CHURCH WITH A PURPOSE DATE: May 4, 2014 TITLE: NEHEMIAH SERIES PT.1 “DOES ANYBODY CARE?” MAIN SCRIPTURE: Nehemiah 1:1-11 NLT “These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem. They said to me, ‘Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.’ When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said, ‘O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God Who keeps His covenant of unfailing love with those who love Him and obey His commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for Your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against You. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that You gave us through Your servant Moses. Please remember what You told Your servant Moses. ‘If you are unfaithful to Me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to Me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for My name to be honored. The people You rescued by Your great power and strong hand are Your servants. O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring You. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.’ In those days, I was the king’s cupbearer.” As a child in Sunday School and a student of a Christian school, I learned to recite the books of the Bible in index order. Part of that recited index included Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. However, the actual chronology of these books from a historical perspective is Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Now, what does that matter? Knowing the chronology sets up this part of Israel’s history clearly so we can see just where Nehemiah was and where Israel was at this time in God’s plan. Due to their idolatry and refusal to obey the commandments to the Lord, Israel and Judah were both taken captive by enemy kingdoms at different times, and as a result the tribes were scattered. At the beginning of the book of Esther, a powerful king named Xerxes ruled the Persian empire. The king’s word was absolute law and few dared to cross him. But his first wife Vashti, chose to refuse to obey his commandment that she appear before his drunken, feasting nobles. She was probably justified in this, but the king deposed Vashti for refusing to come, and selected a new queen from the loveliest women in his kingdom. God’s hand was in this decision, as the young woman selected was a Jewish maiden named Hadassah. We know her better by her Persian name, Esther. Esther hid her Jewish identity in obedience to her cousin Mordecai who raised her. Most of us who have read the story know what happened. Esther eventually had to reveal her identity in order to save her people from being destroyed through Haman’s plot. The Jews of that day had no favor with the king until Esther was placed on the throne. Years later, Nehemiah was a Jew serving King Artaxerxes, Xerxes’ son, in one of the most prestigious positions at court—the king’s cupbearer. That may not seem like a big deal to us, but for the Jews of that day, Nehemiah had achieved a pinnacle of success. He was probably content with his life until he heard distressing news one day from his brother and some others who had recently visited Judah. An earlier king had decreed that the Jews could return to their homeland but what devastation was awaiting them at home! One of the most striking features still seen in Jerusalem is its walls. The city walls had four special significances to the Jews, and these can be applied to our spiritual lives as well: 1)Walls provided boundaries. The church today seems to be set partially on the rock-solid principles of the Word of God, and partially on the loose, shifting sand of secular ideas. Where are the boundaries? Right was once right and wrong was wrong, but today we have all these gray areas where anything can be made right or wrong depending on the circumstances rather than on God’s Word. 2)Walls identified them as a legitimate people. Many Christians have lost their identity and don’t know what it means to be a Christian. If one is asked what they believe and why, or where they can find that in the Bible, a lot of Christians don’t have a clue. 3)Walls provided protection. Christians as a whole have lost the ability to fight. Why? Because we have neglected our Swords! The Word of God is no longer prominent in our lives and we are content to accept the words of man, words that might be emotionally stirring, but emotionally stirring is not the same thing as biblically sound. 4)Walls provided strength. Despite all the resources we have, we are the weakest generation of Christians in 2014. All of these things were affected by the breakdown of the walls and things looked grim indeed. But God was about to give Nehemiah favor in the eyes of the king so that he could return to Judah and rebuild the walls. Nehemiah may have wondered as he sat in mourning, his face in his hands—devastated by the terrible report he had heard—whether it was worth it to go on, whether anybody cared. We have all felt that way before. Maybe some feel that way right this minute. Maybe we feel that nobody cares, that we have no purpose, or that our life is in vain. But know this—Someone does care. Nehemiah decided to turn to that Someone instead of throwing a pity party. He was a cupbearer, not a contractor, but Nehemiah is proof that one person can make a difference. We can learn a lot from Nehemiah and apply it to our own spiritual lives. Let’s take a closer look. HE ASKED A SIMPLE QUESTION. That question was, HOW ARE MY PEOPLE DOING? Ever notice how we avoid asking