Monday, June 30

To listen to the audio version, click here.

 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night with a few others. 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.  - Nehemiah 2:11-16

It is fascinating to me that after 5 months of prayer, Nehemiah confronts the King and asks for permission and provisions to go back to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the wall.  He travels 800 miles from Susa, the capitol of the Persian empire, to Jerusalem.  This journey would have taken him over 2 months!  He finally arrives with a caravan of timber and supplies and a royal military escort...what does he do?   "I went to Jerusalem and after staying there three days I set out..."   He does nothing!  He stops for three days. Nehemiah does not make some grand entrance, flash the flags, bands playing, ride in on a white horse. He doesn't proclaim, "I'm here to save the day. Now get to work!"  When he arrives in Jerusalem, he didn't even announce why he was there. He did nothing for three days.

He arrives with a king's escort, into a town that is defeated and discouraged. He goes to his home and says nothing for three days. Don't you think that caused a little curiosity? Do you think the existing power structures in Jerusalem said, "What is this guy here for? What is he going to be doing?" For three days the speculation, and the “buzz” is rising. What is Nehemiah doing? By the third day everybody has heard of Nehemiah. He's actually using the delay to his advantage. He's using it for psychological build up so that when he presents the proposal, they'll be ready to listen.

Ecclesiastes 3:7 says "There is a time to be silent and a time to speak." Ecclesiastes 8:6 says, "There is a right time and a right way to do everything."  If you're going to share in changing a life or a situation, you've got to wait for the right timing. Jesus had a profound sense of timing in the ministry. At various times in His life He would say, "It's not time yet. My time has not yet come."

In verse 12-16 we have Nehemiah's research party of actually going out and inspecting the walls of Jerusalem. You've heard of Paul Revere's midnight ride. This is Nehemiah's midnight ride.

In v. 12 he says, "I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding. By night I went out through the Valley Gate to the Jackel Well and the Dung Gate examining the walls of Jerusalem which had been broken down and its gates had been destroyed by fire."

He goes on and explains how at midnight he's out traveling around the walls of the city, actually inspecting. He is personally inspecting the damage in the middle of the night. He only takes a small group with him. He obviously didn't want to attract attention.

Every good leader knows exactly what Nehemiah is doing here. He is doing his homework. His background checks. This is the lonely part of leadership, the unglamorous part of leadership. It's the part nobody ever hears about. It's the guy doing his preparation, checking out the situation, getting the facts. Verse 14 says there was so much rubble he even had to get off his horse and walk through it. At this point the size of the project probably starts to sink in and he thinks, "This is worse than I thought. Why did I volunteer for this? I've never built anything in my life."

Verse 16 says "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 the nobles, or the officials or any other who would be doing the work." 


Why is he being so secretive about this survey? Because he didn't want the plan to be stalled before it got out of the starting gate. There had been over 100 years of discouragement and defeat for the people living in Jerusalem and he didn't have all the facts yet.  Is it easier to promote a good idea or kill a good idea?  Have you noticed that negative people tend to be more vocal than positive people?  After months of prayer, preparation and travel, Nehemiah has learned the secret of waiting on God’s timing. 

Jeff Frazier

Friday, June 26

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Nehemiah 2:1-8
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 ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?
The king said to me, What is it you want?
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered 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 ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.
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.
I also said to him, If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.
Lets just think about that last sentence for a moment.
Were only one chapter and 8 verses into the story and we already know that Nehemiah is quite a guy. He has risen to a position of great responsibility and influence even though he is a Jew living in exile in Persia. He has kept his role as cupbearer to the king for 20 years. He speaks daily with the most powerful man in the known world. He has put together a plan to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem and has waited patiently for just the right time to approach the king with his plans. He has just received permission to take a leave of absence from his job to undertake this great project; he has been granted the promise of protection while he travels; and he has been given access to all the material resources he will need. So right about now we might expect him to indulge in some chest thumping or to give himself at least a little pat on the back.
Nope.
What we get is a simple and humble statement of faith that is all we need to know about Nehemiah.
And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.
Nehemiah lived under and by the gracious hand of his God. Thats why his heart was broken by the news from Jerusalem. Thats why he fasted and prayed for four months. Thats why he was willing to risk his life to show his sadness to King Artaxerxes. Thats why, when the king asked, he was able to respond with both respect and boldness. And thats why the King of Persia granted his request.

Because the gracious hand of God was on him.

So often I think we live as if we arent sure if this is true. We live as if were not sure God is gracious. We live as if we arent sure the hand of God is on us. Therefore, we live as if our failures are final and our fears are debilitating.

Nehemiah knew that even if Artaxerxes refused to grant his request the gracious hand of God was still on him. Nehemiah knew that even if showing his sadness to the king cost him his life the gracious hand of God was on him.

