Well, and teenage years begin at about 10. You
know that, don't you? I mean, we don't call it
teens, but the pressures and the temptations
are lowering all the time because of the sad
collapse of our culture. And so parents, I hope
that you'll be a part of that thing on Wednesday
night. We're gonna get right to the word of God
this morning. Try to catch up some time here.
Nehemiah, please, in your Bible, the second chapter
of Nehemiah. My wife and I visited the National
Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati
a few weeks ago when we were in that city. This
particular museum tells the story of slavery
in the United States and it recounts the history
of the slave escape route that was known as the
Underground Railroad. Slaves that were able to
escape their plantations in the south would migrate
northward during the night, hide during the day,
cross the Ohio River, and then up through Ohio,
eventually get to Canada where they had freedom.
Along the route of this railway, there were men
and women and families who risked their lives
to protect the slaves who were on this railroad.
They provided safe places, not unlike people
who provided safe places for the Jews in World
War II in the time of Hitler. They provided these
safe places during the day, and then they guided
the slaves at night from point to point. These
brave people, the ancestors perhaps of some of
us, lived on the very edge. It was a perilous
thing to do. what they did. Their lives and their
livelihoods were absolutely on the line for a
cause that was right. It reminded me that God
calls all of us also, out of the protected comfort
zones of our lives, to live on the edge. It is
on the edge where He lives. and where he will
meet you and me. It is on the edge where you
risk yourself, where you abandon yourself to
God, that you can really grow to know him, where
you will find the most meaningful life, in fact,
that you can possibly experience in this world.
Jesus said to those who were listening to him,
follow me. and I will make you fishers of men."
What did he mean by that? He was saying to them,
abandon what you're doing. Leave behind what
you're living for, those things that you think
make you secure and happy. And he led those disciples
to the very edge. He led the way himself. Our
tendency 2 ,000 years later, their spiritual
descendants, is to want to play it safe. We don't
want to risk, that is to get too radical with
our faith. We don't want to cut off things or
people or lifestyle that make us comfortable.
If we're honest, some of us may not be that sure
that Jesus is truly that relevant to our lives.
He's a priority for sure in our lives. He's made
the cut. He's made the list. But he's not at
the top of the list. You're not gonna risk for
something or someone who's not at the top of
the list. Others of us quietly fear that God
may not come through if we venture out there
too far. We can get ourselves into a predicament,
we fear, that we can't control, and God may not
show up, and then what will we do? And so we
build in these safety zones in our lives, in
our spiritual walk. We're not unique in that
way. People who've come before us struggled with
the same issue. Take Moses as an example. As
a young man, that seemed to happen to him, but
40 years later when he was called by God to go
back to Egypt, he didn't want to. In those 40
years, he had learned some things, but he had
also built in a comfort zone. You say, but I'm
not Moses. I'm just little old me. I don't have
the same calling that Moses had or that much
to offer. Well, the fact is that you may not
be a patriarch or a giant of the faith. Few of
us are, as a matter of fact. You may even see
yourself as insignificant in the grand scheme
of things as something that or someone that is
inconsequential. But listen to the truth. No
one is insignificant to God. No one. Eight years
ago, Kaidman's Call produced an album called
Intimate. On the album was a song called Bus
Driver. Bus Driver, it was written by Derek Webb.
In the song, the bus driver ponders his place
in life. I am a bus driver and it's four in the
morning and I'm pressing out of my clothes beside
my bed. 14 years, been on the job, and with many
miles behind, still I'm up at 3 .30 to make sure
I'm there on time. My car gets me along just
fine to and from the station, but my castle is
this Houston Metro bus. My first stop is Ashbury,
and the sign's been gone for years, but all the
same, the people wait, because they know that
I'll be there. What would you say if I told you
I won't be by today? And he goes on in the song
to ponder his place in the lives of the people
that ride his bus every day. And he concludes
that his life is not inconsequential, that it's
important in the lives of those people. And I
want you to know that you are a person of consequence
in the lives of the people around you. No one
is insignificant with God. You, a homemaker,
a business person, a teacher, an engineer, a
manager, a server, a secretary, or a bus driver.
Your life belongs to God if you're a follower
of Jesus Christ. And He gives you significance.
He gives you significance. And He has a calling
in your life. He wants to birth in you a dream
of something that only he can do through you.
It's something bigger than you are. He desires
to develop in you a vision or a purpose that
calls you, like Nehemiah, to live on the edge.
and to experience Him in new ways in your life.
