Did you hear cannons fire on Thursday morning? I have to tell ya, the two-fold pounding of the avalanche cannon awoke me from my sleeo. I laid there in bed and thought, No! We didn’t get snow last night. Sure enough, though, God dumped nine inches of fresh snow onto the mountains above on Wednesday night.
As my morning routine ended, I stepped from the warmth of the parsonage and headed towards the church. The cold damp cut through my jacket, and strait into my bones. I strolled down Mullan Avenue, looking at the blanket of new snow upon the mountain cap.
Now, you know this: I love the snow. I think it’s absolutely wonderful skiing on fresh powder. However, I have to confess: I’m ready for spring — on the earth, and in the church.
But ya know, as I meandered down Mullan Avenue, I heard my first echo of spring.
A chorus of birds was singing a new song to the morning dawn. Their song resonated with a distant memory of springs gone by.
Then I thought, This is a day to celebrate and to be filled with God’s joy. My grieving quickly turned to joy; and there in my joy I found a newfound strength to champion the day. I again realized one of life’s simplicities: my grief was merely an attitude of the heart. There’s a lesson there for us all.
This morning, we’re going to wrap our three-part sermon series called the Road to revival by looking at Israel’s song of revival found within the book of Nehemiah. But first, let’s quickly catch up from the past few weeks.
As we’ve heard, Ezra and Esther gave their full devotion to God. They were willing vessels who sought God with fasting and continual prayer, so that God could stir the hearts of his children, and save all those who trusted in him. The same was true with Nehemiah. And this was crucial, because as we’ve also heard, Satan was on a mission to destroy lives.
The Devil knew that if he planted enough doubt, discouraged God’s children, created division, and interfered with Godly worship, then the children of God would have stopped being light of God and the salt of this earth — for all those God wanted to bring back to the Promised Land.
Folks, Satan’s doing this now within the church in America, just as he did in the times when God stirred the hearts of the people to return home, rebuild the temple and the city walls. Let’s see how this looked, and how the people also responded in the Book of Nehemiah. Please turn to the Book of Nehemiah, and earmark chapter 8.
IT TAKES THE STIRRING OF GOD TO RETURN, AND VISION TO REBUILD
Now, we’ve heard Ezra returned to Jerusalem, and within the 13 years of their return, the people had become discouraged in their rebuilding. Satan was working fulltime stirring up people groups to stop the people from rebuilding and doing God’s work to usher in revival.
Nehemiah 2:3 says that Jerusalem lied buried in ruins, and its gates had been destroyed by fire. Nehemiah was saddened because all he heard; and in his grief, he sought God in prayer. God heard Nehemiah’s heart and stirred with him a desire to return to Jerusalem.
Like then, God is stirring the hearts of thousands of Christians to rebuild our once, great, Christian nation, and to restore our dried bones back to state of renewal and revival. But we have to allow God to stir us. We have to want it. Did you get that?
We have to want to again become the salt of this earth and the light of Christ, so that God can save those needing saving. It’s an attitude of the heart; and it starts with a heart of steadfast devotion in prayer, fasting, reading of God’s word daily, and worshipping the Lord God without inhibition or qualification based on our religious tradition and comfort zone.
Thousands are dying outside our walls, and if we fail to rebuild, those who are perishing from Satan’s attacks cannot seek refuge. Here this, I cannot rebuild alone.
IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO REBUILD (NOT AN INDIVIDUAL)
Okay, so Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem with the permission of King Artaxerxes. And upon his arrival, he inspected the walls, and within three days he and the all those within the city started to rebuild.
Nehemiah 4:7-8 says, “Then Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.”
Ya know, seeing their opposition, Nehemiah prayed to God, and sought to protect the rebuilding. Still, the people became discouraged, and started to complain. Do you remember what I just said about Satan getting in the way? The devil uses others to discourage us, to plant seeds of doubt, and to stir up trouble and division.
Sometimes when this happens our devotion slips —even though we’re called to be the children of God. But ya know what? Nehemiah continued to pray, and took action.
He got the whole community involved in not only the rebuilding of the walls, but the protecting of the walls as well. All the while, they kept praying and doing the God’s work.
Folks, the church has its share of Sanballats and Tobiahs who have and continue to plot together to fight against the rebuilding of the church.
God calls us to pray for the troublemakers, and those who create division and strife, and not be those who are causing trouble, and creating division and strife.
Instead, God’s calling upon us all to live by the fruit of his spirit. Paul said in Galatians 5:19-25: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I have to be the first to admit — I’m guilty. Are you guilty too? We’re all guilty, and we need to return our hearts to God with all our might.
Paul continued: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Jesus said, we are to be the salt of this earth, his light in a dark and dying world. He’s commissioned us to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach the reborn in Christ to obey everything Jesus commanded. If we do this, surely he will be with always.
