The Courage to Face Reality
Series: When It’s Time to Move FORWARD
Brad Bailey – April 18, 2021
Intro
My added welcome to you today. It’s so good to be gathering together in this season. As I shared last week... we are in a unique season of transition. This Spring will involve coming out of what we could think of as a long “pandemic winter.” And the end of this long pandemic season won’t be defined by a moment...but by a movement... a movement each of us will now be navigating.
As I shared last week...I believe that God wants us to take in a key word to help us...and it is the word “FORWARD.”
For over a year... to limit the spread of a virus... the underlying need has been to stay in place....and that can refer to staying at home...but the nature of “staying in place”...can also define the whole nature of how our lives just stopped moving forward. We all found that we really couldn’t plan in the way we normally do. We couldn’t move forward when we couldn’t know what to expect. And if that had been true for a month...it would have been a set back. But when it becomes true for well over a year...it becomes something that sets in.
I imagine we all sense that we have adapted in some ways. We’ve all had our internal settings adjusted. And that has likely included having to develop some healthy and holy patience. Many of us found ourselves frustrated by limitations...and we wanted a clear end point so that we could make plans, It’s been a season of having to face the reality that there is a lot that we just don’t control. It may have been a healthy challenge to surrender our sense of control.
But now we are entering a season that calls us to begin to move forward...
I recall how God led the Israelites to the edge of promised land...and there they camped for a long time. And the Scriptures tell us how God spoke to the people.
“The LORD our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on. … Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it...” Deuteronomy 1:6-8 (NLT)
You’ve stayed at that mountain long enough…in other words… don’t let what is ‘temporary’ become ‘permanent’.
There is a promised land…and you are not there yet.
There is a plan to bless the whole world. And we have not fulfilled it yet.
The truth God wants us to embrace...is that: The life that matters most...is the one that is still ahead of us.
But sometimes it’s hard ...because there are challenges we want to avoid.
So today we are going to launch into the series entitled When It’s Time to Move FORWARD... allowing God to speak to us from the Biblical book of Nehemiah. It captures what is involved in moving forward.
The Book of Nehemiah follows what God did that involved the life of Nehemiah.
Now the Old Testament covers a long history... so let me give us the very short version of where Nehemiah fits in. The true and living God of all creation begins to make His true nature known as he calls out a man named Abraham to become the father of a new people and a new nation. God explains that he is making a covenant... and through this people.... He would make himself known and bless the world. That people...the nation of Israel... often went its own way...and suffered the consequences. One of the prophets God raised up ...Jeremiah...had predicted that the southern part of this kingdom of Israel... would be captured by the Babylonian’s and that the temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed. And so it came to be.
In 587 BC, the Babylonians, under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar, conquered Jerusalem. They killed the leaders of Judah, plundered the temple before burning it to the ground, destroyed much of the city, including its walls, and took the strongest of Jerusalem’s citizens to Babylon. There, these Jews lived for decades in exile, where they could only hope for God’s deliverance and the restoration of Israel. After 50 years...in 539 BC... there was a glimmer of hope when Persia, led by King Cyrus, overthrew Babylon. Shortly thereafter, Cyrus issued a decree inviting the Jews in his kingdom to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and, therefore, their life as God’s people (Ezra 1:1-4). The result of this first movement was that almost 50,000 Jews got to return and they attempted to rebuild the temple... but there was little that could be done with their limited resources.
And it is in this period that three different books in the Old Testament are related. The Biblical books of Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah. [1]
Soon after the halfway mark of the seventy years that Jeremiah had predicted the captivity would last. God raised Esther, a young Jewish maiden, to the throne of Persia as queen. This is captured in the Biblical Book of Esther. God uses her positive relationship to the King of Persia. King Artaxerxes. Almost 50 years after that first remnant had returned... a priest named Ezra would be sent back by King Artaxerxes with the authority and resources to rebuild the temple.
So what became of Jerusalem? This is what we now come to... 15 years later... in the Book of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah is another Jewish life that has found favor with the Persian king. He has become the cup bearer. He is living within the palace compound...and as the cup bearer...he is to sample any wine that is brought to the king...as a way to be certain it hasn’t been poisoned. This palace is 800 miles away from the city of Jerusalem... where the temple had been rebuilt and Ezra had been given permission to go restore the religious life.
The Book of Nehemiah is his memoir... and today we simply begin with the opening four verses.
