WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.480 just stand in prayer for another moment please let's pray father we give you 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:18.580 unqualified an unqualified invitation and an unqualified permission for you to speak into 00:00:18.580 --> 00:00:25.740 our heart into the center of who we are to not only speak into our heart but to make yourself 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:32.119 real to us through the gospel and to do that important work in us that needs to be done 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:38.079 so that we will be fit for heaven father we ask that you will do this gentle but important work 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:44.439 in our lives this morning and we ask this in the name of jesus your son and our savior amen please 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:55.599 be seated so i uh i i like to read and uh one of my favorite characters in fiction is uh the michael 00:00:55.600 --> 00:01:01.079 connelly novels uh featuring harry bosch but he's also written a couple of others that feature other 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:07.240 people and and this whole genre of books and some of you read probably books in this genre or if you 00:01:07.240 --> 00:01:13.960 don't read books in this genre you watch movies in this genre and in fact bosch it's actually something 00:01:13.960 --> 00:01:21.260 that um supreme court of canada and uh and uh parliament should take to heart one of his lines 00:01:21.260 --> 00:01:28.920 for harry bosch is either everyone matters or no nobody matters uh which is a pretty good line and 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:35.540 and what happens in those novels is uh he's concerned for justice and it doesn't matter to him whether the 00:01:35.540 --> 00:01:40.820 person who's murdered has been a multi-millionaire or a street person he wants to see justice done for 00:01:40.820 --> 00:01:46.380 them and part of what drives the books is not only of course is he trying to figure out the murderer 00:01:46.379 --> 00:01:51.859 and not only is this is he in a sense matching wits with the murderer but he's also matching wits 00:01:51.859 --> 00:02:00.819 with the police department the bureaucrats uh who time and time again are just concerned for their own 00:02:00.819 --> 00:02:06.319 career or for the institution and don't really care that justice is done for the person who's been 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:12.519 murdered and there's a variety of things like this in spy novels and thrillers and often a lot of private 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:17.580 eye novels are connected to the same thing the police are not particularly or some police aren't 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:22.000 interested in justice they just want an easy conviction they want to have an easy life they 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:27.640 want to get promotions and uh and it's a very very popular genre in north america and probably in other 00:02:27.640 --> 00:02:33.219 cultures as well and you know when we read those i can't imagine that a single person reads that wishing 00:02:33.219 --> 00:02:39.920 they could be like one of those bureaucrats who would frustrate justice like we read those novels 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:46.560 because we want to be like harry bosch we we want to be uh like jack reacher we want to be like i'm 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:52.099 going to stop mentioning characters that's who we want to be like um you know courage is still on one 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:57.979 level courage is mocked in our culture but on the other hand there still is i think a residual sense that 00:02:57.979 --> 00:03:03.479 we wish that we would be courageous like if it came up uh i think almost everybody in canada 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:12.799 would say that um back in um back in the days of the underground railroad bringing people who are 00:03:12.799 --> 00:03:19.739 escaping slavery out of the slave states into canada i think every canadian would wish that if 00:03:19.739 --> 00:03:24.479 we had been alive then we would help with the underground railroad if we'd been an americans we 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:29.759 would risk our lives to help slaves escape that's i think everybody would wish that that's what they 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:35.719 were like i think every canadian unless you're unbelievably anti-semitic would would say you know 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:43.319 if if we were alive in europe uh during uh the holocaust uh we we we we would be people who would 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:50.399 protect jews we would hide church we i think that's our our church would say that would be our hope that 00:03:50.399 --> 00:03:57.319 if we were back in time our church would be a sanctuary for jewish people um sort of coming up to a bit of an 00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:01.879 anniversary about it but i i think all of us would wish that if we were back in time in birmingham 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:07.539 alabama you would hope that i wasn't one of the ministers telling martin luther king to be quiet and 00:04:07.539 --> 00:04:13.900 he deserved to be in jail you would want me to be with martin luther king in jail that's what canadians 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:18.899 want we want to be courage courageous for things which are very good and very important 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:26.719 um so the question is are people who are courageous do they just not have any fear 00:04:26.719 --> 00:04:31.799 is there something unique about them in that regard they're sort of almost um 00:04:31.799 --> 00:04:37.519 uh you know how some people just don't pick up social cues they just don't pick up the 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.519 the cues that should make them afraid or is there something else going on 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:45.939 what we're about to look at is a story and if you're watching this if you're sort of trying to 00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:50.879 figure out what the christian faith is for 2400 years over 2400 years people have been reading 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:56.800 this story and at the heart of this story one of the hearts of this story is how you grow courage 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:03.459 so let's look at it to see how it is that we would grow courage store courage up in us that we would be 00:05:03.459 --> 00:05:08.639 that type of person that when the time comes we would take that courageous step we would stand up 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:13.839 against the bullies we would stand up against the bureaucracy we would make our voice heard for that 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:20.239 which is really good for people so let's see how the story goes it's a nehemiah said people have 00:05:20.239 --> 00:05:25.259 been reading it for 2400 years whether or not you view it as the scripture it