Kingdom [Re]formers
Nehemiah 13:15-31
How many years did you drive by and not notice? How many times did you cross paths with that which was broken and just look past it? How often did you pass by something which used to be a crown jewel of the city but now was a victim of neglect and your heart wasn’t even moved? The fact is we weren’t a city that care forgot before the storm, we were a city that forgot to care, about its past, its history, its architecture, its culture, its people, its school system and its government. That’s the way it is when you live in the midst of deterioration, destruction and ruin. Before long, you don’t even notice its there. It’s as if that’s the way it’s always been and you forgot about the way it was, which prevents you from even thinking about what it could be. And so the city laid in ruins and we just began to accept it as the norm, almost oblivious to it.
For almost 150 years, the people of Israel just passed by all the rubble of Jerusalem as if it wasn’t there, as if it didn’t exist. But when Nehemiah heard about the situation of Jerusalem, his heart wept for the holy city of God and His heart was broken for the things which broke God’s heart.
For God, his passion was for the city of David. That’s why he called Esther, Nehemiah, Ezra and Zerubbabel, to have a heart and passion for the city and to rebuild it in the image of God. And that’s what God is calling us to do right now, to have a heart and a passion for the city of New Orleans and to rebuild it not just to its former glory but to the glory of God. Reformers are always seeking new ways to re-structure systems which are antiquated and no longer relevant, to rebuild that which was broken and to heal that which is hurting. Nehemiah was challenged to fix that which was broken and put back in order the things which were in disarray. And all throughout history God has used revolutionary servants, men and women, to set things back in order and to repair that which was broken.
In the 1500’s God used a young man when the church was in trouble and had gotten off track. His name was Martin Luther and his 95 Theses mailed to the door of the Wittenberg Church attacked papal abuses and the sale of indulgences by church officials. But even more important was Luther’s emphasis on what he considered the heart of the gospel: the doctrine of justification by faith—the teaching that Christ’s own righteousness is given to those who believe, and on that ground alone, they are forgiven and accepted by God. In the 1600’s, the writings and writings of John Calvin gave rise to Protestantism and the Puritans who grew discontented in the Church of England and worked towards religious, moral and societal reforms. They contended that The Church of England had become a product of political struggles and man-made doctrines and needed to repent of its ways and ended up starting a whole new nation dedicated to God.
In the 1700’s England, God used Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, the Moravians, and William Wilberforce, who fought against slavery and the slave trade. God also used a young man in England named John Wesley who created a movement of a people called Methodists who sought to live holy lives and to do justice on behalf of the poor.
In the 1800’s God used people like Charles Finney, Lyman Beecher, D.L. Moody, John Henry Newman, B.B.Warfield, and C.H. Spurgeon to lead the Second Great Awakening which brought about renewed personal salvation experienced in revival meetings and led to prison reform, temperance, women’s suffrage, and the crusade to abolish slavery in America. And God has given us the responsibility by virtue of being in this time and this place to be the next reformers, to rebuild this city and bring healing to it and to reform it. The same way God called Nehemiah, God has called us to rebuild the city of New Orleans. Charles Spurgeon says, “Every generation needs a reformation.” And more than any other time in the life of our city, we need a reformation. We need a revival. We need to rewrite the pages of New Orleans’ history from this forward. But God is saying, Who will go? May we like Isaiah say, “Here we are, send us!”
There are four things Nehemiah did. First, he set boundaries. Verse 19. Reformers know what is in God’s will and against God’s will and draw clear, distinct lines regarding both, seeking to eradicate everything opposed to God’s ways. How did he do that? He reinforced the gates stationing his own men at the gates so that no goods could be brought in on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was holy and set apart, meant for nothing other than the things of God. Nehemiah realized that the effectiveness of the walls were only as strong as the protection of the gate. When the gates weren’t supported, it hindered the strength of the people. Even though the walls had been built up, it was the gates which protected them so that nothing could come in. Even though the gates had been installed, Nehemiah realized that they had to be reinforced so God would retain His proper place in the lives of the Israelites and no evil would enter and defile the Sabbath. The very gates which were used for protection had the very same ability to compromise the people’s faith walk because of greed.