Nehemiah 1:1-4
1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." 4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah begins telling us how he is in the palace...and one of his brothers returns with a group of men who had all returned from a long journey to Jerusalem. So Nehemiah asks how things were going in Jerusalem. And he receives the hard reality...The people and city are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.
SCREEN
Nehemiah 1:3
They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."
It may be hard to fully appreciate what this represented. The land of Israel was the promised land...their promised inheritance.... what they were supposed to have reached and inhabited. To have been taken away in exile...and the city destroyed...was like ceasing to exist...or having lost all meaning. They had been existing as a lost people... exiled and banished... with no real place in this world... no identity. Nehemiah, as one of those people... knew the significance of the first exiles having returned. The hope of the people... who were to be the hope of the world... had begun to return... and to rebuild the temple that represented God’s presence. Ezra had begun to restore their identity and life with God.
But now comes the reality. The walls that formed the city were left in ruins. It may be hard for us to understand the nature of the walls. In such times... the small farming villages had no permanence. Everyone looked to the few cities...and the essence of a city was it’s walls. As one described it... “Without a wall, a city was nothing more than a group of people waiting to be robbed, harassed and even killed.”
The wall was left in ruins.. any force can simply destroy them...and their life with God. So as the report expressed, the people are deeply troubled....and they live in disgrace.
It’s as if they are naked... they are exposed... they are not a city...not what they should be...and it’s there for all to see.
And this helps us to understand that what is at hand is not simply rebuilding the physical walls...but rebuilding the people. As we will see in the weeks ahead, when Nehemiah returns... he finds that it is not just the walls that need rebuilding... but the lives as well.
The Book of Nehemiah is about restoring God’s people to be what God had in mind. And it shows us something about the building up of those who are a part of God’s new covenant in Christ... the church, which is being built with living stones led by One greater than Nehemiah.
God has a plan for the world that is centered in those who receive and embody Christ. And we who are that people... we are the exiles who represent that we have been lost and separated from home... and God has made a way for us to return to Him... and His presence.
And we must see the significance of the walls that define us...that set us apart...that protect our temple...our life with God. These are not the walls of exclusion...they are the walls that protect the hope we offer to the whole world. They are the walls that the whole world can see as representing what is distinct... as different... as daring to represent the hope that there is life with God. Those are the walls of our lives ...as individuals...and as a people together.
And we can learn from how Nehemiah responds to the news that such walls were in ruins.
This moment is the start of someone enormous... something that happened in real history ...in the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah is going to lead the way of restoration. He is going to give up everything...to help restore God’s people.
And it’s important to appreciate that Nehemiah could have easily avoided this reality. Nehemiah lived in Persia...800 miles away from Jerusalem. He had been born among those dispersed. He had never stepped foot in Jerusalem. He was living in a palace and enjoying a great position.
And yet Nehemiah actually wanted to know. Nehemiah “questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.” The word, “question” means “to inquire or demand” an answer. Nehemiah was greatly concerned about what was happening in Jerusalem. Nehemiah dared to ask for the true condition of the people and the city.
And when he heard... it took hold of him.
SCREEN
Nehemiah 1: 4
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah is struck. He isn’t just moved to tears...he has to sit down... to take this in. This isn’t something that he can walk off... he has to sit down...to take it in.
And this isn’t just a moment... it went on for some days.
On one hand...it may seem fitting of such news...but I think for many of us...the nature of such grieving is a little uncomfortable. This moment of grieving may be the most uncomfortable part of the story. We may be ready for the story of a great leader who rises to lead the restoration of Jerusalem...but we think we can skip the grieving.
But what we need to see....is that this grieving is not only a healthy grieving... but part of the strength out of which he and great leaders of God have led.
The truth is that Nehemiah... in such grieving.... is actually in good company. [1b]
Some may recall King David... who had the courage to fight off bears... and to fight Goliath... and became a warrior who led armies into battle. And not only are we told that he wept.... but that it was a part of his strength. He wept when is friend Jonathan moved on. He wept when his son does. He expresses his weeping in many of the Psalms he wrote. The point is that he is the one God said was a man after God’s heart... and he knew how to grieve.
And of course there is Jesus himself... who the prophets described as a man acquainted with sorrow. And Jesus wept over this same city and the temple of Jerusalem because they had ceased to serve the purpose for which they were intended.
He is the ultimate example of grief being a part of his strength.
