Holy Discontent (Nehemiah 1.1-11)

Introduction

There was once a little old rural church with a leaking roof, of which the congregation was three old ladies and a cat. One of the ladies loved the cat very much, so one day she took it to the vicar and said, “I want to make sure that this cat goes to heaven with me, so I need you to baptize him.”

The vicar tried to tell her that he couldn’t baptize cats. But she insisted, and said, “You know, it would make me so happy if you baptized him, I would pay for a new roof for the church.” Well, the vicar thought about it, Why not? And so he baptized the cat, and the old lady was good on her word, she paid for a brand new roof.

But then the bishop heard about it. So he called the vicar to him, “Now look here. What’s this I hear about you baptizing cats!” “Well, Bishop it was only one cat, and now we a brand new roof on the church.” The bishop told the vicar he was thoroughly out of order and he didn’t want to hear of anything like this again.

A few weeks later the bishop was visiting the church. He looked up and saw this beautifully restored, brand new roof. “Oh, vicar,” he said, “What has happened to your church?” The vicar smiled and said, “Remember that cat I baptized?” And the bishop, thinking about the cathedral heating system, said “Bring it here, I’ll confirm it!”

In the middle of the Old Testament there are two books all about the not very spiritual business of building works. Ezra is all about the reconstruction the temple in Jerusalem. And Nehemiah is about rebuilding its walls, somewhat later.

To coincide with the renovation and upgrading of our roof, we’re going to be looking at Nehemiah over the next few months. And, no, I am not baptizing any cats.

Nehemiah may not be among the books of the Bible you are most familiar with. So let me give you the beginning and the end. At the beginning of the book, Jerusalem is Desolation Row. Though we are not actually told this, the rebuilding of the walls had actually already started a few years earlier. But the work was frustrated and sabotaged by extremists and came to nothing.

Chapter 1, verse 3 tells us that the walls were now rubble and the city gates had been burned to ashes. Nehemiah turned out to be the project manager who organised the rebuilding works.

But he did more than just reconstruct a city wall. Under his leadership, the whole community got reformed. Chapter 1, verse 3 tells us about the people as well as the walls. And it says, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace.” The local population was in bad shape, morale was low and living conditions were appalling.

So chapters 1-7 are about bricks and mortar. But chapters 8-13 are about spiritual renewal and getting right with God. 

We often say that it's about people, not buildings, but in God's word, surprisingly, both are important.

How Nehemiah got from the chapter 1 to chapter 13 is what we’re going to explore together over the next few weeks.

Here at All Saints’ we've been on the verge of a new building project for some time now. We have also faced a challenge, with limited resources and complex obstacles. But five weeks tomorrow, God willing, the scaffolding will go up and we’ll be on the way to getting a new, improved roof.

With Nehemiah, the rebuilding of the walls took time, required imaginative vision, involved hard work, cost money, demanded organisation and was a spiritual exercise undergirded by a united, praying community.

It has been exactly the same for us. It has taken time. It has required imagination. Some us have had to work really hard. It has demanded organisation. We have had to keep the vision fresh and give regular updates. It is going to cost a lot of money – about £97,000.

But at the heart of our project has been prayer. As much as organization, generosity, hard work and vision – this project is a testimony to the power of prayer.

And prayer is what Nehemiah 1 is about. If you’re a Christian, you should want to grow in prayer. 

Do you want to grow in authority and faith and effectiveness in prayer? Well, one of the best models we have in the whole Bible on prayer is in Nehemiah 1.

I want us to learn how Nehemiah prayed and then set our minds to pray like he did - because his prayer was effective. Everything he asked for came to pass. So let’s look at his model. There are four essential ingredients.

1) See God As He Really Is (v5)

Firstly, he sees God as he is. He starts with a declaration of the truth about who God really is. This is so important. If, deep down, we really think God is puny and inadequate and a bit off form, our praying will be feeble and ineffective.

But Nehemiah lifts his eyes in v5 and addresses “the Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands.”

