Homily Pastor
Remember the Lord
and Fight
We’ve had a run of guest speakers these last several weeks.
Last week I told you that I was looking forward to getting back to work… but this week I thought “wouldn’t it be great to have someone bring a special message for Labor Day?”
So, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine… a fellow who is famous for his labor. More specifically, famous for his labor in worship of his God.
I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak to you this morning.
You may have heard of me.
You may know me as the Governor of Judah,
or official in the service of Artaxerxes, King over the
I like to think of myself simply as
Superintendent over the rebuilding of the
You may have read my book. I wanted to put it out as one of
those little square books… something like that Jabez guy did…
can’t you see it “The Prayers of Nehemiah.”
But the publisher had other ideas… so there you have it.
One of my concerns about how this is published is that I’m afraid that my role gets confused. So many of these other books in this anthology are written by clergy… prophets, priests, apostles and the like.
I’m not one of those guys… I’m just a regular guy. A layman like most of you.
In my day, Ezra was the priest. My work was in government and public works.
Well… anyway… I’d like to tell you some of my story and highlight some excerpts from my book. I think you might find some of it interesting, even inspiring.
For
me it all started back in
Just about 2,400 years ago.
Artexerxes had several palaces around the
I brought some maps to give you an idea of the lay of the land.
These
days
You can see in my book that in those days I served as cupbearer to the King. I’m afraid you might not really understand what that meant. Today if someone says “cupbearer” you might think of that guy who fills your water glass down at Denny’s.
Back in my day, the cupbearer was one of the Kings most trusted officials. Serving in his court and trusted to see to the King’s safety. Sort of the head of the Secret Service detail. I had a close, personal working relationship with the King; I was among his closest confidant’s.
So… it was while serving the King in
You see for about 100 years, the Persian Kings were allowing
some of us Jews to return to
Ezra the priest was among the exiles who returned to
What
I was hearing while in
Now here again I’m afraid you don’t know what that really means.
In my day there could be no safety or security without walls and gates around a city.
Without walls a city was open prey for enemies.
Without walls a city would be repeatedly pillaged, our goods stolen, our people carried off as slaves.
This was hard news to take.
My people, who had endured so much hardship, were continuing to suffer even though they returned to our homeland. It hit me hard… so hard I wept… I mourned… I fasted and prayed. Can I read you one of my prayers from my book?
“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, 6
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. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s
house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted
very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you
gave your servant Moses.
(You see… I knew we didn’t deserve God’s favor… but I knew I could appeal to
His mercy)
8 “Remember
the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I
will scatter you among the nations, 9 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.’
(That brings up another good point… Why
10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 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. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” [1]
See… by now I knew what I needed to do.
Nobody asked me to go fix the walls… neither man nor God.
But I saw what needed to be done, and I knew with God’s help I could get it done, so for me the need constituted a call.
My plan was to carefully ask Artexerxes for his help.
Not just the time off… but also protection and provision.
Well, God answered my prayer in a marvelous way; it was clear that he had already moved the King’s heart.
He released me go a rebuild the city.
He sent me with letters to guarantee my safety on the Journey.
And He essentially sent me with a blank check to gather the materials needed for the work. God answers prayer.
So, for you today, I want to encourage you.
When you see something that ought to be done, a good thing, a thing that you think would please God… go for it. Dream big and ask for God’s help.
I’m convinced that there are all sorts of miracles that never come to fruition because we lack the courage to take a step of faith. Give your best dreams a try and see how God will come along in the right way at the right time with just what you need.
Well… it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.
There was opposition from the very beginning from the neighbors.
Sanballat, the governor over
Then there were others like Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab.
On
about my third night in
I saw the results of war, vandalism, and neglect. I could see where armies had destroyed parts of the wall. I could see where time had eroded parts of the wall. There were only charred chunks of debris where there should have been gates.
17 Then I said to them,
“You see the trouble we are in:
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. [2]
We got to work… we all got to work.
