of God

Word of God

Nature of God.

A second foundation for repentant prayer is that we should be...

Be Realistic

Timely

Prayer is not wish fulfillment nor is it Ego driven.

Grounded.

Not just anything.

Too vague

Not everything

Too grasping...borders on pride

This thing.

Why I pray with my Bible and Calendar.

Success with this man.

Shut Down:

We live in interesting times. Our world has challenges that have not confronted people like us in several generations. I will not say they are unique. They are not. We have so long lived with an expectation of a certain level of comfort that we thought it was ours by right. Judah had experienced that kind of thinking. It was that self-satisfaction which got them exiled.

Nehemiah knew that no government was strong enough, no politics powerful enough, no human institution influential enough to fix what was broken in Judah and reclaim the hope of God’s Kingdom. That came not from standing and advocating but from kneeling and admitting fault. It was not the Emperor who could restore hope. Only God. And the long road of returning to Him begins with repentance.

And some think there is no Gospel in the OT!?! Nehemiah only had a small part of the story. You and I understand the full gravity of repentance and the complete story of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. It is time to take seriously the call to repentance which will empower the Church to proclaim Kingdom hope to a solution-less, feckless, hopeless world.