Commitment to Rebuilding

In the 1997 movie, As Good As It Gets, it starred Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt.

And in the movie, Jack Nicholson, it's not Helen Hunt in the picture,

in the movie, Jack Nicholson has obsessive compulsive disorder.

And he is a very difficult and off-putting person to be around in the film.

He's difficult, people don't like him, but there's one waitress in a cafe who is kind to him.

And he really likes this person.

And then she leaves, this is Helen Hunt's character, she leaves to take care of her son.

And Jack Nicholson pursues her.

And at the end of this movie, there is quite a famous scene,

when Jack Nicholson says to Helen Hunt,

I have a wonderful compliment for you.

Because I have obsessive compulsive disorder, because of you,

I have taken my medicine for the first time.

And Helen Hunt sits there and his face just says,

So what?

And then he says,

You make me want to be a better man.

And every heart melts.

And it's quite a famous scene.

It's really heartfelt.

And sitting behind it,

I'm sorry if I've spoiled this 25-year-old movie for you.

But sitting behind this is that Jack Nicholson has found someone

who is motivating him to change.

His motivation is,

I want to be a better man for you.

Maybe you've had that in your life.

Not that someone says,

You must meet these conditions.

But maybe you've met someone,

and you want to be a better friend for them.

You've met someone,

and you're like,

Actually, I'm going to play the sport that you like,

because I want to spend time with you.

My brother loves board games and card games.

And I hate learning new board games and card games.

But I will do that out of love for him.

But what motivates us in our relationship with God?

Is it who he is?

Is it his love and his compassion and his mercy to us

throughout all our lives and across generations?

Are we aware of what motivates us in our relationship with God?

Or are we motivated by guilt?

What brought you to church this morning?

Was it just a,

Oh, this is what we do as a family on a Sunday morning.

We just go to church.

Are we motivated by a desire to please other people?

Or to make sure that we're good with God?

Are we even aware of what motivates us?

We are coming to the end of the book of Nehemiah.

Janet has read for us chapter 9.

We're actually doing chapter 9 to 12.

But we're going to spend most of our time this morning in chapter 9.

And we see that a section of Israel has moved back

from exile in Babylon.

They've come back to Israel.

The walls have been built up.

The people have been trusting in God.

They've not been afraid of their enemies.

And they've come to the point of remembering

why the walls were broken down in the first place.

Their sin.

And God handing them over to their enemies.

They've sinned for generations.

God patience ran out.

And so they were exiled.

But in God's great compassion,

He's called them back to the promised land.

And so now Israel remind themselves about who they are,

how sinful they are,

and how good God has been to them.

And they recommit to this God.

They meditate on the character of God

and it motivates them to recommit.

And so the challenge for us today

will be to consider what motivates us

in our relationship with God.

duty, compulsion, family,

fear of hell, fear of harm.

Or will it be like Israel

who are motivated by God's love

and compassion to us

to obey Him because of who He is?

There's three points this morning.

Confession, character, and commitment.

They're in the St. Paul's app.

You can be writing those down,

taking notes in your phone.

But as we have a look at Nehemiah 9,

let me pray for us.

Heavenly Father,

as we look at Your Word to us today,

help us to see who You are

and grow in love and trust and obedience of You.

Amen.

First of all, confession.

In chapter 8,

we left Israel celebrating.

They were celebrating and rejoicing,

but now they turn to grief.

And they turn to grief

because before you can appreciate

who God is,

we have to know who we are not.

And so,

in your Bibles,

chapter 9,

verse 1.

On the 24th day of the same month,

the Israelites gathered together,

fasting and wearing sackcloth

and putting dust on their heads.

God's people are owning their own sin.

They know who they are

and who they are not.

And so they put on a burlap sack.

It is very itchy.

I don't know if you've got children

and you've ever tried to dress them

in something that looks nice.

One of my children,

whenever we put something nice on them,

they say,

this is itchy.

This is uncomfortable.

These people,

the Israelites,

are wearing a burlap sack

because they know

that they should feel uncomfortable

because of their sin.

They see themselves as dirty.

It's a wonderful picture of humility.

They put dirt on their heads

because they say,

I am a mess.

I am dirty.

And I am in need of help.

This is the place we should be in

when we find ourselves comfortable in our sin.

We have to acknowledge

that we have sin in our lives

and we are a mess.

And the only one that can help us

and make us clean is God.

In verse two,

they also separate themselves from the foreigners,

not to say that there's anything wrong

with people of other nations,

but it is as if they are owning their sin.

We are Israel.

We are God's people.

