A Renewed Life | Nehemiah 10
“A Renewed Life”
Before we get into today’s message, I want to say thank you for the generous gifts and cards you gave my family and the Caseys on our 10 Year Celebration. We didn’t expect it, so it was a nice blessing and encouragement to us. Thank you for your kind words, your generosity, and for the custom-made children’s ministry cards! We’re very thankful we get to be a part of this church with you, so much love to all of you!
Now as for today, we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Nehemiah, and we’re calling this series Rise and Build. It’s a series about God bringing restoration from the rubble, because God uses Nehemiah to restore the broken walls in Jerusalem that were reduced to rubble. The text we’re studying today is about living a renewed life...It’s about living a renewed life, with new mercies, that leads to a new way of life...Lamentations 3 says the Lord has new mercies for us every morning. That means when you woke up this morning, before your feet even hit the ground, the Lord had new mercies available for you. Before you started scrolling, let the dog out, brewed some coffee, the Lord had new mercies available for you. Whatever happened last year, last month, last week, or even last night, the Lord still has new mercies available for you right here, right now! You don’t have to keep living like an archaeologist who’s digging up the past, when the Lord’s offering new mercies for you to live with him in the present. Everyone in here, both seekers and believers, can walk away from here today with a renewed life, filled with new mercies, through faith in Jesus. We can walk away with a renewed life, that leads to a new way of life with Christ. That’s what we’re talking about today, so let’s turn to Nehemiah 10 and get into it. If you open your Bible to the middle and keep turning left, you’ll find Nehemiah. We’ll be in Nehemiah Chs. 10-12, and the title of the message is A Renewed Life. The big idea of the message is a renewed life leads to a new way of life...A renewed life leads to a new way of life...
Here’s your context. The book of Nehemiah is a historical record of a time when God brings restoration to the broken walls and broken lives of the people in Jerusalem. The people were living in persistent sin, so God allowed them to live in Babylonian exile for roughly 70 years. But when the Persians defeated the Babylonians, they eventually allowed the Jews to return home. In chs. 1-6 we learned Nehemiah hears about the broken walls, he starts praying, and God gives him a plan to restore the broken walls and broken lives of the people. So Nehemiah and the people start rebuilding, they face heavy opposition, but they keep praying and pressing forward. In chs. 7-9 they finish rebuilding the wall, but God isn’t finished rebuilding their lives. The past few chapters have focused heavily on God renewing their lives, and ch. 9 ends with them making a covenant to follow the Lord. It’s because renewed lives, leads to a new way of life. Let’s pick it up in ch. 10:28.
Ch. 10:28, “The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who is able to understand and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to obey the law of God—29 join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath,to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of the Lord our Lord.” These verses tell us their covenant was a promise to obey and follow the Lord. The text mentions this promise three times, and in vs. 1-27 we’re given a list of some of the people who signed it. But in vs. 28 we see God’s mercy giving an invitation to other people groups so they can join this covenant too. At the end of vs. 28 it says everyone who’s separated themselves—from the surrounding peoples. That’s an invitation for everyone to separate themselves—from the ways of the world to the ways of the Lord. Notice it’s a separation FROM something TOsomething. It’s because a renewed life leads to a new way of life. You’re renewed FROM your old way of life without the Lord, TO a new way of life with the Lord. That’s what’s happening with the people in the text. They know what it’s like to live without the Lord, and they don’t want to live that exiled life again. In the past several chapters they expressed deep brokenness over their sins and repented for it, which is the first step in receiving God’s mercy. It’s recognizing you need it...It’s repenting for your sins and recognizing you need God’s mercy to forgive you and renew you. You need God’s mercy to give you a new day, so you can start walking in a new way with him.
This is one of the reasons the gospel is considered good news, and why it’s so incredibly liberating! It’s because Jesus died on the cross for our sins in the past, so we could receive his forgiveness and move forward with him in the present. We’re given a fresh start, a new day, filled with new mercies every morning through faith in him. Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that whoever believes in him will not perish, but shall have eternal life.” That’s God’s mercy once again extending another invitation to whoever believes. Like the people in the text, it’s an invitation to walk away FROM our old way of life, TO a new way of life with Jesus. I love the way one of our college students recently put it in our college small group. We’re studying Nehemiah, and last week one of them said life is a lot like driving a car. If you only stare at the past in the rearview mirror—your past sins, your past mistakes, your past way of life—you’ll eventually crash. But God wants you to focus on him and the road ahead. He wants you to look forward to the new life and the new way of life he’s given you with him. We all have a choice—we can either keep looking at the past and crash, or keep looking forward at Jesus and live. The invitation Jesus gives us on the cross is a renewed life, that leads to a new way of life with him.
