God’s Great Work | Sunday, July 10, 2022

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. And it happened, when all our enemies heard it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God. (Nehemiah 6:15-16)

Every great work of God begins with a great vision—and He delights to accomplish it through the unlikely, the untrained, and the underprepared.

Every Project Begins With a Vision

It has been several weeks since I have been here to teach, and it is great to be back. I'm grateful to our leadership team and staff, who have led this church faithfully while I took my first real extended break in nearly fifteen years of pastoring. I've also been encouraged by the teaching we've received in Nehemiah from Pastor Mark, Pastor David Guzik, and Pastor Garrett, with more to come from Pastor Jason and my friend Lance Ralston.

The story of Nehemiah is, fundamentally, a story about a building project. In some respect, every one of us has been involved in a building project of one sort or another. You may not have built a house, but you've built a life, built relationships, a marriage, a family. Any time we set out to build something, there are tangibles and intangibles, knowns and unknowns—the things we plan for, and the things that take us by surprise.

The Drama of the Unknowns

You've watched those remodel shows on TV. They begin with architects and engineers drawing up plans, 3D renderings, a budget, a timetable—all the knowns. Then comes the drama, and it always comes when they open up the walls. Suddenly there are problems with the slab, bad plumbing, electrical work that has to be redone—unknowns that add time and money to the project.

It is the unknowns in life that create the drama and make things take longer than we wanted. And honestly, if you knew all the unknowns ahead of time, you might rethink whether you'd start the project at all. But it's also the unknowns that make it more likely a project will actually get done—because had you known them, you probably wouldn't have started in the first place.

For me, and for many people I've talked to, COVID has been one of those huge unknowns. Not just the virus, but the response to it by our public health and policy establishments. It has been a long season of chaotic unknowns, and along the way we've been trying to adjust and regroup around all the drama.

What Moves Us Forward

So what causes us to begin a project despite all the unknown unknowns? I want to suggest that it is a vision of what could be, what should be, or what will be when everything is done. In the mind space of our imagination, we see a vision of how things will be at the end, and that vision compels us forward.

It's as if you're standing on a mountaintop, able to see the distant peak you want to reach. But between you and that peak is a fog-covered valley full of unknowns. You can't see what's down there, but you can see where you want to go. You see in your mind's eye the finished room, the completed paper, even the child on an ultrasound as a fully functioning adult one day.

This ability to see the end from the beginning—to envision something and then move toward its creation—sets us apart from every other life form on earth. Animals don't envision future states and then architect everything to complete them. You are unique in creation because God, who also envisions and then creates, made you in His image and likeness to take what He has made and create from it as well.

A Personal Picture

Four years ago, my wife Andrea and I set out to do some things we'd prayed about for years. Andrea was working as a critical care nurse, and in early 2018 she began the process of enrolling in a nurse practitioner program. That got me thinking it might be time for me to pursue my Master of Divinity. So in August of 2018, we both began graduate programs.

When we started, the end seemed impossibly far away. But what pushes you to set aside the time and money is a vision of being done. We couldn't see the intangibles—and the biggest one was COVID. By March 2020, everything shifted. Andrea's work in the ICU got increasingly crazy, our four kids came home to be homeschooled, and we were trying to do all of life and our schoolwork on top of it. If we had known the drama of 2020 and 2021 back in 2018, we might have thought differently about starting.

But we didn't see all that. We just had a vision of being done. And in spite of all the chaos, Andrea finished her degree last May, and I finished mine this May. Pastor Garrett is doing the same and will finish in December. When you start, you just see the finished state. If you knew everything in between, you might never start.

Nehemiah's Vision

Back in Nehemiah 1, Nehemiah prayed and fasted for four and a half months after hearing a report from his brothers that the work in Jerusalem had been stalled for nearly a hundred years. He was broken by the news. During that time, he saw a vision—a completed wall and a safely inhabited city, something that had not been true for hundreds of years. As he envisioned it, he constructed a plan, and eventually he was given the opportunity to implement it.

Then came the challenges, the hurdles, the setbacks, the drama—always expect those things to come. There were enemies, attacks, conspiracies, and money problems. What kept Nehemiah and the people moving forward through it all? A vision. An optimistic vision of the future keeps us on track through life's challenges.

