November 2018

Sermons

November 25, 2018 - "Arise and Build: Commitment to Completion" by Rev. Cody Sandahl

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Lay Reader = Nehemiah 6:10-16

10One day when I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you; indeed, tonight they are coming to kill you.” 11But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Would a man like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” 12Then I perceived and saw that God had not sent him at all, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13He was hired for this purpose, to intimidate me and make me sin by acting in this way, and so they could give me a bad name, in order to taunt me. 14Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

15So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem; for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

Introduction

This is our final look at the story of Nehemiah, who was able to envision a better future for his people and rally the support he needed to make it happen. We heard in our first text today that Nehemiah got the people to do a sprint finish, and in 52 days the remaining holes in the wall were patched up.

That’s pretty impressive, by the way. The wall was about 40 feet tall and 8 feet thick, so this wasn’t exactly a chicken wire fence from Home Depot. In the 1500’s, the Ottoman Empire rebuilt the same wall and it took about four years to do what Nehemiah and the Jewish people did in 52 days. That’s some serious productivity!

But the book of Nehemiah doesn’t end there. I’ve been saying this whole series that Nehemiah isn’t really about rebuilding a wall, and here’s my evidence. The wall is finished in chapter 6, but there are still six more chapters in the book.

Nehemiah was committed to the completion of his task. Restoration of the city walls he hoped would lead to restoration of the city, which he hoped would lead to restoration of people’s hearts and souls, which he hoped would lead to restoration of the people’s faith in God.

You can think of it like this. Suppose you’re married, and things aren’t going well. Your marriage isn’t in summer, it isn’t in spring, it’s not even in fall – it’s wintertime for your marriage. Divorce is on the table. And then suppose that you and your spouse manage to narrowly avoid getting divorced. Is your task completed? Of course not! You have to figure out a way to improve and restore your relationship, get it back to spring or summertime, not just narrowly avoid divorce! Your end goal should be having a fulfilling marriage, not barely staying together. That doesn’t mean it’s easy or even always possible, but the task is bigger than avoiding divorce.

In the same way, Nehemiah’s task was bigger than providing physical protection to the city. We fast forward a couple of chapters to see what was really important to Nehemiah after the wall was finished.

Nehemiah 8:1-12

1all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. 2Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. 4The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose; and beside him stood (the leaders of the people). 5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7Also (the priests and) the Levites, helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. 8So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

9And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. 10Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

No Short Cuts

I have something miraculous to tell you! It’s true! I have discovered a fool-proof method of gaining fitness and losing weight. Just three simple steps. Guaranteed to work! Are you ready? You might not care about the Nehemiah stuff, but you probably want to write this down. Three steps to guaranteed results.

Step one: consumer fewer calories. Step two: make the calories you do eat more balanced and nutritious. Step three: do more cardiovascular exercise. Ground-breaking, right?

Given that we all pretty much know that three-step plan is going to work for almost everyone, why are there so many diet plans and special exercise machines and as-seen-on-TV schemes to lose weight and gain fitness?

Because we want a shortcut. We want a diet pill. Oh wait, we have those! I looked up some of them on WebMD, and you know what is listed at the top of all of them? I quote, “You’ll still need to focus on diet and exercise while taking these drugs.” What a letdown!

And if you do a special dieting fad and successfully lose weight? The majority of people regain all the weight within five years, and 41% of them are heavier than when they started. What a bummer!

Turns out there just isn’t a shortcut that works. To have a different long-term health profile you have to have a different long-term life profile as well. No short cuts.

If you want a better marriage, one lovely Caribbean cruise isn’t going to do it. If you want deeper faith, doing one Advent devotional won’t get you there. If you want friends in your neighborhood, hosting one dinner party isn’t going to be enough. Almost everything that matters in life takes time, repetition, investment, commitment. No short cuts.

When we were in Austin, Becca was running a marathon – which just seems like a bad idea, if you ask me. But I digress. The race course came right by my seminary apartment around mile 20. So I went down to cheer for her as she ran past. In fact, I jumped in and ran with her for the next six miles to give her encouragement. So here I am, in my gym shorts and cotton shirt, and this kid from the side yells out to his dad, “Look dad! That guy’s barely even sweating!”

And that was the same observation people made about Rosie Ruiz after she won the Boston Marathon in 1980 in near-record time. She had only started training 18 months prior, and here she had defeated all these life-long runners and world-class athletes. And all it took was one sure-fire shortcut strategy – just run the last mile. She jumped onto the course at mile 25 – she didn’t even have the grace to run the last six miles like me! Talk about a short cut. But it didn’t work because people saw she wasn’t sweating.