Vs. 30, “We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples, and we will not take their daughters as wives for our sons. 31 When the surrounding peoples bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day. We will also leave the land uncultivated in the seventh year and cancel every debt...35 We will bring the first fruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the Lord’s house year by year. (Vs. 36) We will...(Vs. 37) We will...(Vs. 39) We will not neglect the house of our God.” There are over 8 we will statements in these verses. I know I only read 8, but there are more than 8 in ch. 10. These we will statements remind me of a chant we used to yell when I was coaching football. We’d yell, “We will, never quit! We will, never quit!” We wanted our team to have the mentality that no matter what happens, “We will, never quit!” But the truth is some of you need a we will statement for your life...Some of you need a we will or an I will statement...I will, never quit on life...I will, never quit on my marriage or family...I will, never quit praying for my atheist or skeptical friends...I will, never quit fighting against my sin...Some of you need a we will or an I will statement like the people in the text. They have over 8 we will statements! But each one is a subcategory of their greater desire to follow the ways of the Lord over the ways of the world. Most scholars summarize their we will statements into three primary subcategories.
1st They promise to protect their family's faith. – In vs. 30 when they promise to not marry the surrounding people groups, it’s about protecting their spiritual purity, not their racial purity. Remember God gave everyone an invitation to follow him, and if they don’t accept that invitation, then they shouldn’t move forward with marriage because their house will be divided in faith. They’ll have different and conflicting worldviews when it comes to their finances, discipling their children, or whose faith they’ll be teaching and passing on to the future generations in their family. This we will statement on marriage is a promise to protect their family’s faith.
2nd They promise to protect their work-rest Sabbath rhythm. – In vs. 31 when they promise to not buy any merchandise on the sabbath, it’s about protecting their work-rest Sabbath rhythm. It’s about taking one day off to rest, have fun, and worship the Lord like they were taught in Genesis and The 10 Commandments. Many people worship gods called profit and productivity. They sacrifice on the altar their time with family, or sacrifice their physical, mental, and spiritual health to worship their profit and productivity gods. Making a profit and being productive isn’t a bad thing, but it becomes a bad thing when we turn it into a god thing. The Israelites didn’t want to do that. So this we will statement is a promise to protect their work-rest Sabbath rhythm.
3rd They promise to protect their priorities in putting God first. – In vs. 32-39 when they promise to give to the house of God, it’s about protecting their priorities in putting God first. They want to give God their best and first fruits, financially supporting the ministries and worship in the temple, which today would be the church. Their financial generosity declares they worship the Lord, not their profits. It declares he’s first in their lives over everything else. As Christians we often say God comes first in our lives, but do our budgets and busy schedules reflect that desire?... Do we truly put God first in our lives, or is he just a footnote in our lives?...What changes do you need to make in your budget, your schedule, your life, so God will truly be first in your life, not a footnote?...This we will statement is a promise to protect their priorities in putting God first. In fact they end ch. 10 with one more we will statement saying, “We will, not neglect the house of God.” But the main thing I want you to notice is their renewed lives leads to a new way of life. They change their family dynamics, their work-rest sabbath rhythms, their priorities in putting God first, especially with their wealth and worship. Everything changes, because real renewal always leads to real life change. First comes God’s mercy and grace, then comes the transformation and life change. Christianity isn't about cleaning your life up before coming to God. It’s about coming to God, and he’ll help clean your life up. Ch. 10 shows that a renewed life, leads to a new way of life.