And we are going to own our sin

with our God.

And so they confess.

They confess their sins,

the sins of their ancestors.

They're not blaming anyone else

for being exiled,

and they own their sin.

And it's not just saying,

oh God,

we're sorry for all of the sins.

They go through them in detail.

Verse three,

they stood where they were

and they read from the book of the law,

of the Lord their God,

for a quarter of the day.

Imagine if I said,

okay, everybody,

we're going to read up,

stand up.

I'm going to read the Bible

for the next six hours.

And as we do that,

you're just going to be reminded

of all of our sins

and our failures.

And so after they'd read

the book of the law

for six hours,

verse three,

they spent another quarter

of the day

in confession

and in worshipping

the Lord their God.

As they're reading the word,

they would have been seeing

all of the places

that they fell short.

and so they spend hours

in confession.

Now this might seem

a lot to us,

but imagine

if we took, say,

just the Ten Commandments.

Even that's too many.

Let's just take the very first

of the Ten Commandments.

You shall have no other God

but me.

I'm sure we could spend

a lot of time

in confession.

God, I'm sorry

when I made myself God

over you

and I chose selfishness

this morning.

God, I'm sorry

when I made money,

my God,

yesterday when I was

at the shops

and I worshipped

at the altar of work

or possessions

or consumerism.

And Jesus says

of adultery

that lust is just as bad

and murder,

well, anger is just as bad.

Imagine if we went

into detail

and just confessed

the last two days

of our lust

and our anger

and our theft

and our envy

and our jealousy,

we too have

hours to confess.

To appreciate

who God is,

we need to have humility

and take a good,

hard look at ourselves

to understand

who we are

and who we are not.

One of the challenges

of our time

is that we are told

that our views

are valuable

and right.

Our emotions are right

and the view of ourselves

is right

and we are losing

the ability

to say of ourselves

and anyone else,

this is right

and this is wrong.

God sits outside time,

he sits outside culture,

he himself is good

and he tells us

what is good and right.

And so Israel

realise how far

they have gone from God

and they confess.

They read the law,

they have clarity

of where they fell short

but their own sinfulness

is not what motivates them.

They don't go,

we are so sinful,

we're going to work really hard,

we're going to pull up our socks,

we're going to follow God

really hard,

we're going to do

all of the things

God says in the law.

No,

their desire to confess

and their motivation

to change

is based on God's character.

Second point today,

God's character.

In verse 5,

it says that the Levites,

the priests,

they stand up

and praise God

with a summary

of Israel's history

and there's two key highlights.

How awful Israel has been

and how good God is.

I'm not sure if you picked that up

as Janet was reading.

It just says

how good God is

over and over.

Verse 6,

you alone are the Lord.

You made the heavens.

You give life to everything.

God is lifted high

as the one

who is in charge of all,

responsible for all

and has power over it all

and he chose Abraham.

Verse 7,

God chose

to make a covenant

with the people.

God heard that Israel

was stuck in Egypt

and so he saved them.

Then in verse 13,

God gave them laws

and regulations

that are good

and right

so they could follow him.

Verse 15,

God provided

for their physical needs

and gave them land

to live in.

Up to this point,

it all looks good

and rosy.

God has been good to them.

Israel is following God.

It all looks pretty good.

Everything changes

in verse 16.

Whenever you see the word

but in the Bible,

just underline it,

circle it,

put a tab there.

The buts are really helpful.

God has been good.

Israel has been following.

But,

but they,

our ancestors,

became arrogant

and stiff-necked.

They did not

obey your commands.

God has done

everything for them.

They were not humble.

They were unwilling

to bend their necks

to follow God.

And so God

has humbled Israel,

sent them into exile,

forced their necks

to be softened.

Verse 17,

Israel refused

to listen,

failed to remember

the miracles,

failure of memory.

They forgot the God

who made everything.

The God who,

who took them

and made them a people,

who,

who saved them

out of Egypt,

who,

who gave them

good laws to follow,

who gave them

a good land.

They forgot

their God.

And this is where

the beauty of God's

character is revealed.

If you've ever heard

or even thought yourself,

the God of the Old Testament,

I don't know about

the God of the Old Testament,

I like the God

of the New Testament.

He's all about love

and hugs and kisses

and I like Jesus,

he's wonderful.

But the God of Old Testament,

he's angry,

he's wrathful.

If you've ever thought that,

come to this point

in Nehemiah 9,

take a friend

to Nehemiah 9.

Verse 17,

but you are

a forgiving God,

gracious

and compassionate,

slow to anger

and abounding

in love.

