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Mark Wheeler
Nehemiah 13:1-31
11/12/2023
"Kingdom Construction: How Do We Bind the Work of God?"
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
Good morning, Church Family! Welcome to Lidgerwood Church!
I wanna start today asking about the last time you reached a decision through the art of "compromise"…. Did you feel like it was a win-win? Or more of a lose-lose?
Sometimes the lose-lose compromise has a winning feel to it. Jennifer and I have very different needs about how early we arrive at a thing – I want to be 30-minutes early, and she wants to arrive as the event is beginning (to arrive a half-hour early is a waste of 30-minutes!). So, we usually compromise and arrive 5-seconds before the event starts! (But I win, because – you know: happy wife, happy life….)
A "bad compromise" is when you change your habits and self in such a way that you wind up becoming less of your full, authentic, thriving self1. This can lead to disaster in personal, financial, national, or international contexts2. A "good compromise" is when you change your habits and self in such a way that you grow more into your most full, authentic, best self1.
Today's final chapter in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah - the story about how Nehemiah engineered the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem after it had been destroyed by several invasions – is about making "bad compromise" – how that binds the work of God and our relationship with Him.
As we join together in worship be ready to be inspired by God's Word, to find reasons to confess our own bad compromises, and to worship our-always-victorious God!
2 Join in as Lilly Haeger leads us in our Call to Worship – from Psalm 117
3-8 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #721 … Shine, Jesus, Shine –
9 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the peace of Christ be with you!
Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!
Be filled with God's Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God's Word.
10 This morning our Chancel Choir invites us to worship, without compromise, with this beautiful anthem: "The Apple Tree"
11 Children's Message
12 Lilly opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving
13 Gloria Patri
14-17 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord's Prayer]
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19-22 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God's Word – as we participate in God's Kingdom Construction - #669 – God of Grace and God of Glory –
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Nancy Campagna, a Manhattan socialite, was waiting for a Manhattan sub-way when her attention was diverted by two men in their 20s engrossed in conversation just a few feet away. One was dressed in a torn heavy-metal T-shirt and had stringy black hair, two skull tattoos on his left calf and a ring through his bottom lip.
The other had greasy blond hair tied in a ponytail, six earrings, and a four-inch snake tattoo on his left forearm.
"Hey, I finally went out with Susie-Q last night," the first man said.
"Well, how did it go, dude?" asked his friend, his hand clutching an open beer in a paper bag.
"Awesome!" came the reply. "She is one hot babe who really knows how to party!"
"So are you going to see her again?"
"Nah, man," the first guy answered, his exuberance suddenly subdued. "She smokes."
Well, at least he has some standards. Do you have standards? Do we have standards? Are there things in our lives that we know to be right and wrong? As we come to our text today, we are going to see that Nehemiah has a very ardent sense of right and wrong. You see, Nehemiah acts on what he believes. This is a dynamic that we have observed all along in our study of this man and his Old Testament book.
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I. In our study of Nehemiah, we have observed…
1. The rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem.
While serving King Artaxerxes, God laid on Nehemiah's heart the fact that Jerusalem was in bad shape. While the temple had been rebuilt years earlier, the wall was still in ruins and the people were discouraged. The king graciously gave Nehemiah permission to return to his homeland and rebuild the wall.
Nehemiah successfully rebuilt the wall. It was, what we might call a holy ambition that was accomplished in the midst of criticism and threats.
But the rebuilding of the wall was not the only responsibility of Nehemiah.
Though he was, in reality, a political leader, he was also there for…
2. The rebuilding of their faith.
Nehemiah made sure that the Israelites separated themselves from the foreign elements in their midst – not because he was anti-immigration, or anti-multicultural, or xenophobic, but because he knew that the religious ideas of their foreign neighbors would infiltrate their religious views, and cause dissention and infidelity.
They had to humbly come before God and confess their sins. Then they made concrete promises. They committed themselves to Sabbath-honoring, to the support of God's work, and to purity in their marriages.
In so doing, they successfully rebuilt their faith.
Then, Nehemiah had returned to Susa in Persia, to serve King Artaxerxes. We are not sure for how many months/years he is in Persia, but it does seem to be a considerable amount of time.
As we come to our text today, our final study of Nehemiah, we see that Nehemiah is returning to Jerusalem.
And what he discovers is that, "While the cat's away, the mice will play!"
The promises the people have made under Nehemiah's supervision are compromised.
Their spiritual life, at best, is suspect.
It has been said that "faith is like a fire; it needs to be stirred and fed to keep it going."
Our faith is meant to be active and practiced. Faith in God is not designed to be sedentary. That's very much what I experience at the Presbytery Summits every meeting: an active faith put into practice!
