At
last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the
people had worked very hard. Nehemiah 4:6 (NLT)
The job to which God called Nehemiah
was to leave being a comfortable captive in the service of a Persian king
(Artaxerxes), and travel to the home of his ancestors in Jerusalem; it was
there the work of rebuilding the crumbling walls of a defeated people was to
take place.
God gave Nehemiah a spirit of favor
with the Persian ruler. King Artaxerxes
gave Nehemiah permission, letters of authority to rebuild the walls, and
supplies to accomplish the task.
What a great God we serve!
Arriving in Jerusalem, Nehemiah made
a midnight inspection tour of the broken-down walls, but told nobody of his
heart’s plans.
When he was ready, Nehemiah gathered
the people and gave them a 37-word “sermon” I
cannot match that! He told how the
broken-down walls of God’s city were a disgrace before the world. They should arise and rebuild (Nehemiah
2:17-18a).
Before Nehemiah could tell the
organist to play “Just As I Am” the people responded…Let us rise up and
build. (I’d like to see YOU match that!)
In classic fashion, the enemies of
God entered the picture before the ink was dry on the architectural drawings
for rebuilding of the walls (2.19); yet Nehemiah’s response was to trust God
(2.20).
That’s our refresher on the story
line from last week. For today, we have
the account of rebuilding the walls, and we learn a number of principles of Kingdom
building.
Lesson I. When it comes to the WORK, some are APATHETIC
Next
were the people from Tekoa, though their leaders refused to help. Nehemiah
3.5 (NLT)
A survey-taker knocked on a
door. When it opened, he asked the
homeowner if he was aware that the greatest problems America faces today are
ignorance and apathy. The man replied, I
don’t know, and I don’t care!
It is bad enough to have apathy among
followers, but Nehemiah faced
apathy among the leaders of
the little village of Tekoa. Not all
heroes are leaders; not all leaders are heroic material. The greatest heroes I have are of the
“ordinary” variety – folks who serve year-in, year-out in the mundane
ways.
On
the walls of Jerusalem, the common folk from Tekoa caught the vision their
apathetic leaders couldn’t see. In our
day there are apathetic folks in the kingdom of God as well.
When
people don’t see the need to serve others – when their own purposes and ideas
and appetites are far more interesting and urgent, it is apathy towards
God. When
people think life is too busy for kingdom work, it is apathy towards God.
It’s the kind of apathy which comes
up with a hundred excuses for not worshipping and not serving; it is apathy
towards God, and apathy towards God is sin.
Jesus had something to say to first
century churches that were apathetic:
“I know all the things you
do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I
wish you were one or the other! But since you are like
lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth! Revelation 3:15-17 (NLT)
What do you do to address
apathy? Lesson learned, and…
Application: When people
are apathetic, encourage them.
For those of us who slip into apathy
in our worship, service, stewardship, devotion, or witness…the encouragement is
stop
this!
a.
You are more than conquerors through Christ
Jesus.
b.
Greater is He who is in you, than the apathy
that wants to steal your service and blessing.
c.
Be strong in the Lord! Be the man, the woman, the young person God
called you to be!
We need to reclaim our PASSION
for the work of the Kingdom. Apathy is
the stuff of lukewarm churches and lukewarm
Christians.
If you know some apathetic believers,
encourage them. But don’t do it as if
you’re apologizing. We have enough
lukewarmness. Say it like you mean
it. “George….man what’s happened to your
passion? Are you backing off from the
Lord?” “Robin, why have you stopped
coming? What could make you give up on
Jesus?”
Apathy is backsliding, and it is
nauseating to God. It calls for strong
people to love the apathetic back into the fold.
You can do this!
Lesson II. When it comes to the WAY, some get OFFENDED
Sanballat was very angry when he
learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage…. Nehemiah
4.1a
It is as old as Cain and Abel. People always get offended; especially when
it comes to the way we remember things were, or think they should be. When these memories are contradicted by God’s
Word, or somebody messes with our agenda; watch out!
Most of the time when people get
offended, the infractions have prodded our pride – and we have forgotten how
our own sins have offended holy God! And
how God, for Christ’s sake has forgiven us!
Nehemiah was involved in a great and
difficult work. Some really warmed to
the task – others were apathetic; Sanballat was offended at the new guy,
Nehemiah, who arrived and took over his province. It is that way in churches sometimes.
Things
get changed. We do things
differently. We
don’t like this or that; so we grumble, or pout. We
pull back from everything. Sometimes
it happens when people don’t know the Word of God, and the leader points to
God’s way, and the follower says, “I don’t like that.”
Beloved, that is not spiritual,
Christian, Godly or even close to humble.
It is sin. It is sin to worry
about feelings when eternal souls are going to hell because we would rather
fuss over incidentals than take the time to go tell the gospel.
Application: When people
are offended, lead them.
What do you do with “offended”
folks? Lead them! Lead them with your example of Godly humble
service. That’s what Jesus did. Jesus was the perfect Son of God. He was accused of everything imaginable. His response was to give his life for His
accusers.
Lesson III. When it comes to REVERENCE, some will RIDICULE
…and mocked the Jews, saying in front of his friends
and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews
think they are doing? Do they think they
can build the wall in a day if they offer enough sacrifices? Look at those charred stones they are pulling
out of the rubbish and using again!” Tobiah
the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would
collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!” Nehemiah
4.1b-3
This same bunch that got offended
also lashed out at Nehemiah and the work.