Therefore,

you did not

desert them.

God had compassion

on Israel

when they rebelled

and made another God

out of the golden calf.

Verse 19,

God had compassion

on them

and didn't leave them

in the wilderness

to die.

God gave them land

and then they disobeyed again

and yet,

verse 27,

God had compassion.

And it's this cycle

that happens

over and over

and over.

They follow God,

they forget him,

they take him for granted,

they worship other gods,

he sends enemies,

they cry out,

verse 28,

and when they cried

out to you

again,

you heard from heaven

and in your compassion

you delivered them

time after time

after time

after time.

God is beyond

gracious to us.

Even after we commit

the most heinous acts

against him,

against the people

we love,

against friends,

he continues

to be loving

and compassionate.

And even when

his people

are not repenting,

he doesn't destroy them,

he loves them.

Israel,

at this point,

are in a disastrous situation.

They've been exiled,

their country

has been

all but destroyed,

their nation shattered,

and yet,

Israel are remembering

how good

God continues

to be to them.

And verse 31

summarizes

summarizes

the goodness

of God's character.

In your great

mercies,

you did not

put an end

to them

or abandon them

for you

are gracious

and merciful.

Because of God's character,

his mercy

and his graciousness.

As I read through this,

there's a word

that jumped out

to me

about God's character.

I'm not sure

if you've picked it up,

but it's the word

compassion.

It's there four times

in chapter 9.

God is gracious

and compassionate.

He has great compassion.

Again,

he's got great compassion.

And in your compassion,

you delivered them.

God is gracious

and merciful,

but key to this

is his compassion.

I love this word compassion

because it's made up

of two words,

com

and passion.

compassion.

The word com

means with.

So,

company.

You're with people.

And the word passion

doesn't mean

strong emotions

like we tend

to think these days.

The original meaning

of the word passion

means suffering.

So,

if you remember

the movie,

you know,

10 years ago

whenever it was made,

the passion

of the Christ

means the suffering

of Jesus

on the cross,

the passion

of the Christ.

So,

compassion means

with in suffering.

So,

if you have a friend

who you're grieving,

they sit with you

in your grief,

they are with you

in your suffering,

they have compassion.

God

is described

as someone

who has

compassion.

He is not

absent.

If you remember

that poem

about the footsteps

on the sand,

it is this picture

of God

walking with us

every step

of the way.

God is with

Israel

every step,

when they're faithful

and when they're not.

He is ready

to show mercy

and to forgive them.

He is present

and with them.

And how much more

wonderfully

does he do this

in Jesus?

when he

is present

as a human being,

he knows

our suffering.

He knows

what it is like

to be a human

with temptations,

to love people

and to suffer

on the cross.

God

became man.

He is

compassion.

He is

with us

in our suffering.

He knows

our joys

and our pains.

when Jesus

suffered

on the cross,

he suffered

in every way

like we suffer.

Physical pain,

he was betrayed

closest by those

closest to him.

He was distant

from God,

all so that God

could have mercy

and grace

to us.

God

is with us

and he's with Israel

in their suffering.

His compassion

is what

motivates

Israel

to change.

our third point

this morning,

commitment.

Israel

in verse 37,

cry out to God,

God we are

in great

distress.

In verse 38,

in view of all this,

in view of

history,

in view of

what we have

been like,

in view of

what you have

been like,

mercy,

gracious,

compassion,

in view of all this,

we are making

a binding agreement.

We're putting it

in writing.

We're going to

stamp it with our

stamp.

Our leaders,

the priests,

the Levites,

they're all affixing

their seals to it.

Everybody is on

board.

We are recommitting

to you.

The people know

their history.

They know who

they are

and they know

who their God

is

and they're

motivated by

who he is,

by his compassion.

And so they want

to better represent

God.

They want to

honor him.

They want to

remain God's

people and not

take it for

granted.

And so they

rededicate themselves.

There's something

really significant

going on in

these verses.

They make a

binding agreement.

They put it in

writing.

This is what we

continue to do.

We are people

who have mostly

moved away from

paper,

but still if we're

signing up for

something,

it gets put in

writing.

The leaders,

the Levites,

the priests

sign up for it.

It's representative

that it's not just

some people who

are committing to

the Lord,

it is the whole

people recommitting

to God.

God in his grace

has called them

back to the land

and they've seen

that and they're

saying,

yes,

we want to be

a people following

this God.

We're going to

commit.

And then the

next three

chapters,

10,

11 and 12,

show the people

commit.

Starts with all

the people in

verse 10 and

they remind

themselves of

God's laws that

they're committing

to.

