Nehemiah 2:11-18
One of the challenges we face as modern Christians is what I will call the “point of identification” challenge. Here is what I mean by that: when we come to the Bible we are dealing with a book that affirms itself, how do we know that the Bible is relevant and necessary and transformative for us today? It’s own witness affirms that. the Bible is in fact a living and active word, according to the witness of Hebrews 4:12 and what it ought to do is judge our thoughts and attitudes and as we come to this word what we should be prepared for is that it will change us, it will transform us.
But the point of identification challenge also addresses the practical reality of the cultural, social distance we have from when it was written. These things that happened, happened in real time and real space in human history but the happened in real time and real space in a time in history that it is hard for us to identify with. So if you are finding it challenging to identify with what we read in scripture, I understand where you are, but I also know we have the ability to move beyond that. People have been growing in the grace and knowledge of God for centuries the church cannot be stopped and the purposes of God cannot be stopped, but we have to bring our heart and our attitude to the table and lay it bear before God. Paul gave us this witness in Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV) 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
So what we bring is an attitude of being willing to put in work. If you are here today as a new Christ follower, knowing Jesus deeper and more intimately doesn’t just come, you’ve got to put in work. For older believers we’ve still got a lot to learn, we’ve got to put in work and if you are here today or watching on our livestream and you have not yet entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ, first I want to thank you for taking a bold step to at least listen to what we have to say and considering what it is we believe as Christ followers and you also are going to have to put in work keep coming and keep listening. But here is the joy as we put in work as we work out our salvation with fear in trembling, God is working, he puts in work, he puts in the work that we can’t in order to open our hearts and our minds to know him, to experience him more fully.
As we continue our series Everyday Leaders, Biblical Leadership Principles for Every Christian we are focusing on individuals who have done that, they put in work. They are men and women who we see working out their salvation with fear and trembling and we see God working in their lives. But what see is that although God worked in them to do amazing things, things chronicled for every human being to see throughout history in the pages of scripture, what we also see is everyday people. People we can identify with; part of this series is giving you a context for overcoming the point of identification challenge. These are real people who had real jobs, real failures, but also characteristics about them that made them great leaders, with leadership characteristics that all of us can replicate no matter what our lot in life is and today we will look at a leader who was a civic employee. Today we are looking at the bold leadership of Nehemiah. Open your Bible with me to Nehemiah 2 starting at verse 11.
To help set up where we are studying this morning, the events that happen in the book of Nehemiah occur after the Israelites have been in captivity for about 150 years. They were conquered by the Babylonians, who were later conquered by the Persians and the reason that’s important is because that in the time period we are reading about there had been generations of Israelites who were born in captivity, living in Jerusalem wasn’t their reality, living under the rule of foreign countries was their reality and that was true for Nehemiah. Nehemiah was born in captivity under the Persians, but in the course of his life he was placed in the role of cupbearer to the king of Persia Artaxerxes I.
Now the cupbearer had a very important job in any kingdom, his job was to pour the wine for the king and as traditional understandings go he would taste the win, or the food of the king to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. I don’t know about you but I’m not about to try and apply for that job, hopefully the king you worked for didn’t have many enemies I guess.
But what that means is that Nehemiah was in the most trusted government position of anyone in the Persian dynasty. A man who was not a Persian was the most trusted, most influential person to the king, you need too hang on to that idea.
As we are introduced to Nehemiah he is troubled and he’s troubled because he inquires about the welfare of those still in Jerusalem, the remnant God left there and here is what we are told: Nehemiah 1:2b-3 (ESV) 2b …I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 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.”
With this as the backdrop we look at Nehemiah as a man who was an everyday leader. He was simply living his life, had a good job, a great job really, with an ear from the highest official in the land and what we are going to see from Nehemiah is boldness. Nehemiah was a bold leader, who used his position for the betterment of God’s people. Nehemiah is going to teach us that Bold Leaders Take Big Risks for the Kingdom of God
Let’s stand together as we read from Nehemiah 2:1-8. Hear the word of the Lord:
Nehemiah 2:1-8 (ESV) 1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
May God add his blessing to reading of his word as we study together this morning.
One of the things we see from Nehemiah is that…
Move 1: Bold Leaders Are Always Moved to Action
From the time that Nehemiah had been given the information on the state of Jerusalem to the time we are reading here about five months had gone by and as Nehemiah is in the kings presence day by day over the course of that five month period what is on his mind is the state of God’s people and the place God had promised his name would dwell forever Jerusalem. And finally, for whatever the reason the dam breaks on Nehemiah’s emotions. The text says he had not been sad in the kings presence before but now he cannot take it anymore, he can’t hide the burden he has for the state of Jerusalem.
Five months of growing grief, five months of burden, five months of thinking about a place you’ve probably never seen but know it’s importance to the history and heritage of your people and as the burden grows, the grief grows and this is where we find Nehemiah.
Friends what burdens you? What is I that God has laid on your heart so much, with so much passion, with so much grief, with so much fervor that you say to yourself this cannot stand because God does not want it to stand? For some it is the fact that their are children living without parents, people who are hungry and without a home, people with special needs and their families just looking for a place to be loved and belong and not feel second rate, friends what’s your burden? What is your God given burden, what is your passion that you look at in the face of God’s holiness and desire for his people and say to yourself THIS CAN NOT STAND! What’s your burden? If you don’t have one get one. Nehemiah didn’t have one. He’s living his life in the Persian empire, his family comes along and he asks, how are things in Jerusalem and BOOM…burden.
