Nehemiah 4 Discouraged, but moving forward with hope Still broken, but its time Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. I have a guess. David wasn t done mourning. He was done asking for God to save his son, but he wasn t done crying about his loss. Perhaps the culture and day and age are different from mine, perhaps he was more of a macho man than I am, perhaps he hadn t connected with his children the way we might but I doubt it. I think he went home that night and cried again. I think 2 years later he still cried sometimes. I don t know, but I know he made a decision. He got up from the ground, he washed, he shaved, he put on deodorant and some Versace Eros (because he could afford it) and he got back to life. I have had nearly two years to grieve and 11 weeks of a sabbatical and my hurt isn t gone. I watched more home movies in the last month than I have in my whole life. Just listening for her voice or laugh or catching a glimpse of her when she wasn t behind the camera. I put my new relationship on hold because I am not ready to move forward in that regard. But the time has come. You have been more than gracious, those of you who are still here. I put on a good face, but I haven t been leading and I haven t given you any confidence that we are moving forward here. So it s time. I have plans. Based largely on your survey, spending days with a consultant here and in my home, my prayer time, conversations with elders and youth teams and worship teams and a subjective call to wake up and get moving again. And while I know we have taken major hits (a few people on the survey expressed a concern that we would just crumble up into nothing), I know you are discouraged, I know the satisfaction and energy is low. The survey told me so. But, I think we have reason for hope. I want to tell you why we are not going to close up and go away. Why there will be no crumbling into nothing. Quite the contrary. I had a dream last week while I was working on this sermon and the pews were full. I don t put much stock in my dreams but this is more than a dream. It s a passion. It s a confident. I see something. Can I remind you of the story of Nehemiah? I know I am only supposed to preach on this when we are taking on a building project, but I want to bounce off this to show you three things that he dealt with. And then three things he did. The same three things we are dealing with as a church and some of you are dealing with in regular life. And the same three things we are going to do. Are you ready?
Nehemiah 4 Nehemiah 4. Remember this story? Nehemiah was allowed to go back with the people of Israel to rebuild Jerusalem, to become a united people again. And his major task was building a wall. And no matter what you think about Trumps leadership, at that time, everyone who was anyone had a wall. Can you imagine the excitement of the people? We are rebuilding our home. Life will begin again. Our mission in the world, to be a light to the nations, is about to come to be again. Everything we dreamed of is coming true. Let s get this wall built. All for one and one for all! Bonzai! Liberty or Death! By the power of castle greyskul1! I don t know their rally cry but they were ready. This is 4:6 so we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half it s height, for the people worked with all their heart. But as the story continues, the mood changes: 10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall." 11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work." 12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us." And that s usually when discouragement hits, isn t it? When you re in the middle of it. You know what I mean by it right? Its something good and God inspired, but then something is in the way. Maybe you are on fire enough to get through some of it. But man, there is a lot of obstacles. Lots of rubble. And as time continues it beats you up more and discourages you more and steals your hope. Maybe that s when that song comes on. Let it happen You re full of life now And full of passion That s how he made you Just let it happen You re full of life So take me back Back to the beginning
When I was young Running through the fields with you And then a call Come alive Be alive Come alive. We want this again, We really do, don t we? You have something, something that probably has you wishing to go back, when you were young, back when you were passionate. probably right now in your mind. Or maybe its not one thing. Its just life. You are half done and the energy and satisfaction is diminishing. The Israelites were ½ done with their project! But they looked around and thought, I still have so much work left to do! We ve been working this long and have only gotten this much done man this is NEVER going to get finished! Yeah, I get it Israel. You have a plan, but it seems like something is always stopping it. Something keeps overwhelming you nd convincing you that what you are facing or about to face is just too much for you Are you halfway done and little energy to finish? This church has been around for 46 years. I have only been here for a fourth of that. But in those 46 years, we have done some incredible things. There has been up and there has been down. Because, that is how life works. In the last 11 years we have had the same thing. Right now we are down. Let s just admit it. We are down. Down in attenders, down in finances, down in morale, down in energy, down in satisfaction. The survey confirmed what you all knew. On the matrix of energy and satisfaction, we are in the bottom left corner low energy, low satisfaction. [matrix with us in the lower left corner. Top is high energy, right is high satisfaction. I can send you a pic to explain] So let s own it. But let me add this. In almost every area that led to those results, about 60% of the people are what we would call on the fence. That is, they don t know exactly what to think. They are waiting. They are tired, they don t know the future, they think I am going to pack up and leave soon and so without a leader, why charge the gates? But according to the survey. They (you) are waiting. You are ready to move and there is energy under the surface, you just need to know where to direct. But let s not go there yet. And let s step away from church for a second.
