***Open with modern day Noah movie clip***
Listen to that last line again. “The creator, from Adam to Noah to now, is still scouring the earth looking for one man or one woman that can actually see past their own nose, to see a world that is in desperate need and do something about it!”
From the beginning of time this is how God has chosen to do his work and make a difference in the world. He has chosen to work through people and use their lives to change the people around them. He did it with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Mary and Joseph, and even the disciples and Paul. Most of the time, God used the people everyone least expected; the weak, the small, the fishermen, the tax collectors, the murderers, the poor, the young. The one thing though that all of these men and women had in common was the fact that they were humble. They could, as the video clip expressed, see past their own noses and see a world in desperate need and then did something about it.
This humility is so important to bring about spiritual change. Nehemiah and the men and women of Jerusalem became very aware of that after they had completed the walls of the city. Before the city policies were written, before the walls of Jerusalem were dedicated to God, and before the city was established the people needed to be humbled. That is what we find in chapter 9 of Nehemiah. Let’s open our Bibles to Nehemiah 9:1-5.
***Read Nehemiah 9:1-5a***
Notice what two things are here in these five verses. In verse 1, we start off with a sense of awe and respect for God. The people fasted, dressed in burlap or sackcloth which was uncomfortable goat’s skin, and sprinkled dust on their heads. These were all signs of public sorrow and repentance and showed a respect and awe for God. Then in verse 3 we have the reading of Scripture, again for three hours, where the people read it, heard it and had in explained to them, and then put it into practice.
After those two things, starting in verse 5 and going to the end of chapter 9, there is a time of humbling and confession that takes form through the prayer of the Levites. Instead of reopening your Bibles and following along, I would like to ask you all to stand as the Israelites did, and just listen to this prayer.
***Read Nehemiah 9:5b-37***
This prayer is one of the longest recorded prayers in the Old Testament but can be broken into three different parts that specifically help humble the people of Jerusalem. These same three things play a role in our lives and whether or not we too can live humbly.
The first part of the prayer is the smallest part, taking only two verses, but yet very important. It starts at the end of verse 5 and it goes through verse 6. Yet again, the people are reminded of the power, greatness and awe of God. They focus on God as the creator of everything and that all of creation worships Him, even the angels.
I am not going to talk much more on this since we did a whole night on this issue a few weeks ago. Just be reminded again that God is bigger, better, and more amazing than anything else we could ever imagine. He created everything that is around us and he could remove it from existence just as easily! Humility starts by putting our lives in perspective to the eternal, all powerful Creator.
The second part is the longest part of the prayer taking up verses 7-31. The people here are humbled by remembering their history; what they had been through and what God had already done in their lives. The Levites walk through the story and faith of Abraham. They talk about the Exodus out of Egypt and how God split the Red Sea for them to cross and destroyed their enemies. They talk about the Ten Commandments, the wanderings in the wilderness and how God took care of them, the wars and battles that were fought and won, and the land that God provided for them. Reading through all that God had done for their forefathers and the grace and mercy He had on the people would have been a very humbling thing as the people submitted themselves to God.
We too have history that we need to remember as we live our lives. There are two different kinds that I want to focus on tonight. The first is the history of our own lives. Most of us in this room, if we sat and thought for a moment, can think of at least one time where God did something for us. It could be an answer to prayer, providing for a need, helping us in a difficult time, or even just having a relationship with us and saving us from Hell. The fact is, God has done things in our lives whether we realize it or not; everything has happened for a reason. It is important to remember that personal history because it shows God’s faithfulness through thick and thin and that He is in control and not us, even when we think we are!
The second history that we need to be aware of is more similar to what the Levites prayed and that is the history of the nation that they lived. We in America have a rich and powerful history that really proclaims Christianity. A lot of our forefathers were Christians, including George Washington, and as Steve mentioned in December when he last spoke, so much of the nation was founded on Biblical principles. So many of our cities, especially in New England, were founded on religious freedom and were built to be cities and communities dedicated to God. Even our little town of Essex was founded and started in this same way.
The town of Essex (then Chebacco) when it was founded in the 1680’s was dedicated to God and doing His work once they were able to have their own church after breaking away from Ipswich. John Wise was the first Pastor and was a very Godly man and in fact, had some of his writings used by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. The town was originally run completely out of the church. There were no separate buildings or offices. Later when John Cleveland came around, he did some quarterly fasts with the youth which brought about a small revival.
It wasn’t until the 1800’s when the church separated itself from the town and incorporated that the town as a whole began to fade away from God and doing His work. The way the town started and the covenant is something through that God hasn’t forgotten and will one day return this town to the way it was.
God’s faithfulness in our own lives but also in the nation and area that we live in is so important to being humble. We are not in control, God is!
The last part of the prayer is found in verses 32-36 and really focuses on the individual sin and disobedience of the people in the here and now. Twice within this last section the people claim that they have sinned greatly. They admit that they have done evil in God’s eyes and disobeyed his Word. They also admit that the troubles they have experienced are what they deserve because of this sin. They again, ask God for his mercy by confessing their sins and submit their lives to Him.
As we put our lives in perspective to the eternal Creator of the universe and stand in awe of Him and as we look at our history, both what God has done in our own lives and what He has done in our nation, we too need to take this final step of confession and submitting to God.
We all have sin in our lives and ways that we have disobeyed God. We need to confess that sin and ask for forgiveness. James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Humility starts when we realize and remember we are nothing compared to God. It continues to develop when we see God’s faithfulness in our lives and in our nation and remember that we are not in control. And it is carried out when we fall to our knees and bow before God admitting our sins and recommit out lives to Him and His work.