He is the God of heaven says Nehemiah. That means his greatness and sovereignty and authority and might are high above our earthly experience or understanding. Nehemiah calls him “the great and awesome God.”

Our God doesn’t need anyone’s help. He just speaks and things come to pass. He stands alone in himself. His reign is omnipotent and everlasting. The light in which he dwells is unapproachable. He is totally in a class of his own. All heaven exults and delights in the unparalleled perfections of his glory.

As Richard Taylor says, “We need to stop telling God about how big our problems are and start telling our problems about how big our God is."

And yet Nehemiah remembers that this is the God who keeps covenant. He is the God who binds himself to the people he loves. He says “I will” and never goes back on his word.

I’m telling you, we will never pray with authority and conviction if we don’t bring our vision of God’s greatness into line with what Scripture reveals about him.

2) Confess Buried Sin (v6-7)

The second thing Nehemiah does is in v6-7.

If you were to ask me “What most hinders the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in a church?” I would reply straight away “Sin that is not dealt with.”

Nehemiah confess to God buried sin. This how another version translates it: “I’m confessing the sins of myself and my ancestors. We have sinned against you. We've treated you like dirt: We haven’t done what you told us.”

I know a church where for decades there has been a culture of criticism and arguing. I know another church where for decades there has been a stronghold of pride; an attitude that says, “we’re superior to other churches.” I know of churches where from generation to generation there has been a paralysing fear about confronting stuff in church that is contrary to God's word. 

I want you to notice that Nehemiah identifies some of the Achilles heel patterns of sin from previous generations and recognises that they are issues not just for them – but for him. And he confesses it. “We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed [your] commands.”

3) Hold On to God’s Promises (v8-10)

The third thing Nehemiah does is he holds on to God’s promise, in v8-10. He holds on to God’s promise. He reminds God of what he said.

He’s saying, “here is the firm, unshakable basis for my trust in you. You said ‘if our hearts turn to you, no matter how low we’ve gone, you will restore us.’ You said that Lord. Today, I believe it. And that settles it.” 

“Remember what you said, Lord. If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.”

Here are some selected promises that God makes to you.

If you are worried that God is not really with you, he promises his presence - “I will never leave you or abandon you” (Hebrews 13.5).

If you are anxious about big changes on the horizon, he promises his peace - “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil” (Jeremiah 20.11).

If you are fearful of burning out, he promises true rest - “Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

If you feel you have blown it and you will never get it right, he promises his thorough, total and complete cleansing - “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1.9).

If you are confused, he promises his all-conquering providence - “All things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to his plan” (Romans 8.28).

And if anyone this morning is wondering where all the money is going to come from, he promises provision from his inexhaustible supply - “I am the Lord you provider” (Genesis 22.14).

These are promises God has made to those who walk with him. Remind him of them and hold him to his promise.

4)  Ask God for Favour (v11)

The last thing Nehemiah does is to ask for God’s favour in v11. The dictionary defines “favour” as “to regard with special kindness or approval.”

Why did Nehemiah feel he needed to ask for special kindness or approval? Because he knew that the odds were overwhelmingly stacked against him and without God’s mighty hand on him he would never build that wall.

Here’s what he said. “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favour...”

I have to confess that about a year ago, after a PCC meeting about the roof, I wobbled a bit. I told myself, “You have to be realistic, John. It’ll cost too much money. We haven’t got enough people. You can’t go and burden the church with that kind of thing, not now. What about the credit crunch? Don’t forget this is a recession! What if you plunge All Saints’ into the red? This is on your watch.”

At the beginning of this book, Nehemiah had fewer people than us, less money and a much bigger project than ours. But he still asked for favour – and he got it too! One of the messages of Nehemiah is this: Never forget that you and the Holy Spirit together make up an invincible minority.

“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servants success today by granting them favour…”

That’s the bold prayer of a man who really believes in the grace of God. Passionate and prayerful, seeing God as he really is, confessing to God his sin, holding on to God’s promises and asking God to show him favour.

