Have you ever been around a person whose faith in Jesus was infectious? Have you had the joy of being close to someone who makes you want to know Jesus, makes you want to go home and read the Bible, go, and share your faith, sacrifice your life for the glory of God’s Kingdom?
By God’s grace the Lord has brought many of these types of people in my life. I remember Brad Presnell as someone who genuinely took an interest in my life, and it made me want to know more about Jesus.
I remember Wendel and Diane Weaver inviting me to live in their home. I was 18 years old. They were maybe 25-years old, just had their first child, and they invited me to live with them, changed how I saw the homelife.
I remember the first time I heard Tommy Nelson teach the Bible. I walked away thinking, “Maybe I could understand God’s Word.” I remember the first time Rocky Freeman walked me through Romans and asked me to go and teach the passages to someone else. These are all key influential people the Lord used in my life to help me grow in my faith.
In our passage this morning, Nehemiah 8, we are going to see something similar. In our passage Nehemiah and Ezra start with tasks like building up the temple and the wall, but their primary motive was always to build up a people unto God’s glory, so that we are going to see four sub-points of what that looks like in our life today; 1. We Gather Together. 2. We Study God’s Word. 3. We Repent Daily. 4. We Worship the Lord. Let’s look at our first sub-point; 1. We Gather Together.
- We Gather Together.
Nehemiah 8:1, “And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel.”
If you are new this morning, then you need to know the book of Nehemiah is in the Old Testament. The book of Nehemiah is about the history of Israel. The person Nehemiah is living in a foreign land when Nehemiah hears of the broken-down walls and burned down gates of Jerusalem, that’s Nehemiah chapter 1.
In chapter 2 Nehemiah gathers resources. In chapter 3 Nehemiah gathers people. In chapters 4-6 Nehemiah gathers perseverance to press through the difficulty.
In chapter 7 Nehemiah establishes leaders and in chapter 8 we see Nehemiah and Ezra leading the people to gather at the square in front of the Water Gate because it is important for the people of God to gather.
I am sure we all remember what it was like at the beginning of the pandemic when we couldn’t gather as a church family in Austin. At first it was kind of fun to have a Sunday here and there to get things done around the house but eventually we missed the role of gathering as the body of Christ.
We missed the physical reminder of seeing other people follow the Lord, navigate challenges in the workplace. We missed seeing other people fight for their marriage and the hearts of their children.
We missed those moments when we are singing songs of worship unto the Lord, and someone just starts spontaneously clapping. We missed those moments when we are sitting under God’s Word, and someone responds verbally, so as to remind us this is important.
We missed those testimonies like last Sunday when Clay Preston verbally processed what it is like to “Build and Belong.” We might not know it consciously but simply seeing other people navigate the challenges in life together has a huge influence on us as a people.
In our church family we not only value gathering on Sunday morning, but we also gather in smaller groups that we call Community Groups.
It is in our Community Groups we gather to get to know one another more personally. We gather to wrestle with what application of God’s Word looks like in our life. We gather to pray for one another, encourage one another, and spur one another on to love and good deeds. We need to gather!
Our culture likes to give this illusion that we are all lone rangers who are so complicated that nobody could ever understand, so we better isolate ourselves from one another. That’s a lie!
If the pandemic taught us nothing it taught us how easy it is for us to drift into isolation but also how desperately we need to gather as His people. Let’s look at our second sub-point; 2. We Study God’s Word.
- We Study God’s Word.
Nehemiah 8:2, “2 Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law.”
In verse 1 we saw the people asking Ezra to bring God’s Word to the people. In verse 2 we see men, women, and all who could listen gather to listen to God’s Word. Isn’t that good?
This morning we have our elementary children with us in worship and sometimes people say children can’t sit and listen. Sometimes people say young people don’t have an attention span but verse 3 teaches us the men, women, and children gathered from “early morning until midday”, which is about 6am to noon, and the end of verse 3 teaches we see the people listened attentively.
The people aren’t listening attentively to Ezra for 5-6 hours because Ezra is funny. Ezra isn’t doing a comedy skit. Ezra isn’t playing Chubby Bunny with the kids to keep them engaged. Ezra is teaching God’s Word and the people are listening attentively to God’s Word because it is God’s Word.