Second, he enlisted the help of others. Nehemiah knew he had to protect the gates but he also knew he couldn’t do it by himself. So Nehemiah stationed some of his own men, men who were loyal to him and stood for the things of God. We’re coming up on the third anniversary after Katrina and yet there is still a huge task ahead of us to re-populate and rebuild this city and we can’t do it by ourselves. That means we must have strategic partners like city leaders, elected officials and other like-minded partners who are willing to stand in the gap and believe “If God is for us, who can be against us?” We have to stand in the gap to give hope to those in despair. We have to stand in the gap and cover this city in prayer. We have to stand in the gap and protect the vulnerable children of this city. When the gates are reinforced, new relationships are formed and new alliances are built for the sake of the kingdom of God. When the gates are reinforced, then communities are revived. When the gates are reinforced, schools are strengthened. When the gates are reinforced, your marriage has another chance. When the gates are reinforced, we are living out God’s vision for us as a church by helping people live out their life purpose.
God needs you and I to stand in the gap. Whenever the presence of God resides in the people of God, we become a powerful force to stand for those who are beaten down, broken and do not have the resources of hope, money or training to lift themselves up. But that first means we have to get out from behind the walls of this church and out into this community. It’s then that we see and experience the kingdom of God here on earth.
Not only do we strengthen the gates and enlist the help of others but third, we help others re-discover their identity. Look at verse 24. “Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah.” They began a cultural and religious drift. We see this with immigrants who come to America. The first generation maintains the language, customs and faith of their homeland. The second generation knows the language, customs and faith of their parents but must also know the same about the world in which they live and work. They are literally torn between two ways of life. The third generation rebels against the customs of their grandparents, don’t know the language and want only to live as most Americans. We see the same cultural and religious drift in the Israelites. They intermarried with the pagans around them and began to speak their language, practice their customs and worship their gods. Thus, they began to compromise the Sabbath, not only by not worshipping other gods but also by doing business on the Sabbath. And now they don’t even know the language of God’s Word so when the Scriptures are read, they do not understand.
We live in similar times. We have Christians in the pews each Sunday who do not know the language of the Bible. We have allowed generations to become biblical illiterate. In other words, they can read the Word of God but they can’t understand the word of God. If you don’t understand it then how can you ever know how to live as God intends? That’s why we’re going to offer again the course, “How to Read the Bible” so that you will know the Word of God. But it’s also why we’re going to offer more small group Bible studies this Fall because every one of you needs to be in a weekly Bible study with other Christians to understand how to apply God’s word for your life. You see language is connected with identity and if you don’t understand the language of God you can’t be the people of God.
Words and language also have power. Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command.” The world was created by the spoken words or language of God. The very words you speak today can shape the reality of your world tomorrow. How you speak and what you speak about reflects what is happening in your life. If your life is filled with brokenness, despair and negativity, there is a great chance that you will speak with brokenness, despair and negativity. If your life is filled with possibility, then you’re going to speak of hope and possibilities. But there’s another side to this too. If you begin to talk about brokenness and despair, then it may not only reflects your current reality it will also become a prison of self-fulfilling reality. Think for a moment how we New Orleaneans have often spoken about our city. We wine about corruption, moan about the blight and the city streets, complain about the violence and crime, and bemoan the educational system. If you listen to most folks, you begin to wonder why anybody lives here at all. It was so bad that the Young Leadership Council had to start a campaign to try to change how we talk about our own city through putting ads out and selling bumper stickers which said “New Orleans: Proud to Call It Home.”