May the Lord give us an anointing in passionate, believing, bold prayer, so that, whatever the devil throws at us, we will prevail for his glory.

Ending - Holy Discontent

But in the last 5 minutes I have, I want to talk about the one thing that really stole my heart when I looked over this chapter a few weeks ago. If you take nothing else away from this talk, take this.

It comes in v4 where Nehemiah says, “When I heard these things, [that is to say, when I heard what disarray Jerusalem was in] I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”

This is what Willow Creek’s Bill Hybels calls “holy discontent.”  Hence the title for this talk.

What does holy discontent mean? It means this: Look, the place where God has promised to manifest his glory in the midst of his people is a wreck and I just can’t rest until the problem is dealt with.

His heart is stirred. His soul is in turmoil. There is within him a burning frustration, a Spirit-filled restlessness. God’s honour is at stake! Nehemiah cannot just let it go and say, “Oh well, these things happen…”

And it’s not as if Nehemiah had reason to be restless either. It’s not as if he would have needed a change in scenery. He had the mother of all cushy jobs. Verse 11; “I was cupbearer to the king.” So he lives in a palace. He eats like royalty. He gets designer clothes provided. He’s got a generous pension lined up. And his job is basically to select and taste the finest wines in the empire.

(There is an element of risk to be fair. He has to take the first sip from every bottle just in case someone has tried to poison the king. But anyone wanting to assassinate the king would try something else because they know it would only get as far as the cupbearer, so Nehemiah's risk was minimal really).

In his book, Hybels talks about an old cartoon character called Popeye. Does anyone here remember him? Popeye had a special girl in his life called Olive Oyl. If anything caused his damsel to be a damsel in distress Popeye would try to stay calm but in the end, his pulse would race, his anger would rise up, his blood would boil and he’d yell out, “That’s all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more!” And he’d rip open a tin of spinach, swallow it in one gulp, his forearms would burst through his shirt and he would be an unstoppable force.

We tend to be uncomfortable with words like “discontent” in church. We tend to want contentment and happiness.

But I feel that is a big mistake. I want everyone here to have a stirring, restless frustration. Every church, every Christian, needs just the right amount of dissatisfaction in order to grow healthily.

This is actually the biggest key to Nehemiah getting done what he got done; a God-driven frustration about what's wrong that compels him to work with all his might for change.

That’s where I think we were at All Saints’ over the roof about two and a half years ago. We just felt, “We can’t go on patching up this roof every year. Every time it rains, we’re running around with buckets. Every time the temperature goes below 10 degrees outside we can’t keep warm inside. This is God’s house! Our garages and sheds have better roofs than this! That’s all we can stands, and we can’t stands no more!

And God has blessed that sense of holy discontent. Till here we are on the verge of change.

But I feel this is a challenge from God for us now. Look around you, like Nehemiah looked at the state of Jerusalem’s walls. What’s bugging you?

Think about an area of work that you are responsible for. What would it look like if the Holy Spirit got hold of it and there was greater respect, cleaner language, better relationships and more honesty?

Are you content with what you see – or do you have a burning passion to see more, to see safer, to see better, to see finer..?

Think about any area of church life you might be involved in; welcome, sung worship, your small group, children’s or youth work, serving tea and coffee, pastoral care, communication, outreach to retired people, flowers, prayer ministry…

Are you just content to put up with something that you know is only half-decent? Or are you yearning for something better? Has God moved to you to pray, and to seek his face about it? Do you burn with a desire that the house of God will be filled with his glory, as any place can be this side of heaven?

Think about the state of the nation and the continual rise in godlessness. Do you yearn and pray for a sweeping move of God that will turn this nation back to him? Are you passionate about God’s honour in our land?

Or maybe a major global issue like hunger or human trafficking or AIDS orphans. Are you content to just accept it or does it grieve you so much you're going to pray like never before and make a stand so things start to change?

Let's stand to pray...

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 9th June 2013