That is the normal response of people who get angry.
Sanballat’s rage became a tirade of
mocking and insults. The problem with
that kind of anger is that no matter how you regret it later, once you’ve
ridiculed the work, your spirit is such that it is next to impossible to
repent, humble yourself and rejoin the efforts.
It is hard to admit you’ve been wrong
and going against God. That is why Satan
fell, and stayed down!
What did Nehemiah do? He prayed!
And that is our application as well if we would learn the lesson. When they ridicule…
Application: Leave Them
(to God)
Then I prayed, “Hear us, O our God, for we are being
mocked. May their scoffing fall back on
their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have
provoked you to anger here in the presence of the builders.” Nehemiah 4:4-5
Nehemiah didn’t waste his breath
trying to convert his detractors over to wall-building. And he didn’t fire-off some insults to answer
them back. It does no good to turn
around and ridicule someone who has deserted God’s will, gotten angry and
ridiculed the work. You become as
twisted as they. Nehemiah prayed,
leaving the results to God.
I have had many people angry at me in
my lifetime. Now, that’s hard to admit
for a peace-lover. I hate conflict. Having someone angry at me eats away at my
insides like cancer. On the other hand,
as a pastor I have studied God’s Word and human nature is revealed ever so
clearly there. We humans are a prideful
and stiff-necked bunch!
Most people act pretty reasonably
most of the time. But!!! Watch-out when you cross them! I recall a man who was a member of a church I
served years ago. He was pretty
reserved, but occasionally entered into the good-natured teasing men do when
gathered for a social event. And our
men’s fellowship was better at teasing than most!
Once, when our church was hosting a
community Thanksgiving service, the meal was ready, many of our members and
guests had arrived. It was a festive,
happy spirit that night; until he came through the door. With a great big smile, and warm handshake, I
teased, Well, look what the cat drug-in. He teased back, Cat wouldn’t ever drag somthin’
like you in.
The next day the man came to my office. The secretary showed him in and closed the
door. He never even sat down. He came to my desk and said, Preacher,
you embarrassed me last night. You ever
talk to me like that again, you’d better duck with the next breath, because I’m
gonna knock your head off. I
immediately apologized to him. I
couldn’t recall how I’d embarrassed him, but the fire in his eyes told me he
needed to calm down. Despite my
apologies, and offers to publicly apologize, he eventually stormed out of my
office, and we never saw him in the church again.
Now, that is an extreme example. Most people who get angry at the preacher, or
other church leaders, are really angry with themselves for some other
reason. And most times they ridicule
from afar.
What do you do about such? Pray….Leave them to God.
Don’t forget, sometimes God moves
people into your life and influence, and sometimes He leads them away. When the issue is truly a misunderstanding,
the truly humble servants will humbly come together to solve problems. But when people with a haughty, angry spirit
leave in a huff, leave them to God. He
is much better working with them than you will ever be!
Lesson IV. When it comes to SERVING, some will LABOR
At last the wall was completed to
half its original height around the entire city, for the people had worked very
hard. Nehemiah 4.6 (NLT)
By far this is the happiest part of
the story. The King James Version says
the people had a mind to work.
I like this newer translation; it says it plainly…the people had worked
very hard!
Some will always do the work, get the
job done. I am very appreciative for the
Kingdom laborers we have here. I am
ever-mindful of the fact that nothing can really be done without
cooperation. Our people cooperate on
doing unseen things – like opening the buildings for worship each week, praying,
visiting and bringing meals to the sick.
Nehemiah made the point that the wall
got finished because of the willing spirit and faithful service of the
people. In a church it is true that the
Pastor can’t do everything. Just as true
is the statement that whatever the Pastor does won’t be anything without the
people.
So, it’s not about the Pastor, or the
teachers and committee members or the style of worship – hymns or choruses. It is all about the family of God working together,
doing what God called to do…
a.
Share the Good News with people that Jesus saves.
b. Help people know Jesus and live by His word.
Nehemiah saw a great revival among
the people because God placed it in their hearts to work. What should we do about the work of the Kingdom?
Application: Join In
One lady wrote about a
women's club luncheon. She said
… a young woman sitting across from me spoke of the camaraderie
she felt with her mother-in-law since they'd opened a small craft shop. We all looked at her in disbelief as she
talked about the many tasks they performed together. When someone asked how she managed to avoid
the typical in-law clashes, she answered, It helps that one of us has a good
disposition. Amused, I asked
which of them that was. Oh,
she laughed, we take turns![1]
What a wonderful outlook
on working in a difficult situation!
We need that in Kingdom
workers…always. The Lord promised us we
would always find opposition to His Kingdom’s work. That is true – evil will always seek to undo
righteousness. Taking turns at having a
good, humble, Christ-like disposition is good medicine for preventing sickness
in the life of a congregation!
How we need that; for
only a healthy congregation can truly build the walls of God’s Kingdom.
Let us
pray:
God, give us courage to
face our own lack of strength, our apathy, with humility – recognizing we
depend solely on Christ for strength to accomplish the work to which He has
called us. Lord, we rely on prayer to
accomplish what we cannot – Be our strength, O God, our Rock and Redeemer!
Lord, like Nehemiah leading
the people to rebuild the Jerusalem of old, let us see rebuilt walls of family
and community in our day here in where we live, work, go to school and play.
May we see it in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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