Nehemiah knew God.

And because he knew God he knew that his failures were not final and that his fear was not debilitating. He knew the great freedom that comes with knowing the gracious hand of his God was on him.

The Apostle Paul reminds us that as followers of Christ we have the same promise:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

The purpose is Gods.

The work is Gods.

The power is Gods.

The resources are Gods.

The glory is Gods.

The call is ours.



Pastor Brian Coffey

Thursday, June 26

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Nehemiah 2:1-8
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 ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?
The king said to me, What is it you want?
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered 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 ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.
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.
I also said to him, If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.


There is a legendary story about a famous golfer who was once asked by a Saudi king to come and play golf with him. The golfer wasnt sure if he should go, but his friends convinced him. As he was playing the king told him he wanted to give him a gift of gratitude for coming to play with him. The golfer politely declined, but the king was persistent. The golfer finally said, Well, I do collect golf clubs, so I suppose you could give me a club for my collection.The king was delighted and promised to send him the gift of a golf club. After returning home the golf pro got to wondering what kind of club the king would send him. Would it be made of solid gold? Would it be studded with diamonds? The package arrived, but it was not the size of a golf club. The confused golfer opened it and found the legal deed to a country club; a golf club resort.

The moral of the story? When in the presence of a king, dont ask for small gifts!

King Artaxerxes has asked Nehemiah what he wants. Nehemiah has expressed his desire to rebuild the city where his ancestors are buried. I love what comes next:


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.
I also said to him, If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?
This is like a teenage son asking his father if he can use the car and then, once he has the keys, continuing on to ask for the credit card, the keys to the vacation home and permission to take a month off from school.
Again, we notice a couple of things here. Notice that Nehemiah is prepared when the opportunity comes. He has been praying for four months, but he has also been planning.
How do you think the King would have reacted if Nehemiah had responded, Well, gee, um... I really didnt think you would say yesso Im gonna have to think about that...Im not sure that would have gone very well for Nehemiah. I think he knew that kings like guys with a plan.
Second, notice that while he made his request very respectfully, he made a big ask! He asked for time off from his job; he asked for personal protection; he asked for the all the materials necessary for the rebuilding project; and, by the way, he asked for a house for himself as well.
Nehemiah asked for the car, the credit card, the vacation home and time off school all in one swoop!
How did he go from very afraidto asking for the moon?
I think it has to do with who Nehemiah was serving. While in his day jobhe worked as cupbearer to the King, in his heart and with his life Nehemiah served the God of heaven.
When you know who you answer to, you know what you can ask for.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Wednesday, June 25

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Nehemiah 2:1-8
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 ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?
The king said to me, What is it you want?
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered 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 ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.
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.
I also said to him, If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.

Sometime during week before Fathers Day my wife said to me, How do you want to spend Fathers Day? Is there anything you want or need?I knew from our years together that she was asking what I wanted for a family meal after church that Sunday, and if I could give her any ideas for what I might like to receive as Fathers Day gifts.

I dont know about you, but I always find the question, What do you want?to be very difficult to answer! I mean, do you ask for what you have a reasonable chance of getting, like a new shirt or two, or do you ask for what you really want, like a new car?

At that particular moment, I chose wisely and asked for a couple of new clothing items, but Im already thinking hard about next year!

At the moment of Nehemiahs greatest risk, when he has revealed the source of his deep sadness, the King asks a question Im not sure Nehemiah fully expected to hear.


The king said to me, What is it you want?
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered 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 ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.
There are several things to point out in this part of Nehemiahs conversation with King Artaxerxes. First, notice that after four months of prayer and fasting, and after the King asks him what he wants, Nehemiah prays again.

Was Nehemiah thanking God that the King had not been offended by his show of emotion? Was he thanking God for the question the King had just asked? Was he seeking Gods wisdom in asking for just the right things in just the right way? Or, may he have been asking for courage to make a bold request that might yet offend or enrage King Artaxerxes?

I think its possible that Nehemiah prayed all these things and maybe more. But what is both interesting and inspiring to me is that Nehemiah pauses to pray in the middle of a conversation! This tells me that prayer was such a natural and constant part of his life that Nehemiah is able to direct his thoughts and heart to God while simultaneously engaging the King.

What about you? Most of us pray when we find ourselves in crisis or in need of help. But is prayer such a part of your life that you look to the God of heaven before, after or even during the events of your day? Do you pray in preparation for a sales call? Before a business meeting? During a conversation with your son or daughter?

We know from the rest of his story that Nehemiah was an extremely intelligent, shrewd and dynamic leader. But despite his many gifts and abilities he sought the direction and blessing of God each step of the way.