Guard Your Optimistic Vision

This is key: if you lose sight of that future, if your optimistic vision shifts, it is easier than you might think to become despairing and depressed. The downward spiral can be swift and severe. This is why I've encouraged you over the years to take a break from social media and corporate news media. The middle of summer 2022 might be a great time for a mid-year fast from it.

The media we are bombarded with every day—Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, Drudge—is crafted to make us lose that optimistic vision. It is pessimistic and despairing. So mute it for a week or two, or six or eight. But don't just mute it—replace it with something far better. Replace it with the Scriptures.

One of our first values here at Cross Connection is that we want everything we do to be done with joy, because we have an optimistic vision of the future. When people see a Christian, one of the things they should see is joy. The fruit of the Spirit—love, joy. And the greatest thing that will increase our joy is that optimistic vision: ultimately, Jesus Christ ruling and reigning in righteousness for eternity. The sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed.

Psalm 46 in a World of Chaos

If you look at this week's headlines—mass shootings, inflation, rising prices and interest rates, a slowing housing market, politicians in disarray, war in Europe, tensions in Asia—you'll be pessimistic and depressed. But I was reminded of Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah.

That word Selah means pause and think about it. Imagine the world in total chaos and upheaval. Then the psalmist says, "There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God." He sees a vision of the city of God where God dwells, and "she shall not be moved." Then he returns to the raging nations—and pauses again. "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah."

This is a refocusing of our attention. As Paul says in Colossians 3, "Set your mind on things above." The psalmist did this 3,000 years ago. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." That is the promise. One day our King Jesus will rule and reign in righteousness. This is why we pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Maybe that needs to be our communal prayer right now.

Fifty-Two Days

So in the month of Kislev—around our November or December—Nehemiah received word about the problems in Jerusalem and was brokenhearted. He prayed and fasted for four and a half months, and he saw a vision of a rebuilt, safely inhabited city with defensive walls. Then we read where we are today:

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. (Nehemiah 6:15)

A great work always begins with a great vision. And if that is true, I want to ask you: what vision do you see or have? Take some time this week to think about it—but minus out all the hurdles. Don't immediately calculate every reason it won't work. What vision do you have of the future, one year, five years, ten years out, that's in your heart, where you'd like to be?

What Would You Do If Nothing Stood in the Way?

I've been pastoring for 23 years, and for the first decade I worked mostly with youth and young adults. The most often asked question I received was, "I wish I knew what God's will is for my life." So I would ask a simple question: if you could do anything you wanted to do, and nothing was standing in the way, what would you do?

If that doesn't help, here's a more fundamental question. What do you see right now that bothers you? What problem stands out to you? What do you wish was fixed? And here's the key—what would it look like if it were fixed? That's exactly what Nehemiah faced. He had a problem that bothered him, and he began to imagine what it would look like if it were fixed. That imagination is a vision.

Here's the crazy thing: the thing that bothers you, and the vision of it being resolved, might actually take less time than you realize. From the time the refugees returned to Jerusalem until Nehemiah arrived was about 94 years. For nearly a century the city languished, the people were disheartened, the city was in ruin. Then from the time Nehemiah came until the wall was finished—52 days.

One Man With a Vision

What changed? The people who built the wall were the same people who had occupied the city before Nehemiah arrived. The obstacles, challenges, and difficulties didn't go away. The difference was one individual—a man named Nehemiah with a vision. A great work always begins with a great vision.

He spent twice as much time in prayer and fasting—four and a half months—as he did building the wall. And it could have been done in even less than 52 days, except they had enemies attacking them, so half the people had to defend while the other half worked. They had money problems and all kinds of issues, and still they finished in seven weeks.

These wall builders were not, by trade, wall builders. In fact, had they been the experts, the wall probably wouldn't have gotten done so fast—because the experts would have told them all the ways it couldn't be done. If you read Nehemiah 3 slowly, you'll find the people building were priests and perfumers, politicians and jewelers. Often God uses the unlikely, the untrained, and the uninitiated to accomplish great works.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty... that no flesh should glory in His presence. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

God has chosen the foolish, the base, the despised, the weak—which means God can use you. And not only can He use you; He wants to use you in His great work. But it always begins with a great vision. So what vision do you see?

Why Sit Here Until We Die?