It's as if what

they're saying,

we swear that

we're going to

follow this God

and if we don't

walk in this way,

we'll let God

curse us because

we want to

follow this God.

the first step

towards recommitting

to this God is

to turn back to

him in his

scriptures.

That's what

they've done.

They've spent

hours reading

the law,

remembering the

law.

They're going to

honour the

Sabbath.

They're going to

rest and trust

that God will

provide.

They're not going

to give their

daughters in

marriage to

people of

other nations

because those

other nations

are going to

bring in other

religions,

but they want

to worship God.

They want to

continue to

worship God for

generations.

They're going to

honour God,

God's temple,

the place where

sacrifices are

made.

They would

tithe,

they would

give of

their money.

They're

recommitting not

just with their

Sundays or their

Saturdays,

they're recommitting

with all that

they earn,

their money,

their first

fruits,

their crops,

their animals.

God has

committed to

them and they

are recommitting

to God with

their money,

their success,

their families,

with their time

and with their

worship.

And finally,

at the end

of chapter 12,

we return to

the wall,

which is what

this whole book

seems to have

been about,

building this

wall.

But the wall

was built and

it's almost like

an afterthought

that we come

back to it.

But the wall

that Nehemiah

came to build,

which was

finished a couple

of chapters ago,

it had not been

dedicated.

It had been

finished,

but they hadn't

smashed the bottle

of bubbly on it

like you do with a

ship as you

commission it.

God first

needed to work

on his people

before they could

celebrate what

he is doing.

They've read

the law,

they've confessed

their sins,

they've recommitted

to the Lord,

and now they are

ready to celebrate

what God is doing

in their midst.

And so Nehemiah

orders all the

musicians,

the choirs,

the priests,

he positions them

all on different

parts of the wall,

they offer many

sacrifices,

and in chapter 12

verse 43,

they were rejoicing

because God

had given them

great joy.

The women and the

children rejoiced,

and the sound of

rejoicing could be

heard far away.

I wonder what it

would look like

to have even the

people walking

past church hear

us rejoicing this

morning.

In a couple of

minutes, we're going

to sing our last

song.

What would it look

like for us to be

singing so loud

that people,

two streets away,

could hear us

rejoicing in our

God?

Jerusalem is

becoming the

city of God

again.

Not just the

place, but the

people.

Restoration and

reconciliation with

God and his people

should always be

celebrated.

When a sinner

comes to God,

there is a feast

in heaven.

When someone

commits their

life to God,

we get a big

water tank, we

do a baptism.

It is a good

thing to celebrate.

Brothers and

sisters, Israel

has gone on a

wonderful journey.

God has restored

them to their

land.

They've read the

Bible.

They've confessed

their sins.

They've meditated

on how good God

has been to them,

particularly his

compassion for

centuries.

And God's

character, his

compassion has

motivated them

to change,

motivated them

to recommit.

And so they've

signed up to

follow him again

today.

Maybe today is a

good day for us

to do the same

thing.

Actually, let's

take out that

word maybe.

Today is a good

day for us to

do the same

thing.

To confess our

sins.

To remember

where we've

walked far away

from him.

To remind

ourselves of

his great

compassion for

us in

Jesus.

That he has

dealt with

our sins so

that we can

know him.

And then

remind ourselves

to commit

to him

tomorrow,

the week to

come.

Because he

is with us

when we are

suffering.

When we feel

that we are

far from him,

he is with

us.

When we are

busy and

tired and

stressed,

he is with

us.

When we are

celebrating and

joyful, he

is with us.

When we are

grieving, he

is with us.

He is with

us.

He's not with

us like a

puppy dog who

is just there

to be warm

and comfortable

even though

they're great.

But God is

not just with

us passively to

make us feel

better.

He is with

us like a

parent to a

child who

says, I

know this

is hard, but

I have good

plans in store

for you.

Who carries

us in our

grief.

God in

his compassion

calls us to

walk closely

with him,

trusting him,

living in

obedience to

him.

Jack Nicholson

said to

Helen Hunt,

you make me

want to be a

better man.

God's

compassion in

Jesus means

we get to

be his

people,

reminding

ourselves of

his goodness

and calling

us to obey

him.

Let me pray

for us

right now.

God, your

compassion and

love calls us

to be your

people.

Thank you,

God, that you

are with us

each step.

Help us to

recommit to

you today, to

love your

word, to

confess our

sin, to

choose to

follow and

obey you,

trusting in

you each

day.

Amen.

community, to

never

help us.

That's

right.

Thank you.