population, but for many years after the split was more faithful to God than

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1 Nehemiah 1:1-11 Rev. Brian North Rebuilding: Lessons from Nehemiah January 4 th 2015 Facing Reality 1 This morning we embark on a journey through the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah tells one of the great stories of rejuvenation and renewal that you'll find anywhere in Scripture, as Nehemiah leads a rebuilding effort of Jerusalem, particularly the wall that surrounded the city. And as he does this, we're going to see how God uses him and strengthens him for the task at hand of leading these efforts, including his facing up to reality, working with people, finding hope in difficult times, overcoming obstacles, trusting God, and celebrating an accomplished mission. These are aspects of life that we all face and work with and deal with. So although the events of Nehemiah take place almost 2,500 years ago, his experiences are as current and real today for us as they were for him. And so as we go along, I believe you'll see that Nehemiah is the kind of person that you and I can relate to and can learn from. And I believe that the book of Nehemiah, especially the person of Nehemiah and what God accomplishes through him, will be a great inspiration at the start of Now the setting for all these events in Nehemiah is, admittedly, a bit foreign to us. Strange names, and different part of the world, not to mentionn centuries before today. So let's get a bit of a grasp of where and when this is. As we read a moment ago, Nehemiahh is in the city of Susa, which was the winter capital of Persia, in modern day Iran, near the Iraqi border. At this time in history, the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north, and Judah in the south. (Map here.) Judah was the lesser of the two kingdoms in terms of size and population, but for many years after the split was more faithful to God than the northern group. And Judah was the part of Israel that Nehemiah was from, and the city of Jerusalem was part of Judah, as well. Eventually, however, Judah's faithfulness to the Lord waned as well. And in 587 B.C., during that time of straying from God, they were overtaken by the Babylonian Empire. A few years later, Babylon was subsequently conquered by the Persian Empire. So as we go through this book of Nehemiah, the Israelites are in exile, in Persian captivity, with the best and the brightest of their nation being taken captive into the cities of Persia, and the rest left behind in the ruined city of Jerusalem and other towns throughout

2 Judah...and they've been in this state of exile for 140 years. 2 And so as we come to Nehemiah here, we see a divided and broken Israel. And the symbol of the nation of Israel be it the southern kingdom or northern kingdom is Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a city, but it is also a symbol for the faith of the people; it's a symbol of their relationship with God. And as the condition of their relationship with God goes, so goes the city of Jerusalem. And Nehemiah shares for us that he gets word from Hanani, one of his fellow captives, that the walls of Jerusalem are still broken. The city walls are broken down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire. The people who escaped the captivity and survived are a broken people. And while this is a disgrace to them and they desire to fix the city, as I said: it is also a symbol of where their faith is. And their faith in God is broken. Not just because of the exile, but even before it they had strayed far from God and experienced brokenness in their relationship with Him and with each other. Much like them, we experience brokenness in our lives. And so the question I want to start with this morning is: Where are we broken and burned like the walls of Jerusalem? There are so many things in life that can break us down. Maybe you've been broken down by a critical spirit that saps your joy, or a spirit of anger that you can't control. Maybe you ve been broken down by fear, such as fear of failure, or fear of the future, or fear of not measuring up to the world s definition of success. Maybe materialism or greed or an addiction or something else has left you feeling broken and burned. There is much in life that can break us down, and we've all been broken by something, if not several somethings. That s not to say that there is nothing good going on in our lives, but simply to acknowledge that where we've been broken, and what still needs to be repaired by the grace of God. Nehemiah also learns that the gates have been burned down. Similarly, there are times when we get burned by other people. Betrayals, lies spoken about you, accusations unfairly made, rumors that have hurt your reputation or burned the bridges of relationship. There are all kinds of things that can leave us feeling burned.

3 Sometimes our broken and burned state happens quickly and obviously. Metaphorical example: Thanksgiving Turkey story here Basting sauce, ziploc bag, tipped over Mess! But often, it happens over time, so gradually that we may not recognize it, like a slow leak that you don t know is there until you find a soft spot in the floor or in a wall. It's that burned and broken place that Israel has been in for some time. Nehemiah had undoubtedly heard the stories of when Jerusalem was sieged. He understands what Jerusalem means to the people of Judah and to both parts of the Jewish nation. And yet when he hears this news of the current condition of the city and its people, he grieves. He weeps for them. It's like for the first time, he faces reality. For the first time he comes to grip with the true devastation of the city, but also of what's happened to the people: the depth of brokenness of their faith, the depth of pain in the nation Israel...reality sets in, and Nehemiah allows the weight of it to come fully upon him. And in verse 4 we see how he reacts to the news. He writes, When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 1:4). Maybe you've grieved over brokenness in your life. Maybe you've wept because of the pain someone has caused you. Nehemiah is weeping because God's people and their symbol the city of Jerusalem are broken. They're scattered, they've strayed from their faith, and they've lost spiritual vitality. They are not in a healthy place. But Nehemiah shows us that whatever it may be that's broken or burned in your life: the only way to bring healing and restoration is to face reality. Whether it's a broken faith, a broken relationship, a broken hope, a broken spirit, a broken faith community, or a broken city, the first step is to face reality. To name the brokenness and burned places for what they are; to recognize that indeed, my life, my family, my church, my city, my workplace...whatever facet of life it is that's hurting the first step is recognizing that it is broken and burned. We have to start there. As long as we deny or ignore that things aren t right, we're never going to overcome it. 3