should still be of 00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:31.099 interest to you that for 2400 years people have been reading this story uh it's if jesus tarries it's 00:05:31.099 --> 00:05:37.199 very unlikely that anything written today will be read in 2400 years that those tweets or instagram 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:43.399 posts or tiktok posts are going to be still looked at in 2400 years this this has legs in terms of how 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:48.739 people have gone to it time and time again and so here's how the story goes the words uh nehemiah 00:05:48.739 --> 00:05:55.139 chapter 1 verse 1 the words of nehemiah the son of hakaliah now it happened in the month of chislev 00:05:55.139 --> 00:06:00.219 i'm going to fill you in on what some of these things mean in a moment it happened in the month of 00:06:00.219 --> 00:06:09.099 chislev in the 20th year as i was in susa the citadel that han and i one of my brothers came with 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:15.280 certain men from judah and i asked him them concerning the jewish people who escaped who 00:06:15.280 --> 00:06:19.680 had survived the exile and concerning jerusalem and they said to me 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:24.300 and they would have been shaking their head they would look down 00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:30.780 the remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame 00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:37.599 the wall of jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire 00:06:37.599 --> 00:06:48.099 now just a bit of a context now for this this story about 140 years prior to this 00:06:48.099 --> 00:06:55.899 the jewish people that were still alive in the southern kingdom of judah nebuchadnezzar 00:06:55.899 --> 00:07:03.339 uh the emperor of babylon uh they uh destroyed jerusalem like destroyed destroyed jerusalem they 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:11.879 took all of the treasures away and um they uh carried most of the people away into exile back into 00:07:11.879 --> 00:07:21.739 babylon back into babylon and so on one level for 140 years uh jerusalem has uh been destroyed the walls 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:28.199 had been destroyed and um and the gates had been burned uh and then if you go back and you read 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:32.759 ezra nehemiah which is sort of really one story you'll you'll see that you know quite a few decades 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:40.040 earlier uh there's a miracle and and the persian emperor uh invites jewish people to return to the 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:46.879 homeland uh and then you'll see there's all and this this is going to launch a hundred years of enmity 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:54.000 enmity against the jewish people uh if you go back from ezra right to the end of nehemiah it encompasses 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:01.540 a that a single story in in in episodes of over a hundred years of enmity and so there there have 00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:06.079 been other things to try to rebuild the city and everything and they they failed and now we have this 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:14.240 nehemiah fellow uh hearing about this now there's just one other thing i i need i need to to say um 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:20.920 if i don't know how many of you have been to africa and i'm sure it would also be true if those of you 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:26.800 who've gone to south america and latin america and uh probably large parts of asia uh 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:35.279 people poor poor people don't have walls like poor defenseless people don't have walls around their houses 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:42.799 but if you can manage any type of financial resource whatsoever and you have a house you put a wall around it 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:49.639 and you put a wall around it because of uh if you don't there's just constant thievery 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:54.899 and uh and there's often constant threats of violence 00:08:54.899 --> 00:09:01.719 and in in many of those countries the police can actually be the source of the thievery or the source 00:09:01.719 --> 00:09:09.259 of the violence but the justice can be very very intermittent and so there has to be in a sense a sense of 00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:13.840 caring for yourselves just a you know a bit of an aside the things that are going on in our culture 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:21.919 right now uh are undermining public confidence that we should give the majority of power to the 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:27.679 police and the state to protect us maybe not as much here in ottawa we're still a very safe city but 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:35.799 there's trends in in in jurisprudence and in laws and in politics that are undermining public confidence 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:39.459 uh that the state is going to actually protect us 00:09:39.459 --> 00:09:44.319 in in other words if this continues you will see walls around our houses 00:09:44.319 --> 00:09:51.779 so we can't fully appreciate this my guess is if i was speaking i was in rwanda just a month or two ago 00:09:51.779 --> 00:09:55.439 i'm guessing that i spoke in rwanda they would just see it as the most obvious thing in the world 00:09:55.439 --> 00:09:59.159 that if there's something precious and important it's not a wall around it it's 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:08.899 it means you're open to perpetual danger perpetual thievery perpetual abuse and so this is a big deal 00:10:08.899 --> 00:10:20.639 and so um how how does how does he respond and uh how on earth is this story well this is setting 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:25.679 the story for the courage that's going to be required of nehemiah to do something about in fact 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:31.199 the whole book of nehemiah is about acts of courage after acts of courage after acts of courage 00:10:31.199 --> 00:10:37.799 um actually i'm going to say one other thing that people don't always real about realize about nehemiah 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:47.219 and it might be part of what's going to uh his his his um his sense of shame uh that's going to come 00:10:47.219 --> 00:10:54.639 out later is that he's almost definitely a eunuch um he probably couldn't have had this position 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:03.960 without being castrated and uh and that that's a very problematic thing for jewish people back in 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:09.340 those days in terms of even your status so this is a man who's not a perfect complete whole man 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:14.960 that even uh the other jewish people are going to look at him a little bit askance and yet god's 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:20.240 