And that shortcut mentality didn’t serve Ms. Ruiz in other aspects of her life, either. She tried to take a shortcut to solving her financial problems, and she wound up being convicted for embezzling $60,000. Unable to trick her way to a racing prize, and unable to steal money any more, she finally turned to earning money by working. By selling drugs. That didn’t work out for her, either.

Shortcuts don’t work with dieting. Shortcuts don’t work with fitness. Shortcuts don’t work with money. Shortcuts don’t work in life.

So what’s your big task in life? What’s your big vision? What’s your mountain to climb, your burden to carry, your wall to rebuild, your purpose right now? Don’t try to take a shortcut. It won’t work. And it’ll probably make things worse.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7, “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do.”

No shortcuts.

Committed to Completion

At the Olympic Games in 1968, John Stephem Akwhari of Tanzania was running the marathon when he suffered serious leg injuries. He collapses with about 7.5 miles to go. The race officials try to get him to retire and accept medical treatment, but he refuses. He wraps his knee in a bandage, picks himself up off the ground, and hobbles the rest of the way. An hour after the winner, with almost no one left in the stadium, Akwhari finally crosses the finish line. A reporter seeks him out to ask why he didn’t just drop out. Akwhari replies, “My country did not send me to start the race. They sent me to finish.”

Once you decide there won’t be any shortcuts, the next challenge is deciding not to quit. To remain committed to completion. To finish.

In our text today, Nehemiah sticks to his ultimate task. He’s already done with the wall. Now the hard part starts. He gets Ezra and the other priests to unroll the old scrolls from Moses. He tells Ezra to read the scrolls to all the people. But the text says they don’t quit until the people understood the law, until they understood the reading. So today I’m preaching until you understand it! Just kidding – I wanted to see if you were actually listening.

But the people got it – in fact they realized how far they were from where God wanted them to be spiritually, so they started weeping. But Ezra and the priests still weren’t done. They had the people stop weeping, pull themselves together, and focus on God and their thankfulness for God sticking with them over all these years. It was kind of like a Jewish thanksgiving day.

So Nehemiah wasn’t done when the wall was finished. Nehemiah wasn’t done when he made sure the people had heard the law of Moses. Nehemiah wasn’t done when the people understood their failings relative to the law of Moses. Nehemiah was only done once the people also praised God for his patience and loving embrace despite their failings. That’s commitment. Nehemiah didn’t just start that race. He finished it.

If you think about what God has placed on your heart, not only do you have to decide “no shortcuts.” You also have to decide “no quitting.” What’s the finish line in God’s eyes? Like Akwhari in the marathon, God isn’t sending us to start the race. God is sending us to finish.

Whenever I start organizing and cleaning things out on my desk or at home, I always start by separating things into related piles. Trash pile. Recycling pile. “To do later” pile. Put in a box and forget for three years pile. Do you do that? What would happen if I stopped in the middle of my clean out? Instead of having one messy pile on my desk, I would have five messy piles on the floor. Progress?!? Be committed to completion. No quitting on what God wants you to do.

Helping Another Run

In a more recent Olympics – 1992 – British sprinter Derek Redmond was one of the favorites for the gold medal. He had trained all his life for this moment. Halfway through the race, Redmond was in the lead! His training had avoided shortcuts. He stayed committed to completion. His dreams were within his grasp.

Until they weren’t. His hamstring tore right at the midpoint of the race. I remember damaging my hamstring once during a football game, and I can tell you it’s painful to walk, let alone sprint. The medical staff rushed over to him, but he waved them off. With tears streaming down his face in physical and emotional agony, he started to hop down the track on his good leg, but even that wasn’t going well.

An older man ran onto the track, pushing away the race officials who tried to stop him. As he reached Derek, he told him, “You don’t have to do this, son.” It was his father. But Derek replied, “Yes, I do.” So his dad said, “Then we’ll finish this race together.”

Arm in arm, the two of them slowly made their way around the track. When the race officials came up, this time it was Derek’s father who waved them off. They were going to finish this race together. That became the defining moment of the Barcelona Olympics. Not the winner of the race. Quincy Watts, an American, set the Olympic record. But Derek Redmond and his father were the story.

Here’s what I find fascinating about that. Derek’s father couldn’t have run that race on his own. He wasn’t fast enough. Derek couldn’t finish the race on his own because he was injured. But together they made history.