I have a young friend whose name is Josh. I've
known Josh for more than 30 years. His family
attended our church that I pastored in Kentucky.
Josh has grown up now, he's about 30 years of
age. He went to the University of Kentucky. He
was the guy who was the mascot at the University
of Kentucky, full of energy and enthusiasm. I
caught him one time at a UK game on television.
He was painted totally in blue. That's just the
kind of a guy Josh is. After he graduated from
UK with a master's degree, he went to work for
Synergy in Cincinnati. I got an email from him
that directed me to his blog. And so I went to
his blog and I began to read what God is doing
in his life. And this was the last note on his
blog written a week ago. Well, today was my last
day of work at Synergy. A lot of people have
asked me how I can leave such a good job and
a nice home for something so insecure. It boils
down to this. In life, I believe you should do
whatever you are most passionate about. People
sometimes tell me things like, if I could do
anything, I would start a restaurant. A guy the
other day told me he wanted to be a bounty hunter.
He spends his days sitting in a cube, dreaming
about chasing down bad guys. I used to sit and
think, if I could do anything, I would be a missionary.
Well, here is a news flash. You can do anything.
If that is what you're passionate about, go out
and do it. If you want to go back to school,
do it. If you need to sell your big house and
put up some money, do it. Quit wasting your time
and start pursuing whatever it is that you have
a passion about. My life has been radically changed
by Jesus Christ. I have been blessed beyond measure,
he writes. And I want to share that blessing
with other people. I have a passion for telling
people how Jesus can change their life. That
is why I'm leaving my great job. That is why
I'm going to Mexico. That is why I'm leaving
behind everything I know and stepping out of
my comfort zone. I am pursuing my passion. And
if you want to be satisfied, that is what you
will do too. Lead on, Josh. That's exactly what
I'm talking about today. Living on the edge of
your vision and your resources. God wants to
develop a purpose in your life and it may be
a lifelong objective like it seems to be in Josh's
life. Something that will be totally out of your
thinking culturally and job -wise. But God is
calling you to this lifelong vision. in order
to advance his kingdom. But for many others of
us, God's calling may be just a piece of our
lives. It may be for an hour a week, or for two
weeks out of the year. It may mean taking you
out of your normal frame of living into something
else for a while. There may be somebody here
this morning that God is laying in your heart
the vision of going down south and helping on
a work team with the hurricane devastated areas.
If you're interested in that, by the way, City
Team has a wonderful ministry going on down there.
They have a four -phase response to the devastation.
They're going to be at it for six to 12 months.
They need money. They need bodies, volunteers,
they need supplies. You can find out about it
on the website that I have in my column in the
worship folder today. Maybe that's what God's
doing. That's not a lifelong thing, but it's
a piece of your life, and it's out of your frame
of reference. Perhaps God is calling you and
giving you a vision to help create in this church
an exciting life community. A mid -sized group,
and you wanna be a part of a team of people who
are going to develop a little church within the
big church. A group of people, maybe 15 or 30
or 40 or 60 people, as it would grow, who really
care for one another and connect with one another.
Maybe that's what God's calling you to do. You
hadn't thought about it before, but there's this
vision that God is birthing in your heart. Or
maybe it's on the other end of the spectrum in
a small group, and you want to be a leader of
a small group and find out how to do that. Or
it could be that you have seen the children of
this church as they go out each week to Sunday
school or to Power Zone, and you say to yourself,
I wish, oh, I would just love to be involved
in teaching children. in being in their lives
and God's giving you a vision for the impact
you can have in the life of a child or a group
of children. Do it. If that's God's vision in
your life, it's just a piece of your life, but
do it. Perhaps God is calling you to make some
friends for heaven's sake and to reach out to
your neighbors in some fun ways, some new ways.
that will stretch you. It's a vision you hadn't
thought about before, but God is giving you this
dream. Maybe it's making room in your family
for a foster child. Or it's adopting a child
from another culture. What are you seeing? What
is the vision God is giving you? What are you
feeling about it? What is God saying in your
heart as you connect with him about that burden,
that dream that is there? God loves to birth
dreams in our hearts that are bigger than we
can handle by ourselves. And it's only when we
respond to those visions and step to the edge
of the comfort zones of our life that we're really
gonna know God. Vision happens when you deliberately
step out of on the edge of your life, and you
look out to see what God wants to show you, and
you feel about that, how God feels about it,
and then you ask him what you should do. God's
blessings happen on the edge. When you abandon
yourself to him and you experience him then in
new ways, that's Nehemiah chapter one. What we're
going to see today in Nehemiah chapter two is
that God calls you God calls you to risk the
resources he has given you God calls you to risk
the resources he has given you I'm going to begin
reading with the last statement of chapter one
where Nehemiah says I was cupbearer to the king
In the month of Nisan, in the 20th year King
Artaxerxes, so by this he tells us that the time
frame is March, April 444 BC, or 445 BC rather.
