This fall we are going to study through the book of Nehemiah in Austin, TX. Nehemiah is in the Old Testament. Nehemiah is the history of Israel when Israel has been deported into the Persian Empire because the wall and gates of Jerusalem have been torn down.
The wall and the gates would have been the means by which people are kept safe and secure, but in the context of Nehemiah the wall and gates have been torn down so that the people are vulnerable. The people are exposed to attacks from outside forces.
In Austin, TX today we don’t have walls and gates, but we do have themes of safety and security that have broken down in our country.
Today we see children more worried about active shooter than ever before. We have concerns that our planet isn’t going to make it with climate change. We have lost confidence in doctors with pharmaceuticals and pandemic. Do you feel that?
Our political leaders look more like a circus. I think you see more skepticism for the local church in Austin because we’re not sure if we can trust our spiritual leaders. Do you feel that?
The book of Nehemiah is going to walk us through a process of finding our safety and security, not in the things of this world but in Him, and so that this morning we are going to see three sub-points; 1. Where Is Our Safety? 2. What Is Our Response? 3. What Is Our Attitude. Let’s look at our first sub-point; 1. Where Is Our Safety?
- Where Is Our Safety? (vs. 1-3)
Nehemiah 1:1-3, “1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.”
In Nehemiah 1 verse 1 we start to learn some details about Nehemiah. We are seeing Persian language like the “month of Chislev.” We are seeing the location of the capitol of Persia “Susa.”
Israel has been taken into captivity. Israel is living in a foreign land. The temple and walls of Jerusalem have been torn down and Nehemiah is hearing about their struggles.
Even in verse 2 we see people have come to inform Nehemiah about the physical condition of Jerusalem, so right at the beginning we see big picture language. Are you tracking with me?
If you are new to the Old Testament, then I heard someone break down the bible with 7 E words.
The first word is Eden, which is a reference to the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and time in history when everything was perfect. The second word is Election because Abraham is chosen to be the beginning of Israel as Israel is called to be a blessing to the world.
The third word is Exodus which some of us might be familiar with because of the Prince of Egypt as Moses leads Israel out of slavery in Egypt. The fourth word is Empire where the 12 tribes of Israel become a mighty nation under the leadership of King David.
The fifth word is Exile which is where we are in the series of Nehemiah as Israel is taken captive where the best and brightest of Israel are deported into Persia.
The sixth word is Easter which is where we learn about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And the last word is End, which is when Jesus returns, justice rolls down like a mighty river, which hasn’t happened yet.
It is in the Exile period (Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah) that we begin to see the people of Israel are demoralized. Their spiritual leaders have let them down. Their political leaders have let them down and at first glance it looks like all hope is lost.
But in Nehemiah chapter 1 we see the repeated pattern that the God of Scripture doesn’t give up.
Listen to me, there are going to be times in life when we feel vulnerable. We are going to lose jobs in Austin. Our political party isn’t going to be in power in Austin. Our friends aren’t going to include us in the hang outs.
There are going to be times in life when we feel abandoned. Our parents don’t understand us. Our supervisors don’t support us. There are going to be times when we cry out to the Lord, “What are you doing?” And it’s going to feel like nobody is listening and nobody cares.
But you need to seal into your heart and mind, “The God of Scripture doesn’t give up!” In the book of Nehemiah, it is the Lord who was working when He raises up a Persian king to allow Israel to go back and build. You can visit a museum in London to see the edict that was sent out to allow Israel to return. That’s the Lord!
It is the Lord who raises up Nehemiah to put him in a place to serve that Persian king. It is the Lord who raised up Hanani to deliver the news. It is the Lord who makes a way to accomplish His purposes and we need to seal that truth in our heart. The Lord doesn’t give up!
Even when His people are faithless, He is faithful. Even when His people doubt His promises, He keeps His promises, therefore, we need to hold on to that truth church family.
Our safety and security in life is in the Lord in Austin, and we will see that throughout Nehemiah. Let’s look at our second sub-point; 2. What Is Our Response?
