Monday evening, the wife of an old friend from high school gave us a call. When I answered the phone, I learned that their house had burned in February, and they had been rebuilding ever since. In the meantime, they’ve been living in the Red Roof Inn.  Naturally, there was smoke damage, which is difficult to remove from a house. In addition, they lost valuables that cannot be easily replaced. Finally,  my friend, who is an engineer and a perfectionist, wants everything restored exactly as it was before.

Of course, the whole experience has been unpleasant. Anyone who has ever rebuilt a house (or anything else for that matter) knows how difficult rebuilding is. Building things from scratch is hard; however, rebuilding something that has burned or decayed is much more difficult. For the next several weeks, we are going to talk about rebuilding our society. Rebuilding a society is, of course, much, much harder than rebuilding a house or a wall.

There’s no question about it, our society is in disrepair: politically, morally, spiritually, and in many other ways. The foundations of our society have been undermined by years of neglect. The question is: “How can Christians help?” Notice that I said, “How can Christian help?” It requires the work of all Americans to rebuild our culture. As Christians, we have a particular responsibility to see that the rebuilding is done wisely and lovingly, with his few people hurt in the process as possible. Rebuilding a physical house is really hard, but rebuilding a culture is even harder–and requires a lot more prayer, planning, courage,  and wise action than a rebuilding something physical requires.

Before beginning, I need to make one  disclaimer: this series was designed before the current political campaign began. It was designed before a particular candidate started talking about building a wall. During election years, I like to preach a series designed to help us make good decisions. However, as everyone knows, I don’t endorse candidates and try not to even point toward a particular candidate while preaching. The job of a pastor is to help people approach their decision how to vote spiritually. How you vote is your own business.

The wall we will be discussing  for the next several weeks is a metaphor for the structure of our culture that has fallen down and needs to be rebuilt. The rebuilding we need is a rebuilding of faith in our institutions, confidence in our way of life, care for our own communities, a willingness to work for justice, and a confidence in the rule of law.

Nehemiah’s Prayer.

Nehemiah is a book that preachers seldom tackle. I was surprised to learn this; however, I already knew that the book had some difficulties. Scholars know that there is a relationship between First and Second Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, but the exact relationship is not known. Fortunately, these scholarly issues do not impact the practical meaning of the book of Nehemiah for you and me.

It will help us to know that, when the Jews returned from Babylon, they did so in three waves: First, a man named “Zerubbabel” (538-515 B.C.), a descendent of King David, returned to Jerusalem with a group of people who attempted to rebuild the Temple. Then, a great scholar and leader named “Ezra” (458-457 B.C.) returned to Israel to rebuild the culture and community around the Torah, the “Law” or “Instruction” or “Way” of Moses. Finally, a man named “Nehemiah” (446-433 B.C.) returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city. [1]

Today, we are looking at the first chapter of Nehemiah:

Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital,  that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.  And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (Nehemiah 1:1-10).

Preparation for Renewal.

Nehemiah begins with Nehemiah in Susa, the winter capital city of the Persian Empire (Nehemiah 1). Nehemiah was an important person: the cupbearer to the king (v. 11). In ancient times, kings were often poisoned. Kings, therefore, had cupbearer’s who tasted the wine and ate the food before the king. Cupbearers often took on other important responsibilities. Nehemiah was such a person. He was Jewish, and as a member of a minority, he was no threat to the king. Therefore, the king trusted Nehemiah and probably gave him other important duties.

Nehemiah had a relative named, “Hannani.” Hannani came to visit from Judah, many miles away. When Nehemiah inquired as to the situation in Israel, he was advised that times were not good. Those who had returned were in poverty and surrounded by enemies. The wall of Jerusalem was broken down and it gates  burned (v. 2-3). This may not seem like a terrible problem to us, but in the ancient world it was a tremendous problem. The walls around a city were necessary to keep marauding bands of thieves and outlaws, not to mention, armies, from entering it. A city without walls and gates was in constant danger of attack.

When Nehemiah heard the news, he mourned and fasted for many days (v. 4). [2] Although he lived in a palace in the capital of an empire, and was personally unaffected by the suffering of God’s people in Israel, Nehemiah had sympathy for those with less. He cared about his countrymen in need. He suffered because of their suffering. He did not just say, “That’s too bad” and turn away and think about something else. Instead, he mourned and fasted and prayed.

Wherever I go I meet people who are worried about our country. It doesn’t matter whether they are Republicans or a Democrats. It doesn’t matter what race they are. It doesn’t matter whether they are rich or poor, people are concerned about our country. Poll after poll shows that people feel there’s something fundamentally wrong in our nation and its direction. People think we’ve taken the wrong path and are headed for trouble. A lot of people have lost confidence in our institutions and leadership.

Now, a lot of the time what I and others say amounts to griping. A good bit of the time people are just plain angry. Perhaps anger is an appropriate emotion; however, I think sorrow and mourning are more appropriate. We will not get anywhere in rebuilding our culture until we are filled with sorrow not just at what other people have done but at what we’ve done. Nehemiah, as we shall see, was a good man; however, he knew that he bore some responsibility for what had happened to his fellow countrymen (v. 6). We need to feel the same way. Therefore, the first thing I want to urge our congregation to do this year is the hardest of all: mourn—mourn, fast and pray for our nation.

Prayer for Renewal.