4 That was true for Nehemiah and the people of Judah. And over 2,500 years later, it's also true in our lives, both individually, and collectively for us as a church. 4 You know, Jesus once said to Peter, You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). When he made that statement, I don't think he envisioned a future filled with broken walls and burned gates. I don't think he envisioned brokenness in your life or in my life. I don't think the brokenness of Judah and Israel and the broken walls and burned gates of Jerusalem are what he envisioned for the future of the church, either. And Nehemiah, some 450 years before Jesus was born, recognized that this broken state is not what God intended, and that the only way to allow God to bring healing and restoration was to face reality. And when he faced reality, he wept. He mourned. He grieved. It cut through to his soul, to the very core of his being. It was painful for him to reflect on their broken state, but it was the only way that reality was going to sink in and register with him. Then in verse five, Nehemiah turns to God. This is key. He knows that this place of grief, and this place of brokenness isn t what God intends. So he weeps and mourns, faces reality, and gets on his knees and prays, for a few days. So what we have here in these next few verses is just a summary of the content of his prayer the essence of what he prayed. He begins by ascribing to God his greatness and steadfastness. He lifts God up and acknowledges who he is. He prays that God would hear his prayer and be attentive to it. Then in verse 6 and 7 he confesses the sins of the community and of himself. He acknowledges that they have been wayward; they've committed offenses against God and against what they know to be right. He faces the reality that he has had a role in this waywardness perhaps either by things he has said or done or by things he hasn't said or done. He faces reality that he's not the only one who's responsible, however, and that the people of Israel have sinned against God as well, and he confesses on their behalf. They have squandered what God had given them. They have been unfaithful. But the only way to return to a place of faithfulness is first to acknowledge the current state of unfaithfulness and the steps that got them to that place. And that's what he does. He faces reality and confesses sin. He turns to the Lord

5 in that recognition and asks for his forgiveness. 5 Then he closes out his prayer with a reminder to God of the promises He has made to his people. I don t know why Nehemiah thought he needed to remind God of His promises. I doubt God has forgotten his promises, but that s what he does. We see that a lot in the Psalms, and elsewhere in Scripture, too, so it s nothing new. And honestly, what I think is going on there in verse 9 is not so much that Nehemiah is reminding God of his promises, but Nehemiah is reminding himself of God s promises. Nehemiah needed reminding of God s faithfulness and God s goodness, because for 140 years or so, the nation of Israel has been broken and burned, and after that long, who wouldn t question God s goodness? I mean, you or I all we need is a bad hair day and we start to question God s goodness and love. Well, I don t have bad hair days, actually but you get what I mean. Can you imagine 140 years of bad hair days? 140 years of separation and isolation from your faith family? 140 years of living under foreign rule in a foreign city? You d probably need some reminding about God s true nature, too. And then he closes by asking God for success. Specifically, it s success with the king, as Nehemiah is going to speak to him about this situation in Jerusalem. We ll talk more about that next week. But as we face reality as Nehemiah did: What is our reaction to the reality of our situation, either as a church or in our personal lives? Does it grieve us, as it did Nehemiah, when things have not gone in the right direction? If you re married, and your marriage isn t what it once was does that grieve you? If your life lacks purpose and isn t lined up with God s intentions for you, does that grieve you? Does that grieve us at all when we realize the reality of some facets of our lives? If we want to move forward and grow as individuals, to grow in faith, to grow as a church, then the first step is facing reality. And then our reaction to reality determines the future. God can have all these plans for hope and for our future as Jeremiah 29:11 says; But if we re comfortable with the way things currently are in our lives especially when they aren t going well, or aren t what they could be that future God envisions will not come to fruition. If our response is like Nehemiah s then we can acknowledge our own sin

6 that's led to this state of brokenness and ask God to help us get back on track with His will and His way for our lives. Because that s where we want to be: in alignment with God s will. 6 In Luke 15 Jesus tells a parable about a son who asked for his inheritance early, got it, skipped out of home to the big city, squandered everything in wild living, ended up destitute and eating food that pigs would have turned their noses at. And he finally recognized his situation. He faced up to reality in his life: that it stunk. It was no good. He had made some horrible decisions that led him down a path far from God. He was very broken, and very burned. And what did he do after he recognized reality for what it was? He went back to his father, who welcomed him with open arms. Just as the prodigal son was welcomed home by the father, just as God listened to Nehemiah as we ll see in the rest of this series: God is waiting with open arms for you and me to turn to him, confess that we're broken and burned and let him know we want to get things back on the straight and narrow path, to get our wills lined up with God s will. And when you're ready to face reality in your life and there's no time like the present God welcomes you with open arms and says, Welcome back. Let's work together to get things turned around. He can do it through Nehemiah and for the city of Jerusalem as we ll see throughout this series. And he can do it in this church, and he can do it in your life beginning here in 2015, if we d only begin by facing reality and acknowledging it for what it is, and seeing where God wants us to be. And when we get our lives in tune with God s will, we ll be that unstoppable force that not even the gates of Hades can overcome. Let's pray...amen.