West Pines Community Church

Everyone knows that you have to “look before you leap.” Before someone jumps into something it is critical that they know what they are getting into. But the same logic is true in most of our interactions. It takes discipline to listen before we speak. It takes great maturity to seek to understand before we challenge something. Nehemiah demonstrates his expertise in this area as he arrives in Jerusalem. He cannot single handedly build an entire wall. He must rally the people. And once again we can learn a lot from his superior leadership abilities. Do we investigate before we instigate?

In a chapter that would seem to contain little other than irrelevant details, there are two major lessons to be learned that can shape our understanding of God’s specific instructions for our lives and our leadership. Sometimes, we make the idea of seeking God’s direction more complicated than it has to be. Sometimes it is as simple as doing what is right in front of us, like the various inhabitants of the city who took it upon themselves to work on the section of the wall that was right in front of their homes instead of coming up with a more complicated construction plan. Another nugget that we find buried in this chapter is the idea that the nobles would not “stoop” to help with the construction even though the leader of the initiative, Nehemiah, was in there getting his hands dirty with everyone else. Leadership requires that we be willing to do what we are asking those we lead to do.

We can face many obstacles when attempting to climb the mountains in our lives. We can fight weariness. We can face self-doubt and insecurity. We can experience set-backs. We can even be ready for threats from enemies. But the maybe the greatest back-breaker is when a friend tells you to “turn back.” How do we deal with discouragement? How do we push through? Maybe we should just remember the goal and mentally visualize the glory of reaching the summit. Maybe we dig down deep inside of ourselves. We remember what we’re made of and channel our own inner strength. When Nehemiah faced opposition, he did none of those things. And when we adopt Nehemiah’s strategy for beating discouragement we can tap into strength we didn’t know we had access to.

Opposition can be tricky. Sometimes it’s external, coming from an enemy or an outsider. There is no shortage of people in this world who (somehow) find enjoyment in opposing, ridiculing, and discouraging others. Other times opposition can be internal. In this case, the opponent is the person you least expected--a close friend, a family member, someone on the inside who knows the real you. There is another form of opposition, however, and this is where it gets tricky. It’s the opponent inside us. It’s when we are the ones stacking the odds against ourselves. So how can we win in the face of opposition, when we’re the opposition?

Manipulation is one of the most entangling obstacles that we face. It’s tricky because it’s all about reading between the lines, and trying to recognize people’s intentions. People can coerce our actions through all kinds of tactics like guilt, sympathy or even over-spiritualizing something. We know we are not supposed to be naive, but we also don’t want to be paranoid. We don’t want to always think the worst of people, but we don’t want to get taken advantage of. What’s the difference between perceiving someone’s motives and being judgmental? The bottom line is it’s a difficult thing to be discerning. Nehemiah vulnerably shares how he faced this obstacle. And through his example we can learn how to sharpen our discernment for when we will face this too.

Sticks and Stones may break bones, but what about words? They can do far more than that! They can fracture relationships in an instant. They can break someone’s spirit. They can permanently maim someone’s self-esteem. Despite what the old adage says, words are are far more dangerous than sticks and stones. But we have a tendency to underplay the power of words. When we face ridicule, sometimes we make the mistake of just telling ourselves that we are immune. But those words that we think we are ignoring, can haunt us without us knowing. Not appreciating how ridicule works on us, can affect our lives more than we want to admit. We need to know the affects on us, on our kids, and on how we speak to others. We can learn a great deal from one leader, Nehemiah, with how he faces this type of opposition.

We love victory stories. We love seeing stories of great men and women who persevere until they reach their goal, their summit. But one of the saddest things is to see someone or some organization rise to great heights only to not be able to tumble down. Watching neglect destroy a something beautiful is a tragic thing to witness. Unfortunately, this is part of the story of an ancient leader named Nehemiah. When he takes leave from Jerusalem, after rebuilding things physically and spiritually, things spiralled downward. But what happens when he returns, teaches us something about the impact of neglect and what to do when we fall prey to it in our lives.

There are some messy jobs out there. It takes a strong work ethic and an equally strong stomach to do what no one else could handle. But sometimes what makes it so messy is not the work itself, but the spiritual environment. Maybe that’s you. You would say that it is just hard to be a Christian where you work. For others, it’s not just the workplace environment. For many, it’s hard to be a Christian in the family you’ve been placed in, or the school you go to. How do you navigate through all the stuff you’re not sure a Christian should be exposed to? What do you do about the elements of the workplace that you can’t endorse? When do you take a stand? And how? It’s MESSY and it’s not always easy to know how to draw the lines. Especially because retreat is not an option. We know Jesus has called us to go into the world and He told us it would not be easy. The good news is that we can learn from those who went before us. And Daniel is a great place to start...

Imagine you show up for the first day of class, sit down at the desk and pull out your books and your laptop. You are ready to go. Then the professor walks in, and begins his intro lecture. That’s when you realize. You are in the wrong class. You now have to make the walk of shame to the exit. Maybe you’ve been in a place where you feel like you don’t belong. It couldn’t have been worse than what the biblical character Daniel felt. For him it was a spiritual issue. How could he possible be a godly person, in an environment completely opposed to that effort? That’s life in exile. And if you are a Christ-follower, the Bible says you are in exile too. Maybe you’ve felt that before. It’s difficult to live a godly life in an environment that is not set up to promote godliness. That’s Daniel’s story. We can learn a lot from him. Particularly instructive is what he did first… he resolved his allegiance.

