Charlotte's Notes for the Nehemiah Sermon

Nehemiah 1:1-2:9

{As Charlotte prepared to preach, she recorded her thoughts. She experimented with phrases. And she tried to express to herself the depth of what she wanted the sermon to be and do. These are Charlotte's notes to herself.}

Nehemiah and Almond Springs: The major question for me is "was this a moment of hope or a season of anxiety for God's people?" It is too easy to read all of Neh together and know that this is the beginning of something successful. But Neh's success was by no means secure. He felt tremendous anxiety mixed with his hope. And my fear for Almond Springs is that we are jumping too quickly to hope. The exiles surely felt hopeful (indeed joyous) when they returned from exile. But two generations later there was still weeping over the fate of God's city and God's people. I want the people of Almond Springs to rejoice that their exile has ended --- but to do so in a way that does not obscure the hard work that is ahead of us. It would be too easy to be a pleasant place where good people gather -- but nothing more. There are needs within Almond Springs (twenty years of economic decline guarantees that) and hurting people who need God's message of love and forgiveness. So I need to celebrate God's blessing for these people (without the least minimizing their suffering) AND I need to whet their appetite for more. If all they feel is relief at my coming, then we are in trouble. This moment is not just about the absence of suffering but also about the beginning of hope.

Background to Nehemiah: Cyrus allowed the exiles to return sometime between 538-516 BC. That would be about two or three generations after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Artaxerxes was the next prominent ruler after Cyrus (one minor guy in between). And Art allowed Neh to return somewhere between 458 - 420 BC. That would be another couple of generations after the exiles began returning.

Second reading (focus on 1:5-11): the titles for God (LORD, God of heaven, great and awesome God) frame Nehemiah's encounter. I may want to follow his cue and structure the worship service on Sunday so that the identity of God (now revealed in Jesus Christ) frames the service. Notice how the identity of God and the actions of God on behalf of God's people are inseparable. God is the one "who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands." That covenant of love is important to Neh. It will be the basis for his contrition (we broke covenant, he will say) and for his request ("remember your promise to Moses"). There is also a nice parallel between the dilapidated city of Jerusalem and the empty buildings here in Almond Springs. God redeems whole cities. (notice how Nehemiah calls on a sense of personal history to describe Jerusalem as "the city where my ancestors are buried.")

Potential titles for the sermon: "Mourning has Broken" "God Redeems the City"

Jerusalem and Almond Springs: There is another theme that does not come directly from the Nehemiah text but that applies directly to Neh's Jerusalem and to Almond Springs. God was preparing the way long before any people knew to act -- or knew how to act. God has been preparing me for Almond Springs and God has been preparing Almond Springs for me. They are proud that they went out and found me, found a pastor, to join them -- and well they should be for that showed a tremendous amount of faith and took a great deal of initiative. But I want them to know even more that God was at work long before they knew it and long before I knew it. I haven't even begun to discover why God called me to this place -- but I believe God has made the connection. One of my goals for the sermon, then, is to invite the people of Almond Springs to begin a mutual exploration. I want to get to know them and I went them to get to know me. We have a responsibility to that not just because it is a nice thing to do -- we must to do it because God has bound our destinies together. God has called us to a shared future that will require us to understand the depth of each other's faith and breadth of each other's giftedness.