Vision and Action What Is Needed In The Church

Vision and Action What Is Needed In The Church
Nehemiah 1:1-4

It was a cushy job and he knew it. It was probably the best job in the kingdom and he was well aware of blessed he was to have it. Work wasn’t always easy to find, especially when you were a captive foreigner. Most of his friends worked as laborers, and in unskilled positions. Even those who were professionally trained and experienced found that there were a lot of doors closed to them because of their race or religion.

There had always been those barriers and stumbling block, but he had risen above them. He was a real rags to riches story and he never let a day go by without thanking God for being where he way.

It was a cushy job and he knew it.  His job meant he didn’t have to work in the hot sun, that he never had to worry about going hungry, or having a place to sleep. It meant security for his family and a comfortable place to live and plenty to eat. He really didn’t like the idea of disrupting his life and ruining the good things that he had going for himself.

His name was Nehemiah. The Bible tells us in Nehemiah 1:11 that he was cupbearer to the king. That doesn’t mean that much to us, but it meant a lot to Nehemiah. You see, it really was a cushy job. He did exactly what his title implied. He carried the kings cup for him. This was an important job too. This was in a time when kings often were disposed of in a permanent way. There was always a fear, as king, that you might find yourself drinking Strychnine wine. Therefore you had a cupbearer, whose job it was to ensure was not hazardous to your health. He carried your cup with him everywhere he went. It never left his sight, so he could reassure the king that when his drinks were poured there would be nothing wrong with the cup.

The only drawback to the job was that Nehemiah always had the first drink out of the cup, just in case something got slipped into the wine. But Nehemiah was an optimist and his outlook was, “so far, so good.” Nehemiah had it made and he knew it.

In life when things are going well it is very easy to become comfortable. And that is true even as a church. I’m sure most of us have seen churches who have gotten settled into their own little niche where the offerings pay the bills, the preacher is doing alright, the building is almost paid off, the people have their usual seat, so why rock the boat?

Churches like people get into a rut, which is just a grave with both ends knocked out. They are comfortable, but they are not productive for the Kingdom. If a church is not careful is can end up just putting in time.

When Apple Computer’s co-founder, Steve Jobs, approached John Sculley, who was vice president of Pepsi Cola, to come on board as chairman of the company at  Apple, he asked him the question: “Are you content to spend the rest of your life selling fizzy water or do you want to change the world?”

I believe as a church we have to ask ourselves; do we want to spend our life playing church or do we want to change and impact the world for the glory of God? Do we want to be comfortable or do we want to be effective?

I think that it is possible that we as a church may have gotten into a comfort zone in many ways. We have been meeting in an acceptable building, unless it is really hot, or really cold, at an affordable cost, if they don’t need it for something else and we have usable office space at a cheap price. We have a decent pastoral staff. Our music is good, our youth group is growing, and we have an awesome King’s Kids program. And we had a tremendous mission team that went to Africa. But, have we entered the comfort zone?

We are coming back up in our attendance. We had 165 last Sunday with several of regulars gone. That means we are in the top 5% of churches in the nation in size. Boy that is scary.

But, then one day into Nehemiah’s little comfortable life, came an interruption. His brother had just come back from Jerusalem and Nehemiah asked him in Nehemiah 1:2 about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. (NIV) He was probably just passing time, you know how we do it when we run into somebody from the old home town, we say, “how’s everybody doing?” You really don’t care, but it’s proper to ask. We even do it at church, “hi, how you doing, good? Good.” And then there are people you don’t want to ask how they’re doing, because they’ll tell you.

You know how it’s done, but this time instead of hearing that everything was going fine his brother shocked him and answered in Nehemiah 1:3 (Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." NIV)

Now to be honest that is probably not what Nehemiah wanted to hear. He wanted to hear that everything was fine, but that wasn’t the story. In fact the story was just the opposite.  Things were going terribly and that touched Nehemiah’s heart. Sure, he was living in exile and had it really good, but he was still a Jew at heart and Jerusalem was still his spiritual home. To hear about all the tragedy that had come on all those who had chosen to return there was almost unbearable. It broke his heart. Listen to what he says in Nehemiah 1:4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. (NIV)

Nehemiah was upset. The news shook him up to the point of wanting to do something about it. Probably if he had stopped to think about it before, he would have realized that was what had happened, but he had never stepped out of his comfort zone long enough to be concerned about anything except for his own welfare.

Isn’t it interesting how God has a way of intruding into our comfort zone to remind us that there are men, women, boys, and girls out there who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior? So, God allows earthquakes and tsunamis and mudslides and floods that take away lives that remind us of our responsibilities and purposes as a church. God has the nerve to remind us. And He expects something from us. Matthew 28:19-20 says, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (NIV)

It reminds us the we aren’t alone in our cushy little church. We’re not supposed to be just playing religion and having a good time. We have a purpose for being here.  And we’re not to just be here as a comfort club for the saints. We are here to make a difference in the world.

