Responding to Ridicule
Nehemiah 4:1-3
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Responding2Ridicule.html
Sanballat has always lived in every time, and taken form in every church. He and others like him believe if God's kingdom is built up it will hurt their cause. They don't want to see it happen. They want to hurt that cause. One of the chief weapons they use is ridicule.
Any time the people of God say, Let us rise up and build, there will be a Sanballat and his crowd that will rise up and blast. Let's not be surprised by this. But it's not easy to stand up to ridicule. Many Christians will stand bravely when being shot at, but collapse when being laughed at.
Peer pressure in young people is powerful, and we all are young at heart in this matter. But the largest cult today is the cult of conformity. We want to fit in. And if we try to stand out at all we end up the butt of the joke. The world doesn't understand Jesus, His church, and His people. We want to fit in on both sides, but we must choose sides and accept that many will laugh at our standards and beliefs. Ultimately we must choose who we are trying to please-God or man. What's more important, my Christian testimony, or my public persona or reputation.
Elijah said, "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him."
Joshua said, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve."
Jesus said, "I wish you were cold or hot"...not trying to ride the fence.
If you are not facing ridicule as a believer, you must not be taking your stand for the right. "All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." It's a privilege to be persecuted.
It is with pride that I take my stand where God tells me to. I wear as a badge of honor the shame some try to inflict upon me. God is my defender and my rewarder. Some who are looking for a church that takes a stand may find it thru the criticisms some place upon those stands.
John 15:20
20 ...If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;
The nature of ridicule:
-They ridiculed God's people as being feeble.
v. 1-2a The world measures things by size, by numbers, by finances and power. But God delights in using feeble things.
1 Corinthians 1:26-28
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
God gets great glory by doing big things thru small people.
-They ridiculed the task as being futile.
v. 2 "It can't be done! No need to even try!" he said.
According to v. 1-2 there's a big crowd gathered. And there's a small group of Jews working. He's mocking the workers and the crowd roars w/ laughter!
Let's reenact -- I'll read each mocking question in v. 2 and you respond w/ the heartiest laughter you can fake [like you do w/ my jokes!]
ill.--imagine you are back in school and an assembly is called and you all go to the gym. The principal calls YOU to the stage, and you go up, thinking you are going to be honored in some way, but then he starts making fun of you, and everyone laughs, he insults you, and the crowd roars...someone sneaks up behind you and pulls your pants down, and everyone is rolling on the floor and pointing.
This is how it was for Nehemiah and his crew. But what Sanballat failed to recognize was that God was standing behind His people. And though it sometimes looks like the world is winning and we are such a minority that we are having no effect, or we're just a bunch of weirdoes...remember, we are on the winning side...read the back of the book!
President Woodrow Wilson, "I would rather temporarily fail with a cause that will ultimately win than to temporarily win with a cause that must ultimately fail."
-They ridiculed their faith as being foolish.
v. 2b "Will they sacrifice?" He's making fun of their religion. This is blasphemy, they are calling their beliefs foolish. And it continues today.
1 Corinthians 1:18
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
"Virgins don't give birth, and angels don't sing, and no one can rise from the dead, and I've never seen anyone riding on a white horse!"
1 Corinthians 4:10
10 We are fools for Christ's sake,
But there's a bigger fool...
Psalm 53:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
Yes, I'm a fool for Christ...whose fool are you? I feel sorry for those who choose to be the fool of the devil!
-They ridiculed their work as being frail.
v. 3 Tobiah jumps on the bandwagon and said, "It won't last," and everyone laughed.
Maybe people said that about you when you got saved. It won't last! They said it about this church more than once in the past...and about me 9 years ago when I got here, and on several occasions since. Today they say, you won't last preaching standards. You won't last w/ those old fashioned values. Hey, we're still here!
It wasn't man building those walls, it was God using man. And we aren't trying to build a church here on our own, we're letting God do it in us and thru us. The church isn't frail, we've got a Godly glue holding us together. We're fastened by the Father! We're built on the Rock and held together by a duct tape of deity you can't pull apart and can't knock down.
Matthew 16:18
18 ...upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
How to respond to ridicule:
-Remember the cause of ridicule.
Ridicule is a substitute for reason [laughter is a substitute for logic]. It is very reasonable, when you look at the evidence, to believe the Bible is the Word of God.
The Bible is a miracle in its origination, its preservation, its circulation, and its application. There's the testimony of its scientific accuracy, its prophetic accuracy, the archaeological proofs. It's a very reasonable faith. But when the world cannot reason you out of believing the Bible they will try to ridicule you out of believing. When they can't logic you out of believing they will try to laugh you out of believing.
The world's thinking--When you don't have a good case based on the facts, just make fun of them -- look for something dirty, something personal, use smear tactics, insults, and call names. Tell lies and try to rally people to your side. Incidentally, if ever you hear something which sounds unbelievable--consider checking it out before you believe it!
-Remember the character of those doing the ridiculing.
We are known not only by the friends that we make but by the enemies that we make. There's something wrong w/ the Christian that no one is laughing at.
Acts 5:41
41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
You say, "I'm never laughed at." Don't brag about that. And don't be too hurt when stabbed in the back. Often it will be those you do the most for, so I suggest that you shouldn't really do it for them, rather, do it for Jesus, who will never spit in your face, but rather will reward you and defend you to the end. And follow Jesus' admonition,
Matthew 5:44
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Pray for them, remembering their character, and don't respond in kind, becoming like them.
-Remember the company you are in when ridiculed.
When Jesus was about to perform a great miracle...
Mark 5:40
40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
Luke 22:63
63 And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him.
Which was worse, the mocking or the smiting? I believe it was the mocking.
Luke 23:35
35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
This was on the cross. A big portion of the pain!
-Remember the compensation you will receive for being ridiculed.
Matthew 5:11-12
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Each time you are ridiculed for Christ's sake, a deposit is made in heaven!
-Remember the conclusion of the matter.
"He who laughs last, laughs best."
Proverbs 1:24-29
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
God who spoke the world into existence will get the last word.
Whose side are you on? Jesus said you are for me or against me, you are scattering or gathering. It's time to take our stand for the right. "I have decided to follow Jesus!" "Though none go with me, still I will follow!"
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Responding2Ridicule.html