But it’s not enough just to have a burden. It’s one thing to say this can not stand and a complete other thing to say AND I WILL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
This is where we find Nehemiah in the kings presence. He allows his emotion, his burden to be felt by the king so much so that he knows that the king has to respond and when he does, Nehemiah in all the boldness of one who has the highest seat in the kings court, as a foreigner, a captive, with all boldness, even in his fear of what might happen don’t miss that at the end of verse two, he is moved to action. He makes his request of the king because his burden was that great.
It was Nehemiah’s boldness to be a man of action that made him a great leader. For all Nehemiah knew the king would say, “Wait a minute. You are my most trusted advisor, I trust you to have my best interest at heart and you want something from me for a conquered people under my rule?” But that didn’t happen, The king was moved along with Nehemiah and there is a reason for it.
Move 2: Bold Leaders invest in Relationships
Consider for a moment the relationship that is clearly present between Nehemiah and Artaxerxes. We have no context for how Nehemiah came to the position of cupbearer to the king, but what we have to assume is that something happened for a great trust to be built between these two men. I mean if I have as one of the job descriptions on my org chart someone to make sure I don’t eat or drink poisoned food chances are that is not an open hiring process. Artaxerxes wasn’t placing an ad on Indeed.com in Persia for cupbearers.
No, this was a hand selected person, someone who could be trusted, but even more than being trusted to have the kings health and safety in mind, but someone who was a trusted confidant. Nobody just gives you that type of trust, it comes with relationship and as Christ followers let me tell you something, this is the type of character that every employer, every organization leader should expect of you as a representative of Him in the world.
But let’s look closely at the text, how does this dialogue start. Does it start with, “Ummm….Hey King Arty, we’re there in our relationship right, I can call you Arty. So you know my people who were conquered by the guy you conquered. Well our city is in bad shape and so I’m going to need some vacation time to go handle that, but don’t worry I’ve someone to fill in for me while I’m gone, so if it’s good with you I’m just going to take the forms down to HR.”
No it doesn’t start that way, even with the silly way I described it, in fact the conversation doesn’t start with any request from Nehemiah at all. The relationship between Nehemiah and Artaxerxes was such that Nehemiah felt vulnerable enough to be sad in the presence of the king, and the king’s relationship with Nehemiah was so great that he could see very clearly that there was a heart anguish for this man he trusted so much.
And it is absolutely beautiful the way this unfolds, as Nehemiah bears his heart, he shares his burden that is saying so heavily on him, creating this burden of heart that he doesn’t even have to make the request. The relationship between Nehemiah and Artaxerxes is so great that Artaxerxes says at the beginning of verse 4 “What are you requesting?” or to say it another way…“Hey friend, what do you need?”
And Nehemiah appeals on the basis of their relationship for his request, verse 5 “If it pleases the king AND If I have found favor in your sight…” It was all about relationship here, this is why Nehemiah could be so bold, he makes the request in such a way that it is a two way street, “If it pleases the king” in other words Artaxerxes you matter in this decision” but also, “If I have found favor in your sight..” have I built enough into this relationship to make this ask.
And their relationship is so strong as Nehemiah lays out his requests Artaxerxes says, “no problem, whatever you need.” He grants his request. But think for a second how bold an ask this is for Nehemiah, one of the things that I think gets missed in this whole interplay is the fact that what Nehemiah is really asking Artaxerxes to do is to find a new person to trust with his own life. If Nehemiah leaves Artaxerxes has to find a new cupbearer, that’s bold friends. But when a relationship is invested in like that you can make the bold ask because those you’ve invested in are going to care about your burden.
Each one of us have relationships that afford us an audience. It may be your boss, it may be your parents, it may be a teacher or a coach, maybe its a co-worker. How are you investing in those relationships and preparing for the bold ask when God puts a burden on your heart?
You see it has to be a God given burden and a God driven boldness to ask that is what we see in this passage. Nehemiah didn’t go into this with just practical asks. He didn’t just say, “Here is how you can help me.”
Move 3: Bold Leaders Are Committed to Prayer
Look at verse 5, what does Nehemiah do even before he opens his mouth before Artaxerxes: “So I prayed to the God of heaven”. Nehemiah knew it wasn’t enough to have a burden, it wasn’t enough to have a relationship, he knew he could not utter a word to the king before he committed it to the Lord. Even leading up to this conversation if we look back to chapter one when Nehemiah hears of the plight of Jerusalem, look at how he responds: Nehemiah 1:4 (ESV) 4 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.
Here is why Nehemiah could be bold with his burden in the relationship he had with the king because it wasn’t his request he was making, it was God’s. He was only speaking what God spoke to him. This is why Nehemiah could be bold because he trusted in the work of God, he believed that the burden he was given came from God, he believed the relationship was ordained by God and when it came to asking on behalf of the people of God he simply spoke on his behalf and he could be bold because he knew it was God’s request not his own.
Being bold on behalf of God means have plans and a vision that could not be done without him. Author Steve Shadrach in his book the God Ask goes so far as to say, “If the size of the vision for your life isn’t intimidating to you, there is a good chance it is insulting to God.”
And we are not going to know unless we ask him, but when we do ask him and we know it’s of him, just like with what we see in Nehemiah here, we can boldly seek his greatest good for the burden he has laid on our hearts.
Bottom Line: Bold Leaders Take Big Risks for the Kingdom of God
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