The greatest definition I have ever read of what a follower of Christ is to be was given by the religious leaders in Thessalonica who dragged the Christians to the city rulers and in Acts 17:6 we read the charges "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” When was the last time our church was referred to as “those who have turned the world upside down.” And when grasp the reality of judgment and a real place called Hell and that there are men and women, friends and neighbors, relatives and children who are going to spend eternity there, then like Nehemiah we will sit down and weep, we will fast and mourn.

In Nehemiah’s concern he began to pray and ask God, “why don’t you do something?” But the problem didn’t go away just because he prayed.

 BUT THE PROBLEM DIDN'T GO AWAY, AND IT WEIGHED DOWN NEHEMIAH'S SPIRIT, AND THIS NORMAL HAPPY GO LUCKY GUY BEGAN TO LOOK DOWN AND ACT DOWN, UNTIL EVEN HIS BOSS NOTICED THAT THIS WASN'T THE SAME OLD NEHEMIAH. IN Nehemiah 2:2 (NIV) so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." HEY NEHEMIAH WHAT'S WRONG? HOW COME YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR PUPPY DIED. AND NEHEMIAH EXPLAINED THE ENTIRE THING TO THE KING, BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT SOMETHING YOU LIKE TO SPREAD THE CONCERN AROUND. MAYBE YOU THINK THAT THE LOAD WILL LIGHTEN IF YOU MAKE SOMEOTHER PEOPLE FEEL GUILTY AS WELL. AND SO NEHEMIAH POURED OUT HIS HEART TO THE KING. AND THE KING DID SOMETHING TOTALLY UNSPIRITUAL, INSTEAD OF ASKING "WHAT IS GOD GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS" HE ASKED WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT THIS.

AND SO NEHEMIAH GAVE A TYPICAL CHRISTIAN RESPONSE AND SAID "LET ME PRAY ABOUT IT." AS IF HE HADN'T ALREADY BEEN PRAYING ABOUT IT FOR FIVE MONTHS. AND SO WELL THE SCRIPTURES DON'T GIVE US A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE CONVERSATION THAT NEHEMIAH HAD WITH GOD WE CAN ONLY PRESUME THAT IT WENT SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINES OF "GOD, IT'S ME NEHEMIAH, AH LOOK THE KING WANTS TO KNOW WHAT HE SHOULD DO ABOUT JERUSALEM. IT'S LIKE A REAL ANSWER TO PRAYER, YOU KNOW WHEN I PRAYED THAT YOU WOULD CALL UP SOMEBODY TO FIX THE WALLS AROUND JERUSALEM. I;M REALLY GLAD THAT YOU ANSWERED THE PRAYER, SO LIKE WHAT DO YOU WANT THE KING TO DO? YOU WANT HIM TO GIVE ME SOME TIME OFF? SURE LIKE I COULD ALWAYS USE A VACATION BUT WHAT DO YOU WANT THE KING TO DO CONCERNING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. YOU WANT HIM TO GIVE ME SOME TIME OFF SO I CAN GO AND FIX THE WALLS SURROUNDING JERUSALEM. GOD THAT ISN'T WHAT I HAD IN MIND WHEN I PRAYED THAT YOU WOULD CALL SOMEBODY TO FIX THE WALLS. I MEAN LIKE WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY BROTHER HANANI? LIKE HERE AM I, SEND HANANI. OH, YOU WANT ME HUH?"

YOU EVER HAVE DISCUSSIONS LIKE THAT WITH GOD, "HEY GOD WHY DON'T YOU CALL SOMEBODY TO DO THIS?" AND THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW HE'S SAYING "HEY NO PROBLEM, GO FOR IT." HEY GOD THE CHURCH NEEDS X AMOUNT OF MONEY TO RELOCATE, OR FOR A NEW COPIER OR WHATEVER, COULD YOU PLEASE PROVIDE IT." AND HE SAYS "I HAVE PROVIDED IT, NOW YOU JUST HAVE TO GIVE IT." "NO GOD, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, I WANTED SOMEBODY ELSE TO GIVE IT, AND SOMEBODY ELSE TO DO IT."

BUT NEHEMIAH BIT THE BULLET AND WENT BACK TO THE KING AND TOLD HIM Neh 2:5 "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it."

I LIKE NEHEMIAH'S VISION AT THIS POINT, NOTICE HE DIDN'T SAY HE WANTED TO GO LOOK AT THE WALL, OR HE WASN'T GOING TO PRAY OVER THE WALL, HE WASN'T EVEN GOING TO LOOK TO SEE IF IT COULD BE DONE. HE SAID THAT HE WAS GOING TO JERUSALEM TO REBUILD THE WALL, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

"HEY NEHEMIAH, YOU EVER CONSIDER THAT THE JOB MIGHT BE TOO BIG FOR YOU" "MAYBE BUT IT'S NOT TOO BIG FOR ME AND GOD." WE NEED TO REALIZE THAT AS CHRISTIANS WE DON'T FUNCTION ALONE, REMEMBER Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. DOESN'T SAY "I CAN DO ALL THINGS BY MYSELF" NOPE, DOESN'T SAY "I CAN DO ALL THINGS BY MYSELF" NOPE, IT SAYS Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.