Hebrews 12 says, “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Like Derek Redmond, we are only able to finish the race that Jesus has set before us because we are surrounded by helpers. A great cloud of witnesses.

We’ve been tracking Nehemiah for a couple of months now. Did Nehemiah rebuild the wall himself, brick by brick? No! He inspired others.

In our text today, did it just take a single amazing priest, Ezra, to transform the people’s hearts with the Law of Moses? No! The other priests and the entire tribe of Levi pitched in.

Did Jesus do everything himself? No! He trained up twelve disciples. And beyond them the Gospel of Luke says Jesus had about seventy followers whom he equipped and sent out to minister in his name.

So maybe God isn’t calling you to do some heroic solitary deed. Maybe God is calling you to be like Derek Redmond’s father and help someone finish their race. Even Jesus didn’t do everything on his own. Maybe we can accept a helping hand, or pitch in a helping hand, too.

No shortcuts. No quitting. And no solo acts. Jesus sent those followers out in pairs. No one was alone. Do you remember how things start in the Garden of Eden in Genesis? It is not good for man to be alone. Remember that? Or maybe you’ve been to a wedding recently and heard Ecclesiastes 4: one can fall, two may be overcome, but a threefold cord is not quickly broken? Heard of that?

In whatever God is calling you to do, avoid shortcuts. Stay committed to completion. And accept or even seek help along the way. Or if you don’t know what God is calling you to do, how can you help someone else finish their race?

Summary

Mount Everest is often a metaphor for “the difficult task ahead of us.” But for some people, Mount Everest was the literal task ahead of them. George Mallory was obsessed with scaling the world’s tallest mountain. He was stopped twice, and on his third attempt in 1924 he never came back down. His surviving climbing team returned to England and held a memorial banquet for him. One of them turned to look at Mallory’s picture and said, “I speak to you, Mt. Everest, in the name of all brave men living and those yet unborn. Mt. Everest, you defeated us once; you defeated us twice; you defeated us three times. But Mt. Everest, we shall someday defeat you, because you can’t get any bigger but we can.”

Thirty years later, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzig Norgay finally reached the top.

When we say no to shortcuts, when we say no to quitting, when we say no to being a solo act, we can grow bigger than the mountains facing us. Where is Jesus calling you to grow bigger than the mountain ahead of you? Amen.

Sermons

November 11, 2018 - "Arise and Build: Investing" by Rev. Cody Sandahl

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Lay Reader = Matthew 6:19-31

19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; 23but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’

Introduction

We are still tracking the story of Nehemiah, who was able to envision a better future for his people and then rally the help he needed to make it happen. Last week we saw how Nehemiah prayed when he was overwhelmed, when life attacked him from every side and even from within. This week we fast forward a few years as the work on the wall continued.

Last year one of the hurricanes that battered the Texas coast pretty much wiped out the island where I used to live – Port Aransas. And my family did a number of trips down there to help the recovery effort as much as they could. And my dad reported that there were a number of people who had driven down to the island with their trucks full of water bottles. Not to give away, mind you, to sell at a substantially marked up rate. That’s called profiteering. Of course he said this laughing, because there was a whole parking lot filled with free bottles courtesy of the government just a few blocks away, so they went home with most of their water bottles unsold.

But isn’t that so human? Whenever there’s a disaster, there’s someone ready to make quick buck off it. Whenever there is suffering or trials or even just everyone is focused elsewhere – there’s always someone asking, “How can I profit off of this?” The same was true during the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.

The people were spending so much time out working on the wall, they didn’t have time to make a living. And there were people ready to give them loans – at excessive interest rates. Pretty soon the work on the wall was grinding to a halt because of the financial situation of the workers. So Nehemiah had to step in, break up the racket, and get everything humming along again.

In contrast to the profiteering of these money lenders, here’s how Nehemiah used his personal power and influence.

Nehemiah 5:14-19

14Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. 15The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people, and took food and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. 16Indeed, I devoted myself to the work on this wall, and acquired no land; and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17Moreover there were at my table one hundred fifty people, Jews and officials, beside those who came to us from the nations around us. 18Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and every ten days skins of wine in abundance; yet with all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because of the heavy burden of labor on the people. 19Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.

Honest

Do you remember a few years ago there were earthquakes in a Chinese province and schools collapsed? Children were trapped – and some killed – in the rubble of their very schools. It was tragic. In the midst of that tragedy, one pastor told his congregation that he felt God had called him to send a million dollars to help the families and the rebuilding. And the response was huge. He told a pastor I knew that he had raised more than three million.

