We have all had a few big dreams. Things we would love to do but we are not really serious about doing them because they aren’t realistic. They’re too big to pull off.
Let’s imagine that our big dream is to end homelessness in a large US City. You have seen the people on the city streets and you have wished you could help but it is a huge project. It’s more than housing. It is education, addiction recovery, support for mental illness, employment and all of that take lots of money. But God keeps bringing you back to the idea and you start believing that maybe He has a bigger story. You draw up some general plans as a way to process your thoughts. Still, it seems unlikely that anything will happen. Then someone with a lot of money sees your passion, likes your plans and offers to fund whatever you can make happen. So you quite everything and set out for the city. You’re ready to get to work. The funding is ready. It seems that God is ready.
But nobody in the city knows you. Nobody has caught your vision. They are busy doing their thing. When you show up they don’t even notice. You are anxious to get started but it is going to take movement of people to accomplish your dream and you’re not sure if anyone will take you seriously. Where to you begin? Do you make an appointment with mayor? Produce YouTube videos? Go door-to-door? Hold a seminar? Hire a business manager? Contract with experts to develop a marketing strategy? Commission research to be done? And what if the community doesn’t catch the vision? They might voice support but just not commit. Or they might just criticize your efforts.
For a community of people to move into a larger story it takes more than a vision, excitement, strategy, and resources. It takes buy in. People have to catch and commit.
By the middle of Nehemiah chapter 2, Nehemiah has a vision. He has thrown his whole self into God’s story. He has support from the king. He is fired up to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. But he doesn’t have the people. They don’t even know who he is. They have never talked. He could easily be dismissed, ridiculed, or ignored. People could like his intentions but fail to commit. And the wall would remain broken. And the people would not join God’s story. He had the good hand of God upon him but he didn’t have the hands of the people to do the work. He had given everything to the cause but that wasn’t enough. He had to find a way to motivate the people to give everything to the cause. We have seen Nehemiah move into God’s story, but how does a community of people move into God’s story?
Incredibly, this stranger who walks into town does win over the people for God’s story. Skip ahead to verse 18 to see how the people respond to the vision that Nehemiah casts.
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
That worked perfectly!
And it was for real! They quickly faced opposition but they didn’t let that stop them(vv. 19-20). And in chapter 3 we see the seriousness of their commitment as they delegate the work in an organized way. They got to work. They joined God’s story.
Let’s go back to the verses we skipped and notice how they got there.
What were Nehemiah’s next steps after showing up in Jerusalem? He takes a walk around the city then he has a talk with the people.
The Walk (Nehemiah 2:11-16)
11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
The walk is an anticlimactic start. It is not an organized public march put pressure on city officials. It wasn’t the Jerusalem Wall 5k Fun Run with colorful T-shirts to build awareness. It is Nehemiah and a few others taking a nighttime walk to examine the wall.
He starts the walk after spending three days in Jerusalem. What does he do during these three quiet days?
Why does he examine the walls during the night, when it is dark? I wonder what the emotional tone of that walk was like. Was he intimidated? Was he overwhelmed? Was he feeling sorrow to see for himself the broken walls he had been mourning? Did he wonder what he gotten himself into? Was he excited? Could he just not wait until morning? Was he deep in prayer? Was God’s story becoming more real in him?
He has a few others with him but he hasn’t told anyone what God has put on his heart for Jerusalem. You have to start talking if you want to persuade others to join you.
To add to the anticlimactic tone, there were no mounts but the one he was riding on. The king had supplied timbers but the workforce, including animals, still had to be volunteered.
Why does God’s story in for His people have such a quiet start?
Before we move others into God’s story it must be real in our lives.
God was already preparing Nehemiah in chapter 1 but Nehemiah needed to spend some time walking in God’s story before he called others into it. He is still preparing his own hearts and diligently considering the details. Andy Stanley reminds us to “walk before we talk” and “investigate before you initiate”. English
We want our church community to move into God’s story but we must remember that reformation begins with self. I learned this from Ellen White. This was a big deal to her. In her ministry she saw lot of people try to reform the church by reforming others. And she would faithfully remind them to walk before they talked.
“We must cease to think and talk of self, making our needs and wants the sole object of our thoughts. God would have us cultivate the attributes of Heaven. To be a Christian is to be Christlike. If we would be successful in winning souls, we must be full of the tact that is born of kindness and sympathy and love. There are some who have a desire to benefit others, but they fail because of their defective manners. They do not realize the fact that before seeking the reformation of others, they themselves need to reform.” {RH February 24, 1891, par. 2}
She made related statements like, “Those who desire to reform other must begin the reformation in their own hearts” (Ms 24, 1887) and “false repentance results in a make-believe reformation” (Ms 4 1904).
The community joined God’s story but it began with the personal, private, quiet, reformation in Nehemiah’s own heart. The church will not move into God story by us pointing out the wrong or the lack in other but by the revival of our own spiritual lives. I need drawn to repentance. I need a consecrated heart. I need to join God’s story.
Do you want our church community to move into God’s story? Start by going for a walk with God.
Verse 16 is a transition to the talk.
l6 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work
The people didn’t know Nehemiah yet but he knew that they would do the work. They were unaware of God’s story but they were about to become a part of it.
THE TALK (Nehemiah 2:17-18)
17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.
Nehemiah was casting a vision. His words are carefully chosen to have a big impact. Notice the persuasive elements of Nehemiah’s talk:
- Problem: Jerusalem Lies in Ruins
- Solution: Let Us Build the Wall
- Motive: No Longer be a Disgrace
- Encouragement: Hand of God & Support of King
Nehemiah begins his vision casting by problem casting.He asks, “Don’t you see the trouble we are in?”. Moving into God’s story was going to require a lot of the people. If they didn’t see the problem with the way things were they would not invest the effort required for change. Remember the broken wall didn’t break their hearts like it did Jeremiah’s.
