The Rebuilder’s Vision

On the morning of Sep. 11, air traffic controllers gradually became aware that something terrible was unfolding. A number of commercial airliners had been hijacked and were no longer responding to their calls. Sinister conversations were heard over open cockpit mics. Some sort of disaster was unfolding in New York City. The pilot of another airplane radioed in “Does anyone know what that smoke is in Lower Manhattan?”

In the harrowing minutes after 9:03 a.m., the picture gradually became clearer: two airliners had been hijacked and crashed into the Twin Towers. Two others were not responding to calls and had deviated from their flight plans. One of them, a Boeing 757, had been spotted by the pilot of a C-130 that had just taken off from Reagan Airport. He reported that the 757 was flying very low and very fast, and was headed toward the center of Washington DC.

The FAA immediately called NORAD, which scrambled F-16 fighter jets from bases in Virginia and Maine to try to intercept any further airliners. The fighters that took off from Virginia were first ordered to fly to New York City at supersonic speed. But moments later, the Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon, and they were re-vectored to patrol over Washington. At that point, a different voice broke into the military communication frequency. A man said that he was with the Secret Service and he ordered those fighter pilots to protect the White House at all costs.

That man was obviously the head of White House security. He had the authority and the responsibility for protecting the President and the Vice President of the United States. His orders would override all others because the stakes were so high.

I want you to know that Nehemiah, in the Bible, held a similar position.

At the end of Nehemiah chapter 1, there is a simple little statement. Nehemiah says “I was cupbearer to the king”. So what? you say. I’ll tell you what.

The cupbearer to the king had to be the most trustworthy man in the whole empire. He literally held the king’s life in his hands. If you wanted to assassinate an emperor in those days, one of the best ways of doing it was to poison him. But in order to do that, you had to get past his cupbearer.

The cupbearer was the head of the king’s Secret Service detail. He tasted the king’s food; he tested the king’s wine. It was his business to know what was going on in the palace. He had to be a man of impeccable integrity.

But do you want to know what was really unusual about this? Nehemiah was Jewish. He was the cupbearer to the king of the Persian Empire, yet he was a Jew. There wasn’t a drop of Persian blood in him. Nehemiah came from a people who were living as exiles, as refugees, in Persia. There was no particular fondness between the Jews and the Persians.

Imagine having a Libyan, or an Iraqi, or an Afghan as the head of the Secret Service in Washington DC. Several years ago, the prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her bodyguards. Her bodyguards were Sikhs.

But this situation existed because of one thing: Nehemiah was a man of absolute trustworthiness. You wonder how he got to that position? He got there because of his character and no other reason.

Let’s back off a minute and review a couple of things from last week.

1. The city of Jerusalem and the people of God were in great trouble and disgrace (1:3)

2. The city walls were broken down and the gates had been burned with fire

3. This disaster had happened because of the past sin of the children of Israel – they had disobeyed God and had reaped the painful consequences.

We learned that, on a personal level, whenever we go against God’s will and allow sin to gain the upper hand in our life, we are going to reap painful consequences. Sin may feel good for a short time. But pretty soon, we find ourselves in the aftermath. We feel wounded, disabled, paralyzed. It’s as though we’re buried under the rubble of our own failure. And, in the aftermath of failure, we wonder if God will ever be able to use us again.

But we also learned that almost every character in the Bible had such an experience. And we learned that although sin brings devastation and despair, God brings restoration and renewal. God is a rebuilder. God extends unconditional grace and love toward us because He wants to help us start over.

When Nehemiah heard the news about the people of God in the city of Jerusalem, his heart was broken. He mourned, he fasted, and he prayed about the situation. He was convicted about his own sin, and he confessed that to God. And that’s where being a rebuilder begins – it begins with having your heart broken with the things that break God’s heart.

You see, God wants to instill in us a vision for rebuilding. He wants to make us rebuilders – people who are committed to rebuilding in our own lives, and rebuilding in the lives of others. People who are motivated by grace.

Nehemiah made himself available to God to be a rebuilder. His heart began to beat with God’s heart on this issue.

But in practical terms what could he do? He lived in Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire, 1200 km away from Jerusalem. And he was just the head of the king’s security detail. He wasn’t in the construction industry. He didn’t have an engineering degree. How could he help the people rebuild?

That brings us back to his character. I am convinced that it’s not WHERE you are, and it’s not WHAT you know; it’s WHO you are that determines how useful you are to God.

Wheaton College has a motto that says it all: Character over career.