So the pastor I knew asked him if he was going to send the extra two million to the families or to more rebuilding. And he replied, “Oh, no. God called me to send a million to China. The other two million are just God’s way of blessing me for my faithfulness.”

If you feel like you just threw up a little in the back of your mouth, you’re in good company.

That just feels icky, right?

But why does it feel so icky? In other contexts, getting more money than you need is called profit.

To me it feels wrong because it’s dishonest. If someone sends in money for China, that money should go to China.

The Cause

To rewind to that Texas hurricane, one of the star players on the Houston Texans, JJ Watt, setup an online fundraiser to help out the city of Houston. He couldn’t get home due to the hurricane, so from a hotel room in Dallas he created a quick fundraiser with the goal of raising $200,000 for hurricane relief. Three weeks later, he had raised a shade north of $41 million. So God blessed him with $40,800,000 of personal blessing, right?

No, JJ Watt kept expanding the relief effort to match the scale of the donations. They have rebuilt more than 600 homes, 420 childcare centers, distributed 26 million meals, provided health services to those in need, rebuilt Boys and Girls Clubs, and setup a 12 month plan to continue food distribution and recovery efforts.

Reflecting back on it, JJ Watt recently said, “As I reflect on the events of Hurricane Harvey one year ago, the memories of destruction and devastation remain, but they are accompanied by memories of hope, selflessness and the beauty of the human spirit.”

That’s not icky, that’s inspiring!

So what’s different about those two approaches? They both sent a lot of money to help needy people. But the pastor seems to have been looking out for ways to bless himself, and JJ Watt seems to have been looking out for ways to bless his city.

Nehemiah says of his time as governor, “I devoted myself to the work on this wall, and acquired no land; and all my servants were gathered there for the work…yet with all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because of the heavy burden of labor on the people.”

So which does that sound like? Does that sound more like the pastor keeping $2 million for himself? Or more like JJ Watt expanding the relief effort to match the generosity?

Does that sound like someone who’s in it for himself? Or does that sound like someone who’s in it for the cause?

Does that feel icky? Or does that feel inspiring?

Nehemiah gave up influence and power for the cause. Nehemiah invested his own money in the project rather than enriching himself.

I had lunch with a church member last week, and we were reflecting on some of the difficult times helping one of the very challenging people in our city. And our basic summary was, “Sometimes doing the Lord’s work can be very annoying!” Ever experienced that?

But if we do it anyway, because it’s the Lord’s work, God notices. If we only serve when we feel good afterwards, that’s like praying, “Dear God, I’ll do whatever you want me to do…as long as it’s fun and easy and rewarding.” Or maybe, “God, please give me the chance to prove that winning the lottery won’t spoil my heart.”

When you are thinking about serving somewhere, is it about you and your convenience and what you get out of it? Or is it about the cause and the work of the Lord? Think about that for real. Jesus tells his followers that if they do really amazing spiritual things, but then they tell everyone about it to gain admiration – they’ve already received their reward. But if they’re willing to serve without being noticed, God notices.

Is it about the cause? Or is it about me?

We had our first movie night this past Friday – the decorations are still up in Ficklin Hall for the Stewardship Potluck, and even if you aren’t staying for the potluck go take a look. It looks fabulous.

But the movie we watched was the Incredibles 2, and there’s this funny exchange between the superhero dad and the superhero mom. In the movie, superheroes have been made illegal, and either the mom or the dad have to go get a normal job instead of being superheroes. And the dad says, “We need to change that law so that I…I mean our kids have the choice to use their super powers!” He was trying to make it about their kids, but slipped and admitted he wanted to be able to use his own super powers. It was about him.

So when you do something nice for a friend or coworker or neighbor – is it about them or about you wanting to be thanked or recognized? If you serve at the Community Dinner or somewhere else in the church – is it about the cause or about getting recognized? When you donate to an organization or to this church – is it about getting what you want, a vote for every dollar donated, or is it about investing in the cause?

Faithfulness

It has been said that the Christian church is one of the only organizations on earth that exists primarily for the benefit of the people who aren’t already its members. There are plenty of organizations designed to benefit their own members. But Jesus gives us a different task. A different mission. A different goal.

In our first text today, Jesus gave some pretty direct teaching. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be.” “No one can serve two masters.” “Do not worry about your life.” “Worry won’t add a single day to your life.” Very direct, very challenging teachings. And a little later, Jesus ends it with this summary: “But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

That’s the paradox of our faith. If you want to be respected, doing everything to gain respect won’t make you respected. Seeking God’s purposes and God’s causes and God’s ways makes you respected.

