If you ever watch any of those American crime or drama series on TV or boxset, you normally get a little review clip, with the words ‘Previously on (show name)...’ It helps to remind you of what has already happened, or to catch you up on what you might have missed. Well, it seems like we need to do a Previously in Nehemiah... as we begin tonight!
Nehemiah is a Jew, who has grown up in exile, in the city of Susa, where the king of the Persian empire lives. Last time we heard how he got a report about the state of Jerusalem - its people in great trouble and disgrace, and the walls of the city broken down and its gates burned. That bad news leads Nehemiah to pray - a prayer of repentance, and a prayer asking God to restore his people from the farthest horizons. And every day, for four months, he has been praying this prayer, asking that God would give him success in the sight of this man - the king of the empire.
Every day, Nehemiah was watching for the opportunity God would give him. And in this next bit of his memoir, he tells of the day that he had been waiting for: the day when he would have success in the king’s sight.
The day started the same as any other. Nehemiah had prayed, and then gone to work. He worked as cupbearer to the king, so he was in close contact with the king. He was there to serve Artaxerxes, and do what he wanted - which was to bring him wine!
But when he brought the wine, the day was different from every other day. The king noticed something different about his cupbearer. It wasn’t that he had a new haircut, or anything like that. No, it was his facial expression. Normally, the cupbearer was expected to be pleasant, helpful, maybe even jovial. But Nehemiah’s face was in a frown.
‘Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.’ The king could tell he wasn’t ill. but he knew there was something wrong. Some sadness of heart, as he puts it.
Nehemiah is immediately afraid - very much afraid. It may well be that he wasn’t meant to be sad in the presence of the king - and that he would lose his job or his head. Or it may have been that he was afraid because he was stepping out into the unknown, speaking out about the subject of his long-prayed prayers. Even with the fear, he replies in verse 3:
‘May the king live for ever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?’
He pours out his heart, and shares the reason for his sadness. Do you see how the king answers? He asks: ‘What is it you want?’ (4) The king is going to help, if Nehemiah tells him.
So what did Nehemiah do? Well, he says that ‘I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king.’ In the moment, Nehemiah didn’t have time to go off and find a place to pray. He prayed a quick, Lord help me, type prayer - an arrow prayer, and answered the king.
Years ago, when I was just starting out doing wee talks at our Youth Fellowship, I remember doing one on all the different sorts of prayer. And I used this verse as an example of arrow prayers. Any time, wee quick prayers. What did I forget, or maybe not even realise? Nehemiah had been praying day and night about this for four months! The arrow prayer came out of his consistent and persistent prayer.
The other thing we find in the realm of prayer is that Nehemiah didn’t just pray and leave it at that. Alongside his praying, he was also preparing. When the opportunity came, he knew what he needed to ask for. So he makes his request in verse 5: ‘If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.’
Do you see how he asks - if it pleases the king, if you’re happy with this... And so we find that it did please the king. And Nehemiah asks for a few more bits - his plans come together: for protection and safe-conduct the whole way; and for supplies of timber to build. It all pleased the king, he granted his requests. But Nehemiah again sees beyond the throne, to the higher throne, to the one who was answering his prayers. Look at verse 8, towards the end of it: ‘And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.’
Nehemiah recognises that the king said yes because God said yes. And God said yes, not because Nehemiah deserved it, but simply because God was gracious to him. Nehemiah could see the grace of God in the actions of the king of Persia.
And so the sending is done, and Nehemiah becomes the sent one. But not everyone is excited to se him arrive in Jerusalem. In verse 10 we meet Sanballat and Tobiah, men we’ll meet again. They were very much disturbed that Nehemiah has come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.
When Nehemiah arrives, he spends a few days recovering from the journey, and then he begins a secret mission. He goes out at night, just a few men with him, just his own horse, with as little noise and fuss as he can manage. He hasn’t raised any hopes, he’s getting a realistic picture of the situation, making his plans as carefully as he can. Do you see in verse 12 how he describes his mission? ‘I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem.’
God has put it in his heart to rebuild the city. That’s the burden he has in his work for God’s kingdom. That may not be yours - but what is your burden? What is it that God has put in your heart? What is he calling you to do? Youth or children’s work? A morning Bible study for older people? A ministry to a particular group of people? Becoming adoptive parents or foster parents? Helping with a foodbank? What is it that God has put in your heart? It’s the thing you keep coming back to; the thing you can’t get away from; the thing that you keep debating with yourself if you would be able to do it.
Nehemiah has the re-building of the city of Jerusalem, God’s city, on his heart. And he’s carefully planning the way ahead - the work that needs to be done. So he goes out on his horse, with his helpers, surveying the situation. Examining the walls and the gates. Formulating his plan.
In verse 17 the sent one goes public. He gathers the people and reveals why he is in Jerusalem. He outlines the problem, and gives them the solution.
‘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. I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me.’
God’s sent one describes the disgrace, and then calls the people to rebuild, by God’s grace. That’s the pattern that we see throughout the Bible - in prophets, in apostles, and supremely in the Lord Jesus. He entered the mess and the muck in order to build God’s kingdom. And that’s what he calls us to do as well (as we saw this morning in the call to share God’s gospel with courage, conviction and compassion).
And, by God’s grace, the people respond to the call. They reply: ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ They are keen to join the work, to rebuild the city, and remove the disgrace they’ve been living in for a long time. And so, Nehemiah tells us, they began this good work. It’s an encouraging start to Nehemiah’s mission. He was sent, and has now begun his work of rebuilding.
But not everyone is so happy with the news. In verse 19 we meet Sanballat and Tobiah again. They’ve even got another ally., Geshem the Arab. They begin to oppose the work in a small kind of way. They started to mock and ridicule. Have you ever noticed that that’s often how opposition starts to rear its head? Maybe you’ve become a Christian, or you’ve started a new work for the Lord. And the gentle mocking and ridicule begins. Ah, you’re in the God Squad now! Or whatever might be said - the aim is the same, to give you pause for thought, to stop you from getting going, to out you off the good work you’re doing.
Here, the mocking comes in the form of questions - What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? Huh! Does Artaxerxes know about this? what would he think if we let him know?
Do you see how Nehemiah answers? He doesn’t care so much about what the king thinks. His focus is further and higher - ‘The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.’
Nehemiah’s favourite way of talking about God is ‘the God of heaven.’ And he’s confident that the God of heaven will give them success. That’s who he’s looking to; that’s who he’s concerned with - pleasing God, not people.
Nehemiah’s prayers have been answered. His longing to be sent has resulted in his being sent. The thing that God has laid on his heart is coming to pass. There’s great encouragement here for us to keep on praying about the things that God has laid on our hearts. Keep looking for the ways God will give you opportunities to take a step forward. Plan as you pray. And then when the open door comes, step through, and follow his call.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 23rd September 2018.
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