Sermon Outline: Nehemiah 2-3

For Morning Prayer, St. James’ Poole, Sunday 22nd June 2008.

Introduction

The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build. - Nehemiah 2.20

A recent report has found that the Government has shown a lack of understanding of, or interest in the contribution of the Church of England, and has consciously decidd to focus almost exclusively on minority religions. This, the Communities Secretary said, was common sense. ‘We live in a secular democracy.’ One bishop replied, “That comes as news to me - we have an established Church, but the Government can’t deal with Christianity.” This comes on the heels of the Bishop of Rochester’s article about the steep decline of Christian values and influence in society. What part does the church have to play in the public life of our nation? It’s an important question, as the present situation could lead us to despair, withdraw or give up, or make us think it’s not worth bothering with as there’s no future. Nehemiah 2-3 forces us to consider the question: it’s a drama about kings, queens, governors, armies, high office, accusations of political subversion, and the servance of God. It first shows us the right perspective on the church and the society in which it exists:

1. God’s power extends over earthly rulers (Nehemiah 2.1-8 )

The plight of God’s people and city (Jerusalem) moved Nehemiah to tears, fasting and prayer. God’s city is at the heart of his purposes for healing our broken and divided world: it’s a community, a society where his transforming rule is known and flows to the end of the earth. To Nehemiah that looked as though it was in tatters. As he discharges his duties, his grief shows through, the king notices it, doesn’t appear to have much time for it, and leaves Nehemiah very afraid (v. 2). This is understandable: he’s being rebuked by the king of one of the greatest empires the world had yet seen. Nehemiah gives his reason (v. 3), the king realises something’s up and asks him what he wants, Nehemiah realises this is his opportunity, and prays (v. 4), the culmination of a time of extended prayer in chapter 1. He had prayed for favour in the sight of the king, which seems to be going through his mind as he replies (v. 5). They discuss details and timings, and then it pleases the king to send him. If that’s not extraordinary enough, he asks for a passport (v. 7) and building materials (v. 8 ) and gets them all, as well as an army (v. 9). It’s like the PM giving the doorman at No. 10 permission to rebuild Pompeii, and giving him a blank cheque from the Treasury and an armed escort. It’s inconceivable. Nehemiah tells us why it happened. God did it. He answered his prayers. He overrules the decisions of one of the most powerful kings the world had yet seen, in order that through one of his people he might build his city. See Proverbs 21.1. This matters profoundly for Poole in June 2008. From those who returned to the rebuilt city came Christ, and living this side of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, God’s city is no longer limited to one physical place in the Middle East, but is a heavenly city, the community of those who through faith in Christ, because he bore God’s right judgement on sin when he died on the cross, have been brought into fellowship with God the Holy Trinity. That city is visible in local congregations like St. James, into which we’re admitted in baptism. See Hebrews 12.22-24. It’s in the church that people know Chrit and his rule and are transformed by his word by the Holy Spirit to live how God intended us to live, rightly relating to him and to one another. So this section of Nehemiah 2 has much to say to us here, today, as we think about the part the church has to play in the public life of our nation and how we relate to our society: God rules even over the most powerful earthly authorities, and exercises his rule to establish and build his city, the church founded on Jesus Christ in this world, through which the world finds rescue and restoration. Nehemiah 2 is a part of that work and in a small way foreshadows it. That has implications.

