“Let Us Start Building

“Let Us Start Building!”

Nehemiah 2:17-20

Some of you may have noticed something different at the front of our worship order. It’s a theme verse for 2007. I’ve never been big on doing these kinds of things before because too often I’ve felt they are a gimmick for ulterior motives. But I feel so many things have happened around here in the past thirty days and these incidents keep pointing me to this verse so I don’t think it’s something I can ignore. I believe God wants us as a church to come to a greater understanding of these words from Isaiah: “If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.” I don’t want this to be a gimmick at all, but a way of life for all of us. We need learn what it means to stand firm in faith.

How will this happen? I have some ideas how we should be stretched in this area, but I don’t have a complete detailed plan. It just seems to me that this church, and all of us here, needs to seek God’s heart for an understanding of this truth. Say these words with me. “If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.” In Isaiah’s day, these words had to do with foreign policy – people should rely on God rather than the foreign powers around them – but in our day, these words should prompt this question: What or who are we as a church are relying upon?

This church probably has the perfect pastor to keep us where we’re at. For most of you, I’m probably the kind of pastor you like…but I may not be the kind of pastor you need. I don’t like to stick my neck out too far. I think I’m pretty diplomatic. And I don’t like to be pushy. I think these all are great qualities, but I sense that this is exactly what we don’t need right now. We need to go beyond where we are. We need more honest discussion about a lot of things…the kind I’ve heard a lot of the past thirty days or so. And we all…myself included…need to be pushed. So…and I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately…I’m going to try and be the pastor we need in 2007 rather than the pastor you want. Let me start to flesh this out a little.

Let me just say before I go any further that this is not any kind of resignation sermon so those who have been longing for that day are going to have to wait a little longer and those who are worried this is where I’m headed need to refocus because right now because this is all much bigger than me.

In January, we’re going to be looking at an Old Testament story that may be unfamiliar to many – the story of Nehemiah and his return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. Jerusalem was under Persian rule at this time and it was probably between 539 and 400 BCE. When the Babylonians ransacked the city, some people were carried off, and some were left behind. Now the Persians were the region’s superpower. Conditions were not great…but they were manageable for most of the captive Jews. And so most just rolled with the punches and continued on with life. The people tried not to stick their necks out too far. They practiced diplomacy in dealing with their captors. And certainly they didn’t try and goad the Persians. As long as Jews tiptoed around the Persians and didn’t make too many waves, things went along OK…not great…but OK.

Nehemiah, the prophet in our story, was the cupbearer to the King.[1] This basically meant he was expendable. He had to taste everything the king drank as a measure of safety against those who might try and assassinate by poisoning. If the cupbearer died after drinking some poison, no big deal, you just get another Jewish captive to be the cupbearer. Nehemiah must have done his job well because the king likes him. And one day, Nehemiah feels compelled by God to go out on a limb, and basically saw it off. He tells the king he wants to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the city.[2] And he wants the king to foot the bill! Not very diplomatic, Nehemiah! He really sticks his neck out. And he’s even pushy doing it! Amazingly, the king says, “OK, I’ll let you go and I’ll pay for everything!”

So Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem, surveys the city, and then says to the people, “Let us start building!”[3] And then the text says the people, “…committed themselves to the common good.”[4] Now, there’s lot of other details to the story that I’m leaving out. Things like: opposition, sacrifice, and real struggle. And other unimportant stuff like that J. I couldn’t help when I read this story again but wonder, “Am I like Nehemiah? Do we have what it takes to say to God, “Let’s start building!” to the projects and growth God has waiting for us?

There were six retired Floridians who were playing poker in the clubhouse at a place called Century Village. One old codger, a man named Meyerwitz, bet (and lost) $500 on a single hand. In horror, Meyerwitz stands up, clutches his chest and drops dead at the table. The other five guys, out of respect for their fallen comrade, complete their playing time, but they do so standing up.

Once they were done, a man named Finkelstein looks around and asks "Now, who is going to tell his wife?" Gamblers that they were, they decide to draw straws, and Goldberg picks the short one. They tell him to be cautious and diplomatic, be gentle, don’t make a bad situation any worse.

"Gentlemen!” he says, “I’m the most discreet guy you will ever meet. Discretion is my middle name; leave it to me."

Goldberg goes over to the Meyerwitz apartment, knocks on the door, the wife answers, and asks what he wants. Goldberg declares, "Mrs. Meyerwitz, your husband just lost $500.00 playing poker, and is afraid to come home." She hollers through the closed door, "TELL HIM TO DROP DEAD!" Goldberg says, "OK, I’ll go tell him."[5]

I think we back into too many of our responsibilities around here and as a result, back into too many blessings. Too often, we do things like Goldberg. We seem to hope the other guy is going to be the person of great faith and we’ll be the beneficiaries. When we live our lives like that, we miss out on a lot of God’s blessings. Call me selfish, but I’m tired of missing out on some of God’s blessings. Nehemiah was bold. He was a bit pushy. And he wasn’t afraid to stick his neck out. Are there any Nehemiah’s out there today? One of my goals for 2007 is to be more like Nehemiah. But there’s room in this boat for others too.

The other thing that’s fascinating to me about this text is the passion the people felt for Jerusalem. I found myself wondering, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a city!” But Jerusalem was the symbol of God’s presence for these people. When Jerusalem was well, secure, and pristine, the people felt God was all around and certainly dispersing blessing. When Nehemiah surveyed the city, he found nothing but damage and ruin. Everything that told the Jews that God was near was in a shambles.

For us, I don’t think the symbol of God’s presence is brick and mortar. For us, the symbol of God’s presence in our lives is our faith. And I’m afraid when I look around at the condition of my faith, I see shadows of a crumbling Jerusalem. I see taking the safe way…being diplomatic…not too pushy…and too often backing into my responsibilities and God’s blessings. What do you see when you look at yourself?

Jimmy Johnson was the coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 1993. As the Cowboys prepared to face their opponents in the Super Bowl that year, Johnson told his players, "…if I laid a two-by-four out on the floor, everybody here would be able to walk across it and not fall off, because our focus would be on walking the length of that board. But if I put this same board 10 stories high between two buildings, only a few of you would make it, because for too many, your focus would be on falling."

Johnson told his players not to focus on the crowd, the media, or the possibility of falling, but to focus on each play of the game as if it were a good practice session. The Cowboys won the Superbowl that year 52-7.[6]

If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all. Nehemiah understood what that meant. I’m beginning to in a new way here at this church. I wonder if you’ll join me in being bold in 2007? In the next couple of weeks, I’m going to flesh out some of the details of this pursuit but right now, I want to know if you’ll join me? Can we just put our pussyfooting around in ministry aside and get after it this year? Instead of backing into our responsibilities and God’s blessings, let’s pursue them! Who is with me today?

Amen.

[5] This illustration comes from a sermon by Russell Brownworth of Cedar Lodge Baptist Church, in Thomasville, NC. The sermon is entitled, “Nine Ways to Bet the Farm.”

[6] This illustration comes from a sermon by Russell Brownworth of Cedar Lodge Baptist Church, in Thomasville, NC. The sermon is entitled, “Nine Ways to Bet the Farm.”