What we see is a Godly grief... a good grief. It involves feelings...but we shouldn’t confuse feelings as simply the virtue in themselves. We are all different in what we feel and how we feel. What we see isn’t simply the feeling...but the freedom to feel...which is the freedom to face what’s real.
I am indebted to Melanie Forsythe... pastoring a Vineyard church in Ohio...who was asked to give the opening message to Vineyard church pastors and planters at a summit recently. And drawing from this passage she spoke about the vital need to grieve...and spoke into how that can be a vital part of how we deal with this recent pandemic season of life. Just shortly before the pandemic... her husband... who was leading the church... dies unexpectedly. She lost her husband... and the church lost a pastor together. And then they are in the midst of the pandemic...and realize that in all their desire to pull it all together... they needed permission to grieve...to feel. [2]
She recalled the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail...a favorite spoof movie in my youth...and the scene every fan knows so well...in which King Author is confronted by the black knight... who appears ominous... as he speaks with a deep voice beneath his metal helmet. It leads to drawing swords...and King Author cuts off his arm... and in the most obvious of spoof film visuals...blood is spirting out...King Author prepares to pass...but the black knight carries on resisting... look at the arm...and says it’s only a flesh wound. Well...this continues with each arm and each leg... while continues to say it’s not that bad... until Author finally goes his way... as the Black Knight is shouting...”I’m invincible”...and author mumbles...”You’re a lunatic.”
As Melanie notes...we can become like that Black Knight.
If our world is facing the breadth of losses of this past year...and we say, ”Everything is fine”.... it’s like another limb chopped off that we dismiss.
There are a lot of things we can say that may have some undeniable truth...but they avoid as much as they face.
Some may say that most of those who died from this virus wouldn’t have lived much longer. (That may be true...but that doesn’t help in facing the reality of every loss.)
I can tell myself that the church has been through much harder times than this. (It’s true...but it doesn’t help to face this time.)
The point is that true faith is not a rabid denial of reality. As Melanie described well...
“You can’t heal if you can’t feel...and you can’t feel if you don’t see what is real.
When we grieve what is real...we honor what is real.” - Melanie Forsythe
Nehemiah says ‘as soon as I heard these words (about what really happened) ...I sat down and wept.
This is what I want us to grasp today: Restoration begins with the courage to face reality... and then trust God is a part of it.
Nehemiah wanted to know.... he dared to ask for the true condition of the people and the city.
And when he heard... he didn’t change the subject. He didn’t divert by seeing what sales were going on at Costco or the latest Instagram posts. He didn’t leave the room and head off to another place and activity. He didn’t just go binge on the wine he was the taster of. He sat down....and he faced the reality.
And what we see is the nature of healthy grief.... a holy grief. The nature of such a holy and healthy grief is different from mere sadness or hopeless despair.
Healthy grief doesn’t withdraw in weakness or fear.... but rather reflects the courage to face reality.
It is the weakness that turns to God for strength
The Apostle Paul writing in the New Testament... spoke of how he prayed and asked God to remove a challenge he faced...and how God responded by saying that his power is made perfect in our weakness... and that he now experiences how when we are weak...we experience God’s strength at work in us. It’s important not to assume that being sad and being hopeless are the same thing. There is a sadness that can reflect the courage to face reality... and then trust God is a part of it. [3]
Healthy grief Is not a lack of gratitude... because it’s not expressing a demand for what we deserve but for what God desires.
Nehemiah wasn’t complaining...he wasn’t critical...his allowed himself to feel a sadness that was actually shared with God.
This is part of the difference between being sad and mad.
Nehemiah doesn’t start blaming God...or pointing fingers. He just allows himself to be sad.
Nehemiah doesn’t tell others that they need to feel what he does. His sadness becomes an invitation to others...not an accusation.
And there is a similar potential as this virus has spread throughout the world... and created a common threat and a common loss... and the potential for a common grieving.
Healthy grief is not simply self-pity because it’s not vainly focused on oneself but on the reality of loss.
Nehemiah is not seeking attention. He is not drawing people to himself....he is just acknowledging what is real.
Healthy grief is not the end of going forward... but the inability to go forward without God.
Grief may declare that we can’t go on... we can’t see any way forward....but it knows that it is declaring it’s human limitations. And only in that honesty... is it ultimately turning to God. [4]
So what does this say to us today?
It’s an opportunity to see the gift of heathy grief... to become less like the black knight and more like Jesus who didn’t deny the sorrows of this world but faced them with the reality with God.