Nowadays, we tend to measure the worth of a person in terms of three things:

• competence – how much you know, or how good you are at something. “Wow, he can really play basketball. Let’s pay him 9 million dollars a year.”

• credentials – where you’ve been and what you’ve done. “Oooh… she must be really smart – she has a PhD from McGill University. Let’s hire her.”

• charisma – how popular or famous or attractive you are “Oh he’s so funny. Oh she’s so cute. Oh, he’s so famous.”

But when God looks at a person, he’s looking at their character. And when he finds someone with an honest character, someone who is open to him, That’s a person he can use.

We tend to think that having good character means that you never do anything wrong; you never make mistakes; you never sin. That isn’t true. Character is not about never making mistakes; it’s about how you handle your mistakes.

David was a sinner, but he was a man after God’s own heart because he was open and honest with God about his sin.

Nehemiah confessed his sin to God and that’s what God appreciated about him. Nehemiah cared about what God cared about, and that’s why God could use him. He was a man of character.

Nehemiah had made character his priority. Character over career. And because he did, he rose to a position where he was the most trusted man in the Persian Empire. He had the confidence of the king. And guess what? That is exactly what he was going to need in order to be useful to God.

Where’s your priority this morning? Is it on how to get ahead in your career? Is it how to get smarter? or more skilled at something? Is it how to get up to that next rung on the ladder – something that will look good on your resumé? Is it how to be popular and well-liked? How to get rich?

Or is it character. How to be open and transparent with God. How to live in a way that will be pleasing to God. How to honor him with your life. The vision to be a rebuilder starts incubating here.

Look at Nehemiah’s prayer life. We already saw something about that in chapter 1. We know that he prayed. But look at how long he prayed.

Neh. 2:1-3

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

You have to understand that in those days, the servant of the king was not allowed to bring his own personal concerns into the king’s presence. If you were having a bad day, tough! You couldn’t show it in front of the king. The king had more important things to think about.

So here was Nehemiah, and his heart was breaking for the situation in Jerusalem, and he just couldn’t hide it anymore. The king noticed, and said “Nehemiah, why are you so sad?”

And what Nehemiah said in response shows you what kind of guy he was. He didn’t lie and say “Oh, it’s nothing.” Even though he was afraid, he told the truth. He told the king about the situation in Jerusalem.

But I want to back up a little bit to verse one. This happened in the month Nisan. Back in chapter 1: 1, it was the month Kislev when Nehemiah first learned about the situation in Jerusalem. That’s when he started praying. Now it’s four months later, according to the Jewish calendar, and he’s still praying.

And obviously, the burden isn’t getting lighter, it’s getting heavier. Up until now, Nehemiah has been able to conceal his grief. But not anymore.

Q. Why does God delay answering our prayers? Nehemiah had been praying day and night for four whole months without an answer from God. Why does God do that? Why doesn’t God answer our fervent prayers right away?

1. to deepen our longing – this is what was happening in Nehemiah’s life over those four months. God was incubating that vision for rebuildling. And that vision needed to be deeply rooted in Nehemiah, because God knew that he was going to face some opposition down the road.

2. to determine God’s timing – God knows things that we don’t know; he knows the best time for the answer to come.

3. to discipline our living – four months of fasting and praying did Nehemiah a lot of good. It’s not “Prayer changes things” it’s really “Prayer changes me and then God can use me to change things”

If you’re going to be a rebuilder with God, it’s going to take patience and persistence in prayer.

Finallly, Nehemiah had begun to formulate a plan. Look at verse 4…

The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

That’s the key question in the whole book! Instead of saying “Nehemiah, get out of here! You’re not allowed to be sad in my presence” King Artaxerxes had enough regard and respect for this man to ask him “What is it you want? How can I help you?” You see, if that relationship of trust and esteem hadn’t been there, they wouldn’t have been having this conversation.

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king,

Question: how long was Nehemiah’s prayer in verse 4? About 0.3 seconds! His four months of praying came down to this one split second prayer in the heat of the moment. But that shows us that prayer was just an integral part of Nehemiah’s life, like breathing. Then he answers the king:

“If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

That proves that the vision for rebuilding has been incubating in Nehemiah’s life. Over the past four months, he had begun to think in terms of being personally involved in this project. In the quietness of his own prayer life, he had said to God “Here am I. Send me.”

Look at verse 6…

Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

Why does Nehemiah take the time to mention that the queen was sitting beside the king? Is there any significance to it?

You ladies know that behind every good man is a good woman, and King Artaxerxes was about to make a good decision here, so it’s probable that a woman had some part in it, right?

