Nehemiah 1:1–3 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.”

What Moves You?

Church, it is confession time!

Yesterday we took our son to watch Shang Chi. How many Marvel fans do we have in the house? We took my boy to watch the movie and man, did Marvel do a great job with this movie! Now if you don’t know why I have formed that opinion, it is because Marevel has created a cinematic universe. And their really good movies find a way to reach back to movies produced years ago, and weave them into a single story line. That’s what this movie did! i was watching this movie and nerding out as this movie brought back the story line from Ironman 3, which was made in 2013. 8 years later, and it’s all connected!

Now what in the world does this have to do with Nehemiah?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

The point I want to make is, I was never into Marvel until my son Jaden was. Truthfully, Marvel is out of my wheel house. But it’s in my son’s wheelhouse. And because he loves it, I wanted to love something together with him. So I started getting into Marvel so that my son and I could have this shared experience. This thing that we get to bond over.

We have gone to midnight premieres together, because what we do is a function of why I do it, and that is because I love my son. I am moved by love.

And today, I want to unpack this question together as we look at Nehemiah.

Who is Nehemiah?

3rd generation exile. It was likely his great grandparents who were taken from Judah into Babylon. Babylon is really all he has ever known.

Yet, in Babylon he is handed down the faith of his father’s. He is as devout of a follower as you could be while living in captivity.

His family had risen the socio economic ladder while in Babylon. This is evidenced by his ascension to the role of cup bearer.

Being a cupbearer was a great position that meant you have earned the utmost trust of the King. This wasn’t the trust of your friends. This wasn’t the trust of your cousins. This was living in such a way that the King of the greatest empire in the then-known world hand selected him and put him into this position of prominence.

The book of Nehemiah picks up about 13 years after Ezra had led the second wave of exiles back to Jerusalem. Zerubbabel led the first wave, Ezra led the second wave, and the scene is being set for Nehemiah to lead the third wave back to Jerusalem to finish the job.

Someone say, FINISH THE JOB.

Trouble & Shame

When Nehemiah asked how the exiles were doing in Jerusalem he received the bad news that they were in great trouble and shame. The King James version used the language “affliction & reproach.”

Trouble and shame give us a great insight into the plight of the exiles.

Great trouble means that they were facing external opposition. Their enemies continued to to be their enemies. They were dealing with external, physical pressure.

Shame means that in addition to what they were dealing with externally, they were dealing with internal struggles as well. Shame is a feeling. Shame is something internal that will happen as a result of something external.

Wall & Gate

The external and internal consequences that the exiles faced is a literal response to the the walls and the gate laying in ruins.

The walls are there to protect a nation from external opposition. They fortify the exterior of the City. They form a barrier between the people and their enemies.

The gate protects what comes inside the City. The gate is what protects people from internal damage. The gate will open and close, therefore controlling what is happening on the inside by way of this door.

Someone Who Cared

I want you to notice here in the text that Nehemiah cared about what was happening. When he finds out what is going on, he cared enough to go to God and pray.

He was in a great position, and had a good life. He didn’t have to care.

But his success was a material success. If he was winning in the material, while the spiritual was left in disarray, he didn’t feel as if he was winning.

Jerusalem, though it was a physical location, represented spiritual consequence. The fact that there was an altar and a temple, but its walls were in ruins meant that they would always have strife. They were a defenseless City.

How do you change a City?

Nehemiah 1:4 ESV

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.

Nehemiah Cared Enough

Nehemiah didn’t have to care. Nehemiah didn’t have to carry a burden for the city, but he did.

PERSONAL

I’ve talked about this before, but I want to be very articulate about how I share this with everyone.

I am an introvert. Every test that I have taken shows that I am an introvert.

Now, does that mean I don’t like people? No not at all. Being an introvert doesn’t mean that I like or love people. This is just how God made me...

But here’s what you need to know. I love people. More importantly, I love to see God’s redemptive work in people. Seeing God take move someone from not knowing him, to finding freedom, to discovering their purpose, and now making a difference, I live for this!

Why?

Because I care enough to get over my personal preference and dedicate my entire life to seeing people come to know Jesus.

Nehemiah cared enough to sacrifice his position, his comfort and everything he knew to go and serve a nation and a City.

Jesus was Moved with Compassion

In the New Testament we see this in the life of Jesus. Jesus would arrive at a City and see the depravity, the hurting, the sick, the broken… Other times he would see the affluent who were still empty. They business owner who has success and didn’t have purpose.

Jesus would go into a City and completely influence every person in that City. He would minister to the sick and homeless, and he would also minister to the person who had money and influence.

It was not one or the other, it was both/ and.

Lighthouse is committed to reaching all of our City.

Throughout the New Testament we would see Jesus move in response to a need. this is how it reads:

Matthew 9:36 ESV

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

This language is recorded all throughout the New Testament:

Jesus was moved with compassion.