going to use him and he's going to have remarkable courage so let's see what happens next verse four 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:29.639 um as soon as i heard these words i sat down and wept and mourned for days and i continued fasting 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:36.440 and praying before the god of heaven and i said and now from verses 5 to 11a we're going to hear his 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:45.460 prayer and i said oh lord god of heaven the great and awesome god who keeps covenant and steadfast love 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:51.620 with those who love him and keep his commandments let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to 00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:57.139 hear the prayer of your servant that i now pray before you day and night for the people of israel 00:11:57.139 --> 00:12:05.740 your servants confessing the sins of the people of israel which we have sinned against you even i and my 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:10.539 father's house have sinned 00:12:10.539 --> 00:12:19.820 now um i've been a part of several organizing uh groups in ottawa in fact i've been involved in lots 00:12:19.820 --> 00:12:26.440 of organizing groups in in ottawa and in in canada uh over the last decades and occasionally i've been a 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:29.100 part of a group that's wanted to make a type of public apology 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:33.740 and in every case i've argued against the public apology 00:12:33.740 --> 00:12:39.820 because in every case i've said that it's not honest it's cynical 00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:44.279 i think i've had a little bit more persuasive words than that 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:50.100 but you see it would be the easiest thing in the world for me to confess to sins that the irish 00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:56.460 people might have done that protestants might have done to catholics in ireland uh 120 years ago 00:12:56.460 --> 00:12:59.680 i could and then you point out some other i can confess that all day 00:12:59.680 --> 00:13:04.300 it takes no virtue whatsoever to confess sins that other people have done 00:13:04.300 --> 00:13:08.600 and if that almost every time something like that's done it's a type of virtue 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:13.620 posturing or it's a it's a type of cynical attempt to try to manipulate people 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:17.780 the the test of a character is to say i've done this 00:13:17.780 --> 00:13:25.620 i've done this wrong like in in every case i in one of the cases it was about apologizing to the 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:30.580 lgbtq plus community and i i've said to the people listen if you want to get up and begin by saying 00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:35.460 i confess that for many years i was prejudiced against gays and lesbians and i've had a change 00:13:35.460 --> 00:13:40.620 of heart and i i repent of how i've talked and joked about them i think that would be a very powerful 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:44.980 and moving thing but if you just want to get up and make a generic thing and it's pretty obvious 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:48.100 you don't actually think you're guilty like how is that a christian thing 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:56.460 so what's really interesting here about nehemiah's prayer is it it sounds as if and he is he's 00:13:56.460 --> 00:14:02.519 confessing the sins of his people but he's also saying in a sense it's me it's me it's me oh lord 00:14:02.519 --> 00:14:08.680 standing in need of prayer in fact and and this is definitely the case i i've known many people who've 00:14:08.680 --> 00:14:14.000 reached very very high levels of not many i've known some people have reached high levels of wealth or high 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:19.240 levels in government and it is not the case that people get lots of promotions do it by doing 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:25.960 compromised things it's not the case that everybody does it but we all know that many 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:33.100 who go who climb climb a greasy pole do it by stepping on the heads of others 00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:38.100 and nehemiah we're going to discover at the end of this little thing has written 00:14:38.100 --> 00:14:47.340 risen to a very prestigious position in the in in in the in the kingdom the the empire of persia 00:14:47.340 --> 00:14:53.180 and i can well imagine that he is thinking when he's doing that is you know what not only have the 00:14:53.180 --> 00:14:57.920 of my forbearer sin but the things i've had to do in terms of idolatry and other types of things that 00:14:57.920 --> 00:15:02.019 violate the law to reach my position of prominence and my wealth and my comfort 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:07.860 i'm i'm guilty i'm guilty 00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:17.179 you know it's one of the things that we can pray for ourselves that takes courage in this day and age 00:15:17.179 --> 00:15:24.840 is to actually just acknowledge that to own when i for me to own when i've done something wrong for 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:29.180 you to own when you've done something wrong increasingly takes courage 00:15:29.180 --> 00:15:36.300 now some of you might have noticed it's going to get a little bit more puzzling that there's this 00:15:36.300 --> 00:15:41.399 odd mixture of intimacy and and legalism which is going on in his prayer you know here we've broken 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:45.740 your commandments and rules yet on the other hand this let your eyes be looking at me and your ears 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:51.259 hearing me so what's going on well let's just finish that little bit of the prayer there's this odd 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:58.019 mixture of apparent legalism and religiosity and and yet intimacy well verse seven 00:15:58.019 --> 00:16:06.639 we have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments the statutes the rules 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:14.519 that you commanded through your servant moses remember the word that you commanded your servant moses 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:21.240 saying if you are unfaithful i will scatter you among the peoples but if you return to 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:26.820 me and keep my commandments and do them though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the 00:16:26.820 --> 00:16:32.600 heavens from there i will gather them and bring them to the place that i have chosen to make my name 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:44.899 dwell there now that's a sort of a puzzling thing eh uh here's the thing if over at coffee time 00:16:44.899 --> 00:16:49.639 uh you get talking to somebody and you say oh uh in fact actually we're going to have we're going to 