Let me ask you, “Do you see the trouble we are in?”. The church has problems. Sure, we have a problem out there, in the world. We live in a culture that is against much of what we are for. It’s estimated that 24 of 25 Millennials don’t have a Biblical worldview. This means that about 4 in every 100 people ages 21 to 39 actually look to the Bible to understand reality. America has a growing group of people who are identified as “the nones”. When asked to identify their religious affiliation they mark “none”. There are problems out there.
But what should concern us a whole lot more is that we have a problem in here, in the church. There are broken walls in our church, our conference, our division, our denomination, and in all churches. I am an optimist. And I don’t find it helpful to spread bad news about the church. But as Nehemiah motivated the people by pointing out their problem we can be convicted to move toward God’s story by admitting ours.
I know we have a problem when I talk to people who tell me how much they have been hurt and have been shown an unattractive picture of God through their experience in our churches and schools.
I know we have a problem when confessing Christians live defeated, like there is no victory over sin, as though God can’t actually change us.
I know we have a problem when the battle, the one the Bible tells us is not of flesh and blood, becomes flesh and blood. When we are no longer battling spiritual forces in the armor of God but we battle one another in the pride of our opinion.
I know we have a problem when research tells us that 70% of those attending church never share their faith with a stranger. And at the same time 70% unchurched people have never been invited to church in their whole lives.
I know we have a problem when Jesus told his followers to go and make disciples and 62% of all churches in America are have plateaued or declining congregations.
I know we have a problem when 70% of those who grow up in church leave the church by their 20’s. The problem is illuminated when we learn why they are leaving. When surveyed, 30% say they left because they never felt God’s presence during a service. That is a problem. They didn’t leave because the world was just so tempting but because church was just so dead. They left because the church that told them about God didn’t seem to have His presences. Another 30% claim to have left because “it was boring”. This should not be happening. God’s story is not boring. If we are portraying a picture of God that is boring then we are misrepresenting God. If we experience the glory of God we will not walk away bored.
I know we have a problem when I see Biblical ignorance in the church. Do we know why we believe what believe from the Bible?
I know we have a problem when giving of tithes and offerings is lower than it has ever been in America. Christians gave a higher percentage of their income in tithes during the great depression than they do today.
I know we have a problem when I see our Laodicean spirituality. When hobbies, entertainment, and work are honestly more engaging than the lukewarm way we experience God.
These struggles have been with us and now they are intensified with our disconnection, uncertainty about reopening, low attendance and engagement, and the difficulty of serving others when we are not supposed to be near them.
I am not discouraged. But we have problems. They are unacceptable. And they should motivate us.
Nehemiah doesn’t leave the people devastated by the problem. He points to a solution. Let’s rebuild the wall. There is a problem but God is not the problem. Grace is not broken, love is not outdated, God sovereignty is not weakened. Jesus is the answer. We need to be a church that does something different. A church that helps people actually fall in love with God. Who presents the character of God in a way that is beautiful and compelling. Who displays the beauty and power and joy of God in a way that nobody can leave because it was “boring”. Who teaches the Bible. Who disciples one another. We may not be able to articulate the precise steps for the solution to our problems but we can trust that God is at the center of it and He will lead us into it.
Nehemiah added a motive that grabbed the people’s emotion. He says, “That we be no more a reproach”(KJV- NIV “disgrace”, ESV “suffer derision”). There were still some who didn’t see the broken wall as a problem. But there was a bigger problem. The broken wall was a disgrace to God. It was a poor representation of His glory. It is one thing to admit our problem. Another to recognize that our problem is a disgrace to God. There are deeper motives for God’ story. The motive to move into God’s story is not because I want to, or because it looks good, but God will be glorified. It’s not about a wall. It’s about God.
Nehemiah ends with encouragement. He says, “And I told them that the good hand of God was upon me for good.” We are drawn into God’s story when we see the evidences of His leading. When we feel the momentum of the work He is doing among us. When you are encouraged by what God is doing tell someone else about it. There are good things happening in our church. I see individuals who love the Lord with all their heart. I see so much generosity! People give their time and talent cheerfully. During this time of financial difficulty people are still giving generously to the church. The challenges we have faced in COVID 19 have required creativity and endurance. We have had to learn new things and do things differently. And God is in it! I talk with people who are growing spiritual during this time in ways that were not growing before. We have a school that is ministering to kids and their families. Look around and be reminded that good hand of God is upon us.
Be a vision caster for God’s story! Go for a walk and let Him put in on you heart. And talk, share honestly about our problems, seek solutions, let your heart burn with the motive to glorify God and share those glimpses of God’s work that are encouraging you.
So Nehemiah walked and he talked and the people responded, ‘“Let us rise up and build.’ So they strengthened their hands for the good work.”
They moved into God’s story.
Let’s make this a conversation:
Elaborate on the importance of reformation beginning with self. What kind of a walk are you taking with God?
Reflect on our problems. What realities of the church do you see are our biggest problems?
Reflect on God’s solutions. How is God calling us to “rebuild the wall”?
When you consider that our problems can be a disgrace to God how does that motivate you to move into God’s story?
Share some specific ways you are encouraged by the work you see God doing.
Are you in? Are you ready to strengthen your hands for the good work? What uncertainties and reservations do you have? In what ways are excited about God’s story?