After Nehemiah had mourned and fasted and prayed for many days, he prayed a beautiful prayer (v. 5-11). I want to point out a few things about Nehemiah’s prayer that can help us as we pray for our own country and our fellow citizens:

• Pray to our Great and Awesome God. Nehemiah begins by recognizing who God is: the great and awesome God, the all wise Creator of the heavens and the earth, who made all things, and who is able to do all things. The first thing we need to remember is the awesome wisdom and power of the God we serve.
• Pray to God, who Loves us Unconditionally. Second, Nehemiah recognizes that God is a God of Absolute Love. When Nehemiah indicates that God is a God who keeps his covenant of love, he uses the Hebrew word that means, “Steadfast Love” and which in the New Testament is translated, “Agape.” This is the word the New Testament uses for the love of God shown to us on the cross of Jesus. Nehemiah knows that God is a God of unimaginable love. We need to remember that God does love us and does want to answer our prayers.
• Pray to God who Keeps his Promises. Third, Nehemiah praises God as a God who keeps his promises. The word that Nehemiah uses is the word we translate “Covenant,” which comes from a root Hebrew uses to describe treaties. When God is made is a promise, it is ratified in heaven, and God can be trusted to keep that promise. God did not desert Israel, and God will not desert us.
• Pray to God who Sees our Condition and Hears our Prayers. Finally, God is not a distant God who lives and has his being far away from us. God is near to us and sees our condition and hears our prayers.

Nehemiah was (as we shall see) a man of action. He was not a religious dreamer. Nevertheless, before he took any action he prayed. Nehemiah prayed because he knew that the thing he felt called to do was beyond his human power. He needed God’s help. Otherwise, he would fail.

Frankly, the political, economic, social, moral, and spiritual problems of our society are so great that we all need to be in prayer. There is no single politician or political party that is wise enough or smart enough to solve them. As Christians, perhaps the most important thing we can do for our country is pray. As we pray, God may reveal to us acts of wisdom and love that he will bless to make things better. As we pray, we may be able to say or do things in ways that are helpful.

Often, we think Christians need to be in power in order to change our country for the better. We need to remember that Nehemiah was a slave, a servant of a pagan Persian king. He had no power except that which comes from prayer and the confidence the king had that Nehemiah would act in the king’s best interests. We do not need to be in power to bless our society with the wisdom and love of God. We don’t need to be in power to gain a reputation for practical wisdom and compassion for others.

Often, it appears to others that evangelical Christians want to be in power, to take over Washington, and to enact our own political or economic agenda.  We Christians in America do not need to be in power to pray for our country, to behave wisely, and to love other people. In many ways these are the most important things we can do for our nation. This week, I copied Nehemiah’s prayer into my journal twice, making it my prayer for our nation. I suggest everyone who feels inclined read and reread Nehemiah’s prayer this year until it becomes your own prayer for our nation,

Pentecost and Renewal.

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the church. Acts opens with the disciples in the Upper Room praying that God will send the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). They prayed for ten days. Then, the coming of the Holy Spirit is described:

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).

In response to the prayers of the early church, God sent them the power that they would need to renew Israel and to bring the Gentiles into the faith. In response to our prayers, God will send the Holy Spirit to empower us to help our nation.

This week, I learned that the name, Nehemiah” means “the consoler from the Lord.” In John, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the “Comforter” who was sent by God to console and advocate for God’s people  (John 14:15-18; 15:26-27). Nehemiah was sent to his people to advocate, to console, and to comfort them in a time of need. He was called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to have the wisdom and love for others he needed for his great task. The ancient commentators saw today’s text as a Pentecost text because Nehemiah was a rebuilder of Israel, and the disciples were empowered to rebuild God’s people as a Holy Nation, a New Israel,  on Pentecost! [3]

We should pray that God will send the Holy Spirit upon us so that we can be Spirit-filled “little Nehemiah’s” for our culture. More than anything else, we need to be consolers of our nation, comforters of those who need comfort, and advocates for wise and loving change.

Pentecost 2016.

If we are concerned about our country and want to know what we can do to help, Nehemiah gives us a wonderful example. We should be concerned about our nation and mourn for its condition. We should pray for our nation and ask God to help us. We should  confess our sins as well as the sins of our nation. In addition, however there are other prayers we can make:

• We can pray for wisdom
• We can pray for love
• We can pray for power
• We can pray for renewal
• We can pray to be Christ-like during the election season
• We can pray for our society to be rebuilt

Our job isn’t over just because we’re praying.  As we will learn next week and in the weeks to come, there are other things to do, some of them requiring courage. But the beginning of renewing our culture requires something that can be harder for those of us who are active than showing courage. We need to be quiet, mourn, fast, and pray. All real renewal and all real rebuilding begins with prayer.

Not so long ago, I was with a person who was planning a renovation of sorts. Before this person began, he and his wife stopped and prayed for what would come next in their renovation. We don’t always do this, but we should. Rebuilding is hard work, and we can help ourselves a lot if stop and pray before we begin.

Amen.

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] See, Mark A. Throntvelt, “Ezra-Nehemiah” in Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992), 2.

[2] We know this because when Chapter 2 opens, it is later in the year (Nehemiah 2:1).

[3] See, Marco Conti, ed., “Hehemiah” in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament Vol. V. (Downer’s Grove, Ill: IVP Press, 2008), 333-335.