Listen to me church family, you’re not listening attentively to me so as to respect me, we are listening attentively because it is God’s Word.
I don’t ask you to write things down on Sunday morning because I am so wise and saying something you’ve never heard. I ask you to write things down because God’s Word is important, and we when we write things down it helps us remember God’s Word.
Listen to me, be careful being casual with God’s Word. Be careful multi-tasking with God’s Word. Some say God’s Word is like the sun that can either melt snow or harden clay, so that we want to listen attentively to God’s Word so that our hearts melt and not harden.
When I ask you to put away your phones or challenge the teenagers to stop having side conversations it isn’t because my time is so important, or my words are so important but because God’s Word is so important, and we want to listen attentively to God’s Word as a church family.
When we are in Community Group, when we get together to share a meal, when we pray together, when we encourage one another, let’s do so with God’s Word.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
God’s Word is alive. God’s Word is sharper than any two-edged sword. God’s Word is a lamp to our feet, a light to our path. God’s Word leads us away from harm and toward blessing. God’s Word endures forever. We need God’s Word, and we want to be a people who study God’s Word. Let’s look at our third sub-point; 3. We Repent Daily.
- We Repent Daily.
Nehemiah 8:9, “9 Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.”
The word “repent” simply means to turn away from trusting in ourselves and turn to trusting in the Lord. In verse 9 we see the importance of repentance as the people mourn and weep in response to God’s Word.
You need to remember the people in Nehemiah’s day have had spiritual and political leaders who neglected and failed the people
As a result, the people have wandered from the Lord. The people have hardened their hearts toward the Lord. The people have turned from the Lord to worship false idols of their day but now Ezra and Nehemiah are reminding the people of the Lord’s glory through His Word and the people are responding in repentance. Have you ever had moments like that in your spiritual journey in life?
I am sure there are some of us who have a spiritual life that was just up and to the right, but most people have a spiritual life that is more like an upside-down roller coaster. Most people take two steps forward, 1 step back, pause, turn around, take a nap, and then rinse and repeat.
Most of us have seasons in life when we wander from the Lord, we wallow in darkness, we harden our hearts toward the Lord, and sometimes those seasons last days, sometimes those seasons last longer, and yet when we turn away from trusting in ourselves and turn to trusting in the Lord we are participating in repentance.
God’s Word teaches us it is the kindness of the Lord that leads us to repentance. 1 John teaches us when we repent of our sin, He is faithful to forgive us of our sin. Revelation 3 calls us to be zealous for repentance. Matthew 18 teaches us anytime anyone repents we rejoice. Acts 3 teaches us to repent so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Our desire as a church in Austin is turn to repentance as often as we can, as many times as we can. We don’t have to wait for repentance until our life is completely turned upside down. We want to respond in repentance many times throughout the day because every act of repentance is a reminder of the gospel!
Repentance is a reminder that we are sinners. Repentance is a reminder that that our sin leads to death. Repentance is a reminder that Jesus has come to take the death we deserve upon Himself at the cross and conquered our sin through the resurrection, so that our repentance is an opportunity to worship the Lord!
Illustration: I want to repent when I am harsh with my words. I want to repent when I believe the worse about people. I want to repent when I am frustrated the Lord isn’t doing what I want Him to do in my life. I want to repent when I trust in myself instead of trusting in the Lord. We love daily repentance!
We love those cataclysmic stories of repentance, but we also love those little stories of repentance throughout the day because repentance is an opportunity for us to exalt the good news of Jesus. Let’s look at our last sub-point; 4. We Worship the Lord.
- We Worship the Lord.
Nehemiah 8:10-12, “10 Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 All the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them.”
It’s possible when you see the phrase “do not be grieved” it is confusing, but the people are repenting for their sin, but we need to remember our repentance also leads us to the hope we have in the Lord.
This is a difficult challenge we have when we teach God’s Word. We do want to be clear that sin leads to death. We want to be clear that the God of Scripture is holy. We want to be clear that when we are in Christ, we have been given everything we need in Christ for life and godliness.