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:54.120 have matt and amy come up in a little bit and i'm going to i'm going to ask them how long they're 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:59.259 married uh they i did it at eight and and they both knew the answer to the question by the way so 00:16:59.259 --> 00:17:03.319 they're not going to get in trouble unless they just all of a sudden speaking to everybody they 00:17:03.319 --> 00:17:08.440 have a bit of a brain dead moment that happens to people but if you were to talk to somebody and 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:12.680 say oh how the two of you married and uh and and and the and the woman said you know what 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:20.900 this guy every time i spoke he obeyed what i wanted him to do and he obeyed me and he obeyed me and he 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:27.060 obeyed me no matter what i asked him to do he obeyed me so i thought i'd marry him you'd go like that's 00:17:27.060 --> 00:17:37.200 weird what a stupid reason to get married but if you were to talk at a coffee hour and you say you 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:41.519 know i don't see your i know this can be painful for people especially on mother's day and if you 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:49.120 were to say uh haven't seen your your husband around for a month and then they started to cry 00:17:49.120 --> 00:18:00.279 and they said you know i i really really really really love him i still love him but he just keeps 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:06.240 doing things that disrespect me that dishonor me that he knows that i don't want that are just ruining 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:12.259 the relationship he's he's selfish and self-centered and he you know he flirts with other women and it 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:18.400 just it breaks my heart that he's doing those things and and and we're having a time apart 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:24.539 and i'm not sure if the marriage is going to survive and then they share with you you know i really 00:18:24.539 --> 00:18:35.160 hope i really hope he turns i really hope because i love him i really hope he he comes to his senses 00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:40.820 and he's willing to take the counseling he's willing to take some type of you know maybe have a mentor and 00:18:40.820 --> 00:18:45.360 and he can apologize and and he you know he can start acting in a way that 00:18:45.360 --> 00:18:51.660 so you see here's the thing in a sense all religion and spirituality 00:18:51.660 --> 00:18:57.800 is like the woman who says this guy obeyed me and obeyed me obeyed me and i decided to marry him 00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:05.359 that's in a sense what all religion and spirituality is what this text is about isn't about legalism it's 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:11.859 about an intimate marriage in the sense an intimate covenant between god and his people and just as in 00:19:11.859 --> 00:19:18.079 a marriage the the marriage comes about out of love and there's a desire for intimacy and and and if 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:22.659 you have language like this we all recognize that language is what breaks a marriage what breaks a 00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:28.380 relationship what breaks a family and that's the language we see here and if we listen to it as if 00:19:28.380 --> 00:19:35.200 it's talking about religion what we're actually hearing is a is something very counter cultural 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:40.960 because all religion basically says obey me and obey me and obey me until finally i accept you 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:45.160 and that's why so many people in our culture say they're nuns now they don't want to have anything 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:49.560 to do with religion because on an intuitive level they understand that that's just ridiculous 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:56.899 but this is the exact opposite of that it begins with an act of love it's it's all about love and 00:19:56.899 --> 00:20:02.799 with within love there's a way of you know if louise at like there's some things that louise is at we're 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:08.259 having some a mother's day thing later on the afternoon she's asked me to reorganize things in the in 00:20:08.259 --> 00:20:13.700 the backyard because we're having some family members over and if i don't do it if i just spend my time i 00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:18.980 don't know eating chocolate watching youtube videos and don't do it she'll be mad at me and if she tells you 00:20:18.980 --> 00:20:24.839 next sunday you'll say you go girl you're right to be mad at him you asked him to do that and he 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:33.960 didn't do it and so what we see here is is a picture of intimacy god's desire for intimacy and even what 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:38.120 we're seeing is something from the book of deuteronomy and and other places throughout the 00:20:38.120 --> 00:20:44.140 old testament where where god says listen i at the end of the day it doesn't give my heart any pleasure 00:20:44.140 --> 00:20:49.780 to see you you know ruin your lives and walk away from me and if you no matter how far away you are 00:20:49.780 --> 00:20:58.020 if you turn to me it will be it will be exactly like what jesus says in the parable of of the prodigal 00:20:58.020 --> 00:21:04.520 son where the father sees the son from a great distance and he runs towards him that's the heart 00:21:04.520 --> 00:21:09.140 of god that's the heart of the god that's been revealed here in the word that's his heart towards you 00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:16.120 and me we make the smallest turn and he runs to you because he loves you 00:21:16.120 --> 00:21:25.440 now there's another surprise because there's a word here that uh that happens just at the end of 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:32.920 the prayer which often people think of as a fearsome thing a sign a a bug in in christianity that if we 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:37.900 could get rid of it it would improve matters but it's actually not a bug it's actually a feature 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:44.300 and it's a very important feature a profoundly important feature which is very unique to the to 00:21:44.300 --> 00:21:50.680 the to the christian faith to the gospel look what happens in verse 10 they are your servants and your 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:55.480 people he's still praying right they are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed 00:21:55.480 --> 00:22:03.400 by your great power and by your strong hand oh lord let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:11.800 servant and to the prayer of your servants listen to this who delight to fear your name 00:22:11.800 --> 00:22:17.600 doesn't that sound for many canadians that just sounds masochistic 00:22:17.600 --> 00:22:29.080 delight to fear what but nehemiah this is like