Rebuilding
Together
Series
in Nehemiah. 3rd in the series.
As presented by Rev. Jonathan Mills, Pastor at Kanata Baptist
Church.
2009-09-20
Subject: Nehemiah moves beyond Vision to Action. The power of Vision to
catalyze Action.
We are a church who are about to begin an important process to clarify
our vision so we can move forward to clear and decisive action.
Sermon
Outline
Rebuilding
Together 1
Scriptures: 2
Nehemiah 2:11 – 3:5 2
Introduction 3
Optical Illusions: What do you See? 3
A) Nehemiah: Man of
Vision ... And Action 4
- Nehemiah's
Vision 4
- Now
it's Time to Get to Work! 5
- Rally
the People: Begin to Build 6
- Dividing
the Work: Doing it Together 6
B) What is Our Vision?
8
- From
Point “A” to Point “B” 8
- From
Nehemiah's Vision: to Congregational Vision 8
- Anyone
Got a Vision? 9
C) ReVision: Discerning
God's Direction Together 11
- Nehemiah
Series: What is God's Call on Your Life? 11
- Upsize
to Congregation: What is God Calling Us to Do? 11
- Discerning
our Vision; ReVision 12
- Past
History of Big Dreams: And Big Accomplishments! 12
- Two
Saturdays: Plan for Future 12
- Working
Together 13
- Board
Room Disaster 13
Conclusion 14
Sticker: Are You Revisioning? 14
Most Important: Dates / Pray 15
William Carey 15
Scriptures1:
Nehemiah 2:11 – 3:5
11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out
during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God
had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me
except the one I was riding on.
13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well
and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been
broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I
moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was
not enough room for my mount to get through; 15 so I went up the valley
by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered
through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone
or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or
the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the
work.
17 Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies
in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us
rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."
18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what
the king had said to me.
They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and
Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. "What is
this you are doing?" they asked. "Are you rebelling against the king?"
20 I answered them by saying, "The God of heaven will give us success.
We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no
share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it."
1 Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and
rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place,
building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and
as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 The men of Jericho built the
adjoining section, and Zakkur son of Imri built next to them.
3 The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its
beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. 4 Meremoth son of
Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section. Next to him
Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs, and
next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs. 5 The next section
was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their
shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
Introduction
Optical
Illusions: What do you See?
Have you ever heard of Shigeo Fukuda?
[to view the images refered to in this introduction, go to Google,
select “Images” from the top left menu, and do an image search. Search
terms provided below. First image search: “Shigeo Fukuda”]
; “Fukuda shadow”; “Fukuda motorcycle”; “Fukuda waterfall”; “Fukuda
piano.”]
He is a Japanese artist who specialized in creating very interesting
optical illusions. I first came upon one of his pieces – a few years
ago. He had taken a drawing by M.C. Escher – the impossible waterfall
(perpetual motion) and created a 3-d sculpture of it. [Image: search
“Escher waterfall” for M.C. Escher's drawing. Then, image search
“Fukuda waterfall” for the 3-d rendering. It is white on a blue
background]
Here is an example of one of his pieces. It's a pile of garbage.
But when you shine a light on it, … it casts a shadow on the wall.
[image search; “Fukuda shadow”. This will generate most of the
important images: two separate sculptures which feature piles of “junk”
which cast a shadow of people in the background. There will also be a
sculpture of cutlery which casts a shadow of a motorcycle in the
foreground. Finally, there is a grand piano – on the left is a nice
grand piano, but on the right, there is a pile of parts]
This sculpture is made entirely out of cutlery – knives, forks
and spoons. Shine a light from behind
… and … a motorcycle.
But this is my favorite.
See this tangled mess of pieces?
If you stand at a certain place, and look in a mirror … it takes the
shape of a grand piano.
Isn't that amazing?!!
When I look at the stack of piano parts, I think it is remarkable that
he can envision what they might become. Where some of us see a pile of
junk, Fukuda sees a fully formed piano.
This is what Artists are able to do: As long as they can envision it,
they can create it.
Michelangelo: “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it
is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
Artists and Visionaries have a capacity to see what others do not see –
and then make their vision a reality.
A) Nehemiah: Man of
Vision ... And Action
Nehemiah's Vision
As we have seen over the past few weeks, Nehemiah was a man of
vision.
In his mind's eye, he was able to see a vision of a rebuilt Jerusalem.
A city restored. And a people gathered together again after years in
captivity.
His vision was incredible—It was so big, that perhaps it might even
have seemed impossible.
