Introduction
I. I would like to commend every person in this room this morning.
A. For the past few years, and especially the last few months we have been
1. Praying for
2. Planning for
3. And implementing changes in our church, that
B. We believe will better allow God to make Himself known to this community, through this church at this time.
C. Change is never easy, and yet; you are still here.
II. Let’s consider some of the things that have changed over the last four years.
A. We no longer use hymnals, but rather most Sunday’s we project the words to songs by video.
B. Although we still sing some hymns, we probably do far fewer
C. The way we take up offering has changed
D. Like this morning, we use more recorded music in worship.
E. Not only do we have a new pastor, but we have a new leadership structure.
F. And some people even say the way we celebrate communion has changed.
G. Some familiar faces have gone, some new faces have come, and some of those new faces have already left.
H. And that is only a partial list of the changes, and yet; we still remain.
III. Change, even good change is never easy.
A. A couple of weeks ago, Maryann and I thought we were going to have to get her a new car.
B. We went and looked at a brand new, 2008 Toyota Camry.
1. As we waited to see a salesperson, Maryann set in the car in the showroom,
a. Her first words,
(1) “I don’t like it.
(2) “I like my Corolla.”
2. Change, even good change is never easy
C. Fortunately, repairs to her car were inexpensive, so she can drive\ her Corolla for another year or so.
D. I didn’t want three hundred and fifty dollar a month payments for the next 5 years anyway.
IV. Change, even good change, even God inspired and directed change is often very difficult for us to accept.
V. This morning, I want to do a little exercise to help us examine the difficulty of change.
A. Everyone find a partner.
1. Now take a good long look at that person; head to toe.
2. Now turn your backs to each other.
B. Next step, change 5 things about your appearance.
1. (WAIT)
C. Now, turn to each other, and see if you can find the five different things.
1. (GOOD)
D. Now, turn your backs again, and change 5 different things,
1. (WAIT)
E. Observe your partner.
1. (GREAT)
F. OK, five more things.
1. Only joking.
2. There’s probably not much left to change except your clothes, and you can’t do that here.
VI. Sometimes those of us that think we are a bit more accepting of change can criticize those who didn’t accept change as readily as we did; BUT what did we learn from this exercise!
A. Change is hard
1. How many of us found it difficult to change even one thing, let alone 5,
2. And ten probably seems like an impossibility.
B. There is only so much change any person can take at one setting.
1. Five changes, perhaps
2. Ten changes, now your getting on my nerves,
3. Fifteen; what are you trying to prove anyway.
C. Some of us really didn’t like changing our appearance, while some probably enjoyed the challenge.
1. Not everyone responds to change in the same manner, and
2. Many people will only respond to change that they initiate.
D. Some of us felt pretty awkward changing even one thing about ourselves.
1. I am comfortable with this look,
2. If I make changes, I will not feel like me.
E. Some of you may not have changed anything,
1. This is crazy,
2. It just doesn’t make sense.
F. How many people have already begun changing those things you changed, back to the way they were before you changed?
VII. Change, even good change is difficult, and even good change will receive some level of opposition, and that is what I want to discuss this morning; “Dealing With Opposition to Change.”
Mockery
I. I am going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Nehemiah.
II. If you recall the story of Nehemiah, you will remember that Nehemiah was the man responsible for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem; in how long?
A. Look at chapter 6, verse 15 - “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.”
1. Nehemiah had a comfortable job, working for a king.
2. He was not mistreated, and evidently well thought of by the king.
B. And yet, Nehemiah had been moved to return to his home country, and rebuild the walls,
C. The king gave his approval, so who could possibly be against the plan,
1. We might expect some opposition from the kingdoms around Jerusalem, but
2. Certainly not the remnant of in Jerusalem, for strong walls meant protection from enemies and pride in their home.
D. As it turned out, opposition came from both.
III. The first opposition was from two men named Sanballat and Tobiah.
A. Look at chapter 4 verses 1 thru 3
1. 4:1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!” The most important things to know about these two, is that they were leaders of the surrounding country side.
a. Basically Sanballat seeks to discredit the work by saying to others, “Who do these Jews think they are to attempt this.”
b. Tobiah attempts ridicule by saying,
(a) “This cannot possibly work.
(b) “There is not enough help.
(c) “The wall will be too weak to stand.”
B. In the fact of opposition, what did Nehemiah do?
1. Look at verse 4 - “Hear, O our God, how we are despised! Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. Do not forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before Thee, for they have demoralized the builders.”
2. Now those are powerful words.
C. So what do we see from Nehemiah?
1. His first response to the challenge of God work is PRAYER.
a. A strong prayer indeed, but prayer none the less.
b. The basic prayer is “Don’t even forgive their sin.”
2. What kind of prayer is that?
a. First it is an immediate prayer,
b. Second it is an honest prayer,
D. In Nehemiahs mind, the work of God is being challenged, and his immediate response is prayer; honest, gut level prayer.
IV. Opposition to change, even God inspired change may well come in the form of mockery, make your first response prayer, honest, this is how I feel prayer.