the this is like the the um you know all of the 00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:41.759 prayers been building up to this we delight i want to delight to fear your name and so he says and give 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:48.419 success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man now i was the cupbearer 00:22:48.419 --> 00:22:55.159 to the king now why on earth would the bible and this by the way isn't just some you know old testament 00:22:55.160 --> 00:23:00.160 thing if you go back you use a word search you'll see that it's a new testament virtue as well 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:05.920 i think it's in acts 9 where it says the church grew and the people they they grew in the power of 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:11.259 the holy spirit and the fear of god and the gospel spread so it's a new testament virtue and what's at 00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:15.040 the very heart of it there's lots of aspects about it but at the very heart of it is boundaries 00:23:15.040 --> 00:23:21.700 so one of the problems that couples can have and i shared with you a couple of weeks ago how i ruined 00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:27.200 my wife's birthday uh one year and part of the reason i ruined her birthday was because i thought 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:33.279 that what i liked was what she liked and i wasn't able to realize that louise is louise and george is 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:40.860 george and we're different and i can start to have who i am blur into who she is right that's one of the 00:23:40.860 --> 00:23:46.120 problems we can have with kids parents with kids is that you sort of think you know maybe because when 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:51.439 you were growing up you didn't get to play piano play baseball climb climb mountains and so you want 00:23:51.439 --> 00:23:57.859 your kids to do that and but frankly your kid would actually just like to to read a book quietly 00:23:57.859 --> 00:24:04.079 but you you you don't get where you begin and end and where your kid begins and end and you get it all 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:10.139 mixed up and confused and if you do that with a human being that you can see a constant problem is 00:24:10.140 --> 00:24:16.600 is how you do that with god whom you can't see and so that's you see why if you go back and you look 00:24:16.600 --> 00:24:20.540 at what the psalms and the proverbs and the old testament the new testament talk about the fear of 00:24:20.540 --> 00:24:26.340 god the very heart of the fear of god is a growing knowledge of where for me if i'm talking about myself 00:24:26.340 --> 00:24:32.420 is where george begins and ends and where god begins and ends and i never confuse myself with god 00:24:32.420 --> 00:24:43.460 that i have in a sense a strong the fear you see that's why the fear has a very odd combination on 00:24:43.460 --> 00:24:49.400 one hand it can sometimes be translated as as awe and on the other hand it's also a type of fear is 00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:57.940 just like it's i i feel terrible when i confuse myself with my wife and i in a sense i have a fear 00:24:57.940 --> 00:25:05.480 that i i don't want to do that again and so with god there's this growing desire to not mix up me 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:10.539 with god and at the same time the more that you recognize god is distinct from you the more you 00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:16.720 can long and yearn for him and want to be in awe of him and that's what they're doing they're delighting 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:22.759 to fear and they know that god has his own purposes and it and part of that was you know for them to be 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:28.940 judged for the things that they've done which were validly wrong but nehemiah is is is praying himself 00:25:28.940 --> 00:25:34.619 into a delight to understand where he begins and ends and where god begins and ends and to know that 00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:38.619 that is good that is good at the deepest level 00:25:38.619 --> 00:25:45.980 so just here's a couple of things before we go on any further i 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:50.440 um if you could put up the uh the first point 00:25:50.440 --> 00:25:55.579 because people might want you'll notice here by the end he he asked for success 00:25:55.579 --> 00:26:02.660 and all of us struggle with uh not all the time but have struggled at different times with the fact 00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:06.339 that we prayed and prayed and prayed and god didn't doesn't say yes to what we want 00:26:06.339 --> 00:26:12.259 but here's the first thing to understand about biblical prayer is that biblical prayer is a means of grace 00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:19.440 biblical prayer is a means of grace and i sorry i'm going to put some of you to sleep for a moment 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:24.019 but one of the best illustrations of a means of grace can be seen if you look at the story of jesus 00:26:24.019 --> 00:26:29.799 turning water into wine and i can have the handy people in the room make stone basins that can hold 00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:35.460 water and and you can make the same number that jesus made and you can pour water into them and you can 00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:40.160 move them whatever it is 80 feet or 100 feet or however long they move them and you can do that all day 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:44.080 you can do that next week you can do the week after that and it'll never the water will never turn into 00:26:44.080 --> 00:26:50.800 wine because putting water in a stone basin and moving the stone basin is not how you make wine 00:26:50.800 --> 00:26:56.840 just not how it goes right but why is that a means of grace you see this illustrates what a means of 00:26:56.840 --> 00:27:02.820 grace is is that jesus asks us to do things and if he asks us to do things and we do it 00:27:02.820 --> 00:27:08.540 and and often what he asks us to do are counterintuitive it doesn't really make any sense 00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:14.019 but if we do what he asks us to do he makes the wine that's why it's a means of grace he does 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:20.700 something in us that we can't accomplish by our own intelligence so you know why do we read the bible 00:27:20.700 --> 00:27:29.159 listen i'll just be honest for a lot of us a lot of us find large parts of the bible unbelievably boring 00:27:29.159 --> 00:27:36.819 and unhelpful and in fact if you talk honestly to christians they'll be honest that they might not 00:27:36.819 --> 00:27:41.460 have read the bible all week but they've read christian books during the week because frankly 00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:50.500 c.s lewis is such a better writer than mark or isaiah he's way better you know 00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:59.779 but reading c.s lewis isn't a means of grace word and you read his