- What Is Our Response? (vs. 4-9)
Nehemiah 1:4, “4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
How does Nehemiah respond? Nehemiah leans in with tears. Nehemiah allows himself to be emotionally connected to pain in the life of other people.
This is so good. This is so helpful for us still today in our church family in 2022. So many times, we see horrible events, we hear about horrible things, and we don’t know how to respond.
We look at our phone to catch up with friends and we learn about chaos and disasters going on around the world. How do we respond? Do we dismiss? Do we give into despair? Nehemiah leans with tears!
We see this same pattern in the life of Jesus when Jesus looks at the brokenness of humanity. Jesus wept. Therefore, we need to ask ourselves, “Are we leaning in emotionally?”
In verse 4 we see Nehemiah not only leans in with tears, but Nehemiah also fasts. We fast by abstaining from food, so that our spiritual lives might hunger for the Lord the way our physical bodies hunger for food, therefore, Nehemiah not only leans in emotionally but physically.
That’s the parallel we can take into our lives from these ancient words. We don’t want to dismiss the rubble and brokenness of our day but instead we want to lean into the rubble and brokenness of our day. Look at verse 5:
Nehemiah 1:5, “5 I said, “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments.”
In verse 5 Nehemiah doesn’t just weep and mourn but Nehemiah comes to the Lord with adoration. Do you see that in verse 5?
The God of Scripture is great and awesome God! He is Lord God of heaven. He is in control of all things. Everything happens according to His plan and His purpose.
Do you know that church family in Austin? There’s nothing that escapes His notice. No matter how bleak it might appear and no matter for how long, His plans are being accomplished.
He is a God of promises. He is awesome! He is a God of love. And that translation in the English really undersells what is being communicated. The word loving kindness is God’s relationship to His people no matter the circumstances.
Listen to me, I think it’s possible that the city of Austin at large could be in danger of a new pandemic, and it is the pandemic of indifference. I think it’s possible that the church of Austin at large could be in danger of the pandemic of indifference.
It’s a lack of emotional connection to what’s going on around us, a lack of physical connection to what’s going on around us, and a lack of remember that the God of Scripture is working in those moments. Look at verse 6
Nehemiah 1:6, “6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned.”
Nehemiah could have pointed the finger, made excuses, given himself into indifference but instead Nehemiah leans emotionally, physically, spiritually and in verse 6 Nehemiah moves into confession and repentance.
First, we confess our sins because God is holy. We confess our sins because we are acknowledging that the brokenness, we see in our world isn’t right and notice how Nehemiah includes himself personally in the confession.
Nehemiah doesn’t say “They and them” as an anonymous plural group of people but Nehemiah says, “We have sinned against you.”
We disassociate ourselves with the brokenness in our world because we think to ourselves, “I didn’t do those things so why does it matter?”
During the summer of 2020 there was discussion as to how we are responding to the historic sins of our ancestors. Maybe you saw this online? In those discussions you typically see people respond one of two ways.
There are some people who will say, “If we look like the people who committed those horrible sins then we too are guilty of those horrible sins because those people are our ancestors.” Does that make sense?
The other group would say, “No, it doesn’t matter what those ancestors have done in the past because that was the past and this is now.” But did you notice that Nehemiah doesn’t follow either option.
Nehemiah doesn’t dismiss and say, “Wasn’t me?” And Nehemiah doesn’t just take responsibility of the sins of ancestors but instead throughout the prayer Nehemiah repeatedly says, “I and my father’s house have sinned.” Look at it again in verse 7:
Nehemiah 1:7, “7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.”
Listen to me, it’s possible we could talk about the pain and hurt of our day at the global level, national level, city, or church in Austin and always assume it is only a “them problem.”
We assume if the leaders were different then decisions would be different, and leadership is important but verses 6 and 7 remind us to look inward to where we can take responsibility in our lives personally.
Do we see racism in our heart? Are we judging people based on the color of their skin instead of the content of their character? We need to repent.
Are we giving ourselves over to greed? It is easy to point out greed and materialism but what about all the things we want, want, want? We need to repent.
It is easy to criticize spiritual leaders for sexual misconduct but what about the sexual impurity in our thoughts, words, and deeds? We need to repent.