He says, when wine was brought for him, I took
the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been
sad in his presence before, so the king asked
me, why does your face look so sad? when you're
not ill. This can be nothing but sadness of heart.
I was very much afraid. But I said to the king,
may the king live forever, why should my face
not look sad when the city where my fathers are
buried lies in ruins and its gates have been
destroyed by fire? The king said to me, what
is it you want? Remember, Nehemiah had received
this burden from God for the city of Jerusalem.
He heard about what the city was like. It was
in ruins and the people were in disarray and
oppressed. And he wept. He felt about that like
God felt about it. And he turned to God and he
prayed and he connected with God. and now God
is leading him to the next step of living on
the edge, and that is putting his own resources
at risk in this vision. There are four life -changing
observations that I want to make about the first
nine verses of chapter two. The first observation
is this. You are made by God with purpose. In
other words, God has an assignment or a series
of assignments. in mind for your life. Everything
about who you are has been fashioned by God.
Your parents and heritage were fashioned by God.
Your appearance and personality, your abilities
and skill set, your opportunities, your experiences,
all of that is fashioned by God. Now, what do
we learn about Nehemiah from the text? What is
the background of his life? How had God fashioned
Nehemiah? Well, we learned that he was the son
of Hacaliah back in the first verse. His father's
name means wait for the Lord. Nehemiah had learned
that. They had given him his unusual name, the
Lord Comforts. It is a name that is God -centered,
and it shows his Jewish family heritage, and
it focuses him every time he hears his name on
God. Well, that's as much as we know about Nehemiah's
growing up. We don't know if Nehemiah had a wife
or family. The Septuagint, which is the Greek
translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, done
about 250 years before Jesus, suggests that he
was a eunuch. Now that wouldn't be a lifelong
goal of mine, I don't know about you. It probably
wasn't his either, but that's how God fashioned
his life. God allowed that perhaps to happen
to Nehemiah so that he could be in the role that
he needed to be in for God's purpose. My point
is, whatever he looked like, whatever his family
situation may have been, Nehemiah had been fashioned
for this moment, just as Esther was fashioned
for the moment in the book about her. You've
come to the kingdom, said her uncle, for a time
such as this. Nehemiah had been prepared for
this moment. Who are you? What are the circumstances
of your life? What are the fingerprints of God
in your life? What are the ways in which you
are different, which you are unique? Because
it is in those things in particular that God
designs you to be you. You are intended for something
bigger than yourself, for a task that is God
-sized. He's fashioned you for it, as He fashioned
Nehemiah for this moment. Second observation
is this. You are resourced by God for the task.
Here's a basic lesson in life, that God never
calls to a task without providing what is needed
to accomplish it. He did with Moses. We won't
take time this morning to go back and read Exodus
chapters three and four, where Moses is called
by God and he responds, but it's a tentative
response, and he feels that he doesn't have what
it takes. And he tries to get away from God's
purpose. And finally, God shuts him up and he
says, I've made you just the way you are. I will
be with you. God will be with you. He has given
you the resources that you have. He has given
you the physical and mental capacity that you
have. the relationships that are in your life.
He's given you your income or the inherited wealth
that you have. He has provided for you the job
where you work or that position of influence
that you have in the community. It is God who
has given you your ability or the skill that
you have. It is God who has placed in you as
his followers spiritual gifts. God fashioned
your personality in a particular way. and God
gives you your time. That's one way in which
we're all equal. He gives all of us 24 hours
a day. All of these resources of your life may
be put at risk by God's calling. If you will
live on the edge, you must be willing to risk
those resources. Now in Nehemiah's case, he was
the cupbearer of the king. Now, he was a Jew
in that position. Isn't that interesting? It
reminds us of Daniel, who lived perhaps 100 years
before this and more, and who was in a high position
in a Gentile government. And here we have a Jew
who is the cup bearer to Artaxerxes I of Persia.
