Sermon Cloud

Previously in Nehemiah...

 

We've been gathering together to marvel at God's incredible calling for Nehemiah to risk everything for the sake of His name. 

 

Nehemiah was a man that had no obligation to care for or serve this dilapidated city, Jerusalem, or its citizens.  He didn't live there; he was born and raised in a foreign land 1,000 miles away, and though he was a Jew, he grew up under Persian rule.  He was a cupbearer to the King of this vast empire and had a pretty sweat gig going. 

 

Then, God's Spirit begins to move over the waters of his heart to stir into him a concern for his fellow Jews that grows into a tidal wave of emotion and compassion for not only God's people, but God's chosen city, Jerusalem.   

 

The thought of broken people living amongst the ruins of fallen walls and destroyed gates broke His heart.  God gives Nehemiah the courage to approach the king and request what no sane servant would ever request: 12 years off of work, a military escort, and unlimited access to the king's private forest to finance the rebuilding of a destroyed city filled with rebellious, tax-evading, Israelites who don't know how to submit to authority.  Nehemiah is asking the impossible.  Yet, God's grace is greater than the heart of man and God turns Artaxerxes' heart like a stream of water (Proverbs 21:1) and grants all of Nehemiah's outrageous requests. 

 

We have watched Nehemiah come into Jerusalem with great authority and call God's people to forsake their apathy towards this broken city and its broken citizens.  Nehemiah is so captivated by God's glory and so concerned for His name that he is willing to risk his life to see this city rebuilt.  His passion for God's glory is contagious and the people begin to lift their eyes again to a God who not only restores broken walls, but is in the business of restoring broken lives. 

 

Last Week

 

Last week we discussed the incredible injustice of Jews who were not only price gouging food during a famine, they were also charging interest upon their own brothers and sisters which was a violation of God's command in Leviticus 25.  Worse yet, they were taking the children of those who could not pay and enslaving them to pay off the debt of their parents with no hope of the parents being able to buy them back because their fields and livelihood had been repossessed.   

 

Nehemiah hears of this and in a display of godly anger rebukes them in a public meeting.  He calls them to repentance and restitution and reminds them to walk in the fear of God instead of their greed.  Beautifully, the people respond and give back all they had taken, and the entire assembly praised God and did as Nehemiah asked so that God would not be defamed and His glory not diminished amongst His people.

 

Nehemiah's pretty impressive in this story isn't he?

As we watch Nehemiah's single-minded devotion to the glory of God, it's easy to want to follow his zeal and join in this great mission of building the church and rebuilding lives.  Yet something happens about this point in the story, at least it did for me when I was reading Nehemiah over and over again before we started our study.  If I'm honest, I begin to become weary simply by watching. 

Has that ever happened to you?  You get so excited watching someone do great things and so you sit completely transfixed watching them until it finally hits you; you're not like them and they seem to be better than you.  In fact, this can actually create a weird rollercoaster ride where we cheer on a character and then find ourselves eventually depressed at what we see in our own lives.

 

Maybe this hasn't happened to you yet in Nehemiah.  We still have eight more chapters to go, so it probably will.  Nehemiah is a phenomenal and towering figure in this book.  He's a hero of sorts.  Though he demonstrates and admits his lack of perfection that only makes him more of a hero!

 

Being around greatness has a tendency to do that to you.  What initially attracted you becomes repugnant, not because they become less beautiful or heroic, but because the closer you come to them, the more you realize how far you are from them, if that makes any sense.

 

I have watched young, beautiful women come into contact with someone who is far more beautiful than they are and it is an odd reaction.  It starts with a smile at first, and ends with an overwhelming sense of inadequacy that leads to gossip or just downright rudeness towards that person.

 

When I lived in Tacoma, I thought I was pretty impressive.  I was in good shape, I was young, fast, strong, and could talk a good game.  Then I moved to LA.  That was an interesting experience.  All my goodness seemed to be average in the circles I was running.  There were plenty of guys smarter, wealthier, faster, and better looking than I was.  It made me feel small.  It made me feel average. 

 

In a smaller city I felt like I could make enough of an impact on people close to me that they'd remember me.  In LA, I was pretty confident I could run out of my apartment on fire, dressed in a superhero outfit, and I wouldn't get much attention.  Maybe someone passing by might spit on me, but that was about it.  My delusion of being remembered, being thought of, being regarded, was humbled.