I didn’t really realize it when I was writing this, but there is what could seem like a fairly inconsequential phrase in the third chapter of my book that pops-up over and over again.
It
shows up in various forms about 20 times in that short chapter.
Do you see it? It is easy to miss…
The phrase is “Next to Them”
The point is that this was a group project and each family, everyone, played a part.
Look at Chapter 3
So the point I want to make for you is simply this: For whatever reason, when God has a plan to get something done, there’s usually work for everyone.
From one perspective it is sort of silly, isn’t it? Wouldn’t
it have been easier for God to have just given me a staff like He did for
Moses? And just as Moses parted the
But many of you know as well as I do that our Father in heaven gives us some opportunity to be involved in the process. It is God’s work… but it is hard work. He lets us get dirty; He lets us invest our sweat, and time, and energy, and money.
And when there is work to do, there’s something for each one to contribute.
Just like on a farm at harvest time; when it is time to harvest, everybody has a job… men and women, young and old, owner and laborer… everybody has a job.
And that is just the way it was for us.
The skilled and the unskilled.
The wealthy and the poor.
The young and old; men and women.
We even got the preachers to work!
Everybody had a job… and we all worked, side by side.
The whole perimeter was covered with workers.
And things were going pretty well… until we got the walls about half-way up.
It was then that the neighbors, you know the ones who could help themselves to our city whenever they wanted… it was then that the grumpy neighbors started to take us seriously.
We really had opposition coming from both sides…
Not left and right…
Outside and inside.
The outsiders were making threats… and the insiders were loosing heart.
You can read about it in Chapter 4.
It
was at this point that I gave that speech and put together that simple phrase
that has become my one-line-life-story: Remember the Lord and Fight.
Remember the Lord – a statement of all encompassing faith.
And Fight – a statement of all consuming work.
It isn’t either or… I don’t understand these folks who think work is somehow unspiritual. It is both… everything I can do combined with all who God is!
Now don’t limit that little word remember either. Don’t get the wrong idea that I mean something soft like reminisce. When I use a word like remember I can, of course, start with what the Lord has done.
In this case I could remember that he gave me favor with the King… and favor with my people. I could remember the miracles of provision; Artaxerxes supplied the materials to rebuild the walls!
But remember didn’t just mean past… it means present.
I tried to make this clear in the writing of my book.
Take a look… there are numerous times when in the middle of critical decision, or when facing a significant challenge, I stopped to pray. Remembering to acknowledge the Lord in every circumstance is a certain ingredient of my success.
But remember doesn’t just mean past and present… it means future too.
Remember God’s promises. He has promised to deliver, promised to provide, promised to protect, promised to care… and his promises are trustworthy.
So today, what are you facing?
Challenges? Sickness? Attack?
What do you need? What can you do?
Remember the Lord and Fight!
Does that bring you any inspiration?
Well it sure inspired us on that wall project.
Let’s pick it up at v. 15.
It really was something. We were ready for anything… and we worked hard.
And God proved himself again to be our strength.
There were plenty more threats from the neighbors… but in the end the attacks never really materialized.
The wall was functional in 52 days. Now that is a miracle.
Work continued on the wall for a couple of years… fortifying it and beatifying it. But we could call it a wall within 52 days, and more importantly, it was giving us the protection we needed in 52 days.
There’s a whole lot more to the story… but we’re running out of time.
Just
before I wrap this up… let me jump to the 8th chapter of my book…
because in most ways this is what the project was all about. (8:1-10)
The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength
You see… without the walls this scene would not be possible.
Without the safety and security that the walls provided there was no freedom to gather in this sacred assembly.
How could my people worship God freely in square if they were fearing for their lives?
It was beautiful!
And to think… I played an important part in this.
Just a regular guy who saw a need and dared to do something about it.
My hard work mingled with God’s awesome power made a difference… a difference that was recorded and has lasted these 2,400 years.
A difference, I hope, that has challenged you today.
Thank you for your attention.
So
on this Labor Day Eve…
let’s remember to thank God for our work.
And let’s remember to thank God for involving us in His work.