But, when we put our "faith into action", we need to always be aware of our motives – it is so easy to feel that if something seems right it must be biblical and according to God's Word.
And that becomes the key: we are to feed on God's Word, and enabled by the Holy Spirit of God, we are to make a difference in our world – according to God's Word! One of the Presbyterian maxisms is: "Reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God."
Tony Campolo, an American Baptist pastor and professor of a generation ago, self-described "progressive evangelical", tells of an experience he had in a Pentecostal church which he attended.
There was a man who, in the throes of spiritual involvement, began to call out in a loud voice, "Fill me, Lord! Fill me, Lord! Fill me, Lord!"
To which an older woman in the congregation, who could control herself no longer replied, in a loud voice, "Don't do it, Lord; he leaks!"
Well … We all need to recognize that we all get lazy about our faith. We must be vigilant. We need to be careful about our faith, because things that seem insignificant can become critical. Like a slow leak in a tire. Eventually, the car won't be able to go.
As we come to our study today, we need to recognize that the world view in which we live is like gravity. Spiritually, it pulls us down as we press upward.
Recognizing this…
II. We will find in our study of Nehemiah 13:1-31 four compromises that get in the way of righteousness.; four compromises that Bind the Work of God. Let's look at this together.
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The first compromise is DEFILING THE HOLY – Nehemiah 13:1-9 …. ----
26 13 1 On that day, when the Book of Moses was being read in the hearing of the people, it was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite may ever come into the assembled congregation of God, 2 because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God had turned the curse into a blessing. 3 As the people heard the Law, they separated everyone of mixed foreign descent from Israel.
27 4 But before this, the priest Eliashib, who had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God, & who was related to Tobiah, 5 had provided a large storeroom for him. Previously they had been putting the offerings, the incense, & the vessels, as well as the tithes of grain, new wine, & olive oil there. This had been done according to the command concerning the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, & the contributions for the priests. 6 But when all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because in the 32nd year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone to the king. Then sometime later, I asked the king for permission to return, 7 and I came back to Jerusalem. Then I found out about the evil thing that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by providing a room for him in the courtyards of the house of God.
8 This was very offensive to me, so I threw all of Tobiah's household property out of the storeroom. 9 I gave orders to purify the storerooms, & I restored the articles of the house of God, the offerings, & the incense.
The first three verses are really the conclusion to this chapter. It is interesting that they are here first. They give us the needed result to what now comes from Nehemiah's journal.
Here, we learn that…
A. When we cultivate wrong relationships, we set ourselves up for an infiltration of sin.
I hope that as you heard the text read that it struck you that there was "a fox in the hen house." The very arch-rival of Nehemiah was now living in the Temple. This was a man that had opposed the rebuilding of the wall, and thus, the work of the Kingdom of God. Nehemiah had worked hard to keep him out of Jerusalem and out of power. Sometime though, after he had left, an unholy alliance was developed between Eliashib the priest and Tobiah.
We need to be hard on Eliashib here. He has misused his office. He has frustrated God's work. The Temple was no place for Tobiah – just being in the temple was a holy privilege, and it was not to be used for an unholy purpose.
So Nehemiah shows us that…
B. When sin gets into the house, it's time for a spring-cleaning. Simply put, Nehemiah gives Tobiah an eviction notice. It happened quite simply. The furniture is on the front lawn. The clothes are in a suitcase. Tobiah is out on his kiester.
Nehemiah has good company in this spring-cleaning. A few hundred years later, Jesus is going to do the same thing at the same temple!
We need to take note of both the reaction of Nehemiah and of Jesus. It is a reminder to us of how infrequently we express outrage over evil. There are times when evil must be confronted. Too often though, we allow sin to fester and grow. When we do that, we must see it as it is – a compromise of our faith. DEFILING the holy!
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2. The second compromise is NEGLECTING THE WORK – Nehemiah 13:10-14…..----
29 10 Then I learned that the portions for the Levites had not been distributed & that the Levites & singers who performed the work of God's house all had gone back to their own fields. 11 I accused the officials & said, "Why has the house of God been abandoned?" So I gathered them & stationed them at their places. 12 Then all Judah brought the tithes of grain & new wine and olive oil to the storerooms. 13 I appointed treasurers in charge of the storerooms: the priest Shelemiah, the scribe Zadok, Pedaiah from the Levites, & as their assistant, Hanan the son of Zakkur, the son of Mattaniah, because they were considered to be trustworthy. It was their responsibility to distribute the portions to their relatives. 14 Remember me, my God, because of this, & do not wipe away my faithful deeds, which I have done for the sake of the house of my God & for the sake of its services.
