Faith Baptist Church

”You Can Make A Difference” is the series. 
”Mission Possible” is the message. 
 
Let’s find Nehemiah chapter 1. (I & II. Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther) 
 
Read verses 4-11. 
 
Dreaming about one’s future is a part of growing up. 
 
A little girl and her little boyfriend walked hand-in-hand to a neighbor’s house; The girl was barely able to reach the doorbell. When the lady, a member of the family, came to the door, the girl said, 
 
     “We are Mr. and Mrs. Jones and we’re playing house. May my husband  
      and I come in?” 
 
Deciding to play along, the lady of the house invited them in house and offered them lemonade and cookies, which they eagerly accepted. But when a second tall glass of lemonade was offered, the little girl refused.  
 
         “No, thank you,” she said, “We have to go now. Mr. Jones just wet his  
          pants. 
 
Dreams have a way of clashing with reality!  And reality is often not your first choice.   One day it dawns that the future hasn’t played out at all how you envisioned it. 
 
…the perfect job or career 
…your choice of schools 
…the perfect marriage 
…perfect kids—smart, healthy, obedient, focused 
…maybe fortune and fame, even good health 
…significance in terms of kingdom impact 
…close, satisfying relationships 
 
We write books and make movies about people whose dreams come true.  The masses flock to their seminars. 
 
There’s a line in Appalachian folklore that says that everybody in the mountains is a Baptist… 
 
…A Methodist is a Baptist who’s afraid of water. 
…A Presbyterian is a Baptist who went to college 
…A Unitarian is a Baptist who can’t count. 
…An Episcopalian is a Baptist whose deals worked out right. 
 
We envision our deals working out right—Reality is sometimes quite different.   
 
I think that’s what one writer was grappling with… 
 
   “As children bring their broken toys 
       with tears for us to mend 
    I brought my broken dreams to God 
       because He is my friend. 
   But then, instead of leaving Him 
       in peace to work alone 
   I hung around and tried to help 
       with ways that were my own. 
   At last I snatched them back and said, 
       ‘How can you be so slow?’  
    ’My child,’ He said, ‘What could I do… 
        you never let them go.” 
 
Nehemiah is the personal journal of a Jew living out a second-choice scenario.  His grandparents had been kidnapped from their home in the Holy Land (a first choice) and carted off to Babylon (modern Iraq), which has since been conquered by the Persians. 
 
Nehemiah’s parents struggled with their second-choice— They named their son, “Nehemiah” meaning, “The comfort of Yahweh.”  It’s the root of the names “Menahem” (remember the Israeli Prime Minister, Menahem Begin?), and “Nehemyahu” (a more recent former Prime minister, Benjamin Nehemyahu). 
 
His parents had found God’s comfort in the discomfort of their never-would-have chosen-it, lifestyle.  The same comfort that God wants to you enjoy. 
 
But Nehemiah had learned to let go!  He’s living to the glory of God in undesirable, unwanted circumstances.  It seems to me that he could have struggled most of anyone in his family because he is where he is reaping the consequences of other peoples’ hard-headedness! 
 
But he isn’t bitter!   
He doesn’t withdraw in wounded pride. 
He isn’t self-centered… 
 
You get the sense that there was too much to do in his second-choice days to ask “why.”  God is in control…and that’s enough.  Why do I say that? Well, think first about the opportunity is about to present itself. He is about to have the opportunity that his grandparents and parents had longed for—Emigration home—Jerusalem. 
 
But if there has ever been an “out of frying pan into the fire” situation, this is it! 
Instead of finding a first-choice, it’s a third choice!—The soft-handed cupbearer becomes a construction foreman, and a governor!  He will go  home to lead the arduous, mission-impossible rebuilding of the city wall!  It’s often in your second and third choices that you find God’s calling!  
 
On an evening walk near the palace (as Josephus tells us), he happens upon his brother, Hanani, and some friends, recently returned from Jerusalem… 
He asks about the state of affairs in the holy city…it was worst than anyone could have imagined…  Listen to “The Message” paragraph of verse 3: 
 
        “The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape.  
         Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still rubble; the city  
         gates are still cinders.” 
 
An ancient city without walls wasn’t a city.  Jerusalem without walls was a reflection upon God’s name and power: “This ‘great God’ they talk about is a wimp…He can’t even get the walls built.” 
 
The report shook Nehemiah to his soul…you could have heard his teeth rattle.  
 
President Theodore Roosevelt got tired of always smiling the big smile and saying of the usual things at all those White House receptions. So one evening he decided to find out if anyone was paying attention to him at all when he talked.  
 
So when someone stepped up to greet him he would extend his hand, flash a big smile and say, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” People would automatically respond with comments like.. 
 
”Well, how lovely.” (or) “Just continue with your good work.” 
 
Nobody listened to what he was saying except one foreign diplomat. When the president said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning,” the diplomat whispered to him softly, “I’m sure she had it coming to her.” 
 