Doing everything in your power to gain recognition and affirmation won’t leave you recognized and affirmed and fulfilled. Seeking God’s purposes and God’s causes and God’s ways will do that.

Every church says they could use more members, right? But doing everything in our power to get more people won’t bring more people. Seeking God’s purposes and God’s causes and God’s ways will do that.

In one of the books I read recently, there’s this guy who really had his life transformed by a church. He visited one day, and he was so touched and moved by the personal and thoughtful followup that he joined the church and got involved. He was later asked to be a part of the evangelism committee. And that’s where they showed him the script they use – the same script that someone had used on him. Suddenly he didn’t feel like it was a personal and thoughtful followup. It felt like a trick to him instead. He felt like a statistic. It felt icky to him.

So the call of Nehemiah and the call of Jesus today are both the same – where is God calling you to be faithful? It might be affirming, it might not. It might gain you admiration and recognition, it might not. It might come with certain perks like Nehemiah’s job, but in faithfulness do you take those perks or like Nehemiah do you not? Faithfulness might be exciting. Or it might be annoying.

In our faith, what we do and how we do it both matter. The end does not justify the means. So what does faithfulness look like in your life this week? Whatever that is, make sure you don’t make it feel icky along the way. Amen.

Sermons

November 4, 2018 - "Arise and Build: United" by Rev. Cody Sandahl

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Lay Reader = 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

¹⁰Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. ¹¹For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. ¹²What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” ¹³Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. ¹⁸For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Introduction

We are still in our series trying to learn from Nehemiah, because he was able to dream of a better future for his people and rally the help he needed to achieve it. Last week we saw how he inspired people to care, and out of that caring they went above and beyond for each other. Good stuff is happening!

To illustrate this week’s chapter in the story, do you remember the movie Jaws? That giant shark so terrified audiences that there was a measurable decrease in beach attendance that year. Steven Spielberg was the bane of ocean tourism that year. But it was only temporary – about a year later things were back to normal. But then about two years after that, a new movie poster appeared that said, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…” – Jaws 2!

Chapter 3 was good to our friend Nehemiah. Everything was finally running smoothly. But “just when you thought it was safe…” we see chapter 4. Just when they thought it was safe, their enemies arrived. Just when they thought it was safe, trouble appeared. Ever had that experience? Listen to how Nehemiah and the people of Judah responded.

Nehemiah 4:7-23

⁷But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry, ⁸and all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. ⁹So we prayed to our God, and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. ¹⁰But Judah said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, and there is too much rubbish so that we are unable to work on the wall.” ¹¹And our enemies said, “They will not know or see anything before we come upon them and kill them and stop the work.” ¹²When the Jews who lived near them came, they said to us ten times, “From all the places where they live they will come up against us.” ¹³So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. ¹⁴After I looked these things over, I stood up and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” ¹⁵When our enemies heard that their plot was known to us, and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.

¹⁶From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and body-armor; and the leaders posted themselves behind the whole house of Judah, ¹⁷who were building the wall. The burden bearers carried their loads in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and with the other held a weapon. ¹⁸And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. ¹⁹And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread out, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. ²⁰Rally to us wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet. Our God will fight for us.” ²¹So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from break of dawn until the stars came out. ²²I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night inside Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” ²³So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me ever took off our clothes; each kept his weapon in his right hand.

On Every Side

There is a major flaw in many movies about war. I call it the courtesy of the enemy. Let’s say the heroes are outnumbered five to one. In a movie, the enemies will courteously line up and only charge the heroes one at a time. If you ever find yourself in an epic swordfight, here’s a pro tip – attack at the same time! Practical advice, right?

Nehemiah isn’t facing courteous enemies in a movie. He’s facing enemies on every side. Sanballat and the Samaritans? They came from the North. The Ammonites? They came from the East. The Arabs? They came from the South. The Ashdodites? They came from the West. And they were smart enough to attack at the same time from all sides – how rude!

Isn’t life like that, though? We can usually handle one enemy – an unexpected medical bill, the death of a loved one, a challenging relationship, troubles at work, a pipe bursts at home. We can handle our enemies as long as they are courteous enough to line up one at a time.

But when they come at the same time? When we’re facing the Samaritans AND the Ammonites AND the Arabs AND the Ashdodites? When we’re facing struggles in our household AND struggles in our work AND struggles in our health AND struggles in our relationships? Then we got problems.

Are the struggles in your life courteous enough to line up one at a time? Or do they rush you at the same time? I’ve experienced a lot of the rushing, not the lining up.

