Submitting to God’s Vision - January 20, 2013 Sermon

By Pastor Greg

After approaching King Artaxerxes with God’s calling, Nehemiah is sent to Jerusalem to be its governor (Nehemiah 5:14). As governor, a whole caravan of assistants and soldiers would have traveled with him as well. So when Nehemiah arrived, people would have noticed. He did not simply sneak into town. He came as their new leader; their new governor. But Nehemiah did not come to merely govern. He came with a vision and a passion to challenge the people of Jerusalem to finish the work God had commanded over a hundred years ago. So not only did Nehemiah need to overcome certain obstacles back in Susa, but he also needed to overcome the opposition he would face in Judea. And after a tour of the city Nehemiah finds out that the damage is more extensive than he had imagined, and he faces opposition from several influential people as well (Read Nehemiah 2:9-20).

Nehemiah spends three days assessing the condition of Jerusalem, and his conclusion is that the city was a real mess, probably worse than he had imagined. But rather than allow the opposition to distract or deter him from his calling, Nehemiah remains steadfast. He remains optimistic and enthusiastic. Now although there are a number of reasons why Nehemiah remained undeterred, what has me really impressed is the way many within Jerusalem catch the same vision. They are in total agreement with him and seem willing to give themselves to this great work.

Nehemiah could not accomplish this vision on his own. He needed the cooperation of the Jews from the land. He needed the people to have the same passion and the same vision. They would all have to work together in order to accomplish this monumental task. In other words, not only did Nehemiah need to submit to God's vision, God's calling, and God's plan, but so too did the people of Israel. They would need to recognize that this work was of God and directed from God. They would need to submit to God's vision as well.

Perhaps those who worked along side Nehemiah had been waiting for someone to launch a rebuilding program, I don’t know. But it is apparent that many of the people are in total agreement. However, there are others who seem completely dead set against this idea of rebuilding the wall (Nehemiah 2:19). They discourage, slander, sabotage, and threaten not just Nehemiah, but anyone else whose heart has been awakened.

There are two lessons in this section of Nehemiah, one speaks to those who lead and the other speaks to those who follow. Next week we will look at this through the eyes of Nehemiah, but today I want to look at this lesson through the eyes of the people who had been living among the rubble for nearly 100 years.

Let assess this story through the eyes of the people for a moment. An outsider rides into town. He didn’t grow up in Jerusalem. He probably talked differently, acted differently, and even dressed differently. He is presented as the new leader. He seems quiet and distracted. Something is on his mind, but nobody is quite sure what it might be. A few people from the next town have been saying bad things about this guy. Three days after arriving in town he points out how run down the place was, how he had a vision to fix the problem, and that God had given him an idea on how to solve the problem. What would you say? How would you respond, especially once those opposed to the idea begin slandering your leader, trying to sabotage your work, and even threaten your life? How do you remain steadfast and submitted to God’s vision that was given through someone else?

These are really tough question every church will face from time to time; this submission to or objection of another man's calling and vision. Is there some way a church can determine if her leader is truly working according to God’s will? A few things stand out in this story of Nehemiah.

1. Nehemiah didn’t create the problem. He merely showed the people the problem. They had been living with the problem so long that they had become complacent. But Nehemiah was passionate about solving the problem. He gave them an idea on how to solve the problem. He told them how God had already been working to fix the problem. He came to offer leadership and guidance to solve the problem.
2. Nehemiah was working to restore honor to the city. Was Nehemiah wrong in his assessment of Jerusalem (2:17)? Didn't the neighboring districts look down upon the city as worthless and irrelevant? Nehemiah's vision and calling was to restore Jerusalem's respectability within the land. He wanted the other nations to recognize that Jerusalem, and all Judah, was a place where God was indeed working.
3. Nehemiah’s counsel and guidance would also build up the people. They would feel better about who they were and more confident in what god could accomplish through them. But the other group did not want to see things improve. They liked keeping the city weak and in disrepair. A strong and united Jerusalem made them nervous. They knew that great things could happen in Jerusalem if the people began to feel good about themselves and good about their work.
4. Nehemiah was not the first to call the people out of their slumber. Consider what the Prophet Haggai had to do as the people neglected rebuilding the Temple (Haggai 1:8). Zerubbabel and his people needed to be awakened to do the work of the Lord then. So Nehemiah was simply addressing the same malaise that plagued the people for almost 100 years.
5. Nehemiah was not calling the people to do something contrary to the Lord's will. He was calling them to fulfill what God had already commanded. Speaking through Cyrus, the King of Persia, God had commanded the people to return and rebuild. He even provided what was necessary for this to happen (Ezra 1:1-4). Yet complacency and indifference plagued the Jews. They didn't seem to care about fulfilling the Lord's directives. So like Haggai, Nehemiah reminded them of the Lord's command. And Nehemiah got involved. He worked alongside the people in order to fulfill the Lord's command.

Admittedly, it is difficult to discern if God is truly directing another person. We simply cannot know what God has said and how God is directing them. They come with this bold idea about how some changes will make things better. They come with a passion about reaching a certain group of people or raising money for a certain ministry. How can we be sure they are indeed working according to the will of God? How can we know if this is God’s vision or simply a crazy idea? I think we can discern this if we listen and watch and pray. As we observe them there are a few signs that indicate whether their calling and God’s vision is true. ¹ For whose glory are they working? Who benefits from their ministry? ² What present problems will their ministry solve? Is the work they are proposing something that has needed to be done for many years, but never started? ³ Is there a hidden agenda behind those opposed to this ministry or these changes? Why exactly are they opposed? And better still, what tactics are they using. Any person or group that threatens or stoops to slander, lying, and sabotage should lose credibility in your eyes. ⁴ Has someone else tried the same ministry or shared the same vision? If the same call to ministry is being repeated over and over again within a church, it’s probably God trying to get your attention. ⁵ Does this person’s vision or passion for ministry fall in line with what God has already commanded? In other words, do we find the same command within scripture? Anyone who comes along and says that God instructed them to convince the church that certain sins are now okay, is certainly not submitted to God. God will not instruct His church to work contrary to His Word. But if someone comes along and says, for example, “We’ve forgotten the Great Commission. We need to be making disciples”, that individual just might be the one God has sent to call us back to task.

I’m impressed with Nehemiah and how he surrendered and summited to God. But I am equally impressed with the people of Jerusalem. They recognized the one God sent to call them back to task. They obeyed God through the passionate vision of another man. Perhaps the Church needs to be just as discerning today. Perhaps Christ’s Church should be listening to those God has sent into her midst casting His vision for His great work.