At the end of Nehemiah 10, we find this statement made by the people, "We will not neglect the house of God." Now note 13:11, "Why is the house of God neglected?" Clearly, it is a promise that the people failed to keep. It is here we need to be reminded that…
A. Sin is never an isolated incident; it always has implications that reach beyond one's self. A sin might be my personal choice, but that choice impacts my family, my business, my reputation, the reputation of my friends, my ability to influence those whom God wants me to influence for His glory!
The sin of Eliashib had many implications. The Levites were dependent on the faithful support of the people, but when Tobiah moved in, the support dwindled. The grain, oil, and incense the Levites needed were thrown out, and thus they had no supplies to work with, nor were their salaries paid. My decision to withhold my pledge or my tithe impacts my faithfulness to God's call on my life, and it impacts our church's ability to serve God faithfully and well.
B. When we become indifferent to God's Word, we become secularized.
It was the responsibility of the Levites to make sure that worship happened. But Tobiah's presence had brought an end to worship and to the study of God's Word.
It is a warning to us. When we allow the study of the Bible and prayer to disappear, we begin to live like the world around us. Materialism becomes our new god and everybody stops working on the wall, and thus, the work of the Kingdom of God is hindered. It stops.
There are times when evil must be confronted. Too often though, we allow sin to fester and grow. But, we must see it as it is – a compromise of our faith. When we neglect our support of God's Church and God's ministry, it is a compromise of our faith!
The second way we "bind" the work of God is in NEGLECTING the work of God!
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3. The third compromise is IGNORING THE RHYTHM – Nehemiah 13:15-22 …. ----
31 15 In those days I saw in Judah some people who were treading winepresses on the Sabbath & bringing heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, & also wine, grapes, & figs and all kinds of loads, & then bringing them to Jerusalem on the Sabbath. So I warned them on the day when they were selling food. 16 Moreover, some people from Tyre lived in the city. They were bringing fish & all kinds of merchandise & selling it on the Sabbath to the Jews—even in Jerusalem! 17 So I accused the Judean nobles & said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, by which you are profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Didn't your ancestors do this, & as a result our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? You are adding more to his wrath by profaning the Sabbath." 19 As it began to grow dark within the gates of Jerusalem before the beginning of the Sabbath, I gave orders to close the doors & not to open them until after the Sabbath. I also stationed some of my servants at the gates to ensure that no load would come in on the Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice the merchants & those who sell all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside of Jerusalem. 21 However, I warned them and said to them, "Why are you spending the night next to the wall? If you do this again, I will use force against you." From that time onward they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 Then I told the Levites that they should purify themselves and come to guard the gates in order to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember this also in my favor, my God, and spare me according to your great faithfulness.
This is about the Israelites keeping the Sabbath. In part, it was keeping the Sabbath that made them unique. It was their visible weekly emblem of loyalty and witness. They had strict Sabbath rules. We all know the 4th Commandment: remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Well, the Jews added lots of laws to help them keep this commandment: you can only walk so many steps from your house on the Sabbath (one more step and you've "worked" which isn't keeping it holy); no spitting on the Sabbath (your spittle might roll up in the dirt, thus plow, thus "work"); etc. Keeping the Sabbath allowed them opportunity not only to worship God, but to bear witness to their "foreign" neighbors about their relationship with the God of heaven and earth.
And now they were abandoning it.
For us, we worship on Sundays. When our families visit from out of town, and we take them to church with us on Sundays: we not only worship God, we also bear witness of our relationship with the God of heaven and earth through His Son Jesus Christ. If we don't worship just because our family doesn't, we compromise our faith.
And the rhythm isn't just our weekly Sunday trips to this address, how about annual pilgrimages to worship on Christmas Eve – "yeah but we open our gifts on Christmas Eve", or "we eat Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve". When we ignore the rhythm, we compromise our faith.
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And there's one more compromise mentioned here. Notice that when you spell this acronym backwards it spells out B-I-N-D. Do we Bind the work of God by compromising our faith?
4. The fourth compromise is BREAKING THE PROMISE – Nehemiah 13:23-31…. ----
33 23 Also in those days I saw the Judeans who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half of their children spoke the dialect of Ashdod or the language of other peoples & were not able to understand how to speak Judean. 25 So I accused them & cursed them. I beat some of the men & pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath by God: "May God punish us if we give our daughters to their sons or if we take some of their daughters for our sons or for ourselves." 26 I said, "Wasn't it because of these foreign wives that King Solomon of Israel sinned, although there was no king like him among the many nations? He was loved by his God, and God placed him as king over all Israel. Yet foreign wives made even him sin. 27 Should we listen to you and be led to do all this great evil, so that we end up being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?" 28 One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the high priest, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite. So I chased him away from me.
