This morning we’re wrapping up our Wrestling with God series. There isn't any question I have wrestled with God for matters affecting myself.
• As a child, I prayed when my grandpa had a heart attack. All us kids were waiting helplessly for news of his condition. He passed away.
• As a teenager, I prayed to God about my anger, and the evil compulsions I wanted to carry out against certain tormentors of my soul who hurled abuse.
• As a young man, I sought to know whether God existed, whether Jesus could be anyone more than mere figure of history, whether he could be the long awaited Christ of old, and supposed Lord and Savior or mankind.
• I prayed whether it was God's will and whether I was feeling a call into ministry!
• As a young minister and seminary student, I cried out to God with all the stress I was feeling spiritually, physically, financially, congregationally, and in Hebrew.
• When it became apparent Lara and I wouldn't have kids of our own, I questioned God “Why Not Us?” Hadn’t we given our lives to serving God? And Why did God give kids to others only to be aborted, abused, neglected, etc.?
• I probably prayed the longest and hardest about my debilitating gout condition which started in my 20s. It was so painful, and only grew worse. God why won't you heal me so I could at least walk without being a spectacle? God answered that prayer by giving me a little pill called Allopurinol to take every day for life!
• In various seasons of ministry, when staff (or congregational, or leadership) problems have gone off the rails, I've prayed for God to vindicate my ministry, restore relationships if possible, bring unity, and refresh my soul. I've prayed what should I do Lord? Lead me in how to think, feel, preach, pastor, live. . .
• When my dad suddenly passed away, a week of chaos ensued. All our vehicles went down. We couldn't find a rental car late one night—and then when we did its transmission went out! I remember breaking out in laughter (instead of prayer). I announced to the devil, “You jerk… God has my back.” Peace filled me.
• Much harder was praying at the passing of a good friend killed by drunk driver
Life trains us to trust God. Yes, I’ve wrestled with God for matters affecting myself. To be candid, I wouldn't put a fraction of my stuff anywhere on the Richter Scale alongside the lives of the men and women we've talked about in this series. In fact, I'd also say this—the majority of my Wrestling with God has been far more on behalf of others than myself. For God to heal marriages and families, decimate cancers, restore mobility, restore sight to the blinded, to give insight to the spiritually and morally blind, to extend life…
One of the first books I ever tried to preach out of was Colossians. To graduate some class, I had to preach one sermon publicly. I started reading Colossians, and it was so hard to grasp. I went to one of my New Testament professors—Dr. Marion Henderson. He gave me some advice, he said, “How about you not preach Colossians anytime soon?” Years later, when I began preaching, I picked Colossians back up. I was reading along in Colossians 1 and came to these words:
Colossians 1:3-6 (a), “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you.” The Apostle Paul is describing to the church at Colossae, the “affect” the gospel was having on them. What faith, what love, what hope was emerging as the word of God was preached! I remember thinking, “those blessed Colossians... they got it, they were living it!”
But then I read rest of Colossians 1:6 (b), “… It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace.” Here was my conundrum. The Gospel worked in Bible times, in places like Colossae. Faith, Hope, and Love blossomed. It spread like a wildfire throughout the known world. Have you ever… or do you ever yearn that the gospel would have its full affect on this world, on these times, on this nation and its politics, on your marriage, on your family, on your own soul?
Enter the story of Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah are two men who appear very late in Israel's history. They appear after the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and Southern Kingdom of Judah have been all but laid waste. First came the Assyrians who laid waste to Israel. Then came the Babylonians who laid waste to Judah. Think about it. The Patriarchs had come and gone. Moses and the great deliverance of God's people out of Egypt, the giving of the Law, the Tabernacle, the pinnacle of the Levitical Priesthood—all now past! The judges, small and great. Samuel the Prophet. The Great Kings (Saul, David, Solomon), the lesser Kings. The great prophets Elijah, Elisha… the major and minor prophets. *Do you ever get the sense that greatness of God is little more than distant memory?
Ezra & Nehemiah had the difficult task of wrestling with “Where is God now? Why have his mighty works been all but silenced? Where is his voice to be heard? Where is his goodness to be felt? Where do you turn when it seems there isn't a single shred of faith, love, or hope remaining?”