First Response is Prayer

I have never been accused of excess emotion, but when life rushes me from every side I get even more rational and even less emotional. When I don’t have anywhere to turn, I rely on my greatest ability – my reason. What do you do when you are overwhelmed? What’s your response when life rushes you from every side?

Nehemiah was surrounded on every side, from the North and the East and the South and the West. But he was prepared for that. That’s why he wanted to rebuild the walls to begin with. He had guards ready to go. Did you catch what the breaking point was for Nehemiah? What pushed him over the edge?

The fear and disunity of his own people. The rumor mill was running at full speed. Our laborers are tiring. There’s too much debris to clear out, so we can’t actually rebuild the wall. We’re afraid that our homes aren’t protected enough – we need more guards at MY house, even if you have to pull them away from my neighbor’s house!

That’s what got to Nehemiah. And his response? He prayed. His first response was prayer! Not my hyper-rationality. Not relying on his greatest strengths. Not hiding or giving up or sweeping it under the rug. Prayer. When he was assailed on every side, including facing fear and disunity and opposition from within – he prayed.

If you want to read a salty prayer, go look up the beginning of Nehemiah chapter 4. Nehemiah is very honest – actually he’s very aggressive in his prayer. That may not be a perfect model of prayer, but I do think we can learn from him. His first response when overwhelmed is prayer. And that prayer isn’t some generic, “Oh God, I hope you’ll maybe kinda sorta help me out, but only if it’s in your will…” No, it’s very direct. He says, “Take their taunts, O God, and fling them back at their own heads! Dash their strength! Let them be overrun by their enemies!” And it gets more interesting from there. He prayed for real, not a nice and tidy gentle prayer. I think we can learn from that.

If you feel overwhelmed, if life is rushing you from every side at once – maybe even attacking you from within – have you prayed? And have you prayed with unbridled honesty? Have you prayed what you’re actually thinking, not the cleaned-up version you’d admit to your pastor?

Nevertheless

After praying, Nehemiah realized the real problem he had to face. He needed God’s protection, but he had already anticipated that. Now his real enemy was disunity and fear. If the people didn’t rally, their fears would come true.

This is what he did. “¹³So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. ¹⁴After I looked these things over, I stood up and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

He took these frightened people and put them in the gaps between the walls – the most exposed part of the city. The least defended. In plain sight of their enemies. And in plain sight of their own families.

And he reminded them who they were and what they were doing. “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord. Fight for your sons and daughters and spouses and homes!”

One of my professors in seminary used to say that a lot of the good news of Jesus can be summarized with the word, “nevertheless.” Jesus, the Son of God, died. Nevertheless, he rose again. I like how Paul says it in 2 Corinthians 4 – “8We are pressed on all sides, but (nevertheless) not crushed; perplexed, but (nevertheless) not in despair; 9persecuted, but (nevertheless) not forsaken; struck down, but (nevertheless) not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”

We are the “nevertheless” faith. We are surrounded by enemies from the North and the South and the East and West. Nevertheless, we are not afraid!

We are divided among ourselves and afraid. Nevertheless, we have a great and awesome God who fights for us!

We are drained emotionally and mentally and spiritually and physically. Nevertheless, we are alive in Christ!

We have been slowly declining for years. Nevertheless, we will be faithful to Jesus today!

That willingness to cry “Nevertheless!” is how we claim the LIFE of Jesus even as we feel more like death with Jesus.

When we stand in the open places, in plain sight, and say, “Our troubles are real. Nevertheless, I will keep going because of my faith in Jesus!” That’s the gospel.

That’s what we should be showing the world around us. We aren’t perfect. We don’t have everything together. Our God doesn’t magically make our problems go away. Nevertheless, here we stand! Nevertheless, we have hope. Nevertheless, we can have joy! Nevertheless, we stand together. Not alone. Together.

Alive in Christ

So can we live with that “nevertheless?” Can we live with that inexplicable joy? Can we live with that ability to stand together even though life is rushing us from the North and the South and the East and the West? Can we remain united even then? Can we remain alive in Christ even then?

That’s what our faith is about. That’s what the church should be about. That’s what we can offer each other when we notice that someone has life rushing them from all sides.

If you know someone being rushed from every side, how can you stand with them in the open spaces, in the gaps in the walls?

If you’re like Nehemiah being rushed from every side, how can you cry, “Nevertheless!” because of your faith in Jesus?

Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up. Remember the words of Nehemiah: “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your kin, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Amen.