word and he makes the wine 00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:07.779 you know prayer is a means of grace he asks you to pray about certain things and you do it 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:13.980 it's there's going to be changes that happen in your life meeting together on a sunday morning let 00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:19.960 me tell you social psychologists and all the smarty smart people with pointy heads and or big head all 00:28:19.960 --> 00:28:23.339 that men and women they'll tell you there's a whole lot of better ways to build community 00:28:23.339 --> 00:28:28.639 and to create social change and meeting together on a sunday morning but those aren't means of grace 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:36.920 you know the lord's supper a means of grace giving to the giving to the ministry of the church 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:43.860 financially that's a means of grace and prayer is a means of grace and if you could put up the next 00:28:43.860 --> 00:28:51.780 point when you pray according to his word the lord is slowly fitting you for the new heavens and the 00:28:51.780 --> 00:28:58.140 new earth you see that's the heart of all of the means of grace a few years ago i preached on the book 00:28:58.140 --> 00:29:06.820 of colossians and i kept using the example of a of a of a of a of a cut rose and and in a sense all 00:29:06.820 --> 00:29:11.740 human beings apart from christ are like a cut rose they we can look very very beautiful and very very 00:29:11.740 --> 00:29:17.540 pretty but we're cut off from life and we're dying and in a sense what happens is when all if all human 00:29:17.540 --> 00:29:22.480 beings are cut roses apart from christ and they all think up their plans and they all think up the 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:27.460 things to do all they're really thinking of doing it all keeps them within the realm of being a dead rose 00:29:27.460 --> 00:29:33.360 a cut rose but the fact the matter is is here we listen to the wisdom of the world as to how to 00:29:33.360 --> 00:29:37.860 be a better cut rose but he wants to turn you into sequoia tree 00:29:37.860 --> 00:29:46.880 with deep roots sequoia tree is the biggest tree that's what he wants to do with you 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:53.079 yeah yeah yeah yeah so you're reading you know the the latest little pop christian author and i'm a 00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:57.720 good pop christian author i'm not putting them down i mean maybe someday god will help me to write 00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:02.740 a pop christian book it'll be my retirement fund finally or something like that it'll you know i'll 00:30:02.740 --> 00:30:08.559 write a book on five love languages i get one idea and i can write 75 books on one idea and just rake in 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:15.220 the money or something you know and and um and and and but but but god is doing something different 00:30:15.220 --> 00:30:19.019 and so we often evaluate you see this is one of the things about our prayers and stuff and when god 00:30:19.019 --> 00:30:23.519 says no we're evaluating everything within the frame of this world but god is doing something 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:27.400 within you when you're actually starting to learn how to listen to what he says about prayer 00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:33.359 and take it to heart that what he's doing is he's forming you he's fitting you for the new heaven and 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:36.519 the new earth it doesn't mean he's not going to say no to things that you're asking for 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:39.819 but he has a whole other bigger game in mind with you 00:30:39.819 --> 00:30:47.099 if you could put up the next point very briefly when you pray according to his word the low 00:30:47.099 --> 00:30:52.019 the lord bestows on you the gift of causality i'm not going to say anything more much more about 00:30:52.019 --> 00:30:55.099 that but that's one of the things that god does you in prayer he wants you to pray 00:30:55.099 --> 00:31:01.220 and he he he weaves your prayers in the things that he does in the world 00:31:01.220 --> 00:31:04.599 and he wants you to pray for big things 00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:10.919 that's sort of the the next thing if you put up the fourth point that would be very helpful when 00:31:10.919 --> 00:31:12.539 you pray according to his word 00:31:12.539 --> 00:31:22.939 he forms you to right size the world to right size the world you might notice at the end of his 00:31:22.939 --> 00:31:31.859 prayer he talking he needs to talk to the emperor of persia and he calls him this man 00:31:31.859 --> 00:31:39.879 here's one of the things we need to remember the supreme court of canada they are just men and 00:31:39.879 --> 00:31:48.000 women justin trudeau just a man the people who own the 10 biggest or 100 biggest companies in the 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:50.679 world they're just owned by men and women 00:31:50.679 --> 00:31:58.519 and part of the problem we have as christians is that people seem big and god seems small 00:31:58.519 --> 00:32:05.440 and what biblical prayer when we learn to start to listen to how the bible is teaching us to pray 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:11.039 one of the means of grace that god is doing within us is helping us to right size the world 00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:15.119 to actually go from living in a fantasy world 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:21.539 as if and i'm not picking on justin trudeau if if pierre paul averro was the prime minister of canada i 00:32:21.539 --> 00:32:30.299 would use him as an example as well this is not a political comment okay i what is he's just a man 00:32:30.299 --> 00:32:38.059 and god is the creator and sustainer of the whole world and when you actually start to to live in a 00:32:38.059 --> 00:32:42.460 world where you understand that there is a god that does exist the triune god that does exist 00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:48.279 and that by being saved by faith in christ that you become his child that he is now your father in 00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:53.279 heaven and the holy spirit helps you to pray and that jesus is the one who redeemed you and he is 00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:59.200 in a sense your elder brother on one level and that your father loves you and you can pour out your heart 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:08.500 to him and he wants you to pray for big things he wants you to pray for the end of euthanasia in this 00:33:08.500 --> 00:33:08.980 country 00:33:08.980 --> 00:33:16.880 i could go on these other types of things he wants you to pray for the end of them 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:23.200 and he wants you to pray for a long time he doesn't want you to think that somehow or another these human 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:29.039 beings control the world and are going to bring the world to where they want it to go that's just not 