Things Worth Fighting For
Nehemiah 4:11-14 (NLT)
Intro: A father was talking with his rather rebellious son one day & said, "Every person who lives in the United States is a privileged person." The boy answered, "I disagree." And the father replied, "That’s your privilege."
We have the privilege to disagree. We have the privilege to speak our mind. We have freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, and the right of petition. We have the freedom to hope & dream & pursue our dreams. We are free in so many ways!
We have these rights because of what our forefathers have done. You & I didn’t earn the privileges that we enjoy as citizens of this land. But I am thankful for those who did earn them & passed them on to me. Many of them died insuring these rights that we have.
. In February of 1945, on a beach Joe Rosenthal pulled out his camera and clicked a photo that would later become the most reproduced photograph in the history of photography:
Five young Marines planting the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima. The photo of these young men raising the flag was splashed across the front page of every paper in the country, and for months papers republished the photo. Newspapers were saved, posters were purchased, the photo appeared everywhere, people could not get enough of the photo.
. In today’s language, the photo went viral.
. What was so special about that photo.
. What that photo showed was the determination, the grit, the patriotism of those who had gone to war . They were there because we as a country had deemed that there were things worth fighting for.
. We were fighting tyranny and injustice with Germany and we were defending ourselves against Japan.
. We were fighting for all the freedoms we enjoy here today.
. The freedom of speech that we enjoy even when we may not agree with what someone else has to say.
. The freedom of assembly that we enjoy right here right now.
. The freedom from religious persecution that our founders so adamantly put forth in founding our country.
. We fight for security and freedom from terrorism.
. You see, America, these United States, stand for something.
. We stand for freedom and the removal of tyranny.
. We stand for hope. Why do you think that so many people want to come here.
. Many risk their lives to come here and be part of this great country because of that hope.
. I can imagine a family that has been struggling for many years. They have applied immigrate into the United States. They are placed on a list and they wait, and wait and wait and finally they are approved.
. What do you think has driven them to this place? Hope.
. That’s what our country gives to all who are here. Hope.
. The same would be true for illegal immigrants also. Most risk their lives to come here illegally. They risk their lives because of the Hope that is found here.
. That’s what we fight for. That’s what our men and women have fought and died for. Hope
. On this Memorial Day, we remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for the hope and freedom we have here in our great country.
. You see, they died for the things worth fighting for.
. Our scripture this morning also tells us that there are things worth fighting for.
. We are in Nehemiah 4: 11-14
. The great Jewish leader Nehemiah has brought the people back to Jerusalem to re-build the walls that had been destroyed decades before. Ezra had been successful in rebuilding the Temple and now the city needed to be secured so God sent Nehemiah back to Jerusalem to take control of that task.
. As they are rebuilding the walls, opposition starts against the re-building of the walls. The walls were built up to half the height they needed to be and trouble started. At first, they were just mocked and ridiculed but after the walls were halfway done, the enemy decided to attack and stop the building. That’s where our scripture starts this morning.
. 11Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.”
12The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!”
13So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.
14Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy!
Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
. Nehemiah told the people that there were things worth fighting for.
. The first thing he said was:
. Remember the Lord, fight for the Lord. They were in a pagan culture that wanted nothing to do with their God, their Temple or their city.
. Their Faith was under attack.
. Here in the beginning of the 4th chapter , the leader of the opposition said this:
“What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices?”
.Their faith is nothing.
. Nehemiah told them that they must remember who and what they are fighting for. Remember the Lord He said. He is what we fight for.
Our very existence as God’s people.
. Folks God is still worth fighting for today.
. We as a people of God are under attack from those around us.
. Look at verse 12 again:
12The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!”
. The same thing is going on in our world today. We, God’s people are under attack from all directions.
. Our leaders have changed the concept of freedom.
We were founded on the concept of freedom of religion and now it seems we are founded on the concept of freedom from religion.
.We have become the enemy not the allies.
. This is one of the things our men and women have died for since the beginning of our country. Our religious freedoms.
. It seems that all other religions are tolerated in our world today and Christianity, the worship of the one true God, the worship of Yahweh, is frowned upon and even attacked.
. We have Christians being beheaded in our world just because they are Christians. We have young people being pulled out of their dormitories and killed just because they are Christians.
. I know that these people are in other countries but if our society allows this to continue, it will eventually come to our shores.
. Our faith is under attack daily here in this country and we must fight back.
. I do not know all the answers to these issues but I do know that our complacency will never solve the problem.
. Christians, we must fight for our faith.
. A Pew Research Poll came out this month, this is the results.
“Between 2007 and 2014, the Christian share of the population fell from 78.4% to 70.6%, driven mainly by declines among mainline Protestants and Catholics.”
. Folks we are losing this battle. That’s 8% in seven years.
. If this same trend were to continue, in 100 years, our faith as we know it today could be wiped out. I know there are theological understandings of why this won’t happen but we must be aware that we are under attack and we are losing.
. The church must get out of it’s complacency and FIGHT for God.
. Nehemiah told the people to “Remember The Lord” and fight for what you believe in.
. After Nehemiah tells them to fight for God, he tells them this:
. “Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
. Nehemiah says that not only are you to fight for your God:
. Fight For Your Family.
. He says fight for your sons, your daughters, your wives and your homes.
. Your family is at risk and you need to fight for them.
. Folks the family is under assault in our country.
. The natural order, the design for family that God established in Genesis is being redefined in this country.
. Dr James Dobson has a web site called family talk and he responds to questions that people ask him. The following is just a small part of his answer on redefining the family.
“The family was divinely instituted and sanctioned in the beginning, when God created one man and one woman, brought them together, and commanded them to "be fruitful and multiply."
“ This is where we begin, and this is where we must stand.”
. The battle is in our homes when we allow society to teach our children that it’s okay to have a child out of wedlock. It’s no big deal.
. Remember when people were ashamed of this? Not any more. We have lost that battle.
. Remember when abortion was a dirty word? Not anymore. Now it is an acceptable form of birth control.
. Remember when the family was defined as a husband and a wife and children ? Not anymore.
. We have two parent households are both male. We have two parent households who are both female.
. This is in direct contradiction to what Gods intention was for the family.
. I did some research and found that in 2013, 35% of all children in the United States lived in single parent homes. Either no father of mother living in the home.
. Folks it’s hard enough to raise children in this day with both parents in the home. No wonder our society is going to hell in a hand basket. The family unit is breaking down.
. We must fight for not only our families but also for the very definition of a family.
. The reason that there are so many kids in single parent homes is because the parents did not fight for their marriage or didn’t bother to get married in the first place.
. Married folks, listen to me. You must fight for your marriage. You must fight for your families.
. Marriage is not easy, there are issues that come up but we cannot just throw up our hands and quit. We must fight for our marriages and our families.
. Society will tell you that it’s ok to just walk away. It is not.
.Fight, Fight, Fight for your families Nehemiah told the Jewish people.
.I’m here to tell you this morning to fight, fight fight for your families. God’s blueprint for family has worked for thousands of years, we must fight for our families.
. Things worth fighting for. I could stand up here for hours giving you statistics and explaining why we need to fight.
. We honor those tomorrow who fought and died for our freedoms. Those who fought and died for a cause.
. Nehemiah says that there are things worth fighting for.
. First and foremost, fight for God then fight for your families.
. They are both under attack in our country today.
. Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
Single parent statistics from: datacenter.kidscount.com