Many of us can’t fulfill our life purpose because folks have never spoken the right language to you. They’ve never shared hope. They never spoke of your potential. They’ve never offered a word of encouragement. I remember after one basketball practice my sophomore year in high school, I blocked two shots of the best player on the team, had a couple of steals and then took a charge against him. The coach really lit into him after each incident. And after practice, the Coach said to me, “Tim, if you keep playing that well and improving you’re going to be starting on the varsity.” I got home and was walking ten feet high. And what do you think I did at the rest of our practices. I worked harder than ever and hustled more than anyone else. Some of you have never had anyone speak the right language to you. So now you’re stagnant, you can’t move forward, you’ve got no hope, no self-confidence and no possibility thinking. Listen to me very carefully: it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been or what people have said to you, God loves you. He forgives you, for even things you haven’t forgiven yourself about. God doesn’t make throwaways but can redeem any rough beginning. God cherishes you and has great plans for you. So listen to his voice of love, encouragement, grace and calling and begin living with that in mind.
There is a whole generation of people who have never had anybody tell them they were somebody. Nobody ever told them that God loves them. Nobody ever told them that they’re made in the image of God. Nobody ever told them they can do all things through Christ. God is calling us to speak those words of hope, love and encouragement to a world which is desperate to hear it. But they will never hear it unless we go to them. The days of when people flock to the church are over. This is the day of mission when the church must be on the move out into the world to share the powerful word of grace and good news of Jesus Christ. We are more than conquerors. We have to go to those people and if we can’t do anything else, we tell them God loves them through our words and our actions.
Who has spoken into your life? You didn’t come to this place or this relationship with God by happenstance. Somebody looked at you and all of your flaws and your failures and said God loves you and through Him there is nothing you can’t do. There is a city of people who need radical followers of Jesus, who are willing to get out of their comfort zone and speak hope where there is only despair, to give words of new life and ignite the divine spark which is in all of God’s children. Your words can ignite that flame. There is a community which needs to be spoken to and God needs us. God needs us to speak John Calvin, the great reformer said, “Build a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.” Our words right now can not only help somebody catch afire and but they can start them on the journey to eternity. You’ve been set on fire by the spirit of God, and now we’re called to go and share the Good News of God’s love with someone else.
Fourth, kingdom reformers reinvest in the lives of others. Verses 21-22 The Bible says to whom much is given, much is required. You’ve been blessed to be a blessing. All great reformers realize it’s not about them. God has blessed us to be a blessing to those who need it the most. Not only are we called to help people discover their identity, but we are called to re-invest in the lives of others. To invest in others, it requires us to get out of our comfort zones. It requires us to take a risk. It requires us to make great sacrifices. It requires us to go where the pain is. It’s easy to see the pain but quite another do something about it and serve in the midst of it. Jesus always shows up in the places of greatest pain. When people were blind, he gave them sight. When people were lame, he gave them the ability to walk again. When people were sick, he made them well. God uses us most when we are willing to invest in the pains of others. In fact, God really can’t use us until we re-invest in the pain of other people. We’ve all known pain in our lives, some moreso than others. Many of us look at pain as a curse but through faith we can see it as a gift because now we have a means to help those in pain.
Job who lost everything, his family, his possessions, even his friends decided out of that experience he was going to reinvest himself in the lives of others. “I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him. The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing. I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.” Job 29: 12-17 Did you hear what Job said in verse 13? And a dying man blessed me! Here’s the lagniappe for those who serve. It’s not always just giving a blessing. It’s in that process that we are blessed too.
It is easy to be indifferent and insensitive to the neglect and blight of the city and to plight of others. God is raising up new reformers, a new generation of radical Christ followers who want to change the world and transform lives for the sake of the kingdom of God. The only question is are we going to join God in this work or are we going to let it pass us by. O if we could just become a blessing speaking words of love, hope and possibility, and helping people through our words and actions to discover their identity and God’s will for their life. . O if we could just become a blessing by making great sacrifices and moving out of our comfort zone to to touch the pain of others and re-invest them for the sake of Jesus Christ. It’s about going to the place where God has called you and trusting in faith that God will provide all we need to accomplish that work and that God will never leave us not forsake us. Today, we have an opportunity to rewrite the future history of this church for a new day and a new city.
