The people rose to the challenge, gave their time and money to the job. Nehemiah posted them to their part of the wall and the building work began.

Transcription

1 Reformation Arise & Build The story so far! Nehemiah hears of the plight of the Jewish people in Jerusalem. They had started to rebuild the temple worship in Jerusalem but they were hindered because the city walls and gates had been destroyed. Jerusalem was the spiritual and symbolic home of the people of God and so Nehemiah was distraught. Nehemiah was a high ranking government official and he chose his moment carefully with the Emperor. He asked if he could return to Jerusalem to restore the gates of his beloved Jerusalem. The emperor agreed and Nehemiah returned with permission and the finances to get the job done. The walls were destroyed, there was resistance from the non-jews who had moved into the abandoned city. Nehemiah secretly surveyed the city and then gathered the Jewish people to inspire them to the task of rebuilding the city walls, walls that would protect and secure the city. The people rose to the challenge, gave their time and money to the job. Nehemiah posted them to their part of the wall and the building work began. Application to us! We recognise that we are in a church building programme. It may not be a physical city or wall, but we the people of God are engaged in a Kingdom programme of building. There are some key gates, places of movement, government and freedom, that are being built. The apostolic / presence gates and the missional gates of the church. However the call has gone out... will you arise and build! Opposition Some thoughts on overcoming opposition to the task of building. Contemporary Christianity seems to under emphasise the opposition that we will face as kingdom people. I don t really know why, it seems that we are promised conflict, difficulty and opposition as part of the NT mandate. Of course we are on the winning side, but the victory comes with a sense of incredible difficulty, persecution and opposition. The devil prowls around looking to devour us (1 Pet 5:8) and Jesus promised us many trials (Jn 16:33), but also promised that he has overcome them. When anything is being built there are normally four strategies at work intimidation (6:13), derision (mocking) (4:2), attempt to stirring up trouble (confusion) (4:8), and accusation (6:6). Team Work (4:13 18) When opposition came in the building of the wall, which it did, the people got back on the walls and then built with one eye on the construction and one eye on the enemy activity.

2 We have to be mindful that when we build, there is an enemy that wants to engage us and distract us from the task that we have been called to do. Nehemiah posted guards at the lowest point of the wall (4:13), we need to be very aware of our most vulnerable places and people. We should be guarding each other at our weakest places. Building together is vital. Nehemiah got half the people working and half the people guarding the workers (4:16). Its why team is critical to effective church. We need people building but do we have people watching out for the people building? He also made sure that everyone had a sword and trowel, and got them to be alert to the enemy (4:17). What great stirring words he spoke over the people Don t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes! (Neh 4:14) Over the last 10 years we have been in a restoration process. We have worked out that for us the centrality of the presence of God in our gatherings and have begun to engage in the Missional mandate of the church. However, it is the sense of community that unifies and sticks us together. As a family, we work in the walls together (serving), we give of our finances together, we watch out for each other, we guard each others back (in prayer and in practical). Why? There is an enemy that wants to devour our effectiveness. Trumpet Sound (4:19 20) Nehemiah was a great leader, he realised that he need to rally the people from time to time when they were under attack. So he kept a trumpeter with him at all times (4:18). 4:20 When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us! There are moments that we all need to drop what we are doing and come to the aid of each other. Although everyone was stationed on the wall doing their bit, at times it is essential to come together, to support, to hear the word, to get envisioned. I want to find a way to make a trumpet sound to gather as a whole body. We drop everything and get together. Perhaps its over a conference? Perhaps its a tribe emergency? Perhaps its a money thing? Perhaps its a call to pray and fast? On our Guard (4:21 23) Nehemiah galvanised the people to be on their guard against all that would come against them. The people stayed dressed, in armour, they were aware that they could easily be invaded. The scripture is full of commands to 'stand' ie be on guard (Eph 6:18; Col 4:2; 1 Thess 5:6). There are times when we can rest and relax, there are times when we are on an alert footing. We need to the prophetic watchmen to sound the alarm to let us know. The work of building the gates and walls needs a people mindful of the task.