 

Nehemiah can be kind of like that, can't he?  In all his greatness we're reminded of our comparative nothingness.  And in our desire to be remembered, we look at Nehemiah and read his request for God to remember him and we shake our heads and say, "If God doesn't remember Nehemiah, what hope do I have?  I can't even pick up my laundry basket let alone build Jerusalem's walls!"

 

Then, as if adding insult to our already injured egos, Nehemiah tells us what he's been doing during his 12 year stay in Jerusalem.  Let's read...

 

STUDY

 

Nehemiah 5:14-19: "Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor.  15 The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God.  16 I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.  17 Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.  18 Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.  19 Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people."

 

Incredible!  Is there a strange mix of both desire and defeat going on in your heart right now?  On the one hand, wanting so badly to be a Nehemiah in our own day, yet on the other, realizing you've listened to nine previous messages up to this point and you still feel so far away. 

 

But before we can apply any of this to our lives today, we have to listen carefully to what God is telling us about Nehemiah then. 

 

Retelling the Story

 

Nehemiah's Commitment

 

V.14 - Nehemiah has been governor now for 12 years.  We're not given all that Nehemiah left behind, but we know that it would have been a great sacrifice.  His security, luxury, comfort, relationships and all other pleasures afforded to him while in the king's palace are gone.  Yet Nehemiah willingly leaves this behind and instead of visiting Jerusalem for a couple of weeks and calling it a "mission trip," he stays for 12 years as he deals with enemies opposing his work outside the city and some of his own people opposing him from the inside.   

 

All of this Nehemiah was willing to endure for a greater beauty that captured his heart.   

 

Nehemiah's Compassion

 

V. 15-16 - We begin to see the depth of Nehemiah's compassion for God's people as he refuses to take advantage of them by laying heavy taxes on the people.   

 

When we look at the example of other governors before him, we see how different Nehemiah was.  His reverence for God wasn't simply a religious posture reserved for public worship.  His awe for God affected how he lived his everyday life.  For this governor, it meant to love and honor God's holy name and to love and care for God's people.  Because of that reality, Nehemiah refused to take their food and abuse them. 

 

Not only did he refrain from taking advantage of them, he refused to take advantage of the city by scooping up real estate and building his own small kingdom.  He wasn't going to buy land from people at a discounted price so that it could be owned by him or his workers.  Unlike the previous governors, Nehemiah wasn't there for his own gain but for others. 

 

What an amazing display of living consistently with what you profess to believe.

What a difference between those who claim to fear God, yet by action hate God's people, and one who not only fears God, but delights in it (1:11) and then lives like its true.  God is far more than a concept to Nehemiah.  God is alive and real.  He is in full color, not hazy and hidden, but active and awesome, powerful and attentive.  Nehemiah's God is a God that hears and answers prayer and sovereignly rules over history. 

 

Fear and love don't normally mix, do they?  Neither does delight and reverence.  But in Nehemiah we see all these things coming together; humility and courage, confidence and dependence, certainty and reverence, boldness and submission, strength and need. 

 

In this short passage we begin to see what it looks like to believe the two greatest commandments of loving God and others.  And this shapes Nehemiah in deeply profound ways. 

 

Nehemiah's love and reverence for God doesn't only restrain what he's not to do, it motivates what he should do.

 

Nehemiah's Generosity 

 

V. 17-18 - He recognizes that his life isn't to be lived in avoidance of what is evil, but to love that which is good.  He demonstrates a hospitality and generosity that is stunning. 

 

First, he loves his brothers and co-laborers in this great mission by inviting them to his table to eat with him every day.  Think about that.  Every day Nehemiah has a huge group of friends, co-workers and officials into his home to eat with him.  150 of them!  That must have been some table, and it must have been some feast. 

 

Look at the spread of food at this feast; beef, lamb, fowl and an abundance of great wine.  You can imagine the noise of 150 well-fed, hard-working, wine-drinking men.  This is an amazing meal.  And it doesn't just say sheep, but six "choice sheep," or in other words, the best of the flock.  He spares no expense.

 

And look who he invites along with his brothers and co-laborers.  He invited those who came to him from the surrounding nations.  These are not Israelites but outsiders, yet Nehemiah invites them to the table to eat with him.

 

Nehemiah isn't living extravagantly, he is living generously.  He refuses to take advantage of others like the previous governors and instead provides meals for others. 

 

He has a right to receive taxes to fund these meals, but instead his compassion and love for this poor and destitute community causes him to shoulder the burden himself and pay for this feast out of his own resources. 