But we don’t want to forget the hope we have in the Lord! We don’t want to be so focused on the holiness of the Lord that we forget the hope we have in the Lord. Does that make sense?
In the context of Nehemiah, the people have wandered from the Lord. The people have hardened their heart toward the Lord. The people have worshipped false idols and they have done so for generations, but at the same time we don’t want to become so aware of our sin that we lose sight of the great, great hope we have in the Lord, therefore, in verse 9 Nehemiah says, “Do not weep.” In verse 10, “Do not be grieved” so as to lift their eyes toward worship!
I remember a moment that I probably shouldn’t share with you because you might think less of me, but I want to help illustrate the beauty of the gospel we have in Jesus.
I remember one evening my wife Holly was away from the home and it was my responsibility to get the gets fed, bathed, and tucked in for bed. Kennedy was probably 7 and Tucker was 4.
At one point in the dinner Kennedy was arguing with me about a glass of orange juice that she wanted so that it was one of those moments where I said, “No, she said yes, I said no, she said yes” until I give in to get up and get her the glass of orange juice.
As I was bringing the glass of orange juice to her Kennedy said something to me like, “You better give me the glass of orange juice.” I didn’t care for that, so I changed my mind and grabbed the glass of orange juice back from her. At that point she tried to grab the glass juice back from me so that we were in some sort of tug-a-war, so I took the cup of orange juice and splashed it in her face.
Now you can think of me what you want but what destroyed me in that moment is that we were early enough into parenting that I still thought I could be an amazing parent. And on top of that I saw this look on Kennedy’s face when she realized for the first time that she wasn’t 100% safe with her daddy. It was crushing!
In that moment Kennedy took off crying to her bed. I gave her a minute and then went in and apologized. She amazingly forgave me, we hugged but for the rest of the night I couldn’t believe what a failure I was as a parent. You see I was convinced my sin was dark. There was mourning and weeping but I was so deeply seated in my sin that I couldn’t see any hope.
These voices in my head started to rattle, “You thought you could be a good parent. You’ve scarred your child forever. You’re supposed to be a spiritual leader.” I was devastated. When Holly got home, I told her the story and she tried to encourage me, but I kept repeating those questions in my head and couldn’t let it go.
The next morning, I went to our elder meeting, and I confessed to our elders about what had happened the night before and as soon as I finished, I remember Rhesa, who was serving as an elder at the time, said to me, “Michael, it sounds like you’re not remembering the gospel.”
Rhesa said, “It sounds like you’re trying to beat yourself up when Jesus knows your sin and has already taken that beating for you at the cross.” Then Rhesa said, “Have you apologized to Kennedy?” I said, “Yes.” Then Rhesa said, “Have you confessed your sin to Jesus?” I said, “Yes.” Then Rhesa said, “Then, receive His forgiveness!” Or, in the words of Nehemiah, “Do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, send portions to him who has nothing for this day is holy to our Lord!
If you have never begun a relationship with Jesus, then you need to do that this morning. But if you have turn to Jesus and you find yourself in the darkness of sin then our response is the same, let us turn to Jesus and receive His forgiveness.
You see no matter how dark our sin is in that moment; we don’t want the shame of our sin to lead us away from the Lord but lead us to the Lord. Does that make sense? That’s the whole point of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation!
In the context of Nehemiah, we see the people respond. They don’t merely hear the Word of God, but they obey the Word of God. There are Levites in their midst who go throughout the people and help them understand God’s Word and apply God’s Word.
If you keep reading in the chapter, we see the fathers are instructed in God’s Word so that they might go home and gather with their family, study God’s Word as a family, repent as a family, and worship as a family, so that the spiritual temperature in the people might be elevated.
That’s our desire as a church family. We are praying that the Lord would use this season of our church family to raise the spiritual temperature of our church in north Austin.
We are praying that our elders and their families would be spiritually strengthened in the Lord. We are praying that our ministry leaders and group leaders are spiritually strengthened in the Lord.
We are praying for new stories of us spending time with one another as we “Build and Belong” that would lead to new stories of studying God’s Word, new stories of repentance, new stories of worship, but for that to happen we have to turn to Jesus.
We will have people at the back to pray with you. Please take advantage of that opportunity. Will you pray with me?