He was trusted. The king had great confidence
in any man who was his cup bearer. He tasted
the king's wine and his food before he ate it
to be sure that it was not poisoned. He was responsible
for the safety of the king and the queen, so
in that sense we might say that Nehemiah was
the head of the secret service of our exerxes
the first. The most powerful man in all of the
world, and here's Nehemiah protecting his life,
and now he has been in his reign some 20 years.
As the cup bearer, as the head of the Secret
Service for Arctic Xerxes, he had direct access
to the king. Not very many people in all the
world had that. It was privileged. It was rare.
And so it seems to me that his primary resource
is his position of influence. It was the job
that he had. and he had to risk it. God places
resources into your hands also. Not to be comfortable,
not for self aggrandizement, not to play it safe,
not to retire into disengagement with his work,
but he has placed whatever resources you have
into your hands to use. in his calling, in his
vision that he is placing upon you. When God
gives you a vision, look also for what he's given
you to get started. Look around and see what
resources God has provided for you that you might
carry out the vision and use them. And if in
fact you don't have the resource, to get started
toward the vision, then perhaps you need to go
back and see if you really understood the vision.
Because you are resourced by God for the tasks
that he brings into your life. Observation number
three. You are called to live on the edge with
God by faith. The resources that you have, your
position, your influence, your skills, your abilities,
your money, your wealth, none of those things
dare become the end in your life. They are given
to you as means to the end, which is God's purpose
for you. And if you're going to realize that
purpose, you must go right to the edge of your
life and risk those resources, what God has given
you, and trust Him in doing it. Don't allow yourself
to build a comfort zone around yourself with
those resources, but make them available to God
and to His purpose. To realize a vision, you
will face risk that will stretch your faith.
You must. Nehemiah used his position and his
influence with the king, and it was a huge risk.
It required a great step of faith on the part
of Nehemiah. He was in the king's presence and
he looked sad. That was a no -no. No one was
ever to be in the presence of the king and the
queen. and be anything less than absolutely happy
and joyful and humorous. But Nehemiah had a sad
heart and countenance, a huge risk that could
have cost his life. The king noticed and responds,
and Nehemiah shares with him what's on his heavy
heart, and the king says, how can I help you?
And notice it says, then I prayed to the God
of heaven. Now he had prayed before this, folks,
but he takes a moment right now to breathe out
this prayer, oh God, help me now. Help me now.
And he says, I answered the king, if it pleases
the king, and if your servant has found favor
in your sight, let him send me to the city in
Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can
rebuild it. And the king with the queen sitting
beside him asked me, How long will your journey
take and when will you get back? In other words,
he said, go. How long will you be gone, Nehemiah?
When are you gonna come back to me? It pleased
the king to send me. So I set a time. Do you
see how he risked here? And he acknowledges that
he was afraid in verse two. I was very much afraid.
Whenever you risk yourself. Whenever you move
to the edge of your life, you're going to be
afraid, because that may be new territory for
you. Some of us have never lived on the edge.
Nehemiah was afraid, but he prayed, and God gave
him courage. You see, courage is not the absence
of fear. It's the power to overcome fear. GK
Chesterson wrote about courage. He said, courage
is almost a contradiction in terms. It means
a strong desire to live taking the form of a
readiness to die. Then he quotes Jesus. He that
will lose his life the same shall save it is
not a piece of mysticism for saints and heroes.
The paradox is the whole principle of courage.
A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he's to cut
his way out, needs to combine a strong desire
for living with a strange carelessness about
dying. He must not merely cling to life, for
then he would be a coward and would not escape.
He must not merely wait for death, for then that
would be suicide and he will not escape. He must
seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference
to it. He must desire life like water and yet
drink death like wine. Reminds me of Paul on
his way to Jerusalem. He had a vision. God laid
it on his heart that he needed to take relief
to the poor saints in Jerusalem. And he pressed
to go there, and people warned him as he's traveling
back, there's gonna be problems, Paul. You're
gonna get in trouble. There's gonna be suffering
ahead for you. And Paul said, I don't care what
happens to my life. He said, the one thing I
wanna do is to finish the course that God has
set out for me. That's the spirit. It's not just
Paul and Moses and Nehemiah, but it's you and
me too who are called to live on the edge with
God by faith. And finally, you are supplied by
God for success. When you release to God what
you have, what you have, He releases to you what
you don't have. Nehemiah put it all on the line
for the sake of the cause. And he says in verse
seven, I said to him, if it pleases the king,
may I have letters to the governors of Trans
-Euphrates so that they will provide me safe
conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have
a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest,
so he will give me timber to make beams for the
gates of the citadel by the temple and for the
city wall and for the residence I will occupy?