Compassion caused Jesus to pray for the sick.

Compassion caused Jesus to heal the blind.

Compassion caused Jesus to heals a woman with the issue of blood.

Compassion caused Jesus to heal the Centurions servant.

Lighthouse, when we see our city are we moved with compassion? Do we feel a burden to reach out to everyone?

TRANSITION

One of the great things that our Lighthouse Students do is once a quarter they pause their Wednesday program and serve the city. This is on top of being active in Serve Day. This is just something that they do.

Every Wednesday the parking here around the church is slammed as kids are practicing football at Vista Magnet School right across the street. Next week they are going to be handing out water, gatorade and snacks to the athletes and parents.

Come on, what an awesome thing to do.

It’s seeing a need, and meeting a need.

Appealing to the Nature of God

Now Nehemiah was moved with compassion and he begins with prayer. How many of you know that prayer is a great place to start? Prayer isn’t our last resort, it’s our first option.

Pray First.

Nehemiah 1:5 ESV

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,

Nehemiah appealed to God’s nature.

It’s in God’s nature to love people.

It’s in God’s nature to be greater than anything we could ever go through.

It’s in God’s nature to be awesome and do abundantly more than we could ask, think or imagine.

It’s in God’s nature to keep his covenant.

We need to pray and be reminded that God loves our City more than we love our City. He’s looking for people who will start to have faith that matches the faith of heaven. He’s looking for people who will love like he loves. He’s looking for people who are going to have their heart break for the things that break his heart.

I believe that Nehemiah’s prayer is also a confession. As he looked at the situation in Jerusalem, his prayers put the goodness of God back into the forefront of his thoughts.

We need to do this church. Praying the scriptures and promises of God activates something between heaven and earth.

Jesus told Peter, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Now, the church has done a lot of silly things with that verse… some of you young men been using that verse to bind the girl you got your eye on from the man that she’s dating and you are loosening his grip so she can come running to you. Praise the Lord.

But just becuase scripture has been misused doesn’t mean that the scripture has lost its power.

There is power in agreement when you pray God’s word over your life, over your family, over your children, over your career… pray the word of God over your life.

The next time you are praying for your child, pray Proverbs 22:6:

Proverbs 22:6 ESV

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Praying the promises of God is bringing God’s word into your life, into your circumstances, and into your home.

Nehemiah Appealed to God’s Covenant

Nehemiah 1:9 ESV

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.’

Nehemiah Appealed to God’s Covenant

In this verse we read that Nehemiah now appeals to God’s covenant with his people. You said, that if we return to your commandments and do them, you would gather them together again.

Now his prayer is shifting from joining his faith with God’s promises, to now getting to this place where if I move, will you meet me there.

Listen, we don’t move to bend God’s arm. That’s not it. But when we move, we position ourselves where he already is.

Let me try and illustrate it this way… I give my son an allowance. But the truth is, even if he doesn’t do his chores, he’s not cut off from my love, my provision, my care… We do chores and allowance for his benefit.

I think that by keeping God’s word it’s to our benefit. He walks us through this life in abundance, and that’s for us. That doesn’t get him to all of a sudden do anything for us. That’s not the gospel. The gospel is everything is already done. We’re invited into this life of abundance.

Nehemiah is appealing to God’s covenant from this posture. He knows that he can’t twist God’s arm to meet him, but he is saying, I am going to do my part. When I do my part, I know you will meet me there.

It’s like a child looking up to his father knowing that if he does his part, his father will meet him there. There is a joy that is found in doing our part. There is a reward that is found in doing our part. There is a fulfillment that is found in doing our part.

CONCLUSION

And here in this last part, and where I want to close is this…

The prayer says that God would gather his people into a place that he has chosen.

We had Growth Track recently and it’s always this reminder every month of our why. Our why behind our Sunday services, and everything else we do as a church.

When God looks at his church, his bride, he doesn’t see logos, denominations, affiliations, or networks. He sees his church. We are the ones who get really worked up about our name, logo, style, etc. And the truth is, God loves people more than he loves our logos. He so loves people that he wants to make sure that he sends them to a house where they will be cared for, where they will find a faith family, and where they will grow more like Jesus every day.

Our role is to continue to create a place and a church where God can trust us to love, care and serve the people he sends to us.

Remember, He is the Lord of the harvest. He just needs more laborers. He needs more people willing to mend the nets of the church as he sends an abundance of fish.

When Jesus called Peter and the other disciples to be his followers, the Bible said that they were mending their nets. You can’t catch fish with holes in your net.

In the same way, when you have a heart for your city, it should give you a heart for your church. A heart to serve your church. A heart to mend the nets. When God sends people our way, can we walk with them. Can we come alongside them. Can we care for our city?

So again, I ask, what moves you?

Maybe it’s seeing your children grow up in the house Of the Lord - then let your preferences go to see this happen.