3 Defend the Oppressed (Nehemiah 5) Nehemiah was aware of the needs of his people. Part of good leadership is watching out for the people. In times of great opposition the people can suffer and Nehemiah realised the oppressed people needed defending. Part of the mandate of the kingdom is to defend the widow and orphan, a key part of the kingdom is justice for those oppressed. Even during the building process the needs of the underdog were on Nehemiah s mind. Not only is ministry to the the most vulnerable a missional gate for BCC but it must be the way our community works. We have to be able to respond to the needs of the oppressed even when we are building and even when we are being opposed. Reformation Nehemiah got the job done in 52 days! He finished the walls and gates (6:15-16) and put the gates in place (7:1-3). Nehemiah finished his initial mandate, he got the structure of the city back up and running, made it safe and secure. But something shifts in Nehemiah s responsibilities for the city. He is no longer concerned for the physical walls and gates, he shifts into rule and governance for the city. When the gates and walls are finished, he appoints gatekeepers (7:3) and hands over the governance of the city to his brother (7:2). Nehemiah is a reformer, he is seeking to put in place not only the physical structure of the city but the right and proper spiritual and governmental structures. The church in our nation has had crumbling walls for too long. We have set ourselves the task of rebuilding the walls and gates so the church is secure, but we are about so much more than just the physical structure of the church. The kingdom is supposed to operate in all spheres of society, there is supposed to be spiritual governance for the peace and prosperity of our nation. The church has to rise into its proper spiritual role within the life the nation. Take Stock (7:4-73) In the same way that Nehemiah took stock of the walls of the city, in preparing the city for the governance of heaven, he takes stock of the people. He conducts a census, making sure he puts in place everything needed to make governance work. He wants to leave a lasting legacy of God s rule. Water Gate Assembly (8:1-18) Although Nehemiah is not prominent in this ceremony, he clearly makes it happen. Ezra comes to the forefront, whose role is temple/presence focus. Now the city structure is created, the presence takes centre stage, and they have this ceremony of putting a few things right at the Water Gate! The people gather at the piazza in-front of the water gate, Ezra reads long passages from the Torah, probably lasting 6 hours. They worshipped God, wept with tears of repentance! Lets be clear, spiritual governance can not be put back in place unless there is worship and the teaching of the word of God. Lets not confuse style of teaching/worship from

4 substance. Style should not dilute the power of our belief in the word of God. Jerusalem had at its centre the temple, the presence of God right in the middle of the city. Right at our heart, in the very centre of our corporate being needs to be the worship/word, without it we are doomed and the our city will get broken down again. We need to believe that worship/word is essential for the well being of our cities. I am encouraged that the church in our nation is beginning to put back at its centre the presence of God. There is a temptation to make our gospel palatable or watered down to the contemporary mind, but in many places it is holding up well. Perhaps I have a glass half full mentality. When the people were weeping I love Nehemiah s response to them Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength! (4:10) This assembly of the people of God was supposed to be celebration of God and his blessings. There is a time to weep, but right then it was a time to celebrate. They went on to have the festival of tabernacles (8:13-18), which was when the people of God constructed small shelters of palm leaves and lived in them for a week. It was like a harvest festival to remember the provision of God and remember the time the people of God had in the wilderness. I am reminded of Jesus response to the people at the end of the festival of tabernacles John 7:37-39 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, Rivers of living water will flow from his heart. (When he said living water, he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.) What an incredible picture of the break out of the kingdom is someones life. A river flowing from within the people of God, a river of life. It reminds me of the two pictures which I have spoken of before, the river flowing from the temple out through the gates of the city and into the surrounding the land (Ezek 47; Rev 22). Ezekiels picture of the water flowing through the structure of the temple and walls, John s vision of the water flowing from the throne with the gates permanently open. Lets not loose sight of our mandate and part in this, to let the life of God flow through the gate to the city, nation and nations. If you are a gatekeeper, a minister at one of the gates, think and pray about that gate. Think about what you are supposed to let in and what you are supposed to stop from entering. Think about what you are supposed to let out. As a mobilised people we are all on the walls and in the gates.

5 Rather than the church being in survival mode, just trying to keep going, we should be expansive and bigger in our thinking and plans. Nehemiah was seeking to reinstitute Jerusalem as the city of influence, by reforming it to live God s ways. Nothing has changed. The job of the church is kingdom influence in our city and beyond. Just to finish the story... Corporate Repentance (9:1-37) There was a need for the people to get right with God for the ways in which they had not followed him. They prayed the story of their wanderings and their failings. The end of the declaration of repentance was to decide collectively to obey God and make a vow or promise with him. Vow (9:38-10:36) They decided to live differently, and to follow God s ways. They reissued the Mosaic law in effect, putting the nation of Israel back following the Lord. Repeat Reformation (13:1-31) Nehemiah returns to Babylon, one assumes to take up his duties. However, he returns to Jerusalem and finds that things have slipped back to their old ways. The reformation that he had brought in needed re-reforming! The High Priest have given Tobiah (one of the agitators) an apartment in the temple, so Nehemiah kicks them him out and attempts to get things back into order once again. Conclusion In our task of building we will face opposition to the work we are given to, but together we can build what God has called us to. We must keep the a sense of gathering around the presence (word and worship) so that the river will flow from the centre to the land around. The church doing its kingdom mandate.