But as one biblical commentator has said:
“What was required and what Nehemiah provided was a vision and decisive
leadership. Nehemiah was clearly a shaker, a mover and a doer.”2
Now it's Time to Get to Work!
A shaker, a mover and a doer.
So, in chapter 2 of Nehemiah, we see this man of action get to work.
First step: Survey the site. What exactly is it going to take to
rebuild the wall? Well, that requires an inspection of the current
state of the broken down walls.
Vs. 13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the
Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which
had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
Let me try to give you a sense of what he was looking at.
Here is a photograph of the Temple Mount area of Jerusalem today.
See the wall that surrounds this part here ...
Now, this map shows a comparison of Jerusalem's walls today, with
the wall that Nehemiah rebuilt.
When you consider that they had to build it all by hand, you can begin
to grasp how huge this project was.
Rally the People: Begin to Build
So, once he had an idea about the requirements of the task at hand,
Nehemiah began to build.
vs. 17-18 Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in:
Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire.
Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in
disgrace." 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me
and what the king had said to me.
They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.
It must have been such a great relief for Nehemiah to finally begin the
work of building.
Finally, he tells the people of Jerusalem what has been on his heart
all these long months: We are going to rebuild the walls!
And the people join in and say; “Let us start rebuilding.”
Dividing the Work: Doing it Together
What happens next is quite astounding ...
Ch. 3:1-2
1 Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and
rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place,
building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and
as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 The men of Jericho built the
adjoining section, and Zakkur son of Imri built next to them.
Here in Chapter 3 we get an account of the various groups and
individuals who participated in the rebuilding. Here again, we catch a
glimpse of the brilliance of Nehemiah—the sections of wall were divided
up, and groups worked from gate to gate, and built their own section of
wall. This broke the job down into manageable chunks—and gave the
workers ownership for their own section.
What an exciting day. The work had begun.
Even more than the joy of seeing the walls slowly take shape around
them, Nehemiah could also relish the more important observation: the
People of Israel were working together. He had taken this small,
discouraged and oppressed people and given them something to work
toward. And they worked shoulder to shoulder in the task.
He was rebuilding a wall. And at the same time, he was rebuilding
a nation!!
B) What is Our Vision?
From
Point “A” to Point “B”
Anything that is important enough to pursue begins with a vision,
and is carried out by developing a plan to get from here ... to there.
Say, we are “here” as a church. This is where we are.
Where are we going?
This is point “A” ... but where is point “B”?
maybe point “B” is ... somewhere over here?
Or ... maybe it's over here?
//
I'm trying to describe, in physical terms, what is an abstract concept:
our congregation is “here” today ... but where do we want to go
tomorrow?
How do we decide where we are headed as a congregation?
From Nehemiah's Vision: to Congregational Vision
If I were Nehemiah, I suppose I would fast and pray and show up
and say: “Hey everybody. Have I got an exciting vision for you!!
We are going to build a wall!! Isn't that exciting?!!!”
//
Well, maybe a wall isn't such an exciting vision for KBC today.
Maybe we need a more significant vision for ourselves.
Anyone Got a Vision?
Does anyone have any ideas?
[I'm going to take a microphone and wander through the congregation at
this point]
You sir. Yes, you. Do you have a vision for the future of our church?
[Well, I guess I would like to see more opportunities for Mission]
That's good. Mission is good.
Do you mean; supporting missionaries with funding; or sending teams of
people on short term mission trips; or training ourselves to do street
evangelism downtown Ottawa? All of these fall under the category of
“mission.”
How about you Ma'am. Do you have a vision for the future of KBC?
[What about excellence in children's ministries?]
That sounds like a good idea. We all know building up children in the
faith is essential. Would it be a special focus on toddlers? We want
kids to grow up feeling comfortable in the church, and from a very
early age knowing that God loves them. Or ... what about pre-teens? You
know they have a lot of challenges to cope with today ...
And what does it mean to be “excellent” in children's ministry? Does
that mean we have clowns and balloons and big extravagant events? Or
does it mean we emphasize bible memorization? Or does it mean that the
kids have such a great time on Sunday that they can't wait to come back
next week?
How about you Ma'am? What is your vision?
[I can't think of anything]
Nothing at all?
[No. I'm very happy with the way things are now]
Great! “If it ain't broke, don't fix it ... is that what you feel?”
And you sir?
[I don't know if I have a vision, but well, I wish the Pastors didn't
always just stand up at the front and give a monologue all the time.