Several hundred years before Nehemiah, during the time of the kings, the Syrians laid siege to Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom. The siege was so bad the people turned to cannibalism. The prophet Elisha saw a vision that God would deliver the city in spite of their sin, and right after his prediction we read this story:

Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die?" (2 Kings 7:3)

If we enter the city, they reasoned, we'll die in the famine; if we sit here, we'll die also. So let us surrender to the Syrians—if they kill us, we only die. They rose at twilight, and to their surprise the Syrian camp was empty. The Lord had caused the Syrians to hear the noise of a great army, and they fled, leaving everything intact.

I bring it up only for that question: "Why are we sitting here until we die?" Underline those words. God has a work He wants to do, and He wants to employ you in it. So why sit here, languishing? Whether you realize it or not, God has called you to be part of His work—serving here at the church in kids ministry, worship, prayer, security, greeting, an outreach team, a short-term mission trip, disaster relief, ministering to your neighbors and co-workers, chaplaincy. The fact that God accomplished His work with the unlikely and untrained proves He can and will use you to do what you don't think you could do.

God's Work Subverts His Enemies

And it happened, when all our enemies heard it... (Nehemiah 6:16)

All the naysayers and antagonists heard the news. They had conspired, mocked, intimidated, threatened, and terrorized—and then they heard that the wall was finished in 52 days. God's great work will ultimately subvert all His enemies, and He wants you to be involved in this subversive work.

The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool." (Psalm 110:1)

Christ the King of kings is seated in a place of power at the right hand of glory, and one day all His enemies will be under His feet. That is an optimistic vision of the future. All those who terrorize, mock, and conspire against God's work will be subjugated by the King of kings. And the New Testament declares, "We shall reign with Him" (2 Timothy 2:12).

God's Work Reveals His Glory

...and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God. (Nehemiah 6:16)

God's great work will ultimately reveal the greatness of His glory to all nations. Every eye will see the glory of the Lord. "Then all the tribes of the earth... will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30). The nations around Judah saw the speed at which an unlikely group of priests, perfumers, politicians, and jewelers built a defensive wall in seven weeks. They were humbled, because they perceived this work was done by God.

Sovereignty and Responsibility, Hand in Hand

Wait a second—the work was done by God, but it was also done by Nehemiah and the people. Yes. In the same way that Gideon and his 300 men had victory over the Midianites: was it Gideon's work, or God's? The answer is both. God sovereignly works through the agency of humans to accomplish His will.

So is it God who did the work, or the people? Yes. The great work won't get done if God doesn't show up—but it also won't get done if you stay home. My favorite passage says it:

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)

God is working, so you get to work. He could accomplish His work better without me, and yet in His omnipotence He has sovereignly elected to use me. So much so that I think it is true—and I know it's an audacious claim—to say that God's great work is ultimately hindered only by me. By you. By us.

Don't Be a Spectator

What is holding you back from engaging in the work God has prepared for you? Maybe you see all the obstacles, calculating every reason it can't happen. Do you realize your hindrances are hindering God's work? You say, "I'm not smart enough, talented enough, rich enough, strong enough, well connected enough." Martin Luther said, "Of whom shall I be afraid? One with God is a majority."

Empowered by God—just as Gideon's army was, just as Nehemiah was—with God you are a majority. God uses unlikely outsiders to accomplish great works for which they are untrained and underprepared. Nehemiah teaches us that it is often the unlikely, the untrained, and the underprepared who accomplish such things—because they don't know what they don't know, and so they do in seven weeks what the know-it-alls couldn't accomplish in a hundred years.

This story reminds us that God has a work He wants to accomplish, and His plan requires your engagement. Don't be a spectator—get in the game. It begins with a vision, and it begins with you. Set aside the distractions, turn off the social media and news media, spend time with the Lord, and ask: if I could do anything I wanted, and nothing stood in the way, what would I do? What thing is bothering me that I wish were fixed? Then pray, maybe fast, and ask the Lord to give you a vision and the faith to move forward.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that You would do a work in us, that this story from Nehemiah would challenge and encourage us—that You are the one who takes the unlearned, the untrained, the uninitiated, the underprepared, and You empower and equip us and send us out to do things we could not do on our own without You, so that You get the glory. Just as 1 Corinthians 1 says, so that no flesh will glory in Your presence, God, You get the glory in our lives. All the nations round about saw and proclaimed, "This work was done by God." God, work in Your people, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.