June 10, 2005
NEHEMIAH: A MAN WHO LEFT A MARK
Selected Scriptures from Nehemiah
We had the privilege of living in Alaska for 7 years, and we enjoyed our occasional glimpses of Alaska’s wild life. The most feared and awe-inspiring animal in Alaska is the grizzly bear. There is one behavior of the grizzly bear that has long puzzled wild life experts. That is when the bear stands at full height and stretches up and leaves its claw marks on a tree as high as it can reach. One theory for explaining this behavior is that it is the bear’s way of marking his territory and intimidating other bears. When a strange bear comes into the area, he sees the marks on the tree, and when he sees how high they are, he thinks to himself: “Wow! This guy is big! I don’t want to tangle with him.” So he beats a hasty retreat.
I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I do know that certain men and women have left their mark on history. Their claw marks are there for everyone to see and marvel at. And I think it is a useful exercise occasionally to stand before those marks, and compare ourselves to them. To stretch our own hands high and to see how we compare to the marks left by others. One such man who left his mark on history was Nehemiah.
This is the last of our series of messages from Ezra and Nehemiah. We ended last week at the end of Nehemiah chapter 6 with the completing of the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days. While the first 6 chapters talked about the rebuilding of the physical walls of Jerusalem, we might say that the last 7 chapters record the rebuilding of the spiritual walls of Jerusalem, and reestablishing the spiritual and moral foundations of the nation. There is a record of a great revival, as the people gathered in Jerusalem, and spent days listening to Ezra and the other scribes reading and explaining the Law of God. They celebrated the Feast of Booths, one of the great feasts of Israel. They spent time in confession and repentance and they renewed their covenant agreement with God, promising to obey his laws. Chapter 12 records the joyful day when they dedicated the walls of Jerusalem. Two processions, led by choirs and the leaders, circled the walls in opposite directions and then met back at the temple to worship. It was such a joyful occasion that the text says that the sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away. Chapter 13 then records a number of challenges that Nehemiah faced as governor, when people disobeyed God’s law and fell again into sin.
What I want to do in this final message, however, is focus on the character of Nehemiah himself. This book that carries his name has recorded his claw marks on the tree of Israel’s history. But what was it in the man himself that enabled him to have such an impact? As I asked that question and searched the book for answers, I have condensed the answer into 6 qualities or characteristics that shaped the man and formed the foundation for his lasting impact.
First, 1. Nehemiah had a big view of God. Everything Nehemiah achieved, everything that made him the kind of man he was starts here. I have a small book in my bookcase. It was written in 1961 by a man by the name of J.B. Philips. The title of the book is Your God Is Too Small.
But Nehemiah’s God was not small. We’ve seen that in his prayers. Let’s look at Nehemiah 1:5 again: O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night…
First, he is the God of heaven whose authority outranks any authority or power on earth. He is great and awesome. That image of a big God, a great and awesome God was the cornerstone of Nehemiah’s world view, his view of reality. He cited that view of God when the people were frightened and discouraged in 4:14: Don’t be afraid…Remember the Lord who is great and awesome.
That children’s worship song says it so simply but so powerfully: My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do! I can imagine Nehemiah singing that song with real gusto, can’t you?
Is your God too small? Or do you, like Nehemiah, have a big view of God?
Second, 2. Nehemiah shared God’s passions and priorities. There is a little saying that I remember hearing when I was growing up. It goes like this: “If it matters to me, it matters to God.” I believe it is a true saying and a very comforting truth. It gives me permission to bring everything to God in prayer. All my cares, whatever is bothering me. And I know God cares about it, because he cares about me.
As I said, it is a comforting truth, but I also believe it is an incomplete truth. I believe this truth must be combined with a second principle. “If it matters to God, it should matter to me.” What made Nehemiah a remarkable man and a powerful leader was that he shared God’s priorities. The things that rested heavily on God’s mind, were also on Nehemiah’s mind. The things that break God’s heart also broke Nehemiah’s heart.
What were those priorities and concerns? We find three of them running throughout the story of Nehemiah. First was the city of Jerusalem, the city of God. Remember Nehemiah 1:3. “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.” When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. The city of Jerusalem at that time in history represented the visible presence of the kingdom of God on earth. It mattered to God and it also mattered to Nehemiah.
The second priority or concern was the people of God. When he heard the report, it wasn’t just the condition of the city that troubled him. It was the people. In 1:3, we read, those who survived the exile…are in great trouble and disgrace. In Nehemiah 1:10, he prayed for the people: They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. Nehemiah cared about God’s people.
When he heard in chapter 5 that some of the people were being oppressed, his response was immediate in verse 6: When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry... He later states that he looked for ways to ease the suffering of the people because, in 5:18, the demands were heavy on these people.