Well there may be nothing to it. But it is interesting that the word that is translated “queen” there really means “the woman of the palace”. It could possibly refer not to the queen but to the queen mother, especially if she were a woman of stature and influence.

King Artaxerxes father was King Xerxes. King Xerxes had many wives, but one of them was Esther, who of course was a Jewess. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that perhaps it may have been Esther who was sitting there – the woman of the palace – sitting beside the king.

Anyway, the king decides to let Nehemiah go, but he doesn’t want to let him go permanently. Nehemiah was valuable to the king and he wanted him back!

The following verses (7-9) flesh out Nehemiah’s plan – he had been doing some detailed thinking about what would be necessary for him to pull off this mission. There’s a time for prayer, but there is also a time for planning, too! And the more you pray about something, the more you start planning around it.

Basically, Nehemiah asked for three things:

1. to be sent (with the authority of the king behind his mission)

2. to be safe (with the protection of the king’s military forces)

3. to be supplied (with the resources of the king’s forest for the rebuilding project once he got there – like a blank check for Home Depot)

And the king granted him everything he asked for. God will never ask you to do something without giving you the resources to do it. So Nehemiah was on his way. The vision to rebuild was now about to become a reality!

But look at verse 10…

When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.

Anytime you step forward to do something for God, you can guarantee one thing: You’re going to run up against opposition. Sanballat and Tobiah were officials in the Persian government, and they were dead set against Nehemiah’s rebuilding project. And they were going to try everything they could think of to stop it.

The devil doesn’t want us rebuilding for God – he’s quite happy with the status quo – he likes it that the walls are in ruins and the gates are burned. He likes it when we’re buried under a pile of rubble in our spiritual lives.

And we’re going to see more of Sanballat and Tobiah in the coming chapters of this book.

So Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem and the vision that was incubated in Susa is now implemented in Jerusalem. But it begins quietly. Look at verse 11…

I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on. By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.

Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate.

The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.

The first thing Nehemiah did after he got to Jerusalem was some quiet reconnaissance work. He went out at night and inspected the ruined walls. He didn’t tell anyone what he was up to. He just took a few men with him.

He didn’t make a big announcement and hold a press conference to say “I have been sent by King Artaxerxes to rebuild these walls.” That would have raised opposition all over the place!

No, he quietly surveyed the work to be done so that he would know firsthand what he was facing.

I believe that our best rebuilding efforts for God need to begin quietly. If you have failed, if you have sinned, if you are facing a massive rebuilding project in your life, just start quietly. You probably need to spend some time, like Nehemiah did, surveying the damage. Because sin usually involves unforeseen consequences.

Don’t come out with a big announcement: “Well, I have failed in the past, and I’ve let everyone down, but now I have changed and I’m going to put my life back together.” Just get busy and do it – quietly and humbly and discreetly. People will notice soon enough that there’s something different about you.

And please, if someone you know is in this phase of rebuilding, let’s give them room to do this quietly. I think we do recovering sinners a great disservice when we hustle them up to the front and put them in the limelight when they’re just starting to put the pieces of their lives back together.

The next thing Nehemiah did was to recruit people to the vision God had given him. Up till now, he hadn’t revealed why he was there. But now look at verse 17ff.

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.”

I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.

1. He made “we” statements; he identified himself with them. Team.

2. He didn’t minimize the problem or the task that confronted them – when you recruit to a minimal task, you will get a minimal commitment. People want to be challenged!

3. He had spiritual credibility; he had a testimony to share about how God’s hand was upon him. He had been trusting God and it had produced outstanding results in his life. So they could trust God, too!

Nehemiah’s recruiting reached their hearts, and so they began the good work. BUT…

v. 19

But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab (notice that the enemy has been recruiting too – the demonic duo had now become the three amigos!) heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”

I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”

Nehemiah’s rebuttal consisted of four things:

1. He reminded his enemies of who they were challenging: the God of heaven

2. he reminded himself and his workers of who they were: We are his servants

3. He reminded them all of their call: God had called them to the work of rebuilding

4. He reminded the enemy of their true identity: they were interlopers who had no right to be there.

Satan is a usurper; the authority he pretends to have over us is a usurped authority, not a rightful authority. And he tries to oppose our efforts to respond to the call of God to rebuild. Don’t let him throw you off track!

Be like Nehemiah – remind him that he is challenging the God of heaven; that you are the servant of the God of heaven; that you are about God’s business, the business of rebuilding, and that he is a usurper.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

God wants to instill in us a vision for rebuilding.

Gospel invitation