Where do we point out the addiction of others and overlook our addiction to food, media and laziness? Where do we criticize health care and neglect the care of our bodies? Where do we criticize climate change and neglect to care for our planet?
Maybe the Lord is showing us the pain and chaos of our world because He is inviting us to care about the pain and chaos of our world? Look at verses 8-9:
Nehemiah 1:8-9, “8 Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’”
Nehemiah knows things have been hard and difficult, but Nehemiah knows the Lord is committed to His promises, committed to His people and at the heart of Nehemiah’s prayer is for God’s glorious name to dwell. Do you see that at the end of verse 9?
This prayer, this response isn’t about Nehemiah’s name being great but the name above every name and in verse 8 Nehemiah prays, “Remember YOUR promises, Lord.”
So that yes, we lean in emotionally, physically, spiritually with confession and repentance and then God’s Word teaches us to remind ourselves and remind the Lord of His promises.
The local church in Austin wasn’t our idea. We didn’t call Abraham. We didn’t establish David. We didn’t send out the disciples in the power of the Holy Spirit. He made those promises!
He said the church would be a light to the world. He said the world would see our good deeds and praise Him in heaven.
Matthew 28 Jesus says, “I am with you always” therefore, when we are discouraged, dishearten, and feel overwhelmed we pray those promises to the Lord and say, “You said you would be with us always!”
1 Corinthians 1 teaches us God is faithful and in our prayers, we can say, “You tell us you are faithful but we are doubting your faithfulness, will you help us?”
Matthew 6 tells us we don’t need to worry because He provides for the birds of the air, therefore, we can cry out to Him, “Help us trust you!” Matthew 16 teaches us the gates of hell will not overthrow His church and sometimes it looks like hell is winning. Sometimes it looks like things are falling apart and we can cry out to Him in our prayers, “You promised!
Because all of this isn’t about our glory but His glory therefore this is how we respond to the pain and problems of our day. Let’s look at our last sub-point; 3. What Is Our Attitude?
- What Is Our Attitude? (vs. 10-11)
Nehemiah 1:10-11, “10 They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.” Now I was the cupbearer to the king.”
You might not know this, but Nehemiah is kind of a trendy book on leadership in the local church because there are some great leadership principles that are applicable but in the closing words of Nehemiah’s prayer, I want us to see Nehemiah is a servant.
In verse 11 we see Nehemiah identifies himself as a cupbearer. A cupbearer was someone who was in a place of privilege.
The cupbearer would have tasted all the king’s food and wine to make sure it was safe; so that in the context of this prayer we see Nehemiah was living in the palace.
Nehemiah was living in a place of comfort. Nehemiah was in a position where he could provide for his family well, and yet Nehemiah resists the temptation to dismiss the heartache and the pain, and Nehemiah responds as a servant.
It’s what makes Nehemiah a foreshadow of what is to ultimately come in Jesus. It is in the New Testament about 400 years after Nehemiah that we see the ultimately tearful servant born into human history. His name is Jesus.
It is Jesus who weeps at the spiritual brokenness of humanity. It is Jesus who gets personally involved by taking our sin at the cross. It is Jesus who is the ultimate cupbearer and drinks the cup of wrath at the cross that we deserved. It is Jesus who conquers death in the resurrection so that in Jesus there is ultimate confession and forgiveness.
Our prayer this morning isn’t to make us like Nehemiah. Our prayer is to help us turn to the ultimate servant and trust in Him, so that we might find life in Him that moves us toward people as a church in Austin.
If you open up those first few pages of the devotional, you will see QR Codes to help us move toward “Build and Belong” as a church family in Austin.
This next year we don’t want to rebuild a wall like in Nehemiah, but we want to build deeper relationships with one another in our church family in Austin.
The only way that happens is if we lean in emotionally, physically, spiritually but we must start with Jesus, therefore, God’s Word invites us turn to Jesus today and ask for His help to be a part of something only He can do in our lives.
If you’ve never met Jesus, then trust in Him today. Come talk to me. Talk to the people for prayer. But might we all turn to Jesus and obey Him and trust Him today.