Nehemiah listened!  It’s the first of four dynamic, fundamental principles I want to point out. A Difference Maker Doesn’t  Fill His Life So Full That He Is Deaf To What God Is Saying And Doing Around him. 
 
The times demand that you live strategically, carefully…If you are content to react to the culture—friend and families— You be like the cowboy who jumped on his horse and rode off in 10 directions.   Living for Jesus today means dealing with overload, with the perpetual noise and maddening activity! 
 
Around New Years, I shared that I am journaling this year for the first time in  
my Christian life; it is growing me! It forces me to slow down…and as, Jerry Van Dyke says, in the old Big Lots commercial— Focus! 
 
There are four elements to Nehemiah’s response; there is a progression (You see it in verse 4): 
 
”I sat down”- The typical Jewish response to calamity 
”I wept”— 2:1—  What makes you weep is a barometer of your character and  
                              values. 
”I mourned”—The idea is, to carry a burden; to share deep concern. 
”I fasted”— What is that? (It’s not the opposite of slow!) 
 
   It means to miss a meal for one major reason: To zero in on your walk with  
   God.  It’s mentioned quite frequently in Scripture. Richard Foster, who has  
   called the contemporary church back to fasting and prayer, writes: 
 
        “More than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us.  
         This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be trans- 
         formed into the image of Jesus Christ. We cover up what is inside us  
         with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface. If  
         pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately.” 
 
Chuck Swindoll notes: 
 
     “When our motive is right, it is amazing what we can accomplish with the  
      Lord when we occasionally save the time of fixing, eating, and cleaning  
      up after a meal and invest it on our needs. The more responsibility we  
      shoulder, the more time we need for contemplation before our Father.” 
 
Then, he says,  “I was fasting and praying…”— Principle #2— A Difference Maker Gives Priority To Spiritual Habits. 
 
This was no, “God is great, God is good…bless those who ain’t got it so good, Amen” 2:1- He prayed fervently for four months… 
 
Not only is effective prayer persistent prayer, it follows a prescribed pattern. 
I hesitate to point that out because we are so prone to look for the silver bullet, that we can repeat for five minutes at the beginning of the day. 
Or some  magic formula, just the right words that will open heaven, and activate God!   
 
Do you want to know how a difference maker prays? This is the first of 12 prayers in the book. The wall-building miracle in 52 days began and ended with prayer.  
 
Prayer is not a hit and miss, anybody-can-do-it activity. In the NT, we have a model prayer (called “the Lord’s Prayer”); in many respects, this is the OT’s Model Prayer. 
 
It may be summarized by a familiar acrostic “ACTS” 
 
A—Adoration 
C—Confession 
T—Thanksgiving 
S—Supplication 
 
Difference making prayer begins with 
 
Adoration— Worship.  “Worship” means “to ascribe worth-ship to God.” 
  Prayer is not, “Dear God, this is Jimmy…gimme, gimme, gimme…” 
 
It was A. W. Tozer who said, “What you think about when you think about  
          God is the most significant thing about you.” 
 
What you believe about God determines how you live your life…how you meet second choices; what you believe about prayer; and your desire to pray. 
 
Nehemiah attempts great feats because He has a clear understanding of God’s character.  He is… 
 
  “LORD”- (all caps) “Yahweh”— Speaks of his covenant relationship with 
       His people. It has the idea of personal, love relationship. Prayer is the  
       response of one who has a personal relationship with Him through the  
       cross of Christ. 
 
He is the “God of heaven”— This phrase acknowledges His sovereignty. 
 
…King Artexeres isn’t in the driver’s seat…  
…The enemies in Jerusalem aren’t calling the shots 
…That hard hearted leader or boss isn’t calling the shots 
 
If you believe that only God is sovereign and that he is in absolute control, prayer is as natural as breathing. 
 
He’s the “great and awesome God.” 
 
That would make a nice title for a praise chorus, wouldn’t it.  Someone needs to write one! You could paraphrase it, “My God is powerful and majestic.” 
 
Adoration— That where real prayer begins. 
 
Second, there is Confession. 
 
Look at the middle of verse 6— “I pray before you now, day and night, for the 
       children of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Both my father’s  
       house and I have sinned.” 
 
Nehemiah is articulating Psa 66:18— “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord  
          will not hear me.”  “The Message,”— “If I have been cozy with evil, the  
          Lord would never have listened.” 
 
Unconfessed, unrepented of sin means a brass heaven. 
 
Note the plural pronouns, it’s “we’ not “they”, “we,” “you.”  Nehemiah is blaming or excusing, he’s repenting. 
 
And in verse 7, he is very specific.  God’s Law consisted of three parts: 
Commandments, Statutes, Judgments.   
 
