Tearing Down Walls

Get Outside the Walls

Series in Nehemiah.

As presented by Rev. Jonathan Mills, Pastor at Kanata Baptist Church.

2009-11-01

Subject: Nehemiah's mission was to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Our Mission is to tear down the walls and engage in Ministry with our community. Reaching out to the Lost – Motivated by Love.

Scriptures¹:

Luke 15:1-10

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

 1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

    3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

 8 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

A) Nehemiah: Walls Protect … and Walls Divide

Vision – Nehemiah.

Our fall preaching series has been working through the book of Nehemiah. There are many examples in scripture of men and women of God who are captivated by a Vision that God gives to them—and who faithfully carry out this vision to completion.

Nehemiah is certainly one of the great examples of vision driven leadership. And it is really amazing to see how much their life changed as a result of Nehemiah's help.

When he arrived, the people were suffering under the constant threat of local power brokers.

4:7 ... when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.

Reasons for Walls: Protection

In the face of this kind of physical threat—walls offer protection, security, refuge and hope.

In Chapter 6 we can see the importance of the wall for defense. Nehemiah's opponents invite him to meet with them on the plains of Ono. Come and talk to us.

Nehemiah saw through their plan to cause him harm, and refused to meet with them. But note that they were inviting him out into an open plain – a place where he would find it difficult or even impossible to defend himself. The Walls provided the protection he needed to carry out his plan to the end—and overcome the violent intentions of his neighbouring rulers.

Without the walls, the people of Jerusalem were oppressed, beaten down, disorganized and unable to build a new life for themselves.

Once the walls were built, the tide turned.

In the last chapter of Nehemiah, 13:6-9, there's this great story of Nehemiah's return when he found Tobiah – one of the enemy warlords who had been against the rebuilding of Jerusalem – now living in one of the rooms in the temple. In my mind's eye, I just picture this scene—with Nehemiah pickup up this man by the scruff of the collar and literally throwing him, and all his possessions, out into the street.

[he didn't throw out Tobiah, only his belongings, but you can certainly picture it in your mind, can't you?!!]

The former bully, was now a pathetic, powerless, has-been.

Not only had the people built a wall—they had taken a stand against the political bullies saying “no more!” How we long to see this kind of voice for integrity to clean up corruption and warmongering which causes so much unjust suffering in most of the countries around the world.

So, we can immediately identify the benefits of having good, strong protective walls.

Pink Floyd: the Wall

But walls can also bring with them unforseen consequences.

Let me share a little bit about my teen years. My favorite band has always been Pink Floyd. When I was in High School they released the album: “the Wall.” I used to listen to it for hours—I still feel that Comfortably Numb is one of the best songs ever written.

This summer I pulled out the DVD of the movie, the Wall, more than 25 years after it's release, and looked at it again for the first time in a very long time.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the story behind the movie and the Album, it's a pretty depressing story of a rock star whose life is falling apart all around him—the result of failed relationships and personal traumas. For example, when he was a small boy, his father went off to fight in the 2^nd world war and never returned – his mother over-compensated by smothered him – his school teacher was a harsh disciplinarian – his girlfriend left him for another man ... all these broken relationships led to him to the brink of insanity.

The Wall: A Metaphor for Isolation

And so, the wall. It is a metaphor for the growing emotional and psychological isolation that all these traumas were causing in his life.

“All in all it was just a brick in the wall. All in all they were all just bricks in the wall.”

Brick by brick he erects a wall of protection around himself until he is completely cut off from the world … in his own self-imposed emotional exile.

Then this scene. The main character stands helplessly looking at the wall that he has build. It's enormous – solid – cold and completely impregnable. He throws himself against it – pounding his bare fists on on until they bleed … but he cannot break through to the outside world.

The wall which he built for refuge … had now become a prison.

While this is fiction—I think this is a powerful image that has grown out of Roger Waters' personal experiences.

So, after a fall preaching series focused on the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem—the irony is not lost on me—today I would like to wrap up Nehemiah by considering the important work of tearing down walls.

B) Jesus and the Barriers of Clean/Unclean

Pharisees and Religious Leaders: Walled off from Sinners

Let's look at the walls of religious intolerance.

