An Unlikeable Missionary

Introduction

Charles H. Spurgeon once famously said:

“Every Christian here is either a missionary or an impostor.”

Although I don’t believe Spurgeon meant to say that every Christian bears the title “missionary”, I do believe he meant to say every Christian is called to live on mission with God.

What does “living on missions” means:

“To live your life with a conscious intention of sharing the gospel and making disciples of those around you.”

To live on mission is to recognize that the mission field is not only a foreign land where people speak another language. To live on mission is to recognize the mission field is all around you.”

This morning I encourage you to consider that you don’t have to be a missionary to live on mission with God.

As a matter of fact, in the Old Testament we find a character who was all-in for the mission of God, and yet, I don’t think you would ever consider him a missionary.

I am talking about Nehemiah.

Many people know Nehemiah for his leadership skills or for his praying life. But one of his most important features, in my opinion, is his heart for his people.

Nehemiah had such a burden for his people, that looking the other way was not an option.

Three (3) features of Nehemiah worthy of emulation.

A Sensitive Heart for the Hurting

An Spirit Ready to Pray

Feet Willing to Go

1. A Heart Sensitive for the Hurting (1:1-4)

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.

Nehemiah’s Heart

Nehemiah had a burden for his people.

😅“If a fellow Dominican came up to me to tell me he/she recently visited the Dominican Republic, my first reaction would be: “So, what did you bring me?!

Where is the food?

Where is the coffee?

Where are the goodies?

But that was not Nehemiah.

The first thing he asked his fellow countrymen is: “how is our people doing?” (v2)

These are the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem from captivity with Zerubbabel and Ezra.

And, a remnant who never left the city.

The report was not encouraging. (v2)

“[They are] in great trouble and shame.” (v3a)

“The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” (v3b)

We get a window into Nehemiah’s heart by the way he reacted to the news. (v4)

“I sat down” - His legs failed him.

He mourned, fasted and prayed for days.

This went on for four (4) months. (Neh 2.2)

The Meaning of Jerusalem

You can’t help but to wonder: Why were these news so grievous to Nehemiah?

For the Jewish people, Jerusalem was more than a mere capital. It was the center of worship.

At the center of the city, stood the Temple of God.

People from all over country would come here to worship.

Since the Messiah was prophesied to rule from this city, their hope for redemption was deeply connected to this city.

At the same time, Jerusalem’s ruins were a source of national shame for the people of Israel.

Its ruins were a visual reminder of their sin and disobedience to the Lord.

God humbled Israel, in front of all the nations around them.

Similar to when you parents spanked you in front of your friends.

When Hanani reported that the people were “in great trouble and shame.” (v3) - He was not exaggerating!

Our People

🙁“In great trouble and shame” - The same could be said about the people around us.

I’m talking about:

The people you work with.

The people you study with.

The people you live with.

Even the people you worship with...

If we look around us, we can see lives in spiritual ruins.

Lives to which sin has brought upon shame.

Lives that are utterly cut off from God.

“We live amid the debris of broken lives, and we cannot afford to look the other way!”

Question: But how can we cultivate hearts like Nehemiah’s - sensitive to those hurting?

Answer: Observe (not look) the people around you.

My wife often points out how distracted I get when I am on my phone. Particularly, at our dinner table.

😂“Husbands, you understand how hard it is for me to say what I am about to say, but she is right.”

When my attention is locked on my cell phone screen, my attention is disengaged from my family.

“As long as our eyes are looking inward, we won’t take notice of the people around us.”

If we want to cultivate a sensitive heart, we must take our eyes off ourselves.

Make time to know other people.

Listen to their stories.

Pray for them and with them.

You never met a mere mortal. Remember the people you see are eternal. - C.S. Lewis

2. A Spirit Ready to Pray (1:5-11)

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.

Why Did Nehemiah Prayed?

To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them. - John Calvin

Upon hearing such a terrible report, what was Nehemiah’s first response?

Put together a proposal for the King?

Start a “GoFundMe” page?

Post a picture of Jerusalem in his social media -#PrayForJerusalem

Nehemiah did the first thing he should have done: Pray.

“Before he could come before the King of Persia, he needed to come before the King of Kings.”

How did Nehemiah pray?

A) He Identifies Himself with the sins of his people.

Nehemiah could rightfully have prayed something like this:

“God in Heaven, forgive this people for they did not know what they were doing.”

“God, do not count their sins agains them.”

But the fact that Nehemiah associates himself to the sin of his people shows us again what kind of compassionate heart he had.

He prayed for his people, not from a position of superiority, but from humility.

He prayed as someone who knew how capable he was of committing the very same sins.

“Nehemiah identified himself with the sin of his people so much that he felt their sins as if they were his own.”

What about us?

B) He Appeals to God’s Promises

Nehemiah did not appeal to Israel’s achievements, for they had none.

Neither did he appeal to God’s mercy for they didn’t deserve it.

Nehemiah appealed to something even God could not deny: God’s own word.

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses. (v8)

He then quotes several passages from Deuteronomy (Dt 28:64; Dt 30:1-4; Dt 12:5).

It’s almost like Nehemiah is holding God accountable for what He said He’d do!

Who will stand in the breach?

I cannot read these verses and not think of the words of God recorded in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 22:30 ESV

30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

“God is searching for men and women like Nehemiah.”

Who intercede day and night before the Throne of Grace for those who don’t want to come before the Throne of Grace.