The third priority and concern was for God’s reputation. In 1:9 we read: I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name. In one sense, this verse ties all three of these priorities together. God’s people were called by his name. Jerusalem was the place of his temple, where his name was to dwell. His reputation was riding on both of them. If God’s people were scattered and his city lay in ruins, God’s reputation was affected. That mattered to God. It also mattered to Nehemiah. Do the things that matter to God matter to you? His kingdom, his people, his reputation?
The third thing that marked Nehemiah’s life and character was 3. Nehemiah obeyed what God put in his heart to do. We saw this last week Nehemiah said in 2:12: I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. This isn’t the only time this phrase occurs in the book. In 7:5, we read: So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families.
Nehemiah was in tune. When God put something in his heart, he did it. I believe God puts things in all of our hearts to do for his kingdom and his glory. The only question is whether we are listening and whether we obey.
The fourth thing that characterized Nehemiah was 4. Nehemiah relied on God’s help. This comes straight out of last week’s message, so I won’t belabor this one. Do you remember the theme of last week’s message? WHEN WE DO GOD’S WORK…WE CAN RELY ON GOD’S HELP. Nehemiah did that, over and over again. It comes up over and over again in this account. The primary way that reliance was expressed was through prayer. Nehemiah was a man of prayer. But I chose not to make that a separate principle. Because I think Nehemiah’s prayer life grew out of this principle. He knew he could rely on God’s help, and that reliance took expression in his prayers. He didn’t pray just to fill in a quota of time on his knees, but as a response to whatever crisis or need he was facing. In 2:4-5: Then I prayed to the God of heaven and I answered the king. In 4:9: But we prayed to our God and posted a guard. Over and over he burst into spontaneous prayer as he reacted to life by relying on God’s help.
The fifth quality of Nehemiah’s life that impressed me was 5. Nehemiah acted with integrity based on reverence for God. This comes through especially clearly in chapter 5. When Nehemiah was made aware of how the Jewish nobles and officials were oppressing the poor, he confronted them with these words in verse 9: “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God…?”
Now it’s one thing to call on other people to act out of fear of God. But Nehemiah lived the same way he talked. Later in the chapter, he describes how the governors before him had placed a heavy tax on the people to pay for their own food and wine and that of their assistants and the rest of their entourage. But look at 5:15 (last phrase): But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. Instead I devoted myself to the work on this wall. The word “reverence” in this verse is the same as the word “fear” in verse 9. The same “fear” or “reverence” for God that he said should shape the behavior of the other officials, did in fact shape his own actions and conduct. He paid heavily to pay the expenses of his official entertaining himself in order not to burden the people. Sadly, this quality is all too rare in leaders today.
Finally, the sixth characteristic that shaped Nehemiah’s life was 6. Nehemiah played his life to an audience of One.
What do I mean by this? Think of your life as a play acted out on a stage. The question is, “Who is your audience? Whose approval or accolades or applause are you seeking to earn? Who are you trying to impress? There are many audiences we can play to and they often have conflicting values. That’s what makes life so complicated at times. Because, for example as a teenager, the behavior that earns your parents’ approval may elicit the scorn of your peers. The conduct that causes your boss to cheer at work may leave your wife and children in tears at home. Who is your audience? Who are you playing to? And then of course there are those times when you have to decide what to do, knowing that no human being is looking and no one will ever know? Who is your audience?
For Nehemiah, there was only One in the audience that really mattered. Only One whom he had to please. This comes out in the text by a particular phrase that Nehemiah repeats in several of his prayers. In fact it occurs 4 times in the text, which means it’s important. It is the phrase “Remember me.”
Its first occurrence is in 5:19: Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people. Nehemiah recognized that the people may or may not notice or remember what he did. But he wasn’t playing to the people. “God, if you remember, that is enough for me.”
He says it again in 13:14. After setting the administration of the temple in order once again after an absence, he prayed: Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.
When he enforced the Sabbath observance in Jerusalem, he prayed in verse 22: Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.
Finally, the entire book ends on this same note and with this same prayer in 13:31: Remember me with favor, O my God.
Who are you trying to please? What audience are you playing to? Who do you want to be remembered by and for what? Nehemiah played his life to an audience of One. “God, you take notice. You remember. And that will be enough for me.”
Nehemiah was a great man and a great leader who left his marks on the tree of history. As we stand beneath those marks, and stretch up to them, can you reach them? How far short do you fall? What does it take to be a man or a woman who reaches that high and leaves that kind of mark? Based on Nehemiah’s life story, let us ask ourselves these questions.
If you can answer positively to those six questions, then I am convinced that you too will reach high and leave your mark for the kingdom of God.