This might be you anyway. This is a midlife crisis right. Discouraged, depressed, hopeless. Life didn t turn out how you hoped. The wall got half built and there it sits. Man, I remember my dissertation. Finished the years of coursework, finished the comps, finished the research, wrote 5 chapters, but that last chapter, the analysis, the editing,. You know this discouragement in life. Financial disappointment You haven t lost the weight Health is beating you up The job That relationship... Why are we discouraged? Fatigue, frustration and fear (yes I stole this because it was worth stealing) vs. 6 says The people in Judah said, The strength of the laborers is giving out. Fatigue They were exhausted. Well, yeah. Because (vs 22) Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day. When exactly were they supposed to rest? Have you noticed that a LOT of life s messes are caused when we are tired and not well rested? We are more prone to be stressed, to fail and to have a bad attitude when we are not well rested. And guess what, you are more prone to be discouraged when you are not properly rested as well! So yeah, we are tired. The church is tired. I had a sabbatical because I couldn t keep up the load without a new dose of energy from somewhere. And we have to be careful here, because my inclination in making plans is to roll out 20 new ideas and guilt you until we do them all. But let s admit it, we are tired but according to the survey, I think, just waiting and maybe revving to go. What do you have undone without the passion to move forward on? One thing I want to become is a cheerleader for you. But let s stay with the discouragement first. Frustration In verse 10, you can sense the frustration of the workers. (vs. 10b) - and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall." That s frustration. The rubble was so consuming that it was all they could focus on. They couldn t see the progress because they were frustrated by the trash that lay at their feet! What frustrates you?
Lack of visible progress Other people succeeding when you aren t More questions about God than you have five years ago Less people at church A relationship that isn t at all like Disney told you it would be? Lots of activity, nothing to show for it It s these small pieces of rubble. You moved all the big stones out of the way, but this little stuff is killing you. I am trying to rent a house in Rockville, and I ripped up all the carpets, spackled all the walls, rebuilt a closet, put down new carpets, painted, etc. Now its stuff like mopping the floor, cleaning the tub, all this stuff that makes me miserable. In the church it s the little work that we don t like. Rebuild the entrance way to the sanctuary, oorah, by the power of greyskull, we are ready, but ask people to do the little stuff of inviting someone for dinner, sending a note, actually asking your neighbor to church, going to meetings We don t want to do these things. And so we get frustrated that the work isn t done. Fear The third thing is fear. They Fear the people around them Yeah, someone is out to kill them 11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work." Just guessing, but probably no one is struggling with someone wanting to kill you. But every one of you is afraid of something. Something is keeping us from living the way that brings the most joy--interesting isn t it? Fear keeps us from trying something new even though everything about something old isn t working I wonder what Nehemiah s people were thinking. Better to run, then to face death. Better to hide then to take another beating And you might notice in verse 12 that it was the Jews who lived near by that were afraid and they were making others afraid. Yeah, fear is contagious. And lets be honest, almost never does your fear come to pass. Like Shaggy and Scooby running back and forth, encouraging each other to be afraid, but in the end, it was just the custodian, it was just the amusement park owner with a cool mask. Roosevelt was right, There is nothing to fear but fear itself. This isn t my main point, but please don t forget I John (4:18),
Perfect love casts out fear. So, what are you feeling? Fatigue? Frustration? Fear? Maybe they all play into your general thinking? This is where I have been. So here is my plan Remember 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." Don t be afraid, remember the Lord. What should you remember about him? That he is great and awesome. How has God shown you that he is great and awesome? I have been asking for testimonies for the last month in the midweeks. I want to know how God has moved you. How has he shown himself awesome? How have you seen God work? Say it out loud. Write it down on paper. Remember the Lord. Resist The second one is found in that same verse Resist discouragement...and fight for your brothers, you sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes. Fight against discouragement. Fight against gloom. Because Satan doesn t want you succeeding in your mind. He doesn t want your marriage better, more satisfaction at work, he doesn t want you happy at all, unless it s temporary happiness in all the wrong things. Remember James 4 Resist the devil and he will flee you. Fight Christians, fight. Final thing:
Verse 13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. Reorganize What did he do? He reorganized. He changed his plan We have been doing fine, we have half a wall built, but the second half isn t going to work unless we think outside the box. Let s experiment. You people over here, you over there, you get swords, you get those cool concrete spreader thingies. Nehemiah decided he could do things differently. The wall still needed to be built, but the old way wasn t working for the current situation and he was ready to change. So, let s talk? Still doing things the same way without the results you need? My relationship with my spouse still isn t working? Yeah? What new things have you done? Tried sending him or her flirty texts during the day? Tried focusing on him or her when they are talking? Tried putting them first? I hate my job. Have you considered looking for another one? Have you gone to the boss with some ideas of how you might have better job satisfaction? Have you decided your job is a ministry and every discouragement is an opportunity to shine Jesus? I told you I was talking about our church, didn t I? Well, maybe it s time for me to stop thinking my way is the only way or the best way. Maybe it s time for me to realize that you guys have passions that maybe I can help encourage? Maybe I can affirm more and plan less? Maybe I can shorten sermons without failing as a pastor? Maybe I can focus on visitors more? Maybe we need to change jobs around here or bring in new blood. Maybe some of you need to move into leadership and stop being too busy. There aren t 120 people here every week anymore. We have lost some good tithers. People who invested in ministry. Good Christians. You think it discourages you? It crushes me. But I have been crushed beyond what I can handle in the last couple years. And God has still proven himself to be bigger and better and more awesome than I can imagine. Here is what I want to do. There is no new gimmick, no cool numbers to remind us of what we are called to. 3:15 still works, 8:8 still works. Hold onto those. Because Ephesians is still our call to remember that the Church is God s plan to cry out to the cosmos that he is glorious. Acts is still our call to bring joy to this city. These are two separate but interlocking themes that our church is built around or it should be. Loving God through the church and loving our neighbor so that they might see that glorious God.
That stuff isn t going to change But at the same time, I have shaved my face, put on my old Spice (because I don t have the king of Israel s salary) and am ready for something different. It s time for us to reengage. To remember that God is glorious in his church. Its time for us to resist discouragement and reorganize. Christians how will you reorganize? Christians how will you reorganize? How will we stay on the same mission in a new and exciting way? How will you help? Lets reorganize. Right now. Everyone in the front 6 pews. And everyone move to a new location even if you aren t in the front six pews. Christians how you will you resist the devil? Christians how will you resist the devil? I don t know if rebuking Satan outloud is the right idea but how will you resist? Who will you team up with here to hold you to account now before you need it What appointment will you make with me or Vern or Carl or someone else so we can know how you are struggling and pray and make sure you know you have someone on your team. How will you shave your face (or legs or put on makeup) and get some axe body wash or whatever and confirm with God that you will not get twisted. Christians, who do we remember every week we come here? Christians, who do we remember every week we come here? Who is to be praised? Who invites us into his mission of love to the world? Who died for or sins and intercedes on our behalf even now Who animates us and loves us and justifies us and is better than our shame? (to remember the last few sermons here) It is this Jesus that praise. Because of his work on the cross. Nehemiah is pointing forward to that great work and we look back on it now. It all climaxes there. Christians he is enough for your discouragement, for our discouragement. He can build in your personal life, family life, and in this church. How will you respond? Do you believe that God has spoken to you. This is your chance to respond in silence. Do you believe that God is great and that Jesus is King and that the Holy Spirit moves in his church Confirm this with me [musicians coming forward] Apostles creed Christians, do you believe that God is great and worthy of all praise
Sing that with me Songs Christians do you believe we are called to give towards the kingdom movement Give with me Offering Christians do you believe we are to move together and into the world? Announcements One last song Blessing