Who pray for those fighting in the spiritual frontlines.

🔥God is searching for a church who stands in the breach between God and your nation.

John Knox was a preacher and leader of the Scottish Protestant Reformation. He is known for his powerful preaching and fervent prayer.

Queen Mary of the Scots once said of him:

“I fear John Knox's prayers more than all the assembled armies of Europe.”

However, John Knox is better known for his brief and bold prayer:

“Give me Scotland, or I die.” -John Knox

This is a man willing to die for the salvation of his people.

God is looking for people who pray:

Give me my workplace.

Give me my school.

Give me my family.

Give me my neighborhood.

Give me my city.

Give me North Carolina.

Give me the Nations… Or I die.

“The first thing Nehemiah did was to pray, but that was not the only thing he did.”

3. Feets Willing to Go (2:1-8)

Nehemiah 2:1–5 ESV

1 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. 2 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. 3 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?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 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.”

My mom has a prayer for those moments when God is calling you to do something hard.

😅"Here I am, send my brother.”

I hope this is not your prayer today!

Thank God it was not Nehemiah’s prayer either!

“God had place a burden in Nehemiah’s heart, but with that burden, God was also waking a calling in him.”

Nehemiah the Cupbearer

At the end of chapter 1, Nehemiah drops a “plot twist” into the narrative - He was cupbearer to the king.

To be cupbearer was to hold a prestigious office.

He would taste the king’s food and beverage to make sure it was safe for the king to take.

Cupbearers needed to be trustworthy people.

Consequently, he would also serve as adviser to the king.

I must pause for a minute and ponder the question:

“Did God used Nehemiah for this moment because he was cupbearer, or did God make Nehemiah cupbearer for this very moment?”

God doesn’t use you because you already have the resources.

God gives you resources so he can use you!

The Question

Nehemiah 2:2 ESV

2 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.

Nehemiah had reasons to be much afraid.

Cupbearer were not suppose to be sad before the king, for that was interpreted as a sign of ingratitude.

Artaxerxes was the same king who previously command Ezra to cease the rebuilding of Jerusalem under suspicious of rebellion (Ezr 4:12-13, 21-22).

“Nehemiah had every reason to be afraid, and yet, he presented his request with boldness.”

Nehemiah is Sent.

After listening to his explanation, the king asked Nehemiah what he needed (v4) and he granted him everything he needed (v8).

Nehemiah risked his job and life for a people he probably never even meet. Nevertheless, they were his people!

Do you know what surprises me about Nehemiah? When we read this story we so easily forget who Nehemiah really was!

On one hand, Nehemiah was a reformer. God brought revival to the people through this man.

On the other hand, Nehemiah was just a cupbearer.

He was not a priest.

He was not a scribe (like Ezra).

He was not a prophet.

🙂The best way to describe Nehemiah is simply as a business man.”

He never received a vision from the Lord.

He never preached a sermon.

His only sign and wonder was great management.

“Nehemiah was not your average missionary. He would probably not be your first choice for a Mission Conference. “

“And yet, He lived on mission with the Lord!”

What about you?

“What is the excuse we sometimes tell ourselves to quench the Holy Spirit’s urge for living on mission with God?”

You can’t learn a foreign language?

You can’t craft a sermon?

You are too old or too young?

You are just an “average Joe...”

You are a salesmen or a stay-home mother?

Our Pastor J.D. Greear often say:

“God calls some to leave their careers behind for the Great Commission, and others to leverage their career for the Great Commission.”

Did you know that many church in the New Testament where not planted by the Apostles?

They were planted by christians who worked and traded in the cities while living out their faith!

“You vocation is a hinderance to live on mission with God. Your vocation can be the mission God called you to live.”

Who is Willing to Go?

“I love that you sent a team to the D.R. this summer. I believe every believer should experience a Mission Trip at least once in their lives.”

But I know from personal experience, it is a lot easier to hop in a plane and share the Gospel in a foreign land, than to come home and do the same.

It is easier to go on a mission trip than live a mission life. But God is inviting us all to live on missions with him - And it starts right here, in Jacksonville, N.C.

William Carey, the father of modern foreign missions, famously said:

"Expect great things [from God]; attempt great things [for God].”

“Blue Creek, would you expect great things from God in Jacksonville? ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS!

Conclusion

I know to some of you, you hear these things and you think to yourself:

“You are asking too much.”

“Can’t I just give money to missions?”

I love how Warren Wiersbe puts Nehemiah’s life in perspective:

Be Determined Chapter One: Does Anybody Really Care? (Nehemiah 1)

The king’s cupbearer would have to sacrifice the comfort and security of the palace for the rigors and dangers of life in a ruined city. Luxury would be replaced by ruins, and prestige by ridicule and slander. Instead of sharing the king’s bounties, Nehemiah would personally pay for the upkeep of scores of people who would eat at his table. He would leave behind the ease of the palace and take up the toils of encouraging a beaten people and finishing an almost impossible task.

Why would anyone one want to be like Nehemiah?

The answer is simple: “Because that’s what Jesus did for us.”

Nehemiah left an earthly palace to be dwell among a city in ruins. Jesus left a heavenly palace to dwell among a people in ruin.

Nehemiah risked his life for his people. Jesus gave his life to save a people for Himself.

Nehemiah risked provoking the wrath of the king. Jesus took on the wrath of God and drank the cup of God’s judgement for us.