Imagine you are in a situation where you have the chance to take a risk and speak up. Maybe it’s a family member that is making some bad decisions and you have the opening to say something to them. Maybe a friend you’ve known for a long time finally cracks open the door to a spiritual conversation. Maybe at work, your boss asks for your input on an ethical decision for the company. How far do you go? What if you say to little? What if you say too much? Maybe as an act of faith we should be reckless. Perhaps we should be seizing those rare opportunities and just trust that God will clean up the mess. Or maybe we should trust our instincts and rely on our own read of the situation. But is that leaning on our own understanding and not trusting God? How are we supposed to handle these delicate moments? We can learn a lot from how Daniel operated. He was in a situation that was so delicate, his life and the lives of his friends were on the line.

Remember that season of your life where you didn’t have to interact with any difficult people? No one does! Difficult people are a part of life. But there is one category of people that can create a particularly messy situation. These are the people that operate from a completely different worldview or faith, and are antagonistic to you yours. It could be a family member that always tries to prove to you why your beliefs are illogical and irrational. It is the co-worker that puts you on the spot every time they read about a noteworthy Christian messing up. How should we engage that type of person. The Bible character, Daniel, was no stranger to this situation. He had a difficult person that he showed incredible love to. There is much we can learn from this incredible story.

Somewhere deep down, each of us wants to make an impact. God’s wired an impulse into our souls that is driven to have a positive influence. Sometimes when we see an extraordinary character in the Bible like Daniel, it is inspiring but also can be discouraging. We look at these incredible opportunities and adventures and wonder how our lives could compare to them. We see what God did through their incredible lives but feel so ordinary. Where do we even start? Daniel instructs us there too. There is something so simple, but more powerful than we realize. And we put it into operation starting tomorrow. Something we can commit to and then watch God work. God calls us to be committed to EXCELLENCE.

In chapter 12 we learn that the people of Jerusalem take time to celebrate (with great sacrifices and great joy) what God has done in their midst and the sound of their rejoicing was heard far away. It's here where we learn that that it's good to stop and rejoice, but to also take our positions in expectation of what God has in store next.

One of the most obvious questions that we often don't think to ask is: How can I feel close to God? No matter where we are at in our journey with God, many of us are at a place where we are asking this question. Some might not know what they believe about God, but they see that people they respect seem to have had a genuine encounter with God. They wonder what it would look like for them to feel that. Others may have recently started following Jesus. Maybe they have felt their enthusiasm wane and wonder how they get it back. For seasoned believers, some have felt apathy creep in unnoticed and want to know how to get their fiery passion back. This episode in the story of Nehemiah, outlines the path to renewal that we all need.

In chapter 7, before they start to worship, we see a detailed list of what the families gave to the work. We can learn many truths about what it loos like to give as a church, and why it can be so hard to talk about money at church.

In chapter 8, the people of Jerusalem gather together. It is one of the first things they do as they are rebuilding the spiritual community as God’s people. We learn many truths about what it looks like for us to gather together as a church.

There’s a question that is hovering in virtually every single room that is occupied by at least one human. It is palpable in school lunchrooms everyday. It causes tension at family reunions. It can be the instigation and the disintegration of a romance. It’s what makes isolation unbearable and unnatural. But it’s what sometimes makes friendships even harder. It may be the single deepest question we have. It emanates from the most primal recesses of our souls. And we may not even know that this question is storming through our lives every day. The question is: Do I Belong? But what if the reason virtually all of us spend our lives seeking the answer to this question is because we first and foremost need God to answer it...

In chapter 11 we are introduced to the men of valor, and others who were chosen to live in Jerusalem. We can learn many lessons from looking at what happened in Jerusalem at this period in history, and realize how that gives us purpose in life today.

There are some famous Bible stories - Moses and Pharaoh, David and Goliath, Jonah and the whale. And that’s not to mention the stories of Jesus. They are great stories. They are memorable and inspiring. But do we treat them as simply feel-good stories, or do we process the fact that the Bible claims them to be real. That’s an important distinction. The Tortoise and the Hare is a motivational story. There’s a lot we can learn from it. But it’s not presented to be historical. If Bible stories are simply motivational fables, let’s take a few tips and try to better our lives. But if they are true… then we’ve just had an encounter that changes everything.

When I think of the word “dignity,” I think of someone with an ascot and maybe even a monocle. It seems like something only the ultra refined would be concerned with. But in reality, we have a much more down to earth relationship with that word. Dignity is the opposite of shame. Shame is when an ugly part of my life starts to become my identity. So shame and dignity deal with self-worth. And no one is exempt from wrestling with that. Often we attempt to find our dignity in something in reaction to our shame. But these attempts to run from shame, always fall short. But when we encounter Jesus, we Encounter Dignity.