 

Instead of adding to the debt of the people, he chooses to relieve it by taking the cost upon himself.  And again, he does this for potential enemies!  These surrounding nations are filled with leaders that want nothing more than to stop the rebuilding of the walls. 

 

That's a great picture of mission.  To love God and your brothers and sisters so much that you feast together and then invite the watching world to experience that kind of hospitality and generosity.

 

Nehemiah is showing them what his God is like by living like Him.  He's showing God's compassion and generosity to a people accustomed to harshness and selfishness.  Nehemiah is unlike those who came before him.  That's an undeniable fact of this story.  His beliefs matched his behavior, and his behavior was a result of what he believed.  His life was consistent because he genuinely loved God and was in awe of Him.

 

What mix of character traits we've seen so far in Nehemiah; humility, compassion, a love for God's glory, the ability to inspire others, a great strategist, a man who prays intensely and waits up on the Lord, yet is a man of action, he's hard-working, committed to God's mission, a risk-taker, someone who pursues justice for the poor, hospitable, and generous in ways that make us take notice.   

 

Nehemiah's Prayer

 

V. 19 - But what Nehemiah wants most is not for people to remember or applaud him.  Instead, he comes to God in prayer and asks God to see all that he's done for these people.  He wants God to think upon how he's loved Him and others with more than mere lip-service.  In other words, he wants God to remember him and his good. 

 

"Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people."  Nehemiah didn't hesitate to declare the good he had done and he wanted God to remember him. 

 

Nehemiah wants God to think upon him and when he does to be reminded of his compassion and generosity.  That's pretty bold isn't it?  Considering our righteousness is as filthy rags to God, Nehemiah must trust that his heart is in the right place and is willing to say what is true about his character and his life.  Nehemiah isn't just asking God to remember him generally, he's asking Him to think about all that he's done and to not forget it.  

 

Does this sound arrogant?  It would be arrogant if it wasn't true, but for Nehemiah, he was telling the truth and stating a fact.  And, he wanted God to remember him and what he's done.  And, considering all we've said about Nehemiah's character, it probably wasn't prideful at all.    

 

Has it happened yet?

 

Have you reached that point where you begin to feel defeated and a little agitated?  Maybe you're agitated with your own heart and life or maybe you're agitated at Nehemiah because his example seems too costly, too much.

 

How many of us can pray this prayer before God?  How many of us would dare to pray, "Remember me for all the good that I've done?"  If we're honest, we have to admit this isn't a prayer we can make. 

 

Do we love and revere God like this?  With such a focused devotion that we delight in fearing God and never waiver in our commitment to Him and to His great mission?

 

Do we love others like this?  Are we compassionate like this?  When we see those who are destitute and in great need, do we relieve their burden and pursue compassion for them at a great cost to ourselves and our comfort? 

 

Are we generous like this?  Do we welcome in the stranger and care for others by shouldering the expense as we give away our resources so that others have in abundance?   

 

Are we going to look at all we've done and all we've accomplished and all our good at the end of our days and say, "Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done...?" 

 

Nehemiah is a shadow of a greater hero.  Nehemiah is showing us that we need someone greater than him.  Nehemiah can't ultimately help us; in fact his example only condemns us and lays us with guilt.

 

There is only One who can pray a prayer like that.  There is only One who can stand before God at the end of his days and ask God to look at His life and remember all that He has done.  This story points towards a better Nehemiah doesn't it? 

 

A Better Nehemiah

 

Think of Jesus the Christ who didn't demand His rights and didn't demand His privileges as king even though He had every right to. 

 

Instead, Jesus came at a time when there were heavy burdens being put upon the shoulders of the people by the leaders before Him.  The Pharisees had loaded them down with guilt and shame.  They were demanding their respect and obedience to the Law but this was too heavy for them. 

 

Jesus came to them and was willing to give out of His own resources.  Instead of demanding His rightful portion of this world, Jesus gave up what was rightfully His.  Instead of taking what was due to Him, He gave.  Out of His own expense and resources, He gave. 

 

He welcomed the outcasts, the strangers of God, the marginalized, and the broken and fed them until they were full.    

 

Jesus did this with an undivided heart before God.  All of his actions were out of love and reverence for His Father.  He committed himself fully to serving God's purposes and did so in complete dependence upon God, being bold in prayer and submitting in meekness to God's divine hand.  He put others' interests above his own.  He lived a life of purity, integrity, wisdom, faithfulness and love in thought, word and deed. 

