Standing in the Gaps
Nehemiah 4:1-23
Last week, we began looking at the Ezra-Nehemiah story. Nehemiah was called by God to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the city. A big part of the job was brick and mortar reconstruction. But remember, for the Jews, Jerusalem symbolized God’s presence in the lives of the people. So, the rebuilding was about a whole lot more than bricks and mortar. It was about God’s presence.
I suggested to you last week that the symbol of God’s presence in our lives is our faith. I also said that I believe there is some rebuilding we need to do here at this church. And here we go with that theme verse again. If you’re not sick of it already, you may be by the end of 2007! Say Isaiah 7:9 again with me, “If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.” Faith is reason gone courageous. It spurs us on to complete the unlikely. Yet, a major stumbling block in being faithful is that too often we don’t address the gaps in our faith – those areas where we are vulnerable.
In our text today from Nehemiah 4, the work on rebuilding has begun. People were getting after it, but their faith was beginning to wobble because the work was extensive. Opposition from their neighbors was also mounting and some people were unsure. Nehemiah knows that this is a critical time in the rebuilding process and so he focuses attention on one area – the gaps where the walls, and the people, were most vulnerable.
Where are our gaps? Where are we as a church most vulnerable? If Nehemiah were to come in here, where do you think he would want us to start working? Here are four gaps where we need to do some rebuilding. There may be others too, but as I’ve considered our condition, here’s where I think our gaps are.
First, any rebuilding we attempt to do without prayer will crumble. If you read through the Nehemiah story, you will notice that prayer always was part of the key movements in rebuilding. When Nehemiah heard about the condition of his homeland in chapter 1, he prayed.[1] When Nehemiah went before King Artaxerxes to ask for supplies and permission to rebuild, he prayed.[2] Nehemiah sought God’s heart through prayer. It was a cornerstone for rebuilding.
Are we a people of prayer? Last week, I heard of a conversation where someone was asking, “What about the prayers that people were just praying out loud at the end of the worship service last week? Were they staged?” It’s a legitimate question. I’m a planner. If I would have thought of it, it might be something I would have planned into that worship service. But I didn’t plan it and didn’t ask anyone to pray. I’m believing that God led several of you pray in that moment. Why don’t we do more of that?
From time to time over the past several years, I have heard stories about a group of women who get together on Wednesdays here in this community to talk, share, and pray. Some of these women, I know, have physical challenges where they may not be able to walk very well, or aging has made life difficult. Yet, they get together on Wednesdays and pray. I was thinking this last week that if we set out to physically rebuild something, I’m not sure that any of them would be able to participate because of their physical limitations. But our building is in the spiritual realm and from what I’ve been hearing, these women swing some pretty big spiritual hammers in prayer.
I’m asking in 2007 that each of us spend 10 minutes a day in prayer specifically for the rebuilding of faith in this church. You decide where this happens: in the shower, as you’re driving to work, when you get up, before you go to bed. God doesn’t care. Let’s start with 10 minutes every day in 2007 and let’s see how many gaps God closes when we seek his heart. There’s also going to be moments at the end of our worship service where if you want to pray out loud, then do so. I’m not going to wait all day for this. And don’t pray if you don’t feel the Spirit calling you to do so. Let’s close the prayer gap in this congregation in 2007.
Second, let’s talk about an easy gap to close – financial giving. We’ve been talking about this a lot lately so I’m not going to say much. Money is one of the tools this church needs to accomplish tasks in ministry. If you claim this as your church home, then we need you to do your part. In the Old Testament, a common benchmark was one tenth of what a person had.[3] Some of us do better than that. Praise God! Some of us don’t come close. In the last month, several have stepped up and really made a difference in the financial status of this church. Let’s keep the momentum going in 2007.
Third, we have a discipleship gap we need to work on. Discipleship is about growing in our relationship with Christ and our relationship with one another. If you want to see where this is working well in this church, look at our Youth and Children’s ministries. The students are growing in their knowledge and their faith. We adults need to follow their lead. Discipleship is not just for kids. There are two ways, adults, I want you to consider growing in 2007. One, there’s room for you in Sunday School. It’s consistent. We have one of the strongest groups of teachers we’ve had since I’ve been here. We need your input and participation. The other avenue for discipleship I want us to pursue is something new and was actually an idea from one of you. I’m going to be talking to the deacons on February 4th about hosting groups within the congregation on a quarterly basis. This will be an opportunity to connect with others, and opportunities for us to discuss standing firm in faith in 2007. There are enough new people in this congregation…and enough people who’ve been around for a long time who still don’t feel connected, that this deserves our attention. There will be more details about this after I talk with the deacons. How will you stand in the gap of discipleship in 2007?
Fourth, we have a gap in outreach. I was looking through a list of people who were active in this church about the time I came, and a current list. One thing jumped out at me. I’ve buried a lot of people in time my time here! I’m not sure what that says about me…but I don’t think it’s something I’ll put on my résumé. This congregation has been in transition the past 10 years. We are not just a group that comes from a few families anymore. We’ve added some new folks but the time for us to grow in numbers and participation is now. Churches that don’t grow die. Do you want to grow or die? We grow through relationships that are already in place – relationships you have with people who don’t have a church home. Pray that God will give you opportunities to talk about your church home…and then bring them with you.
When Nehemiah led the people in rebuilding, he led them in prayer,[4] the people worked together to close the gaps,[5] and they were watchful for problems and also results.[6] God did amazing things through that group. I believe the same will happen here. But we have some gaps to close.
Amen.