Introduction: Sponge Bob Square Pants movie clip
Alright, I admit, I probably should have used a movie clip from Saving Private Ryan or Braveheart in order to talk about being men, but I didn’t have either of those, so Sponge Bob will have to do. Besides, the line that is repeated over and over again is exactly what I want to focus on for tonight. “Now that we’re men, we can do anything.”
This is, very bluntly, the message of our culture today. We take pride in men and women who are self created and who seem to be able to do anything they want. We live in a world whose motto is “Survival of the fittest,” and selfishness is rampant everywhere you look. We are surrounded, and involved in, back stabbing, black mailing, lying, cheating, and scheming just to get what we want. We are taught from an early age that the only way we are truly men or woman is to be able to do things on our own.
Think about that for a second. When a toddler is being potty trained, what does a parent tell them when they go in the toilet. “You’re such a big boy.” It’s the same story when a child starts school, learns how to tie their shoes, or learns to write. As you guys head through Jr. High and Sr. High, it is a learning process towards independence. You guys have learned how to take care of yourselves more and more in all sorts of different ways and yet when you are acting irresponsible or immature the standard line from parents is, “You are acting like a child.” Only children need help! Only children should be dependant on someone else! Only children should be asking others to do things for them!
Being a real man or a real woman means being fully dependant on yourself and your own abilities as you change your own world to include more fame, fortune, and power. That, “I can do it alone!” attitude, is what is known as arrogance.
As we look at scripture, and God’s call on our lives to go and change the world, we are told to have an attitude that is exactly opposite from arrogance. Instead, we are told to have an attitude of humbleness and depend, not on ourselves, but on God. The starting point for this attitude of humility and dependence on God begins with prayer! This is something that the prophet Nehemiah understood very well.
Let’s take a look at Nehemiah’s understanding of prayer by opening a pew Bible to Nehemiah 1:1-2:6 (Pg. 469). ***Read passage***
The last sentence of verse eleven in chapter one tells us a lot about who Nehemiah was. “I was cupbearer to the king,” he writes. The position of cupbearer doesn’t really mean much to us today because it really doesn’t exist anymore. But in Nehemiah’s time, the position of cupbearer was one of the most important in the country.
The cupbearer’s job was very simple in that their job was to taste the wine to make sure it was safe for the king to drink. This was no a job for just anyone as the king always was fearful for his life. Instead, the person who assumed the role of cupbearer had to have courage and maturity. By far, the cupbearer was one of the most trusted and powerful positions in the country, next to the position of king. Obviously, Nehemiah was a talented and gifted leader.
As we briefly talked about last week, as Nehemiah is in Susa, one of his brothers comes and tells him that the walls of Jerusalem have been torn down and demolished. This upsets him a great deal as he realizes how unprotected his people are from attack. Also, as we mentioned last week, it had been over a hundred years since the falls were destroyed, so Nehemiah was also upset that no one had stepped up to lead the people in rebuilding the walls. It was at this point that Nehemiah felt God was asking him to go and change the world around him and lead the people to bring safety to the city of Jerusalem again.
So, what is the first thing that Nehemiah does? Despite his success, talent, and abilities, Nehemiah did not just run off and make a blueprint of a new wall. He didn’t go to Jerusalem and start signing people up as workers. And he didn’t do any fundraising to get supplies for a new wall. Instead, as verse four tells us, “for some days” he “fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” First thing’s first, when we respond to God’s call to change the world, we must pray!
What’s even more remarkable than the fact that Nehemiah was able to humble himself and go to God in prayer before he did anything else, is his persistence. In verse one, Nehemiah is met by his brother in the month of Kislev which is around our month of November. He prays to God for help and wisdom in talking with the king about the issue. But, as we see in the first verse of chapter two, it is the month of Nisan, which is around our month of March, when Nehemiah is granted that request. For five months, he prayed for the opportunity to talk to the king!
Today, we want everything to be done “today” and “now”! We have such a hard time waiting for things and being patient. If we start to pray about something and nothing changes, we give up and throw in the towel. We assume that God is too busy or that He doesn’t care, or worse, that He is not really there. This is not the case though! God does care and He does listen. In Luke, Jesus talks about this idea of persistence comparing it to a widow who continually went to a judge to ask for justice. The judge didn’t care about people and for a long time said no but eventually gave in because of how annoying the widow was and granted her request. Jesus exclaims, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones [the one’s He loves and cares about], who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly” (18:6-8).
As we respond to God’s call to change the world we must be persistent in our prayers to change our schools, our towns, and our families. God does care, and does listen, and he will grant your request!
Once Nehemiah’s initial request is granted, it does not mean the end of Nehemiah’s prayers. Throughout the whole process of leading the people to change their world, he seems to, as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray continually.” Just before he opens his mouth to talk to the king in 2:4 he says a prayer. Later, as Nehemiah is in Jerusalem beginning to build the walls he prays for courage as they are being threatened, and still later he prays for wisdom in how to handle different situations.
To have real success as we respond to God’s call to change the world around us, we need to pray not once, not twice, but continually, always asking for help from God!
The last thing that is worth pointing out about prayer in these verses is the fact that Nehemiah didn’t give up despite obstacles. One big obstacle that Nehemiah faced is that fact that the one time anyone had tried to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, they were stopped by the king, the same king that Nehemiah was serving. Instead of just giving up before he started and saying, “Oh well, the king said no once. He won’t change his mind.” He prayed that God would change the king’s heart.
Even more so, the fact that the walls had been torn down for 100 years could have provoked Nehemiah to say, “It can’t be done! Otherwise it would have been done by now.” Even though the situation seemed impossible he knew that with God the feat could be a possibility.
Lastly, Nehemiah didn’t care what anyone else thought about his persistent and continued prayers to change the world around him. He prayed so much that in 2:2 the king notices how sad and downcast he is probably due to the fact of the time spent fasting, mourning and crying out to God! I don’t think there is any consequence of the fact that it is the very situation of the king noticing this, which God uses to grant Nehemiah permission to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
As we respond to God’s call to go and change the world, we must pray no matter who is watching or how impossible the change may seem!
In order to the change your schools, your friends, and your families for God we must pray! That is why we are doing See You At The Pole on Wednesday! We can’t just leave our prayers at the flag pole on Wednesday though as we need to pray with persistence and we need to pray continually, asking God to give us opportunities to show Christ’s love and change the world around us. We need to not be concerned with who is watching or how impossible it may seem to change the school and our community for God. Instead God challenges us all to take the stand at our schools flag pole and pray. God will honor your courage and He will hear your prayers! Now that we’re men (and women), we can do anything but we must start with prayer!