Speaking about religious intolerance, did you hear about the two Irish Protestant teenage boys who find themselves stuck in an elevator with a Catholic Bishop?

One of the boys winks at his friend, then says to the bishop “well Father, I've heard tell that your Pope has taken up smoking recently. It's a dirty habit Father. Have you heard that?”

“No. I can't say I have” says the bishop, apparently undisturbed.

Undeterred, the boy says “I've also heard that he's been hitting the bottle a little lately - making friends with the old Jack Daniels, so I'm told. Is that right, Father?”

'Well, that's the first I've heard of it', says the bishop, 'but I'm glad to be kept informed. Thank you.'

The other boy decides that his friend is making no progress in annoying the old cleric, so he says “you know Father, I've heard that the Pope is becoming an Anglican.”

“Well, so your friend has been telling me” replies the bishop.

Pharisees Betray their Cold Hearts and Intolerant Attitude

We can joke about it, but there was nothing funny about the kind of religious intolerance Jesus encountered. From our scripture lesson in Luke 15, verse 1

1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Time and time again, we find the religious leaders reacting to Jesus in this manner: 'He seems to be a pretty insightful teacher and we haven't been able to trip him up on his theology … but he has no discernment when it comes to the company he keeps.'

In Luke 7, there is a story about the time Jesus was invited to have supper with a Pharisee named Simon. When he was there, the text says “a sinful woman” came

… 38 As she stood behind [Jesus] at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

Simon's sense of disgust is palpable—and you can see that he simply could not fathom how it was possible that Jesus could allow himself to be contaminated by people such as this.

Jesus: A friend of tax collectors and sinners².

The Parables: Recovering the Valuable Item and Rejoicing

It was in response to the criticism of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that Jesus told these two parables;

The first is about the shepherd who notices that one of his sheep has wandered off. He leaves the 99 behind—in the open country—and goes in search of the one that is lost. And when he finds it, he carries it home and calls his friends: (vs. 6 & 7)

… 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Same thing with the lost coin: the woman searches diligently for the coin, turning her house upside down until she finds it. Then, when she does, she calls her friends and neighbours and says; (vs. 9 & 10)

… 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

In both stories, we have something precious that is lost – leading to a desperate search – and a response of great joy when the lost item is found.

In a few short sentences, Jesus exposes the pretentious and spiritually bigoted attitudes of the religious elite! And, at the same time he paints a compelling picture of God's attitude toward the lost, placing tremendous value upon all people. In fact, the people who are most lost are the very ones that God is most concerned about finding.

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

C) Our Missional Calling: Rooted in Love

Mission Statement

Over the past few months, I have been looking over the church Mission Statement a number of times in preparation for the ReVision workshop. It is an excellent document.

It captures the essence of who we are as God's people, and what our mission and ministry focus needs to be.

If I could express it using the metaphor of the wall—we are called to go get out from behind the wall and engage those who are out there in the world. Don't let yourself become a Pharisee and erect a high wall of religious protectionism, but move out there … Go … go share the good news of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Or, another way to express it would be to tear down the wall altogether. Pull it down. Blow it up. Knock it over. It's an illusion, so get rid of it.

These are both metaphors for Mission. It's all about Mission.

Not a Mission Trip necessarily, though that can be helpful in sorting out your own ideas and priorities, and open avenues for significant hands-on service.

But clearly Mission in the broader sense. This is the fundamental calling of Kanata Baptist Church – and every believer who seeks to be a faithful and obedient follower of Christ – to go and tell others. To seek those who are lost and share with them the wonder of knowing the living Christ.

“It is not the church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of mission who has a church in the world.”

Missional Calling to Love

And that Mission begins here [in the heart] – with a passion for the lost. That's what beats in the heart of God—love for the Lost.

I know that it is a “dirty word” to call anyone “lost” today. In our culture of toleration, where there are no moral absolutes, nobody wants to be described that way.

But I wonder if we stop believing it ourselves. Do we really believe that people who do not know Christ are lost?

