Nehemiah: Building Through The Spirit

June 4, 2017 National Presbyterian Church Nehemiah: Building Through The Spirit Nehemiah 1:1-4; 2: 11, 17-20; 3:1-3, 12; 6:15-16 1 Corinthians 12:1-4, 27-31; 13:1, 14:39-40; Acts 2 David Renwick Over the past couple of weeks we ve been thinking about some of the unresolved debates and dilemmas in Scripture. For example, between opening our arms and welcoming others to our communities, on the one hand; and tightening up and re-grouping, focusing more narrowly on the other hand. And today we come to another of these conundrums: the tension between spontaneity and stretching the rules, on the one hand, and sticking within structures and organizations, on the other hand. And I want us to think about this tension in the context of the biblical books of Nehemiah and 1 Corinthians. Today, in the liturgical year, is the Day of Pentecost. It s the day in which we celebrate God s Spirit given to the followers of Jesus, 50 days after Jesus resurrection on the first Easter. Those seven or eight weeks must have been like a roller coaster ride for Jesus followers. Three days before Easter, when Jesus had been brutally killed, his disciples were left desolate! And 3 days later, on Easter Sunday they were unexpectedly stunned: they had seen Jesus alive again, and they re elated, riding high. And then, a few weeks after that, He s gone again! No longer visible in the flesh, Jesus ascends to heaven, leaving them with work to do. A HUGE amount of work to do with no way to do it by themselves. Jesus entrusts his ongoing ministry into their hands, giving them what we call the great commission. He tells them (Matthew 28:19-20): Go into the world and make disciples of all nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit And then makes the promise they need: Remember! I m with you all always, to the end of the age. In other words: I ll still be with you, forever! Not in flesh and blood, but by my Spirit. I ll give you all the power you need to fulfil your calling as my friends and witnesses. And it s on the first Day of Pentecost (fifty days after Easter) that they began to experience this presence and power of Jesus himself manifest in His Spirit. (1) This was a power first of all, of what we might call Correct Content. Jesus told them (John 14:16) that when the Spirit came, they d be reminded of everything they needed to remember about him: who he was and what he said and taught. And what we believe as Christians is that this Spirit-inspired memory, led to the writing of Jesus story in the Bible, and that when the same Spirit of Jesus works in our hearts and minds today as we read the Scripture, then we can be drawn right back to the life and teaching of Jesus himself as if he were here, speaking today! 1

So the Spirit s power is first of all the power of correct content about Jesus (2). And then, second, the Spirit s power is the power of Conviction and Conversion: Conviction in the mind and Conversion of the heart. A sense that Jesus is not just a great teacher and religious leader, but the living Savior whom I need, and who died for ME! For MY sins; that He knows me by name and is present with me today, and I need to listen! So the Spirit brings a conviction of the mind and a conversion of the heart. (3). And then third, the Spirit s power (the power of the ongoing presence of Jesus) is a Character transforming power: transforming our character into the character of Christ. Not all at once, but in a process of growth (that we call sanctification). So that God s Spirit causes us to grow into the character of Christ. In fact, the Bible (Galatians 5:22-23) calls this character, the fruit of the Spirit : love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (4). And then, the fourth sign of the presence of the Spirit is a magnetic power that draws us into Community and Creates the Church It s the Spirit, who creates a sense that we need each other, and belong to each other, and that God is our Father and we are family. And more than that that we each have gifts for Jesus ongoing ministry on earth which need to be shared with each other. And, when this happens this four-fold work of Jesus Spirit when the Spirit of God empowers us by drawing us into community and using our gifts together; by creating in us a Christlike character, by convicting our minds and converting our heart, and by focusing our attention and our memories on the content of Jesus life and teaching When this happens to us not just as individuals but as a group then the witness of the church becomes truly powerful and changes lives, both inside the church and outside. And this is what the First Christians experienced and discovered in the ancient world! And this is what God wants us too, to experience and discover in the modern world. But let s be clear: not all was smooth sailing back in those early days It would be a mistake to think the early church was perfect simply because their experience of the power of Christ s Spirit was so strong (which it was), and because their sense of his ongoing presence was palpable! In fact, the early church became divided pretty quickly (sadly), especially in the southern Greek city of Corinth, and over the very issue of the activity of the Holy Spirit, and how exactly the Spirit carried out this work. Let me put it like this: To be sure: the Spirit wants to give us a sense of the power and presence of Jesus so we can be his faithful witnesses in the world. BUT HOW, in practical matters, does this happen? Does it happen by us holding on, or by letting go? Does it happen by tightening up on our self-discipline, or by being open to fresh breezes and ideas? Does it happen thro the keeping of God s ancient rules, laws, traditions? Or by following our feelings and being spontaneous? No question about it: with respect to the Christians in the Church in Corinth they were into the spontaneity approach! And for good reason. 2

