The True Issue

If you have ever had a medical issue (which is probably most of us in this room) than you know there are two ways to treat a medical issue.

One of the first ways and probably the easiest is treat the symptoms.

And this is great that we can do this because we have the ability to make it so people can get through painful medical issues.

But the problem with treating most medical issues this way, is that there is still a real underlying reason why that pain is there.

And thats why the second and most of the time better option is instead of treating the symptoms, is to have the actual medical issue taken care of.

Because often times if the real issue is not taken care of then it will actually cause the problem to get worse and not only that but eventually treating the symptoms may not even be effective.

I mean it is important to treat the root cause of the issue isn’t it?

And if you have been with us we have been looking at this guy named Nehemiah, and Nehemiah has been working at fixing the wall around Jeruselum

And up until this point Nehemiah’s focus has been on the wall, but if you were with us last week the wall has been finished.

But what we are going to learn is the wall is really a symptom of what the real issue is.

And I have said this a couple times, but the issue is not the wall, but the wall actually reflects the spiritual condition of the people in Jeruselum.

And I know what you are thinking what does a wall have anything to do with the spiritual condition of people.

But if you look at the Old Testement you can see that whenever people were obedient to God and followed where He called them He blessed them,

but whenever they began to stray away (and say we know better than God) they would get themselves in trouble.

And if we were to look at what got Jeruselum into this mess in the first place we would see that it was they said “We know better than God”

And so what Nehemiah does is his focus shifts from taking care of the symptom, to taking care the the root of the issue.

Because if he does not take care of the problem at the root, the issue will just come back.

So we are going to be in Nehemiah 8:1-12 and really what we are going to discover is there is a root issue that we face in our lives, our kids lives, friends lives and we are going to look at what do we do about this root issue.

So once again we are in Nehemiah 8:1-12 and and will be starting in the first 4 verses. It says this:

Nehemiah 8:1–4 ESV

1 And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand.

So I want you to understand what is happening here because Nehemiah has gathered everyone who has the ability to understand into one main area.

And this is a huge gathering, in fact scholars believe there are anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 people present and what Nehemiah is about to do is have everyone in Jeruselum listen to the parts of the Bible that have been written up to this point.

And it is really important to point out here that this is probably the first time in the long time that the Jewish people have gathered together to do this.

And so Nehemiah makes sure that this is a big deal.

Because if you looked at what we just read it is a pretty big deal.

I mean they build a large platform for this.

They have gathered an entire city of people (Its hard to find a time to get your family together on the same day let alone an entire city)

I mean if you were here you would have recognized that this is a big deal.

You would have probably been sitting on the edge of your seat because you knew what you were about to hear was important.

But when something is important you make a big deal about it right?

I mean think about it if because if Arika and I decided we were going to plan a trip to Disney and so now naturally as a father I am going to want to try to get Liam excited about the trip to help him know this is a big deal. (because he probably has no idea what Disney is)

I mean think about it because every time we are watching Mickey Mouse club house I would tell him “Liam we are going to see Mickey at Disney!”

I would show him pictures

I would start a countdown and ultimately I would do whatever I can to help Liam understand that this trip is a big deal, because I want to to understand it is important.

But you know the issue with a lot of Christians is that we do this thing where we say the most important thing in our life is God, but then we give him the the change of our life.

Imagine with me for a second that your life was represented in the 24 dollars I am holding.

Every dollars represents an hour of your day.

You would say okay I spend 8 dollars on sleep

probably 8 dollars at work

You spend a few dollars watching Netflix

You spend a dollar being with family

You spend a couple dollars exercising

and then a few dollars on some misc. things

And then you get to the end of the day and you have a little bit of change left and we say okay I am going to give this to God.

I mean I am not a budget expert but if we have 24 dollars and we are only spending 15 cents on an item I would probably say that its probably not that important.

But the truth is that is what we do to God, we spend our life on other things where by the time we get to the end of the day we give God our change. (drop change)

And this is important to point out because this does not just impact your life.

But your kids will pick up if we are giving God our change

Your friends will pick up on it

People pick up and what is does is it communicates to people that God is not that important in our lives and if He is not important in our lives, why should He be important in theirs.

I mean it is so important that when we follow Christ we are commited.