And because the gracious hand of my God was upon
me, the king granted my requests. And so I went
to the governors of Transufredes and gave them
the king's letters. The king had also sent army
officers and cavalry with me. You see, Nehemiah
risked what God had given him. And when he dared
step to the edge with that and give it to God,
God said, This is my opportunity, and he came
through and he gave Nehemiah everything that
he needed, including a bodyguard to protect him
on this long journey. You are supplied by God
for success. When you make available to God what
he has given you, you open the door to God's
abundance in your life. And the converse is true
also. If you hold back what God has given to
you, you will not experience God's abundance.
I want to challenge you to live on the edge with
your resources. It's risky. It's risky. But there's
no place in the world that is more secure than
on the risky edge with God. J .I. Packer. great
theologian in language that is very unaccustomed
to him, says, it needs to be said loud and clear
that in the kingdom of God, there ain't no comfort
zone and never will be. Now that doesn't sound
like a theologian, but that's what he said. In
God's kingdom, he says, there ain't no comfort
zone and there never will be. So if that's true,
I have to ask myself as I sit in my comfort zone,
how far am I from the kingdom of God? I would
sum up what I pray as your response to this message
in just a couple of phrases. What do you do with
the resources that God has placed in your power?
The influence, the position, the abilities, the
skill, the spiritual gift, the personality, the
money, the wealth, whatever it is God has given
you. What do you do with it? Answer. Don't hold
back. Don't hold back. Give God your best. That's
it. Don't hold back on anything. Give God your
best. I have before me today a letter that was
written by a Southern Baptist missionary to Iraq.
Karen Watson grew up in Bakersfield. She served
the Lord in a number of countries. Before she
left for Iraq, she wrote a letter to her pastor
and assistant pastor in her church, the Valley
Baptist Church in Bakersfield. She sealed it
and she said, don't open this unless something
happens to me. The letter was dated March 7th,
2003. One day, one week, and one year later,
she was killed along with four other missionaries
in a drive -by shooting in Mosul. They opened
the letter. Dear Pastor Phil and Pastor Roger,
You should only be opening this letter in the
event of my death. When God calls, there are
no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you
as much as possible, my heart for the nations.
I wasn't called to a place. I was called to Him.
To obey was my objective. To suffer was expected.
His glory my reward. One of the most important
things to remember right now is to preserve the
work. I'm writing this as if I'm still working
with my people group. I thank you all so much
for your prayers and support. Surely your reward
in heaven will be great. Thank you for investing
in my life and spiritual well -being. Keep sending
missionaries out. Keep raising up fine young
pastors. In regards to any service, keep it small
and simple. Yes, simply just preach the gospel.
Be bold and preach the life -saving, life -changing,
forever eternal gospel. Give glory to our Father.
And then she inserted a little poem. It's entitled
The Missionary Heart. It says, Care more than
some think it's wise. Risk more than some think
is safe. Dream more than some think is practical.
Expect more than some think is possible. She
continues, I was called not to comfort or to
success, but to obedience. There is no joy outside
of knowing Jesus and serving him. I love you,
too, and my church family. In his care, Salam,
Karen. She risked it all. And she would say to
you and me today, It was worth it. Let's pray
Father we are so prone To build into our lives
lots of space for comfort and pleasing ourselves
For using the resources that you have put into
our hands for toys and fun And for enjoying ourselves
and meeting our needs and not being part of the
kingdom. I pray that as we study Nehemiah, every
one of us will learn to live on the edge and
will make that commitment to do so. And with
our heads bowed and our eyes closed right now
and as the worship team comes to the platform,
I want to ask you, where you're seated, just
in the quietness of your heart, to say, Lord,
teach me to live on the edge. Now that may be
a great step of faith for you because you don't
even know yet what that might mean. Or maybe
God has already begun a burden in your heart
and a vision is about to be birthed through your
tears and your prayers. I don't know where you
are in that process of vision, but this I know,
that you will never experience God as he wants
you to experience him. until you step onto the
edge of your life with the resources that he's
put into your hand. Don't hold back. Give God
your best. Amen.