Threats From Without
I. When the mockery of Sandballat and Tobiah did not work, the next step they used was threats of violence.
II. Verses 7 to 23 state the next level of opposition to Nehemiah
A. Sandballat and Tobiah enlisted more help, and verse 8 says, “...all of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem.
B. Verse 11 says, “...They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.”
III. Talk about opposition, but again notice Nehemiahs response.
A. Verse 9 says, “BUT, we prayed to God...”
1. Again the first response was prayer,
2. Actually, if we had looked at Nehemiah from chapter one, we would quickly conclude that “Prayer” was his first response to everything.
a. He heard the walls were down, so he prayed,
b. He had to ask his boss for some extended vacation, so he prayed.
c. He had to decide what to do, so he prayed.
d. Now opposition arises, and he prays.
3. It seems that prayer might just be a good first response.
B. But this time, Nehemiah does not stop with prayer.
C. Read on in verse 9 - “...we set up a guard against them day and night.”
1. Nehemiah prayed, and then he added the human element of guards.
2. Wait a minute,
a. Isn’t Nehemiah doing God’s work; YES!
b. Wouldn’t we surmise that God would protect what He wants done’ YES, we would think so.
c. Shouldn’t Nehemiah trust God; I believe he probably did.
3. Then why on earth would Nehemiah add a human response to what God wanted accomplished, why didn’t he simply trust God to complete what He began?
D. A rather interesting question.
1. Verse 15 seems to give the impression that when the solidarity of the workers was seen, the opposition backed off.
a. ALL the workers could return to work, but again,
b. Notice verse 18 - “As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.”
(1) Even though the immediate threat had been dealt with, Nehemiah did not let down his guard.
(2) Every worker was called upon to be prepared to defend what God had begun.
(3) And verse 21 says that “we carried on the work half of them holding spears” that is ready to fight.
IV. Change, even good, godly inspired change will receive opposition.
A. That opposition may be in the form of mockery, deal with it with prayer.
B. Opposition may come in the form of threats.
1. Trust God, and deal with it through the power of prayer,
2. And be prepared to stand against threats with whatever means is at your disposal.
V. I believe there is one more important opponent to even good change, and that is there can be a cost to the workers.
A Cost To The Workers
I. Look at chapter 5, verses 1 to 5 -
A. “Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2 For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters, are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.” 3 And there were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine.” 4 Also there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5 “And now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
B. In this case, the cost came primarily in three forms,
1. One - the workers had spent so much time rebuilding the walls, that provision for their homes had suffered.
2. Two - there was a famine and extra financial burden was being undertaken, just to survive.
3. Three - Reading through the rest of chapter 5 indicates that the city “leaders” were the ones responsible for both the financial burden, and the bondage of the people.
C. There is not doubt about it, attempting something great for God, can be costly.
II. Uncharacteristically perhaps, rather than immediately pray, verse 6 says that Nehemiah got angry.
A. But the passage goes on to say, vs 7 -
1. “I consulted myself” that is “I stopped to think”
2. Then he spoke with the town leaders, and reasoned with them.”
B. Nehemiah got past his first response of anger, looked for a reasonable solution, and then acted.
C. In this case, the leaders responded positively, and the work could continue.
III. Change, even good, godly directed change will receive opposition.
IV. When that opposition occurs, we need to
A. First and foremost, pray,
B. Secondarily, be prepared to defend the plan of God,
C. Third, think past an angry response, and use solid reasoning.
V. And this is where I would like to stop and commend you for your response to the changes that are taking place in our church.
A. I know it has not always been easy,
1. Some of you are attempting to do ministry that you may not have even considered before; that is not easy.
2. Some of you have put in extra time, fixing things up to the physical property
a. Take a look at the ladies bathroom.
b. Ron Dye comes in a cleans the parking lot almost every Sunday morning.
c. Ed has spent many hours doing things that are not even visible at first glance.
d. That is not always easy.
3. Although I don’t know what individual giving in our church is, I know some of you have made extra financial gifts to the ongoing ministry, and that is not always easy.
B. For some of us, the past few months have been an emotional roller coaster.
1. I have been so excited to see the Young Adult Group, and the young adults getting more involved.
2. It has been fun watching the worship team try new things.
3. It has been exciting for me to see, the anticipation that most of you have shown.
4. And on the other side,
a. To this point, we haven’t seen the response to the mailings that we have prayed for.
b. To this point, we haven’t seen as many people come as we had prayed for.
c. To this point, we still cannot see clearly what God has in store for us as a church, and quite honestly, I am a little bit nervous.
VI. But if we consider Nehemiah, we must notice,
A. He kept his eye on the prize, the goal was to rebuild the walls, regardless the opposition.
B. He simply kept working the plan.
VII. That is us as well,
A. Our goal is to see God bring new souls to the kingdom through our church family,
B. And like Nehemiah, we will keep working the plan.
VIII. I know this; regardless of what the end result is for this church, God will be glorified as we move forward together.