 

He took delight in the things which God delighted in and expressed joy at the Father's goodness.  He was also grieved at the things which grieved God.  The brokenness of the world, sin, poverty, oppression, injustice and death, broke His heart.  And towards the end of his ministry He stood up and cried out:

 

Matthew 23:37: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!"

 

When we look at Nehemiah we're stunned by his holiness.  Yet Nehemiah is just a shadow of the truly righteous One.  Jesus lived a robust life and we're to be imitators of Him in His humanity.  And wherever we are unlike Him, in any of these ways, we are to become like Him.  This is why Paul could say, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." (Phil. 2:5). 

 

When we compare ourselves, we have to admit we've fallen short of this kind of love and life. 

 

And in the last days of Jesus' life, another feast was prepared for friends.  It wasn't the lavish spread laid out for 150 guests.  This was much smaller and far more somber.  Instead of the customary lamb at the table, it was only wine and bread.  Why?  Why not the great feast?  Where is the Passover spread?  Why was the lamb missing?  This was a time when you took the best lamb, the spotless lamb, and sacrificed it, then ate the meal in remembrance of God passing over our sins. 

 

You see, the burden was too heavy on the people and Jesus came to live a life that would allow Him to look to God and say, "Remember me, O my God, for all the good that I've done."

 

Is this what He prayed before His death?  Is that what He cried out to God?  He could have.  He's the only One who had the right to pray this prayer.  He's the only One that revered God so perfectly that he could ask God for the reward of His life.  

 

Yet at the end of his days, as Jesus' life was ebbing away on the cross, in his last moments of life, Jesus still hadn't prayed this prayer.  Why?  He had every right to!  If He was the Christ He should declare His righteousness!

 

Instead, He was flogged, beaten, mocked, jeered, taunted, and eventually stretched out on a Roman cross.  And the Father's beautiful Son was lifted up for all to see.  He was placed between two criminals as the mocking continued. 

 

In Luke 23 we see what happened:

 

Luke 23:39-41: "One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, 'Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!'  40 But the other rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.'"

 

Still, Jesus didn't pray this prayer.  Even the criminal who mocked realized if He was the Christ He could get down.  But He stayed.

When I read this scene I want to cry out for Him.  I want to say, "O God, remember your boy, remember all He's done for these people.  Remember His good.  Let Him down!"  This scene feels so confusing.

 

Then, in the most shocking twist of all, someone else cried out "Remember me."  Except, this wasn't from a righteous man, it was from a guilty criminal who was nailed next to Jesus and getting the reward of his deeds by suffering on a cross.

 

This thief turned to Jesus and said in Luke 23:42: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

 

The reason Jesus didn't pray this prayer is because of this man, and all men and women who are rebellious criminals who pray this same prayer. 

 

Jesus didn't ask God to remember Him because Jesus knew the only way that the Father could remember this thief was if He turned from His own Son.  Jesus was willing to let the Father forsake Him so that He could give this thief what only His Son deserved. 

 

And in place of the Father remembering His Son in this moment, the Father turned His face from His Son.

 

This is the only reason Jesus can say to this thief:

 

Luke 23:43: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

 

Jesus' life comes to a close and the cry of this man is answered.  "Jesus, remember me..." 

 

What a stunning exchange took place at the cross.  Our Father remembers us because His Son was willing to be forsaken.  Our Father gives us all the reward of Jesus' deeds in His life and He receives all the reward of our deeds by suffering on a cross for you and me.

 

Because we are the thief on the cross and our welcome by God's compassion came by forgetting His Son, we can stand before God confident that He will in fact remember us.  And He displays His love for us so that we might display that love to others.

 

Now that we've been remembered and not received what we justly deserve, our response is one of deep gratitude and love.  We should ask, "How can we show off what Jesus has done for us?"

 

And our challenge is not that God forgets or forsakes us, but that we forget and forsake this beautiful and stunning truth. 

 

Q-Why does our compassion seem so conditional?

 

Because we forget that our Father loves us and demonstrated His compassion for us by sacrificing His Son.  And as our hearts believe this Gospel in faith, we begin to demonstrate incredible compassion towards others. 

 

If we're struggling, it's not because we're just "bad Christians;" it's because we've forgotten that He has remembered us!

 

Q-Why does our generosity dry up before it ever pours out?

 

Because we forget that our Father, who loves us, demonstrated His incredible generosity towards us by giving us what He treasured most: His Son, His only Son.  And as we remember God's great generosity towards us, we'll find that we're able to be generous towards others.

 

If we struggle with this, it's not just because we're just "bad Christians;" it's because we've forgotten that He gave everything to be able to remember us.