29 Remember them, my God, because of their defiling of the priesthood & because of the covenant of the priesthood & the Levites. 30 So I purified them of everything foreign, & I established duties for the priests & the Levites—each man had his own work. 31 I also provided wood for the offerings at the appropriate times & for the offerings of the firstfruits. Remember me, my God, for good.
A. We need to remember the lessons of history and keep our promises to God.
It is interesting (and sad) that the purity issue continues to keep coming up at every PC(USA) General Assembly meeting. And it will again next year.
Here, in Nehemiah, again, the fathers were giving their children, to be married to foreign children. And Nehemiah makes it plain. It is an act of treachery. It is offensive to God.
Their history had been plain enough. Solomon was a great king, but when he disobeyed in this area, his faith suffered. And now his sin was being repeated.
Again, it was the Ammonites and the Ashdodites that were lined up outside the walls of Jerusalem opposing its rebuilding. Now they were married to the people of Judah.
It does not appear that Nehemiah is too kind to those that have done this. He pulls on the beards of these fathers, and that hurts. But Nehemiah does not want them to miss how important this is. Though they may have made these decisions based on security and economics, these were secondary issues compared to faith. Nehemiah says, "What in the world are you thinking?" We do not provide security for our children by inviting the presence of idols into our homes. It is the undermining of faith, and it never fails to be that.
B. We are responsible to keep the faith. This is really an issue of discipleship.
Nehemiah is stunned that the children are not even being taught Hebrew (it was taught to the children in Persia!). So when the kids are at worship, they are counting the lights in the chandeliers, because they don't understand what is being said. How are they going to grow in their faith if this is the best that they can do.
The fourth way we "bind" the work of God is in BREAKING our Promises to God!
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The very promises that the people of Judah made, those concrete promises, every one of them was compromised years later. They committed themselves to Sabbath, to the support of God's work and to purity in their marriages. And when Nehemiah returned, they had broken each one.
A hunter raised his rifle and took careful aim at a large bear. When about to pull the trigger, the bear spoke in a soft soothing voice, "Isn't it better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let's negotiate the matter."
Lowering his rifle, the hunter replied, "I want a fur coat."
"Good," said the bear, "that is a negotiable item. I only want a full stomach, so let's sit down and negotiate a compromise."
They sat down to negotiate and after a time the bear walked away, alone. The negotiations had been successful. The bear had a full stomach, and the hunter was inside a fur coat!
Compromise is not always ideal, right? As we have studied this text, today, I hope you will come to this same conclusion, that…
WE MUST HAVE THE COURAGE TO CONFRONT COMPROMISE AND EXPECT RIGHTEOUSNESS.
We cannot ignore wrongdoing in our midst.
We must confront our own compromising and our own tolerance of "anything goes".
For when "anything goes', what goes is the Church. We head straight into oblivion and uselessness.
Let us be a people today that have a greater sensitivity to sin. It must be our conviction that we will not negotiate with sin. We will not let the ugly thing be tolerated.
We will keep our standards!
We will have a holy ambition that demonstrates an exclusive commitment to God and an undeniable consistent lifestyle that pleases Him.
May we have that kind of courage!
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On the front of your Bulletins is our Vision Statement. Say it with me, and see how this Vision un-binds the work of God.
Let's have to courage to be a people who:
Know the power and love of God , and
Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, compelling us to
Go in the footsteps of the Holy Spirit, loving and serving others who don't yet
Know the power and love of God ….
Amen.
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37 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ's name, Amen.
Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; Click HERE, or text 833-976-1333, code "Lidgerwood")
38-39 Expedition Song #670 – Rise Up, O Saints of God!
40 Benediction: Our Vision Statement releases us to freely work with God in His power! Let's be a people that does not BIND the work of God, but who Know Him, and Grow in Him, and Go with Him today!
May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Be filled with God's Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.
"May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace."
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- Announcements
- Church Leader Nominating Committee – TODAY in 10 or 15 minutes!
- Christmas Cantata Rehearsals – Thursdays, 6-7ish pm
- Chancel Choir – every Sunday at 9:00am
- Furnace Fundraiser
- New Member Class – Saturday, November 18, 9-12
- Congregational Meeting – Sun, November 26, receive 2024 Budget, Decide Pastors' Salaries
Resources:
Decker, Paul; "Keeping the Standards"; Randall Memorial Baptist Church; Williamsville, NY; 04/06/2003.
Stanley, Andy; Visioneering; Multnomah Pub.; CO Springs, CO; 1999.
Wheeler, Mark; "Kingdom Construction: Do We Bind the Work of God?"; LPC; 07/06/2008.
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