Ch. 11:1, “Now the leaders of the people stayed in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine-tenths remained in their towns. 2 The people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.” Okay so ch. 11 is about repopulating the city. The walls were rebuilt, their lives were renewed, but the city still remains mostly empty. It’s because nobody wanted to live there anymore, especially with all the threats they faced from enemies while rebuilding the wall. In ch. 4 the threats were so bad, that Nehemiah told people to carry weapons while working. I bet property values were cheap in Jerusalem, because nobody wanted to live there! Vs. 1 says the leaders lived there, but most of the population lived outside the walls in the countryside where it was comfortable and less risky. So they had to ask people to cast lots or volunteer to repopulate the city. If they didn’t volunteer, then they had to draw straws. But both groups were willing to go, even the ones who drew the short end of the stick. They were still willing to make sacrifices, pack up their things, move their families, move their careers, and try to start over in a new city. They were willing to make all these sacrifices, because they wanted to help continue God’s restoration plans for Jerusalem.
This is important because sometimes churches give the impression that volunteering should always be a delight. But sometimes it isn’t a delight! Sometimes it requires sacrifices and doing things you don’t delight in doing! When I pulled into church last week, I saw a dead squirrel at the entrance of the parking lot. I didn’t want anybody seeing that, so I got rid of it. But I didn’t delight in picking up roadkill...I also didn’t delight when I’ve had to plunge toilets in the church. I wasn’t plunging away thinking, “Nehemiah 8—The joy of the Lord is my strength!..,” I wasn’t thinking, “Isaiah 6—Yes! The toilet’s clogged! Here I am Lord! Send me!...” I’m sure every parent in here wishes their children would be like that with their chores. They wish their children would delight in doing their chores. But they don’t, and we don’t either! If we waited until we delighted in chores, they’d never get done! My point is sometimes we need to do things even though we don’t delight in them, and it’s the same way in the church. Sometimes we need to do things we don’t delight in, even make sacrifices to continue God’s restoration plans for our city. But we make those sacrifices because we delight in the God who made the ultimate sacrifice for us on the cross. In ch. 11 some cast lots, some volunteered, but all were willing to make sacrifices to continue God’s restoration plans for Jerusalem. The rest of ch. 11 names some people who lived in the city, but overall we’re seeing they’re willing to make sacrifices. It’s because a renewed life, leads to a new way of life.
Ch. 12:27, “At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sent for the Levites wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 The singers gathered from the region around Jerusalem, from the settlements of the Netophathites, 29 from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built settlements for themselves around Jerusalem. 30 After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the city gates, and the wall. 31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large processions that gave thanks...40 The two thanksgiving processions stood in the house of God...42 Then the singers sang with Jezrahiah as the leader. 43 They offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy...” Ch. 12 is full of celebration. They throw a huge dedication of the wall celebration with a band and two large parades. They all meet in the house of God, in the temple for worship. Vs. 43 says they celebrate and worship because God had given them great joy! They’re dedicating the wall, but celebrating the Lord. They’re celebrating the Lord and all he’s done for them. It’s a great reminder that our primary reason for gathering on Sundays is to celebrate the Lord and all he’s done for us. It’s also a great reminder to find greater joy in the blesser than the blessing. When you get a job, a promotion, an answered prayer, find greater joy in the blesser than the blessing. If you mix that up, if you try finding greater joy in the blessing than the blesser, your joy will be easily shaken since your blessings can change. Your job can change. Your finances can change. Your health can change. Your blessings can change. So you have to put your joy in something greater, something more stable than those things, and that something greater is God. That someone greater is God. You’ll always have joy if God is your greatest joy. But you’ll always lose joy if you make something else your greatest joy. The people are joyfully celebrating the blesser more than the blessing, and that’s the goal of renewal. It’s that a renewed life would lead to a new way of life—that joyfully celebrates and worships the Lord as our greatest blessing.
The big idea of the message is that a renewed life leads to a new way of life...A renewed life leads to a new way of life...It’s because you can’t experience God’s grace and not be changed by it. The people experienced God’s grace, and it changed their family dynamics, their work-rest sabbath rhythms, their priorities in life, leading them to worship God as their greatest joy in life. It’s because you can’t experience God’s grace and not be changed by it. So if you’ve never put your faith in Jesus, then do that today. Believe he died on the cross for your sins, and he’ll start renewing you FROM your old way of life without him, TO a new way of life with him...If you’ve already put your faith in Jesus, ask him if there’s anything you need to change in your life. Then start making those changes like the people in the text. Instead of looking at the rearview mirror and living in the past—look forward at Jesus, and start living a new life with him in the present.