But if we don’t as he commanded, we need to ask, why? Might it be, because we’re not concerned for those dying outside our walls, and for not being those Jesus Christ is calling us to be — children of light, children of salt, and children of compassion to a dying world?
Many of us want our church to be the way WE want it in our minds. And when we don’t get our way, we stop God’s vision for the future from going forward. When we do this we get in the way of revival, and stop telling the story of what God’s done in our lives.
Yes, there are those outside our walls who want nothing more than the church in American to sit in ruins, as it was in Nehemiah day.
But ya know what, I think our problems today have less to do with those outside the church, and moreso with ourselves. Revival has to start with the Spirit of God first rebuilding our hearts with the fruit of his Spirit, largely with his joy, love, and peace— and most especially in our day and age of national strife and despair.
Peace, Love and Joy starts here
Let’s look at having a heart of joy, as did Nehemiah and Ezra, as they led the children of God with revival’s song. This brings us to Nehemiah chapter eight.
REVIVAL S AN ATTITUDE OF THE HEART
Now, in Nehemiah’s day, after the people finished rebuilding the walls and felt safe, Ne 8:1 says ALL the people gathered to seek God with Revival’s song. Let’s see how.
First, Nehemiah 8:3 says the people listened attentively. Truly, they didn’t know the word of God. It had been so long since they heard it.
Ya know, as those who attend services weekly, we hear the word of God. But do we know the Word? Almost 500 years ago, Martin Luther fought with his life to get God’s word back into our hands. But many Christians in American never open the Good book. If Luther were alive today, he’d say it’s not enough for me to read it to you — to that I echo, Amen.
It’s the living, breathing, essence of God, and it’s right here to illuminate our hearts and give us God’s joy and peace. Yet, we often fail in our devotion to God in the reading of his word to lift our spirits.
Second, verse 6 says, Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
This is an awesome form of Godly worship. I know some of you’re not comfortable worshipping this way. But please know, as we lift our hands praising God with the whole of our being, our hearts are freed for the joy of the Lord to enter in.
You know, It’s not charismatic. It’s godly and biblical. It’s how David worshipped, it’s how the Jews worshipped, it’s how Jesus worshipped, and how the early church worshipped.
The Hebrew word often used for to describe Ezra’s call to praise God, is Hallelujah. It’s found in the Psalms, and again Revelation. The word is composed of two parts - the Hallel, and the “jah.” The hallel was a call to worship, and the “yah” signified to whom that call referred — Yahweh. Put together, it means, “All come and praise Yahweh.”
Ya know, when we get to heaven and we’re around God’s throne, we’re not going to be looking all pious and stoic like. No! We’re going to be waving palms branches before the King of Kings, raising our arms, singly loudly and praising God with shouts of Joy. I can’t wait. But why wait for heaven I say. Why not now?
Folks, THIS is what godly worship looks like; and I promise this, it fills the heart with joy!
I say this because of the third thing. Joy and a worshipful spirit is an attitude of the heart. See, verse 9 says the people mourned and wept in their worship to God.
But, Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites said to the people “This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” He continued and said, Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
This is one on of the most famous and poetic lines in the whole Bible, and it’s only found here in Nehemiah — and it was spoken at a time when revival sparked in Jerusalem and lit the hearts of the people on fire for God again.
This is the revival the ushered in Messiah 425 years later.
Friends, the joy of the Lord is the how we are to walk down revival’s road. We can’t expect others to want to know and come to a saving faith in the Lord our God if they don’t see joy on our faces, and see us worshipping God attentively —with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.
Thomas Rainer, the author of “Surprising insights from the Unchurched" and the dean of Billy Graham school of missions concluded the unchurched want to see us worshipping with a genuine faith that’s not downcast and sorrowful. His research indicated that when the unchurched experience genuine worship, that, they desire that too; and many come to a reborn faith in God.
WRAP UP
We heard in our Gospel lesson for this morning of the two men walking down the road to Emmaus. Their moods were somber; their faces downcast. They hoped Jesus Christ was Messiah. Yet, their faith waned amidst their sorrow, until "their eyes were opened and they recognized him" (Lk 24:31). The gospel says their hearts burned as scripture opened to them. I think it's safe to say the Joy of the Lord became their strength." With their newfound joy and faith, they ran to tell of the "good news" that Jesus lives. That’s revival my friends.
Folks, I’m ready for revival. I’m ready for a new spring song to be sung by the church. Let us today seek God for his joy. Let us again realized one of life’s simplicities: our grief is merely an attitude of the heart.
Like the birds, who sing new songs of praise to the Lord each day, let us also sing a new song to the Lord our God. Let us allow the joy of the Lord to transform our thoughts, our worship and our devotion of the heart, and let us watched as God ushers in revival — first within our hearts, and a revival that flows out to those outside our gates. Amen, let us pray.