Jesus had once spoken about the work of the Spirit to man called Nicodemus, and had said to him quite simply (John 3:8) The Spirit is like the wind: it blows where it wills. As if to say, When God is at work by the Spirit, don t try to box-god-in. You ve got to get-out of the box! And on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came, what happened was clearly on this side of the debate too: what happened was spontaneous, uncontrollable the disciples lost control of their tongues, and in the power of the Spirit began to speak enthusiastically in other languages that they d never learned. So much so that people thought they were drunk! And then, add to that, a couple of months later, the same Spirit comes in a dream to Jesus closest friend, Simon Peter, and says: Listen! remember the kosher laws in the Old Testament? These no longer apply since Jesus came. Keep kosher if you like, but don t force it on others! It was as if God was saying, First break all the rules or Ignore your conscience and go with the flow! And in this case, Peter, and the early disciples did (which is why you and I, as Christians 2000 years later, don t follow the kosher laws in the first part of the Bible). And from a secular point of view we know that this makes sense: that there s a necessary time for this kind of change and spontaneity. For example, true creativity often comes by breaking old rules and traditions. In fact, as Thomas Kuhn pointed out in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, really new and creative ideas and discoveries usually come not just from digging deeper into the same old ways, but from seeing (often the same old things) with new eyes; breaking out of an old paradigm, and putting the pieces together in new ways; new ways that almost always at first seem like nonsense or heresy to others, but in time are shown to be right! So, in the early Church, the Greek Christians in Corinth were into this spontaneous-don t botherwith-the-rules, go with the flow view of the Spirit s work. And to begin with, their church was vibrant and full of energy. But very quickly it became filled with pain, in part because of this view! As everybody did their own thing (each being convinced that God s Spirit was motivating and leading them), people were stepping on each other. They divided into factions over their favorite and not-so-favorite preachers! They argued about who was more Spirit-filled than others and what the evidence was: if you were moved to do something quite dramatic, like speaking in tongues, you scored an A+! But if you did something less dramatic, like suffer any kind of persecution for your faith, you got a C-! And some decided that if you could breaking the kosher laws, then why not also your marriage vows and the incest laws of the Old Testament? HEY! The fresh wind of the spirit can lead you pretty much anywhere! This was the path they were on, and on this path they descended pretty rapidly into chaos and selfishness, and pain and loveless-ness. Until Paul wrote them, and told them that their understanding of the Spirit was, not so much wrong, as sorely deficient; that this free-wheeling, spontaneous, anti-rules and regulations and anti- traditions view of the Spirit, was only half the truth. In fact, after devoting three chapters in his letter to Corinth to discussing the work of the Spirit (1 Corinthians. 12, 13, 14), Paul ends his discussion with some the most famous words in the Bible at least to Presbyterians (14:40): All things must be done decently and in order. As if to say, Hold it! The Spirit doesn t just work by spontaneity! Jesus didn t just work by spontaneity, or by embracing anything or anyone that comes to mind! NO! The Spirit also works through order and structure, and law and tradition, and discipline as well. 3