As one writer put it, Only after speaking with the King of Kings was Nehemiah prepared to speak to the King of Persia.

Second, we notice that Nehemiah responds to the Kings question with both great boldness and great wisdom. On the one hand he asks for the whole enchilada; he wants to rebuild the city. Thats a big deal!

On the other hand, he is very careful in how he phrases his desire. He does not mention either Jerusalem or its wall directly; rather, he refers to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried.

This is because Nehemiah remembers that it was Artaxerxes himself who had stopped the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem some years earlier. After all, Jerusalem was a territory under Persian control and to rebuild the wall of a city that could be a potential rival made no political sense.

This is part of why Nehemiah was afraid; it is part of why he prays to God before speaking to the King; and it is why he is very careful in the manner in which he makes his request.

He refers to Jerusalem as the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried.This is very intentional because of the significance given to ancestral burial grounds in the ancient world. Nehemiah is giving the King every reason to agree to his request.

What can we learn from Nehemiah? We learn to be bold in our pursuit of Gods purposes. We learn to be wise and respectful in the manner in which we conduct ourselves. And, above all else, we learn to be people of prayer.


Pastor Brian Coffey

Tuesday, June 24

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Nehemiah 2:1-8
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 ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?
The king said to me, What is it you want?
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered 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 ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.
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.
I also said to him, If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.

One of the things we saw while in the Clinton Presidential Library were towering glass-enclosed shelves stacked with row after row of boxed documents. There must have been several dozen of these huge floor to ceiling cases, each containing hundreds of neatly stacked blue boxes.

A little sign said that the boxes were filled with the paperwork describing requests received by the President, and that these boxes represented only 3-4% of all the presidential documents, which numbered some 80 million pages.

Whoa.

80 million pages in 8 years! Thats a million pages a year or over 2,700 pages a day. Thats also a testament to the power of the presidency.

The book of Nehemiah tells us that the man Nehemiah worked for a very powerful man.


Nehemiah 2:1-8
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 ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?
Artaxerxes is considered by historians to have been generally magnanimous and kind; at least as far as emperors in the ancient world go. Even so, one did not want to be presumptive in the presence of an all-powerful monarch.
One ancient historian records a time when Artaxerxes went hunting with a group of his finest warriors. When a lion attacked their group, one of the men used his spear to kill the lion. But in killing the lion himself he violated the protocol of allowing the king the privilege of delivering the killing blow. Artaxerxesfirst response was to have the man executed by decapitation for the offense. He was eventually convinced to spare the mans life and sent him into exile instead. But we can assume that working daily in the presence of a King could be quite dangerous!
As cupbearerNehemiah likely ran the daily affairs of the King, serving as a kind of chief of staff.In this respect he would have been a trusted confidant of the King as well.
But, and this is very important to understand, he was not there to make requests or to ask favors of the King.
Notice that when Nehemiah comes in the King immediately knows from the look on his face that something is wrong.
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.
A couple of things here:
First: How well do you have to know someone to know at a glance that something is wrong? This is a 20-year relationship, so even though Artaxerxes is a King and Nehemiah just his cupbearer, they know each other well.

Second: notice that Nehemiah says, I had not been sad in his presence before...

I think Nehemiah is hinting that this was an intentional decision on his part.

Think about it; its been four months since he heard the news about Jerusalem. For four months hes been mourning and fasting and praying before the God of heaven but this is the first time he let his guard down before the King.

Why?

Nehemiah had not let his sadness show because it was very dangerous to show emotion before the King! Persian monarchs required that those who served them refrain from bringing personal issues into their presence. To reveal ones emotional state was seen as a sign of great disrespect.

So, this was a very risky thing to do and we can now understand why Nehemiah admits that he was very afraid.


But we learn from history that the month of Nissan was the beginning of the Persian year and that New Years celebrations were traditionally a time of favors and generosity from the King. Therefore, we can see that Nehemiah may have been willing to take this risk because it was the most opportune time to approach the King with his vision for Jerusalem.

We started the series by learning that Nehemiah allowed his heart to be broken by that which broke the heart of God; the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates were burned with fire and therefore the people were in trouble and disgrace.

Then we saw that Nehemiah mourned and prayed before the God of heaven.

Now we see that he is ready to take courageous and risky action to accomplish the purposes of God.

Is there any way in which God might be calling you to take courageous or risky action for his purposes? Is he calling you to serve; to reach out to someone; or to give in a way that stretches you to the point of discomfort or even fear?

It took Nehemiah four months of prayer and fasting to get up the nerve to approach King Artaxerxes; but he did it because he was convinced that it was what God wanted him to do.

May we follow Nehemiahs example; may we pray, pray and pray some more; then may we do what he is calling us to do!



Pastor Brian Coffey