Well look at this next part, because Nehemiah has communicated “this is a big deal!” But look what happens in the next few verses (verses 5-6)

Nehemiah 8:6–8 (ESV)

6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

So All the people are assembled and there is a guy named Ezra who was a prophet at the time and Ezra opens up the book of the law (the word of God) and as he does it He praises God.

And not only that but the people respond and say Amen! Amen!

And then they lift up their hands and they start to bow their heads on the ground worshiping God.

I mean maybe its just me but does this seem like a little overkill?

I mean how come when I open my Bible everyone is not chanting and raising their hands? (Use a Bible and open it)

But what I want you to get is like we talked about that these people have lived lives where they said “I am above God” “What I want to do with my life is more important than what God want’s to do”

and now they have seen where that has led them.

They have seen the brokenness it has led to

and since it has been awhile since they heard scripture and for some it could possibly be the first time in their lives

They were excited to hear God’s word.

Since they have been in the dark so long they realize that this word; these instuctions that they are reading are life giving.

I mean to often we view the Bible as a manual. I mean think with me whenever you receive a manual for a TV or really anything do you read it?

No because its boring and all it tells us is do this and do not do this.

And scripture does contain instructions, but the words we read in this book are not just instructions, but they are life giving.

But occasionally it is little challenging for us to view scripture this way because whenever we encounter God’s word (unless we have our life completely together (where there is nothing left we need to do) than there will probably be things that God say’s I want you to work on this or change this.

And we do not like to be told somthing is wrong in our life and needs to be changed do we?

I mean I was at the doctor a few months ago and they told me that I have gained a little bit of weight and probably should try to get back into exercising.

Now do I like being told that I am getting a Dad Bod or possibly a Pastors Bod?

No of course not! But is it important for me to get told something needs to change so I can live a healthy life to the full? 100%

And I just need to be honest because if you read the Bible there will be things in it that you will most likely read and possibly be offended by it.

Whether you consider yourself a liberal person or conservative there be things that where you read it and might be a little offended.

I mean if we looked at scriptures view on sexuality, immigration, capital punishment, how we treat the poor, gender identity, I mean I could probably get a lot of you upset with me.

Because some of these things go against the popular views in our culture.

I mean you can feel the tension in the room rising. Can’t you?

But what would happen if instead of us rushing to conclusions, we paused a listened to what the scripture was saying?

Because scripture should never be used to show hate towards someone and offend you beyond belief,

but scripture helps us identify the things that are toxic in our life (the things that are harming ourselves and the others around us) (the things that break God’s heart)

And it helps point us to something greater

In fact if we were to look at the overall purpose of scripture it is to point you away from the things that are life taking and point you to the one who is life giving (which is Jesus).

And you even see this is this next part because look at verses 9-12 it says this:

Nehemiah 8:9–12 (ESV)

This Day Is Holy

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. 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.” 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.

So the word of God begins to be read and God’s Spirit is working, because people are attentive and we actually find out that people are crying

I mean God’s word is penetrating their hearts and they are making this realization of where their sins have led them.

And they feel broken, because they realized they have missed the mark.

I actually remembered that a few years ago when Arika and I picked up our dog Tinley when she was a puppy she was a couple hours away

And so I put the directions to get to the place to get her but something happened where I put the wrong directions in my phone...

and the phone took us to a place in the middle of no where over an hour away from where we were supposed to be.

and if you have ever done that its a bad feeling because your not where you thought you should be.

And to be honest its easy to feel that way when God speaks to us and we realize that we missed the mark and our lives may even be far from where God has called us.

And there is an aspect where it is healthy to realize this.

But I love what Nehemiah says, because He points out that this in not a day to mourn, but it is a day to celebrate.

because while its frustrating to get lost its an amazing feeling to be found.

and because of this Nehemiah tells them do not cry but go out and party, eat some good food because you have come back to God.

You know this morning I just have to ask is it time for you to come back to God? or maybe even come to him for the first time.

Because when we come to God its not for shame, but it is for us to turn to God and say God I need you and I want to be in a relationship with you.

It is to turn us from our sin and turn to Christ, because He is already pursuing you.

This morning if that is you I would just invite you to come to God this morning.

Because you might now know everything, but God will meet you where you are this morning.

Lets pray.