10,000 Bricks: Rise And Build Series

10000 BRICKS: Rise and Build

Nehemiah 2:9-20

#10000Bricks

INTRODUCTION… Ruined Floor (p)

Before Kelly and I moved to Indiana, we lived in a church parsonage for over a decade. If you do not know what a “church parsonage” is, it is a house that a church owns that ministers live in which is part of their pay. Most churches used to have a parsonage. It is not so popular anymore. The church I served in Florida wanted ministers to live close to the church so they owned houses in the area.

When our family moved into the parsonage in 2005, it had just been purchased. It also had just been renovated, which was nice. It felt like we were living in a new house sometimes. Pretty soon after moving in, we noticed that the wooden floor in our bedroom had some issues. It was warping in some areas, but we ignored it. We should not have. Eventually, the floor was taken up and the folks who renovated the house did not connect any of the drains in the kitchen to run out of the house so the dishwasher and sinks were draining into our bedroom under the floor. Fun times. Drain flies.

The whole floor had to be replaced and the plumbing in the kitchen re-installed correctly. I am not sure how it could have gone any differently, but I have always thought that I should have been more vocal about the issue with the floor. When we ignore a problem, it will either go away because it was no big deal or it will get worse because it needed fixing. That is probably true for most things in life.

TRANSITION / BACKGROUND ON NEHEMIAH

Today, we are continuing a series of sermons from the Book of Nehemiah all about some building efforts. In Nehemiah chapter 1, Nehemiah’s brother travels to him to tell him that Jerusalem is still broken down because the city has no walls or gates. He saw there was a problem that was not going away! It was only getting worser and worser. This wrecks Nehemiah emotionally, spiritually, and even digs into his identity as a Jewish person. He takes the opportunity given to him in the beginning of chapter 2 to make “the big ask” of King Artaxerxes of Persia. Nehemiah asked for time and the king’s money to go rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

I happen to think King Artaxerxes had every reason to say no: Jerusalem had a rebellious past, the project cost money, and Nehemiah was too valuable to lose. And yet he also had good reasons to say yes: stability, loyalty, and peace in a volatile region. Nehemiah prayed and God aligned the burdened servant with the Sovereign King of Kings by moving the heart of an earthly king. Nehemiah chose to do the risky, hard, and uncomfortable thing!

The reason we are looking at the Book of Nehemiah is because our church is beginning to think and pray about the funds needed for our proposed new sanctuary. This sermon series is part of that process. Right now, our leaders are praying about what they are able to sacrifice for the new building to lead the way. This process cannot be done overnight. The task of building a new sanctuary is not a small task and so there is much prayer, planning, and consideration going on right now.

What Nehemiah was proposing and what had been laid on his heart was also something that could be done overnight. He knew what he needed to do, but he had no idea what it would take, how long, and all of the practical needs. He just knew God had given him a holy burden to build the walls of Jerusalem. The first part of chapter 2 we saw Nehemiah make the big request of the king and was granted permission.

Today we will finish reading chapter 2.

Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem with the king’s letters and an armed escort. This shows that he is officially authorized to build in Jerusalem. I think we also see that God’s good hand is indeed with Nehemiah which is his perspective all in chapter 2. As we will read in a moment, he arrives in Jerusalem and there are forces at work that want Jerusalem to remain in burned-out ruins. Make no mistake, sometimes when God moves and works it is upsetting. God often upsets the status quo.

Nehemiah does something surprising. He does not just start right away. I think I might have. He waits three days and then goes out on a stealth inspection tour to see what needs to be done. He needs to see for himself what the job requires. He has some preparation to do. Let me stop previewing it and let’s read from Nehemiah 2.