Confession is not… 
 
”God, if I have done anything wrong…” 
”Lord, I know I have made mistakes…” 
He say, “Oh, have you done something wrong…what mistakes do you have in mind…” Name it! 
 
A—Adoration 
C—Confession 
 
T—Thanksgiving 
 
In verses 8-10, He prays back to God His promises… 
 
…8-9- He reminds God of what he has said… 
…10-  …what He has done… 
 
God is pleased when you demonstrate faith by reminding him of His promises!  He quotes back to God Scripture: Lev 26 & Deut 30. 
 
Eight times in the book, Neh says, “Lord, remember…” 
 
S is Supplication— Verse 11-  
 
Principle #3— A Difference Maker Is Available To Be A Part Of The Answer, If God So Leads. 
 
The key phase is, “Let your servant (“I’m available Lord”) prosper this day…” 
Through fasting and prayer, Nehemiah is beginning to see… 
 
…the privilege— To be a difference maker— As the Blues Brothers termed it,  
                 to be on a “Mission for God.” 
…the person— “this man”— Obstacle uno—The big cahuna!  
 
     Did I point out that Neh is shocked at the conditions at Jerusalem not  
     because he had no news, but because the project had been  
     started several years before, he assumes things are progressing. What he  
     learns is that (according to history) Artexexes had bowed to the political  
     pressure posed by the locals, and halted it! 
 
     Nehemiah recognizes that only God can change people. 
 
  …the providence— “For I was the king’s cupbearer.” 
 
Nehemiah is saying, “Now, I’m beginning to understand why God put me in  
          this position…He is already at work!”    
 
I have a friend with whom I worked in construction out of high school, who over the last 15 years or so in the coal business has become a very wealthy man.  He said to me recently, “Larry, I’m not worth $1 million, or 2 million, 3 million, 4 million.  My accountant says I’m worth 5 million dollars. I don’t know why God has put me in this position. 
 
I challenged him to not to waste it on stuff that is temporal, but that God has surely given him resources to invest in His kingdom.  I have one regret:  I didn’t ask him for $100,000 for Possessing Our Future. I will be bold if the situation presents itself. 
 
Principle #4— A Difference Maker Makes A Conscious Choice To Abandon His Comfort Zone For God’s Purposes And Glory! 
 
I imagine that at the top of the four months of praying, Neh is saying, 
 
     “Lord, send someone to rebuild the wall.  You know it will take sacrifice.   
      Lord, a man would have to be a fool to volunteer to the job. But God, your  
      name is at stake.  You work is at stake.” 
 
By the end of the four months, he says, 
 
      “Here am I, Lord.  Send me. Honor me with the privilege of making an  
       eternal impact for Him.” 
 
Warren Wiersbe writes: 
 
      “The king’s cupbearer would have to sacrifice the comfort and security of  
       the palace for the rigors and dangers of life in a ruined city. Luxury would  
       be replaced by ruins, and prestige by ridicule and slander. Instead of  
       sharing the king’s bounties, Nehemiah would personally pay for the  
       upkeep of scores of people who would eat at his table. He would leave  
       behind the ease of the palace and take up the toils of encouraging a  
       beaten people and finishing an almost impossible task.”  
 
A guy went up to an airline counter and asked for ticket to New York City. “By Buffalo?” the agent asked.  “I guess that’s okay,” the man said, “if the saddle’s comfortable.’ 
 
The church growth movement has come up with volumes of statistics and studies about how to attract people to your church and how to keep them happy. They talk about the kind of buildings, programs, parking lots you have to have, all because people don’t want to be inconvenienced. The comfort zone is… 
 
… a place that demands little sweat and little of our time 
…a familiar place, where you feel secure and at ease. 
…a safe place, where you keep things in control. 
…a soft pillow where we are coddled and pampered. 
 
Difference makers aren’t lulled to sleep by the status quo.   
 
They see what others do not see.   
they focus on spiritual realities 
they know that everything they see is passing away. 
They know time is short and there are walls for God waiting to be built. 
 
There’s a company in Los Vegas called “Thrillseekers Unlimited,” which specializes in what it calls “adrenalin vacations.”  Owner Rick Hopkins enthusiastically promotes a week of … 
 
…skydiving 
…bungee jumping 
…fire walking 
…paragliding 
…(and) rock-climbing 
 
for the not-so-faint at heart. 
 
A man named S. L. Potter, from La Mesa, California, signed on for an adrenalin vacation.  He was particularly excited about bungee jumping for the first time, at 100 years of age. 
 
His children, ages 68-74, were vehemently opposed to the leap, but dad climbed the 210-foot tower and successfully executed his jump.  His first words when he got off the cord?  “Give me back my teeth.” 
 
On a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the highest.  Where is your “CQ,” your comfort quotient this morning? 
 
When did God last call you to abandon your comfort zone?  He’s calling you this morning. 
 
The impossible becomes possible through prayer and people committed to being God’s hand and God’s heart.