Sustaining your spirituality. Nehemiah 13. WBC 20/3/5am
This is the balancing sermon to the one I preached on ch 12
if you remember:
- real mountain top experience
- marching around the walls, praising God
- huge devotion and dedication to God
o occasion for right and real outburst of praise
" not unlike today (palm Sunday)
Now- if this had been fabricated, or had been a fairy-story it would have ended there
- maybe with a ’closure’ like "and they all lived happily ever after"
But real life is not like that. Neither is the Christian life
MOUNTAIN TOP MOMENTS CANNOT BE MAINTAINED
Three things combine (conspire?) to mean that things don’t stay the same
- us. We are constantly restless (though this might manifest itself in not WANTING change). But basically our lives are fluid and we are fallen
o hence ’entropy’ happens in our lives: social and spiritual
- the devil. There is a real force arraigned against us. He hates with a passion those who love Jesus… and he hates the church (Jesus’ body)
- The Lord- who is, of course, OVER all of these things… and using them, even
o But He knows that the real fruit of discipleship is not formed or forged on the mountains
And so these three things combine to mean that our lives are really, truly, ones of occasional encouragements and seeming leaps forward AND recurring disappointments
- and we have to pay close attention… work hard… be aware and diligent… to SUSTAIN OUR SPIRITUALITY
Or we… YOU can lose it.
- wanna do that? (No?- then pay attention!)
Here- they’ve come down from the mountain top- and what a crash it has been!
- folks think the gap is about 20years (so Nehemiah’s probably an old man… and still a formidable one!!) (exact order hard to tell)
- Eliashib the High Priest (after the dedication of the temple in ch 12, and the setting apart of store rooms and salary for singers etc) has just given this store room to Tobiah
o A bloke who opposed their reforms and wall building
o An ammonite (folks who didn’t like the God of Israel)!
o Other ramifications: temple worship had gone down the plug-hole. Salaried singers had gone back to their villages
- Their special day, the Sabbath, had been desecrated… for financial gain, really. It’s from a different era, but Amos’s statement is so true (as the people are the same!):
AM 8:5,
"When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?"--
skimping the measure, boosting the price
and cheating with dishonest scales,
- And their home life has been affected: they’ve intermarried with people who would destroy their faith. After they promised they wouldn’t
o No joke! V26- even the great Solomon went off the rails because a of this!
So- all the areas of achievement on the mountaintop of Ch 12 have been eroded. And this is the valley. And it’s in here so we can learn from it
The ’crash’ after the Mountaintop is so clearly there in scripture
- 1 Cor 10:12 "So if you think you’re standing firm, be careful lest you fall"
- Moses on the mountain and the Golden Calf
- The mountaintop of transfiguration of Mt 17: huge revelation and experience… and then down the mountain to a demonised boy that the disciples can do nothing about with the affirmation:
- MT 17:17 " MT 17:17 "O unbelieving and perverse generation," "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?
- Palm Sunday, and then the crash on good Friday (for the people around Jesus)
But, you see- crashes from mountaintops cannot be avoided- but they can be managed
- and indeed they MUST: because here is where the fruit is generated… the purposes of God worked out (take Good Fri for example!)… and spirituality made sustainable
- the valley is where the fruit grows…t he soul grows… and God can be encountered
o I say CAN- as it should not be taken for granted. It depends on US. (because God will surely do His part)
So- I wanna draw out three areas from here in which we must be careful to sustain our spirituality
WORSHIP
I told you that the temple had gone down in their priority. The HP had compromised (so this is a word and warning to us ’pros’, as well)… and everyone had gone back to a life without corporate worship as a priority
Don’t let it happen!
To sustain your spirit and spirituality- THIS needs to be of paramount importance
- I’m not meaning the ’organisation’ of church. (some feel that has to be sustained in it’s original, dying even, structure)
- I’m meaning fellowshipping and worshipping together
o And meeting where you MEET
" With one another
" With God
If you want to make it through… sustain it… you need THIS. You need one another. And it needs to be a priority
- not pushed out by work, money, deals, trade, apathy, busyness, offence.