Why can't they do something more interactive once in a while?]
You mean, you would like the Pastors to come down off the platform once
in a while and ... just talk to people?
[Yes. Why don't you ever do something like that?]
Uh ... we'll ... I'll have to try that some time ...
But, I have to get back now ... to the front ... to finish the sermon.
C) ReVision:
Discerning God's Direction Together
Nehemiah
Series: What is God's Call on Your Life?
Two Sundays ago, I started our preaching series in Nehemiah with a
challenge for us all to consider the call that God has on your life. Is
there something that you believe God is calling you to do for Him? And
if so, will you respond in faith and do it.
Today, I want to shift this up to a larger scale:
Upsize to Congregation: What is God Calling Us to Do?
What is God calling our congregation to do?
What is our Vision?
It's exciting to be a part of this congregation—because some truly
remarkable things have been done in the past ... and still today, there
are a lot of exciting things happening.
But what about tomorrow? What is our vision for tomorrow?
Is it Mission?
Is it excellence in Children's Ministry?
Is it a completely different kind of worship experience?
Is it ... just continuing to do what we're already doing?
Is that our vision for the future of KBC?
Discerning our Vision; ReVision
Last Spring, I invited a few individuals to consider KBC's future
and to explore some ideas about discerning God's vision for us.
The result of that effort has been the launch of a significant
initiative in the life of our church:
we are calling it Re-Vision.
Past History of Big Dreams: And Big Accomplishments!
KBC has been a church that has pursued many important visions in the
past. We have a track record of dreaming big (like Nehemiah)—and then
rolling up our sleeves and accomplishing our dreams.
I believe it is time for us to dream again; to come together as a
congregation and prayerfully seek God's will for us as we look to the
future.
Re-Vision means that we are looking at vision again. We are renewing
... refreshing our sense of vision and call as we seek to obediently
follow where God is leading us.
Two Saturdays: Plan for Future
What we are planning is a time set aside in November – two consecutive
Saturdays – where we come together and prayerfully discern a vision for
Kanata Baptist Church over the next 5 to 10 years.
Working Together
What really excites me about this Re-Vision project is that we are
using a workshop model which allows everyone to participate in the
process. I want you to write these two dates in your calendars today
because I want YOU to be a part of this visioning process.
The Bible says that the people of God, are, collectively, the Body of
Christ.
1 Cor 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a
part of it.
It is my conviction that God has already laid his vision on the hearts
of his people. As we share our thoughts and dreams with one another, we
will discover God's vision for our future.
Board Room Disaster
I came across this cartoon the other day:
“It specifically says in our bylaws that we cannot overturn the will of
God without a 2/3 majority.”
I've been in churches who operate like that—well intentioned people
getting together behind closed doors to make decisions—and sometimes
they go horribly wrong.
ReVision will be a radical departure from that kind of process.
These two workshops in November will be open to everyone who is willing
to make the commitment to come and participate in the process.
We will pray together.
We will reflect on what God has done, and is doing at KBC
together.
We will learn the lessons of the past, as we prepare to consider where
God is leading us into the future.
And we will dream big dreams – open our minds to consider the most
wonderful and captivating possibilities for the future – and carefully
develop these dreams into a vision that will set the priorities and
direction for our congregation for our future ministry together.
Conclusion
Sticker:
Are You Revisioning?
Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing more and more about
Re-Vision. To make it easier to answer any questions you might have,
you will notice that there are people in the congregation wearing a
sticker like this [put on sticker]. “Are you ReVisioning?”
If you see someone wearing one, you can ask them any questions you may
have.
Most Important: Dates / Pray
What is most important today is this: 1) that we all mark these dates
in our calendars right away; Nov 7 & 14 and 2) that we all start to
ask the question “What do you believe God wants our congregation to
look like in the coming years? What ministry priorities do you feel
will be most important for us to fulfill God's call to faithfully
serve?"
Start praying. It's going to be an exciting time.
In the same way that Nehemiah's vision inspired the residents of
Jerusalem to come together and work diligently to rebuild the walls and
restore their sense of national identity – I look forward to this
opportunity we have before us, to Discern God's Direction Together.
William Carey
It was the missionary, William Carey who said: “Expect great
things from God: Attempt great things for God.”
Do we have the faith to expect God to do Great Things again?
And when we have articulated these Great Things ... will we have the
faith to step out and attempt it?
I trust that we will.
And I believe it will be an exciting journey!! As we see a fresh
vision emerge … and watch it move from Vision to Action!!
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