questions sometimes because we really don’t want to know the answer? The Bible tells each of us to examine our own lives, and many times we don’t want to open the Bible because it reflects our spiritual condition the way a mirror reflects the physical condition. Nehemiah wasn’t afraid to ask the question outright, even though he may have suspected he wouldn’t like the answer. He wanted to know the true condition of his family. The old saying, “Ignorance is bliss” is all too true in our lives. If we find out there is a problem, then we are obligated to do something about it, so we figure it’s better just to pretend everything is fine. Don’t rock the boat, right? The simple question we need to be asking is, “Where am I in the eyes of God?” and as spouses and parents, “Where is my family in the eyes of God?” We might not like the answer, but it is only when we recognize and confront it that we can move ahead. Nehemiah decided that he wanted to make a difference—that he HAD to do something. HE FOUND THE FIRST STEP. The first step is recognizing that there is a problem. The second is to be concerned about the problem. The depth of Nehemiah’s concern can be seen in his response to the news. As stated earlier, he didn’t throw a pity party. He didn’t post it on Facebook (or would it be Facescroll, back then?) and take a poll. He did weep, but it wasn’t just the hand-wringing “oh dear, that’s just awful” kind of weeping. It was deep, intense mourning for the state of his people and his homeland. He felt the suffering and the devastation right along with them. He fasted and he called out to the Lord. Note three characteristics of Nehemiah’s prayer: 1)Recognized God’s character—“great and awesome God.” This wasn’t like that hurried prayer that some of us cram into one of our few quiet moments, “Dear God, help my family. Amen.” He took the time to recognize Who God is. Nehemiah knew he was only one man, but he served an awesome God that could do anything. He longed to be part of God’s plan but he clearly understood that any help would come from God alone. 2)Consistent fasting and prayer-- Most of us tend to pray only when we think about it. But prayer was constantly on Nehemiah’s mind. He fasted for days, praying day and night to the Lord. 3)Contrite and broken-- Psalm 51 and Jesus’ parable of the two men praying in Luke 18:9-14 help us to see the importance of coming to God with a broken and humble spirit. So often we want to fix everyone else’s life and ignore what is wrong in our own. We need to get our own hearts right before God first, and then understand that it is God Who does the changing. Notice that Nehemiah acknowledges the sin of himself and his family. 4)Reminded God of His promises—Nehemiah knew God’s Word enough to know what God had promised. How many of His promises have we committed to memory? God does not forget His promises so that we would need to remind Him. But He does love when we hide His Word in our hearts and it becomes a comfort to us when we need it. The reminder is really for us! HE SET OUT TO DO THE WORK. Notice the end of Nehemiah’s prayer. 1) “O Lord, please hear my prayer!” Sometimes there are just no words that can describe the pain and turmoil we feel and all we can do is cry out to Him. This is probably some of the most meaningful prayer we can experience. This is when the Spirit intercedes for us—when we don’t know how to pray. (Rom. 8:26) The Lord already knows what is on our hearts—He is longing to commune with us, even if we can’t speak a word. 2) “Give me success” Nehemiah had become as successful as any Jew could become in those days with his prestigious court position. He was continually in the king’s presence, and yet he wanted success. He pleaded for help. This is because Nehemiah knew that true success is success in the presence and eyes of God, not in the eyes of the world. 3) “Grant me mercy” Nehemiah knew that he would have the opportunity to speak to the king, having the position he held. He prayed that the Lord would prepare the king’s heart beforehand to be merciful to him. And we will see that God answered this prayer. When we go to teach a class or witness to someone, do we pray beforehand for the covering of the Lord upon us? Do we pray for Him to grant us mercy and prepare the hearts we will be ministering to? Today is the beginning of our last journey. Our spiritual journey does not begin on the mountain top but in the valley, and it is often exhausting and painful. But all the pain will be forgotten when we reach the view at the top! We ask the question “Does anybody care?” God cares about who we are and where we are going. He wants us to journey out of brokenness that He may make us a success not in our own eyes but in His. He has a plan for us! (Jer. 29:11) Where we are now is the only place to start. Are we ready to ask the hard questions? Are we ready to take that step of prayer? It is impossible to overestimate the importance of prayer in our lives. Even Christ’s work at Calvary began with His prayer in the garden. We don’t have to pray long, eloquent prayers—just to tell Him what is on our hearts, or even just to sit still and absorb His presence. We often see what He is doing in others’ lives but what about ours? Aren’t we ready to experience His hand in our lives as well? He is in the business of recovery and restitution, and this is what the book of Nehemiah is all about. Does anybody care? Yes, He does.
Posted on: Sun, 04 May 2014 20:36:46 +0000
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