In the city of God, Jerusalem, there was nothing but rubble. Its walls, its great temple, all of it a gigantic wasteland. God's people were scattered across the nations. God's enemies were occupying not just the city of David, but the whole of the promised land, Israel and Judah. Were all God's promises null and void? Was God in fact an imaginary concoction of previous generations? You can bet the good character, the mighty power, the very faithfulness of God was on trial. Every bit of news flowing out of Jerusalem was only bad news.
You can read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra was a Scribe, who was well acquainted with the Scriptures. Nehemiah was a child of the royal families that had been taken captive, deported to Babylon, and conscripted into service. Babylon had been defeated by Persia… and so Nehemiah found himself serving as cupbearer to the greatest king on earth.
At the beginning of the book of Nehemiah, he inquires of some of his friends as to the state of God's city and people. They say to him Nehemiah 1:3, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned.”
I've always observed in life that where there is a spiritual crisis of lost faith, love, hope… there is almost always signs of physical disrepair, or neglect. When our soul is sick, we neglect our physical health and wellbeing. When our soul is sick, everything around us from our homes to our city is neglected. Good things, like walls (and laws) meant to maintain order and safety fall into disrepair. Worship, the reading and devotion to God's Word wanes. The spiritual and physical demise are like a package deal. The spiritual trouble and disgrace of God's people, can be physically seen.
No matter how many times I've read it, Nehemiah 1:4 always sends chills up my spine. What is our response to trouble? “When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.” Of course! We should take our cause before God, right?
Nehemiah prays (Nehemiah 1:5-11), “Lord, the God of the heavens, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands, 6 let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to hear your servant’s prayer that I now pray to you day and night for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against you. Both I and my father’s family have sinned. 7 We have acted corruptly toward you and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances you gave your servant Moses. 8 Please remember what you commanded your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. 9 But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.” 10 They are your servants and your people. You redeemed them by your great power and strong hand. 11 Please, Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to that of your servants who delight to revere your name. Give your servant success today, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man.”
Do you remember when evil Haman appealed to the King to have all the Jews in the land executed? But little did Haman realize, God had providentially promoted the young Jewish woman Esther to a place of prominence, to the place of Queen. And do you remember how Esther wrestled before God whether to speak up to the king on behalf of God's people or remain silent… and it was Mordecai who urged her to speak up since who knows but that God had put in her position “for such a time as this.” This is Nehemiah's position… do you speak up to a king and risk personal death, or remain silent? Nehemiah considers nothing of himself—but before speaking up to the “King of Persia" he prays and fasts before the “GOD and KING OF UNIVERSE!"
So many of God's people today… and perhaps this includes you… so many seen themselves as part of the collateral damage of a world turned against God. What is to inspiring about the Queen Esthers, and Mordecais, and Nehemiahs, and Ezras, and later even the apostles… is they didn't see themselves as mere bystanders of trouble and disgrace… they didn't see themselves as victims of God's enemies… but instead they got prayed up, and fasted up, and spiritually pumped up by the Word, … and then they rose up, and spoke up, and dared to dream again, and dared to rebuild, and dared to risk all things for the glory of God.
Ezra began by spiritually rebuilding the people. Nehemiah began by physically building the gates and city of Jerusalem. Both men had courage and faith in spades. It can be argued that both men in their own were legendary leaders. While the church is turning to the world for wisdom, corporations and business leaders are turning to stories like that of Ezra and Nehemiah to learn about true leadership.
What both Ezra and Nehemiah brought to their world was a simple methodology. I'll call it a “Colossians 1” methodology. It goes something like this: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace.”
At one of the darkest, most despairing times in Israel’s history two men work in tandem (one physically, Nehemiah, devoted himself to rebuilding the city, wall, and gates and also an enormous platform in the center of the city)… and the other, Ezra worked to gather the great men of Israel, to gather the heads of households, and to stand on the proclaim and proclaim the pure and unadulterated word of truth (The Holy Scriptures, the Books of Law) day and night, for hours upon hours. *They both had utter confidence that if people would return to their God and hear his word, … not only would profound faith, love and hope emerge… but the word of God would bear much fruit for the glory of God… that revival would come!
In your Bible the book of 1 & 2 Chronicles was written as a summation of Israel's great history. Many scholars would group the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 & 2 Chronicles together. Think about it. People need to be reminded not just of the Word but also the history of God! But it’s in 2 Chronicles we read these great words… which I believe are for the church and each of us today:
2 Chronicles 7:12-14… something God said to great King Solomon, “ the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple of sacrifice. 13 If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people, 14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.