//

Rather than focus on what people do not have, perhaps it is better to reflect on the difference Christ makes—and engage in our mission to share Christ with others as the sharing of a precious treasure—which is inexhaustible, and available to all who would desire to receive it.

I pray that God will give us the passion to tear down the walls that separate us from the world—so that we can share in the mission of the Son of Man who came to seek and to save the Lost.

Conclusion

Jesus, Lord of the Unloved

Jim Cymbala is the Pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle church in New York. God is doing some amazing things through the people of that church—and it continues to provide innovative and practical ministries in a city that has every vice known to humankind.

Earlier this year, Jim was having lunch with another Pastor and he asked him a provocative question. “... do you know what the number one sin of the church in America is?”

“It's not the plague of Internet pornography that is consuming our men. It's not that the divorce rate in the church is roughly the same as society at large.” He went on and named a number of other candidates for the worst sin in America, dismissing them all.

Then he said;

“The number one sin of the church in America,” he said, “is that its pastors and leaders are not on their knees crying out to God, 'Bring us the drug-addicted, bring us the prostitutes, bring us the destitute, bring us the gang leaders, bring us those with AIDS, bring us the people nobody else wants, whom only you can heal, and let us love them in your name until they are whole.'”³

There is a Pastor whose heart beats with a passion for the Lost!!

May God give us the ability to see the world through His eyes! To know the value of every human being—and to diligently engage with all those we know who do not yet have a relationship with Jesus Christ. We ask that God will help us to see others as important and worthwhile, regardless of their outside circumstances, and be motivated by love to share our faith with them—faith in Jesus Christ which transforms us from lost sinners, to children of God. From poor, frail, self-sufficient individuals – to those who are fully dependent on God, and filled to all the fullness of joy, peace, love, hope and meaning that come from knowing Him.

May we love, as he loved.

Notes and Additional Material:

Call; enter into the community of Christ. Biblical image of the plant: unless it falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. but if it does, it produces a harvest.
Die to self. Come alive in Christ.
Christ died in shame. He was raised in Glory.
We too must die to self if we are to live in the strength and glory of God.

Community; some say "I don't need to go to church to be a Christian" That's like saying "I am an artist, but I don't need to draw anything to prove it."
(never sold a painting in his life. Revolutionary artist who never received acolades or recognition in life. Isn't that what God is doing in us? We do not need to be recognized ... now. We know that the only recognition that counts is Gods! so we practice our art--the art of godliness. too often it's described in terms of "my identity is a Christian" as if it were a decision and it's done. On the other side, we have many who despair because they are never good enough--they long for perfection but fall short and that sends them into a pit of despair. Rather, think of our vocation as that of an apprentice. Jesus is the Master Carpenter, and we are his apprentices. Every day there is something to learn. Growth happens in learning the Master's ways, and putting them into practice.
If you sit at home and channel surf all day, you will not become more like the master.
But if you practice the trade, your strength and ability will increase.

the church was God's idea and intention. for our benefit, our fellowship, our encouragement, our challenge, our strengthening, our comfort.
The church IS us. We are the church. The moment we receive Christ into our hearts, we become a part of the church--Christ's body.

Growing Together:

But the church is not ABOUT us. The church does not exist to serve us, we exist to serve Christ. We don't serve the church, but the church is the place where we grow and learn the attitude and character of a servant.

Sharing Jesus:

Serving Others: Easy to mix this up with “volunteers are needed to make it all happen.” In fact, the story is, we are made to be like Christ. Christ was a servant. If we are going to become like Christ, we need to serve like he served.

Haystack movement;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haystack_Prayer_Meeting
http://globalministries.org/resources/mission-study/what-is-haystack/the-history-of-the-haystack-pray.html
Williams College site:
http://wso.williams.edu/~dchu/MissionPark/contents.html


ABCFM
By 1961, 150 years later, they had sent 5000 missionaries.
Established schools and hospitals in every mission field.
translated the bible into local languages--many which did not have a written language before


Samuel John Mills
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_John_Mills
Helped for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
1816 suggested. different bible societies formed the American Bible Society.
1817 American Colonization Society
Traveled to England, then to West Africa to purchase land. On his way back to America, he died. Aged 35.