Heb 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
And keep it pure. Nehemiah ’sanctifies the sanctuary’
Is God speaking to you?
WORLDLINESS
Here’s the second area of problem for them… and one that we have to work through… deal with
- the world!
Basically- the world had taken over their worship and spirits. It is seen by their attitude to the Sabbath.
- business, trade and commerce had taken over from God
- so- their day off went out the window. (but more importantly so did the place of God in their lives)
This is a real struggle…battle. We wage war against the world, the flesh and the devil- and all 3 are trying to take us down all the time.
Now- you know I am not of the ’come ye out from them and be ye separate’ brigade. I also have heart for Christian life in the real world… the workplace.
- For goodness sake!- Jesus sanctifies it all and all is worship to Him (not just the services on a Sunday!)
- And remember: Jesus worked as a carpenter for 30 years of His life. And I bet He did a good job and treated/paid His apprentices well!
o Us ’evos’ have missed that and only honoured 2 hours of the week! How demeaning is that! Wrong is that!
We are to live, work and worship IN the world
- but not be OF it
I believe we are meant to be a lifeboat on the sea of our culture
- But a ship is made for the sea. It’s a disaster, however, when the SEA gets INTO the ship
And it’s no different for ALL of us. Paid priest or ordained Occupational Therapist
- all of us have to STOP at times and recommit ourselves to the right thing… person…Jesus… and remind ourselves what our priorities are in life
- Illustr: me driving back from funeral- pulled into lay-by and in the sunlight recommitted myself to the fundamentals of serving Jesus for the things that matter in life (…and death)
Funerals are very salutary, eh? We’re all going to have one
- do you want it thought, in quiet (as no one will probably mention it) that this person didn’t finish the race?
- Lost the plot. Went off the rails or went cold on God?
Sometimes we ALL need to pull into a lay-by and say
- "Lord, I’m sorry- but the world, the work, the studies, the family, the money, the lack of it…. has pushed me off the track. I’m coming back on track, now. Finding my focus again. Recommitting to YOU. To the things that matter."
That’s how you find victory in the valleys. How you overcome the world and the spirit behind it
- 1 Jn 5:4 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
And you only do it by the skin of your teeth, sometimes- but you DO it… and that’s the victory
Nehemiah: safeguards the Sabbath. We need to safeguard our souls against corruption by the world
And the third area is:
WOMEN
I don’t really mean women!
- but I got your attention… it began with ’W’… and that was the issue, here:
- they had given their women to… and received from… the surrounding nations
o had lost their distinctiveness
o wasn’t just to do with Jewish identity and nationalism, Zionism, that we might shy away from
o they were losing their FAITH. And they were the only ones who carried this torch (and the promise of the Messiah)
Even the High Priest had allowed one of his sons to marry a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite
So- really, this is talking about relationships. It’s broader than women, daughters, marriage etc
It’s warning to us of the influence of the people we hang around with
- and how we need to be aware of it
Some of us, particularly
- eg: me. Like hanging around with people not Christians- but I need to be aware that they can pull me down
o same with some of you. Others of you need to go and make some friends!
But, whatever, the warning is the same: it is easier for folks to pull us down that it is for us to pull them up
- so: need to be on your guard… and working to sustain your spirit
- if you are married, and they are not a Christian
o work hard. At making it a good one. At keeping your soul aflame
" Illustr: Steve and Jo. I know so many who have lost it
- But it’s not as simple as Xian/non Christian. Some may ’name Christ’ but their home life is a shambles. They might be just as detrimental to you!
- (or there are those who are not Christians who can be a great encouragement. They are not far from faith, I think. Illustr: my dad promised to come to ch with kids)
But if it’s detrimental- guard your soul. Keep the faith. Get some prayer support. Sustain your spirituality.
And in other relationships: work, friends, courting, business partners
- watch that you are not ’unequally yoked’ in a way that pulls you down
- 1 Pet 2:11 Watch out for things that wage war on your soul
- Illustr Dave N (designer of automated exchanges)- needed to get out
Because, in the end, your relationship with Jesus is the most important thing. Sustaining your spirituality