00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:34.700 true nehemiah's prayer is the real world 00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:43.420 well let's we still haven't got to the courage i have just a couple of minutes let's look what 00:33:43.420 --> 00:33:50.700 happens so he's prayed chapter 2 verse 1 in the month of nisan in the 20th year of king artis 00:33:50.700 --> 00:33:56.960 terces when wine was before him i took up the wine and gave it to the king now i had not been sad in his 00:33:56.960 --> 00:34:03.220 presence and the king said to me why is your face sad seeing you are not sick this is nothing but 00:34:03.220 --> 00:34:08.639 sadness of the heart then i was very much afraid there's a couple of things in this in the story 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:15.840 if you look at the months he's been praying for four months every day he fasts and prays and says 00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:23.440 today lord help me to say this four months and now the time has come and he's afraid for two reasons 00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:28.760 this emperor is obviously the type of guy who doesn't like sad people around him you know he 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:32.340 might say something like i don't know if i want to be around sad people i'll be around my kids or 00:34:32.340 --> 00:34:35.460 something like that i don't know what he'd say something he'd probably make some type of rude joke 00:34:35.460 --> 00:34:40.840 right he just wants happy people around him we all probably know people like that i remember reading a 00:34:40.840 --> 00:34:47.000 a guy who's an an expert on you know leadership and attitude and all of that type of stuff and he 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:52.160 would just unselfconsciously tell himself tell people that you know when his two kids or his 00:34:52.160 --> 00:34:56.360 couple of three or four kids two kids or whatever were in the room with him and his wife and one of 00:34:56.360 --> 00:35:00.280 them was really really sad he'd say listen we're having a great time here we don't want a sad person 00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:05.820 like you around you should go to your room until you change your attitude what what are in this way to 00:35:05.820 --> 00:35:16.180 raise your kids and he got applause i was listening to a live talk really i can just imagine saying to 00:35:16.180 --> 00:35:20.860 my wife you're feeling grumpy the rest of us are having a good time you go to your room until you've 00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:29.680 improved your attitude that would fly like a lead balloon let me tell you anyway and if you said it 00:35:29.680 --> 00:35:33.480 around about your wife nobody would be clapping by the way i don't know why they think you can say that 00:35:33.480 --> 00:35:37.340 to your kids anyway so i guess this emperor is one of these guys but here's the really big thing and 00:35:37.340 --> 00:35:43.539 this is where the courage is that if you go back and read ezra chapter four you'll see that artaxerxes 00:35:43.539 --> 00:35:49.539 sometime before this people in the region of jerusalem had said listen they're trying to rebuild 00:35:49.539 --> 00:35:54.960 the wall and you need to know that if they rebuild the wall this is going to be an act of rebellion 00:35:54.960 --> 00:36:02.420 and sedition against you they're doing this to kick you out of the region and take all of the capital 00:36:02.420 --> 00:36:08.159 and to build themselves up as a nation in opposition to you and you need to stop it and artaxerxes did 00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:13.980 the research and said you're right powerful kings have been there you better stop building the wall 00:36:13.980 --> 00:36:22.200 because i don't want a revolution and nehemiah is praying that he can go to this grumpy guy who wants 00:36:22.200 --> 00:36:28.340 everybody to be happy and says by the way can you give me money so i can rebuild the wall in jerusalem 00:36:28.340 --> 00:36:30.940 that requires courage 00:36:30.940 --> 00:36:37.280 that requires great courage that's why he's afraid 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:44.300 so just very very briefly look look at look at what happens verse three i said to the king 00:36:44.300 --> 00:36:53.620 let the king live forever good way to begin let the king live forever why should not my face be sad 00:36:53.619 --> 00:37:00.519 when the city the place of my father's graves lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire 00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:05.880 he doesn't say by the way our disease it was your order that 00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:12.039 knocked down the walls and burned the gates uh that were starting to be rebuilt 00:37:12.039 --> 00:37:14.960 then the king said to me and here's the miracle 00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:17.500 this is why he is this man 00:37:17.500 --> 00:37:24.440 the king said to me what are you requesting what what are you requesting 00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:33.300 so i prayed to the god of heaven and i said to the king if it pleases the king and if your servant 00:37:33.300 --> 00:37:40.300 has found favor in your sight that you send me to judah to the city of my father's graves that i may 00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:46.260 rebuild it and the king said to me the quitting sitting beside him how long will you be gone when will 00:37:46.260 --> 00:37:53.720 you return so it pleased this the king to send me when i had given him a time and i said to the king 00:37:53.720 --> 00:37:59.580 if it pleases the king let letters be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river that 00:37:59.580 --> 00:38:05.060 they may let me pass through until i come to judah and a letter to asaph the keeper of the king's 00:38:05.060 --> 00:38:11.840 forest that he may give me timber to make beams look what he wants the beams for so that for the gates of 00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:19.140 the fortress of the temple and for the wall of the city and for the house that i shall occupy 00:38:19.140 --> 00:38:26.460 and the king granted me what i asked for the good hand of my god was upon me next few verses show how 00:38:26.460 --> 00:38:31.760 it's the beginning of a big battle he's going to have with some enemies so just a couple of things if 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:38.480 you could put up the the so if you could put up the the first um the point that would be very helpful 00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:45.500 when you pray according to his word the lord is storing up courage in you for those times when 00:38:45.500 --> 00:38:55.900 you are afraid when you pray according to his word the lord is storing up courage in you for those 00:38:55.900 --> 00:39:01.940 times when you are afraid see what's happening in biblical prayer is you're praying after his heart 00:39:01.940 --> 00:39:11.619 you know i i i'm willing to bet a hundred dollars that the people in holland who are betraying the 00:39:11.619 --> 00:39:16.059 jews weren't praying every day that god would rescue the jews 00:39:16.059 --> 00:39:24.920 see that's how biblical prayer becomes a bit of a means of grace you know if if you wish that your 00:39:24.920 --> 00:39:29.539 loved one would come to a saving faith in christ but you never pray for them to come to a saving faith 00:39:29.539 --> 00:39:34.119 in christ it's going to be far harder for you to bear witness to jesus when an opportunity comes 00:39:34.119 --> 00:39:41.000 to bear witness to jesus and and and so what's happening is it's not just that you're praying 00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:45.980 for something but as you're praying for something that god really wants you to pray for you're aligning 00:39:45.980 --> 00:39:52.199 yourself with his will you're you're starting to have his heart form your heart he's you're starting 00:39:52.199 --> 00:39:58.699 to have his perspective form your perspective you're starting to see this man and by the way by saying 00:39:58.699 --> 00:40:05.119 this man is it's not it's not diminishing him he is just a man it doesn't mean you don't love him and 00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:12.539 care for him but he's just a man he's not a god he's he's not immortal he's not always right 00:40:12.539 --> 00:40:21.460 and so as you pray what's happening is that the lord is storing up within you the courage so that when 00:40:21.460 --> 00:40:28.159 you are have that moment that you can say something and you're afraid the fear doesn't win 00:40:28.159 --> 00:40:31.960 you're still afraid but you take the step 00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:38.340 and by the way this is even more throughout all of this 00:40:38.340 --> 00:40:44.539 actually just put up the final point very briefly uh it was a very small thing but i just wanted to 00:40:44.539 --> 00:40:50.039 make you notice that prayer and thinking are not the same thing but they are natural and necessary 00:40:50.039 --> 00:40:56.119 partners for four months he was also thinking right he had a very detailed plan i need lumber for this 00:40:56.119 --> 00:41:02.699 this this this but but but here's the thing all the way through the old testament there's this constant 00:41:02.699 --> 00:41:07.800 riddle here we have this thing that nehemiah's acknowledged that he's a sinner and yet he wants 00:41:07.800 --> 00:41:13.680 favor from god and in every in in a sense what you're discover discussing here is favoritism 00:41:13.680 --> 00:41:21.220 so why is it that what god is doing isn't favoritism but something different and in a sense what happens 00:41:21.220 --> 00:41:26.560 all the way through the old testament all of these talks about yes i'm a sinner show favor to me you're 00:41:26.560 --> 00:41:33.240 showing favor to me and i'm a sinner it's not reinforcing that god just shows favoritism where he says in a 00:41:33.239 --> 00:41:38.479 sense you know i like jewish people but it sucks to be persian i like jewish people but it sucks to 00:41:38.479 --> 00:41:44.199 be egyptian that's not what's going on especially as as we see that god's desire is that others become 00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:50.079 part of the covenant people it's posing a riddle that only the cross will solve 00:41:50.079 --> 00:41:58.279 because you see the riddle is how is it that god is actually showing grace to me that's not unjust 00:41:58.280 --> 00:42:06.620 even though i'm a sinner and uh you know there's this image um if you think about the cross for a 00:42:06.620 --> 00:42:13.460 second on one level of course it goes straight up and down straight up and down so in a sense it's 00:42:13.460 --> 00:42:19.080 doing something god and human beings but also it goes sideways it goes back in time and forward in 00:42:19.080 --> 00:42:24.260 time that the death of jesus on one hand is something that takes place in history but because 00:42:24.260 --> 00:42:30.160 he's more than just a man he is the son of man and we are made in his image what he does for us is 00:42:30.160 --> 00:42:36.140 something that can stand for people before and behind and and so what we see in the in the cross 00:42:36.140 --> 00:42:42.740 is is that it's only god's grace in jesus that that means that what we see here is profound love and 00:42:42.740 --> 00:42:51.040 mercy and grace not not unjust favoritism because in in the cross the things that i have done wrong are 00:42:51.039 --> 00:42:58.800 judged in him he takes my place and the and and those are punishments that i deserve and that i 00:42:58.800 --> 00:43:05.059 couldn't withstand but they fall on him because he he loves me and he he offered to do it do this for me 00:43:05.059 --> 00:43:11.039 and that when i put my hand in his he not only is jesus and in a sense dealing with all that i've ever 00:43:11.039 --> 00:43:17.079 done that's wrong and it it falls on him but at the same time there's something in a sense electric 00:43:17.079 --> 00:43:22.719 that happens spiritual that happens when you put your hands in the hand of christ that god's favor 00:43:22.719 --> 00:43:32.219 that he deserves is bestowed to me and so all of the demands of justice are met in the person of 00:43:32.219 --> 00:43:40.139 jesus but mercy and grace triumph over justice not by making justice injustice but by meeting the full 00:43:40.139 --> 00:43:48.839 demands of justice and then going even before and so it is that we on this side of the cross of all 00:43:48.839 --> 00:43:57.500 people should be able to pray to god how we have sinned and how wonderful how grateful we are for what 00:43:57.500 --> 00:44:05.199 christ has done for us and a desire to pray according to his word and to know that as we pray according to 00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:12.639 his word as we follow this sometimes incomprehensible means of grace that not only is the lord fitting us 00:44:12.639 --> 00:44:20.579 for the new heaven and the new earth but he is also storing up within us the courage to confront evil 00:44:20.579 --> 00:44:32.159 to not bow to evil but to confront it and to stand in its presence wonderful line in closing about 00:44:32.159 --> 00:44:40.239 martin luther king he because he was on his knees before god that he could stand before tyrants 00:44:42.239 --> 00:44:46.480 lord that's what i want i invite you to stand 00:44:53.119 --> 00:44:54.399 let's bow our heads in prayer 00:45:02.159 --> 00:45:08.960 father uh you know how much we're afraid of different things and still you love us you know 00:45:08.960 --> 00:45:14.719 the things we've done wrong still you love us we thank you for jesus we ask lord that the gospel 00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:20.719 would become more real to our hearts that as the gospel becomes more real to our hearts who jesus is and 00:45:20.719 --> 00:45:26.799 what he did for us on the cross that father we will do what he asked us to do and that as we do what 00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:33.600 he asked us to do will we trust lord help us to trust more and more that as we do what he wants us 00:45:33.600 --> 00:45:39.280 to do whether it's financial generosity to the church whether it's spending time in prayer whether 00:45:39.280 --> 00:45:44.880 it's part being part of a good local church whatever it is father that you have asked us to do help us 00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:49.600 to trust that as we do these things that you have asked us to do that you are making that new wine 00:45:49.599 --> 00:46:05.519 within us that it is a means of grace and we ask this in the name of jesus your son and our savior amen