In fact, in his famous Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:17-48) Jesus not only affirms the ongoing importance of Israel s ancient law in God s ten commandments, but He forces his followers to question our motives and our deepest feelings, and to stop certain thoughts and behaviors about lust and bitterness and anger before they had a chance to start especially when we don t feel like pulling them in; and especially when what we want to do is the spontaneous thing to do! In fact as you dig more deeply into the work of God s Spirit in the life of Ancient Israel, what you discover is that the primary passion of God s Spirit is rarely to be spontaneous for spontaneity s sake; or even to be spontaneous because it can lead to genuine creativity. But the primary passion of God s Spirit is to bring, something of value out of nothing, and especially order out of chaos! So that rules and regulations, order and tradition and stability, can be just as much tools of God s Spirit, as being foot loose and fancy free In fact, this is the view of God s Spirit that we see in the very first story in the Bible. In Genesis 1: God creates something out of nothing, and by his Spirit brings order out of the primordial chaos, so that all of creation can bear fruit for God. Once again, think of how this works out in the secular world around us: New scientific and technical discoveries often arise from breaking the rules an anomaly arises that leads us to discover something new. But the foundation of science as a whole still lies in documenting and naming and categorizing the order inherent in the natural world and only then probing the exceptions to the rule. Or, top put it another way: If the lab is in chaos If the hard drive loses data randomly If you haven t disciplined yourself to learn the math If you keep missing your scheduled appointment to use the radio telescope If you don t have a foundation of order in your life Then the chances are very limited that you ll make a new discovery of anything much of value. So too with God! God s Spirit works the Spirit of Jesus works not just through spontaneity and letting loose on our feelings, but through the routine and structures of life. And this is what leads Paul to write forcefully to the 1 Corinthians (14:44): ALL THINGS MUST BE DONE DECENTLY AND IN ORDER Which was pretty much Nehemiah s rule of thumb in our Scripture reading today. God s people were in disarray. Their land and capital city and temple had been destroyed by their enemies in 587 BC. They d been carried off into exile. Some had returned and the temple had been rebuilt, but the walls of the city were broken down, and in a dog-eat-dog- world, if the city remained defenseless and in chaos, and if the routines of daily life could not be depended on, then there would be no way to re-group re-build the community spirit again re-build the religious life again re-build the faith of the people again 4

And so Nehemiah set to work. To be sure, he prayed! He sought, spiritual help, God s help spontaneously! But then he also observed and planned and on a very human level, decided what needed to be done; and then he organized the people to get the job done; and then he stuck with the program, despite obstacles until it was finished. And God s Spirit was at work through him through all this very human activity: through his gift of organization and administration. So that God used this critical moment and this particular person, to be an agent of transformation and renewal for God s people after years in exile. And this is important for us to know. Especially because it brings our daily lives right into the realm of spirituality, right into the heart of God s activity. It tells us that most of the things we do, just living life, and getting things done, and sorting things out, and earning a living our rhythms, routines, and our traditions; our organizing and planning with our families and in our places of work what Kathleen Norris calls The Quotidian Mysteries, can be just as much vehicles of God s grace and purpose, just as spiritual as our spontaneity and our overt spirituality. So on this day of Pentecost, let me leave you with these thoughts and questions: If Jesus promises to be present with us always by his Spirit; If the four-fold work of Jesus Spirit, is to empowers us By drawing us into community by using our gifts together By transforming our character By convicting our minds and converting our heart and by focusing our attention on the content of Jesus life How and Where is God calling you to let loose and do something new? And not let the past bind you?... and... How and where is God calling you to hold tight get organized, stay the course, start new routines and (perhaps boring or difficult) habits, that will set his power loose in your life? That s what he wants! Ask him how ask a friend! How? What? When? Where? If this is how you used Nehemiah, what s your next step for me? David A. Renwick Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved. To listen on line go to: http://nationalpres.org/sermons To watch full services go to: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nationalpres THE NATIONAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 4101 Nebraska Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016 www.nationalpres.org 202.537.0800 5