2. God’s people can serve with courage and boldness (Nehemiah 2.8-20)

Nehemiah sets out and gets through passport control (v. 9) and building takes place in the context of opposition from those who do not want the promotion of the security and prosperity of God’s people (v. 10). Nevertheless he is conscious that God is over and above it all, achieving his purposes - it was God who moved Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem in the first place (v. 12) - so undeterred in the face of opposition, he embarks on a commando operation to survey the ruins in order to being the building work, which is top-secret, happens in the dead of night, with the minimum of equipment, and is not easy (vv. 12-14). Despite the shadow of opposition, he goes public, reminding the people of the problem and the derison they suffer (v. 17), and when he tells them how God is at work behind it all, and even the king is within his power and has allowed and resourced the project, the people say, “Let us rise up and build,” and they strengthened their hands for the good work. Trouble intensifies - they are laughed at and threatened, yet Nehemiah doesn’t back down. He doesn’t argue that what he’s doing is legitimate (although he could have). The point is that he knows God is ruler of all, his power extends over all, he has promised to restore his city, and so he and his people are confident to do the work of rebuilding, because God will make it prosper (v. 20). These kinds of opposition are modern - it’s a source of displeasure to people if the church prospers as it’s uncomfortable to hear the gospel message and it’s uncomfortable when Christians by their lives show up the self-centredness of the world and its morals which fall short of God’s standards. The church is a source of laughter - in the light of science, we are thought of as primitive, and in our weakness, divisions and lack of influence, we are thought to have no future and to be wasting our time. The accusation of rebellion against the king is very contemporary, e.g. the experience of the two preachers in Birmingham recently. The challenge to us is to allow what we have seen of God’s power over the rulers of the earth to penetrate our hearts and minds, allow it to move us to defy those who don’t like what we stand for, who write us off, who oppose us in the name of a tolerance which tolerates everything except Biblical Christianity, and so be stirred up to be involved in that work to build God’s city, that his kingdom would come and his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. No matter what temporary blips there are along the way, God will make the work prosper. Those who oppose the building of God’s city will not have a share in its future. When God rescued the people, he gave them the Promised Land as their inheritance and each family had a portion of the land as their possession for ever, and the abundance of the land and rest in the land was God’s blessing and gift for them to enjoy, their spiritual inheritance. Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, because of their opposition to the building of Jerusalem, will not have an inheritance or place in it, and will not enjoy God’s blessing. It may be that there are some for whom that is a warning: like them you’re not on board with God’s plan of building his church, whether it offends you, you find it laughable, or whether your priorities are to follow the priorities of society. God will make his plan prosper. One day Christ will return and bring it to completion, God will ‘wipe away every tear’, ‘death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more’. If you have not supported the building of God’s city, then you will be shut out from the experience and enjoyment of those things in eternity. See Matthew 12.30. You need to turn back to Christ, seek refuge in him as your saviour, and become one of his servants, and you’ll be forgiven, included in his people, and given a share of that great inheritance when God’s city is built.

What does this courageous and bold service look like in practice?

3. God’s city is built by his varied servants (Nehemiah 3)

Nehemiah takes us on a circular tour of the walls. All kinds of people are involved in the building - priests (v. 1), goldsmiths and perfumers (v. 8), rulers (v. 9), temple servants (v. 26), merchants (v. 32). In the building of God’s city, there is something for everyone to do, whatever your status or occupation. There is no one for whom the work of building God’s church is above them or beneath them. The city is built as people serve in their immediate contexts. People build opposite their own house (vv. 23, 28-30). It’s built as you and I in our own little spheres of influence speak about Christ and live in obedience to him. It’s looking for that opportunity to just say something about our faith to a colleague at work or a neighbour down the shop, or inviting a friend to a course explaining the Christian message. It’s living distinctively at work, not engaging in the gossip, and showing love for and serving our colleagues in a practical way. It’s growing in personal holiness, battling against that particular sin, whether in our thoughts or acted out, as God answers the prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” All these are ways in which the community, the society is build where Christ and his transforming rule are known and experienced. This is not just about us as individuals (v. 12). Whole families are involved in the work. This is a perspective that we perhaps need to regain that runs through the whole Bible, OT and NT. God promises to be God to us and to our children (which is why we baptise our children). The expectation is for us to bring up our children to know and trust him from their earliest days, telling them about him and what he has done and how we should respond to him, praying to God that he would be at work in them. Our homes are to be places where Christ is known, and trusted, and obeyed, established as little communities over which Christ is king. Just like termites we see on nature programmes, small but diverse, each fulfilling their own particular function, creating huge colonies and building complex nests, so in all our different walks of life, with all our different skills and abilities, as we witness to Christ by our words and actions in our own lives, as we bring up our families to know and trust Christ, mundane though our lives may appear to be, small though our efforts may seem, those are efforts that take place alongside many other people, and God’s city will be built.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen