KINGDOM BUILDING 101: A BROKEN HEART
NEHEMIAH 1: 1 – 11
JANUARY 11, 2004
INTRODUCTION: TATER PEOPLE: Some people never seem motivated to participate, but are just content to watch while others do the work.
They are called "Spec Taters". Some people never do anything to help, but are gifted at finding fault with the way others do the work. They are called "Comment Taters". Some people are very bossy and like to tell others what to do, but don’t want to soil their own hands. They are called "Dick Taters". Some people are always looking to cause problems by asking others to agree with them. It is too hot or too cold, too sour or too sweet. They are called "Agie Taters". There are those who say they will help, but somehow just never get around to actually doing the promised help. They are called "Hezzie Taters". Some people can put up a front and pretend to be someone they are not. They are called "Emma Taters". Then there are those who love others and do what they say they will. They are always prepared to stop whatever they are doing and lend a helping hand. They bring real sunshine into the lives of others. They are called "Sweet Taters".
TRANSITION THOUGHT: How do we build the Kingdom of our God? How do we participate in seeing His Kingdom come here on earth as it is in Heaven? Do we have a responsibility to work for the Kingdom or can we just sit back and watch it happen? This is a true theological question that we will look at for the next four weeks and today we start with a biblical perspective as found in the text Tony read for us. Nehemiah will be our example of how we can begin to participate in the Kingdom. He teaches us…
THESIS SENTENCE: KINGDOM BUILDING ONLY BEGINS WHEN OUR HEARTS ARE BROKEN FOR THE KINGDOM.
I. A BROKEN HEART BEGINS WITH OPEN EYES VV. 1 -- 4
A. OPEN EYES HAVE A CONCERN FOR OTHERS
1. The book of Nehemiah opens with some brief but important information. Nehemiah is living in a fortified City and is greeted by some close associates.
2. What follows reveals the heart of Nehemiah.
3. “I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.” Was this just petty conversation? Was this just chit chat to pass the time? Or was this a legitimate concern for his people?
B. OPEN EYES HEAR AND RECEIVE THE TRUTH
1. “Then they said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
2. Nehemiah had asked, and now he hears. This is not one of those situations in life where you ask, “How are you?” and just expect to hear fine. If it was for Nehemiah, he did not hear “FINE!”
C. OPEN EYES MOURN
1. “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed…”
2. Nehemiah had a concern for others. He heard and received the truth that things are bad. And now he responds in a personal way!
3. He sat down. Have you ever had some one tell you, “You better sit down for this”? This was the case in this situation, but it happened after the fact.
4. He wept. Have you come to the place that the information before you was so disturbing you wept? Nehemiah reveals his heart to us for his people and for his nation.
5. “For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed…”
6. When we mourn, we know our hearts are broken!
7. When we fast and pray, we know we have become deeply involved and concerned.
ILLUSTRATION: DEAD OR ALIVE?
When elderly Adele Gaboury turned up missing four years ago, concerned neighbors in Worcester, Massachusetts, informed the police. A brother told police she had gone into a nursing home. Satisfied with that information, Gaboury’s neighbors began watching her property. Michael Crowley noticed her mail, delivered through a slot in the door, piling high. When he opened the door, hundreds of pieces of mail drifted out. He notified police, and the deliveries were stopped. Gaboury’s next-door neighbor, Eileen Dugan, started paying her grandson $10 twice a month to mow Gaboury’s lawn. Later Dugan’s son noticed Gaboury’s pipes had frozen, spilling water out the door. The utility company was called to shut off the water. What no one guessed was that while they’d been trying to help, Gaboury had been inside her home. When police finally investigated the house as a health hazard, they were shocked to find her body. The Washington Post (10/27/93) reported that police believe Gaboury died of natural causes four years ago. The respectable, external appearance of Gaboury’s house had hidden the reality of what was on the inside. Something similar can happen to people: We may appear outwardly proper while spiritually dead. All sorts of religious activity may be happening outside, while the real problem is missed: spiritual death on the inside.
SOURCE: Vialo Weis, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 3.) Contributed by Gerald Flurry Contributed by: SermonCentral PRO
THE PROBLEM WAS WITH THE EYES!
TRUTH: WHEN OUR EYES ARE OPEN WE TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THE PRESENT SITUATION!
QUESTIONS: HOW DO WE SEE THE KINGDOM? DO WE HAVE OUR EYES OPEN? IS IT SOMEONE ELSES RESPONSIBILITY OR IS IT OURS?
II. A BROKEN HEART IS FINDING A GOD PERSPECTIVE VV. 5- 6A, 10
A. A God perspective is having a biblical view of who GOD is
1. Nehemiah did not just pray; he sought the living God of Heaven.
2. Not only did he seek the only God, but also he sought the God whom he knew would respond and intervene.
3. Just who is this God Nehemiah seeks? “O Lord, God of Heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands…”
4. He is the Lord, the God of Heaven, and the great and awesome God.
5. Has Nehemiah lost faith over the Exile, the scattering of the people of God? Has Nehemiah lost faith over the circumstances of the chosen children? Has Nehemiah lost faith over the destruction of the city of God?
6. Well, according to this prayer, Nehemiah still believes God to be God!! 7. Have you lost faith because of the negative things that surround your life? Have you lost faith because it appears we are not winning at the present? Have you lost faith because God seems distant at this time? Nehemiah says to us today, God is still God, seek Him while He may be found!! Don’t lose faith!!
8. And not only is He all of the above, He is the God who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands.
9. Nehemiah proclaims to us in prayer, as he seeks this awesome God, that this God is awesome because HE DOESN’T BREAK HIS PROMISE!! And His promise is to those who love him and obey his commands!
B. A God perspective knows where to turn when we need help
1. “Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel.”
2. Not only did Nehemiah know who this God is, he knew where to turn when things got bad.
3. It is not enough to know who God is! When we know who HE is, it should cause us to turn to HIM for help!!
4. I know I have said this before, but when crises happen, we must learn to run to God, and not away from HIM.
5. Not only did Nehemiah acknowledge just who this God is, he sought HIM to intervene on his behalf.
C. A God Perspective is knowing the word of God
1. “Remember the instructions you gave your servant Moses…”
2. “I will scatter… I will gather…”
3. “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.”
4. Knowing God is knowing that HE is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that He will do what He has promised to do.
ILLUSTRATION: Vance Havener said, “You have not really learned a commandment until you have obeyed it.... The church suffers today from Christians who know volumes more than they practice.” Contributed by: Greg Yount
John Wycliffe had a vision of a Bible in the common English tongue. But dogmatists anchored to the past killed him for it. John Huss dreamed a dream of a responsible Christian life guided by the scriptures. Traditionalists burned him at the stake. Martin Luther was awakened to a new reality of God’s grace -- an awakening not shared by contemporaries profiting from the status quo. Consequently, he was hunted for years for revealing an exciting and preferable future. A kingdom was coming and the powers of the past could not prevail against it.
Maurice A. Fetty, The Divine Advocacy, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio.
Contributed by: SermonCentral PRO
Have you noticed that the more mature believers have a greater capacity to see hidden blessings in hardships and difficult subjects? Norm Cousins, a teacher at the Univeristy of Calif. Medical School in Los Angeles, noticed an amazing irony in his younger students’ perceptions. It seems that whenever they described courses like physiology, histology or biochemistry they referred to them as hard subjects. However, whenever they talked about ethics, counseling or patient care they called them easy subjects. Twenty years later, these same students have reversed their thinking about these courses, reported Cousins. Now they understand physiology, histology and biochemistry as easy subjects but ethics, patient counseling, and patient care as the most complicated issues they have to face as doctors. The enduring values of dealing with people are often initially seen as unnecessary until we see life from the eyes of God and with the years of experience. The hidden aspects of life are usually the elements that have the greatest eternal value, but require the most discernment. Contributed by: Paul Fritz
TRUTH: WHEN WE TRULY KNOW GOD WE GAIN A GOD PERSPECTIVE!
QUESTIONS: DO WE KNOW THE GOD OF THE BIBLE? DO WE TURN TO HIM IN TIMES OF NEED? DO WE KNOW HIS WORD?
III. A BROKEN HEART IS PERSONAL OWNERSHIP
A. Ownership is knowing I am to blame
1. Nehemiah starts where we all start, “I confess the sins we Israelites… have committed against you.”
2. If there is some confessing to do, I don’t want to be all alone in this thing. 3. Surely all of you were to blame as well!!
4. But if Nehemiah had left things here, God would not have answered! 5. “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you.”
6. Nehemiah knows that he too is to blame and he takes personal ownership of his sin instead of just playing the blame game and letting everyone else foot the bill. 7. Do you ever accept the blame, or is it always someone else’s fault?
B. Ownership is knowing what I have done
1. Nehemiah was clear on whom to blame, he said, you can start with me. 2. And he knew why he and the Israelites were to blame; “We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.”
3. Why had this predicament come upon the nation of Israel and why is there a state of great trouble and disgrace and why are the walls broken down and the gates burned with fire? The answer to all of these questions is refusal to do things God’s way.
4. Why are our families in chaos, why are our lives no different? Why does the church struggle? WHY IS THE KINGDOM NOT BUILT? Whenever we refuse to obey the word of God, everything becomes chaotic!
C. Ownership is REPENTANCE
1. “Who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands… But if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name… O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants… who delight in revering your name (verses 5, 9, and 11).”
2. As Nehemiah calls out to God, he makes it clear that he and the people of Israel chose to no longer turn from God, but to turn to HIM.
3. Even as Nehemiah quotes God’s word back in prayer, it is obvious that he is proclaiming, we are now doers of this word and not hearers only. WE WILL BE KINGDOM BUILDERS!!
4. We now chose to turn to God, so Lord hear our prayer!
ILLUSTRATION: In his book Why Prayers are Unanswered, John Lavender retells a story about Norman Vincent Peal. When Peale was a boy, he found a big, black cigar, slipped into an alley, and lit up. It didn’t taste good, but it made him feel very grown up…until he saw his father coming. Quickly he put the cigar behind his back and tried to be casual. Desperate to divert his father’s attention, Norman pointed to billboard advertising the circus. "Can I go, Dad? Please, let’s go when it comes to town."
His father’s reply taught Norman a lesson he never forgot. "Son, he answered quietly but firmly, "never make a petition while at the same time trying to hide a smoldering disobedience."
TRUTH: ONLY WHEN WE TAKE PERSONAL OWNERSHIP OF THE KINGDOM CAN THE KINGDOM BE BUILT!
QUESTIONS: DO WE TAKE OWNSHIP OF OURSELVES? WILL WE TAKE OWNERSHIP OF KINGDOM OF OUR GOD? WILL WE BE A KINGDOM BUILDER?
CONCLUSION: When will we become kingdom builders? Are our eyes open to the despair and chaos that exists around us? Have we noticed that the walls of the kingdom are in danger of falling and that the very fire of Hell has burned them? Have we become broken hearted because of the despair of our people? Have we come to the place of weeping, praying, and fasting? It all begins here. This must in turn be followed by the truth of who God is! If not, our despair will only turn to hopelessness and destruction. But, if we really want to see God build His Kingdom here, we must repent. For it is only when we Repent/ turn to God that HE is obligated to work in our midst. Have we taken ownership of the part we each play, or is it all someone else’s fault? Let us pray together to the living God for our needs, BUT WILL HE HEAR OUR PRAYER? WILL HE HEAR YOUR PRAYER? As Ron comes to lead us in this chorus, let’s not just sing the words, let’s get real and get right with our GOD! Let’s determine to build the Kingdom through open eyes, a God perspective and personal ownership. Will you build the Kingdom with me? Let’s Sing and Pray with sincerity!
BENEDICTION: ROMANS 15: 5 – 6