Jesus opened up what it means to live as one who didn’t deny reality.... but knew a larger reality. He reveals that...
True courage is not found in making reality smaller through denial... but engaging a larger through faith.
And more specifically...I believe that this is a season that calls us to face forward... and that may include some restoration from what has been lost... or left vulnerable.
As we continue in the weeks ahead through Nehemiah... we will discover the wisdom that guided the success of restoration. Through the first half of this book.... we see how they took something so large...and succeeded at the reconstruction of the walls...and then in the latter half of the book...how they continued with the reconstruction of the people that lived within the walls.
But today begins with a call to dare to face forward... and face the reality you may see... and believe that God is in it.
When some of us face forward...and look at what is ahead...we may see that there is damage from the past....that we have not fully restored... maybe damage that we have just become so use to that we’ve lost the ability to even see or realize. Maybe we have been walking around the rubble of broken walls so long that we don’t even realize it. Maybe there are challenges we just haven’t thought we could face... so we’ve avoided reality. And today God is inviting us to dare and look... and to sit down and face reality... and trust God to restore it.
Some of us may realize that we have suffered some real loss specifically during this pandemic season....that we have not allowed ourselves to grieve. Maybe we’ve told ourselves that we haven’t lost as much as others... maybe we haven’t thought we should grieve because it might sound like complaining... or maybe we’ve been afraid to really sit down and take in the reality of what has been lost...because we’re afraid it will just leave us in despair.
We may need to see that
Restoration begins with the courage to face reality... and then trust God is a part of it.
And I invite you to join me in the restoration of our communal life. The nature of the church at large has also suffered in this past year. My heart has been lifted by ways we’ve grown during this season... but this season has also done it’s damage... and we have walls to restore...a need to restore that which sets apart our hope for the whole world.
So I invite you to join me in rebuilding the unfinished walls of our lives.
Will you dare to face forward... and embrace the courage to face the reality of the challenges you may see... and believe that God is in it?
Let’s come before God in prayer....
PRAYER
Resources: Rebuilding the Walls, Dan Meyer here
Permission to Weep, Cry, and Mourn (Even if You’re a Leader), APRIL 19, 2020 (here)
Notes:
1. Ezra, Nehemiah & Esther and Work - Bible Commentary / Produced by TOW Project - here
Detailed Chronology Of Ezra, Nehemiah, And Esther here
1b. As noted in: Permission to Weep, Cry, and Mourn (Even if You’re a Leader), (here)
The word “weep” can have intense emotional connotations, but effectively it simply means “to shed tears.” They may be slow and quiet, or loud and furious. You might call it mourning, you might just call it crying or feeling sad.
Whatever you want to call it, you should know that not only does the Bible give us permission to weep, it encourages at times. In fact, there is an entire book of the Bible dedicated to Lamentations.
Biblical figures typically weep when they encounter the world as it was not meant to be. The same is true for us today.
We were created for eternity, and so death causes weeping. We were made for oneness with God, and so separation from Him brings tears. We were designed to love others, and so isolation can hurt and cause great pain. We were placed in the Garden of Eden to work, and so when work gets taken away from us challenges our self-worth.
Examples of People Weeping in the Bible
There are countless people who spend time weeping in the Bible. A quick search of the concordance shows that the word “weep” appears 101 times, “wept” appears 68 times, “mourn” appears 120 times, and “sorrow” appears 49 times to describe people’s emotions.
King David wept several times: Despite being a legendary warrior, David did not hide his emotions. He wept frequently, including 1 Samuel 20, when he weeps because he will no longer see his friend Jonathan again. Later, in 2 Samuel 12 and 2 Samuel 18, he wept for the death of his sons. The Psalms are filled with songs of grief and sorrow.
Jesus wept when Lazarus died: Even though Jesus knew he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, he still wept at the loss of life and the pain for Mary and Martha. John 11:35 is famously the shortest verse in the Bible, and keeps things simple: “Jesus wept.” This was not his only experience of grief, Isaiah 53:3 called him a “man of sorrows.”
2. I am indebted to Melanie Forsythe (Pastoring Life Vineyard Church in Columbus Ohio) who drew upon this text in Nehemiah is identifying the need to grieve for pastors leading through the pandemic....in Multiply Vineyard Summit 2021. Multiply Vineyard Summit - Session 1 - Melanie Forsythe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blxZUZAFpc8
3. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NIV)
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
4. Consider 2 Corinthians 4:8-18 (NLT2)
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. 13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” 14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
