All right, let's pray. Father, thanks for being such a great God. Thank you for adopting us as your children and loving us and giving us everything we need. Holy Spirit, thank you for being our teacher and counselor. And please teach us this morning, translate what I say, and just give us each something directly from you that that that we can take and apply in our lives. And Jesus, we just thank you for being our Savior and our friend and reconnecting us with our Father. And so we praise you and thank you and we pray in your name. Amen. Well, we are kind of down the home stretch. We're looking at what uh what I think is one of the greatest books uh ever written. It's about achieving incredible things together with God. If you haven't been here, this is maybe your first time this morning. Uh just a quick uh recap. The book we're looking at is an autobiography. And it was written 2,500 years ago. It's in the in the Old Testament, and it's the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah at the start of the book, he's the wine steward uh to King Artaxerxes. And he hears about the situation in Jerusalem. He lives in the capital city of Persia, which is in modern day Iran, uh a city called Susa, at that time. It's about 800 miles from Jerusalem. His brother and some of his friends come to visit, and they tell him about the the conditions in Jerusalem. And in Nehemiah 1 says, They said to me, Things are not going well for those who return to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire. When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. See, the walls around Jerusalem were four and a half miles long around the city. They were twenty feet tall and sixteen feet wide, and they were completely destroyed. The whole city was really in rubble and ruin. And it was so critical for the for the Jewish people and the people in Jerusalem, because it was their main form of protection. Without a wall around a city, they didn't really have anything. I mean, they were under constant attack, they were mocked and they were uh ridiculed, they didn't have any peace, they didn't have a sense of hope or a future. As Nehemiah's brother said, they were in great trouble and disgrace. Well, six months later, they're going to be dancing in the street. They'll be shouting so loud that the areas around them can hear their uh their joy. And so what we're learning is how with God we can do great things fast, how we can build and rebuild in our lives. We're talking about this wall, but we're really we're really talking more about our own lives and how we can apply what God teaches us through Nehemiah's autobiography. And it might be that we're in trouble and disgrace. It might be that our wall or part of part of the wall in our life is uh is a bit of rubble. Well, what in not too long, you can be dancing in the street. You can be filled and refilled with joy. It's what God does. I mean, what one of the main God things that God does is He rebuilds and He restores and He renews our lives. You might not be in a rebuilding project, it might just be that we're building on what God's done, and we're learning how to maybe lead and influence our families and our community, and we can learn that from Nehemiah as well. So Nehemiah hears about all this and he decides enough is enough. It's time to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. And so he asks God for help and he waits for for the right time. He talks to the king, and the king gives him the time off, and he also gives him everything that that uh that he had prayed about, plus uh more supplies and and uh different things like that. He heads to Jerusalem, he inspects the wall, they get they get to uh building and they immediately get you know uh oppression and people are attacking them and people are are uh are kind of um after them. Last week we saw that the opposition just got stronger, and uh and the negativity around that kind of got contagious. And it got so bad that the people just kind of wanted to quit. And so they uh they prayed and they protected themselves, and uh mostly they remembered, they remembered why they were building this wall in the first place. That it was about it was about their whole lives, it was about their families, and it was about their children and making a difference for them and for for generations. And so they kept on building. But this time they did it with a sword strapped to their side and building with the other hand. And it wasn't just Nehemiah, it was it was everyone. I mean, the people that were building this wall were uh uh grandfathers and grandsons, uh husbands and wives, uh sons, daughters. Um, every one of them, uh if you can imagine, with a sword strapped to their side, rebuilding this uh important wall. And so this is where we start this morning. They're ready, they're poised, they're looking for an attack, they're about to finish. They're very close to uh to getting finished. And what we're gonna see is one more attack does come, but it's not the attack that they were preparing for. In Nehemiah 5 and verse 1, about this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews. They were saying, We have such large families, we need more food to survive. Others said we have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine. And others said we have had to borrow money in our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes. We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs, yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We've already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others. You know, they face so much opposition already. They've come so far in such a short period of time. They're on guard against attack, they're ready to fight, and what threatens to derail them is their personal finances. I mean, there's three economic problems that have kind of converged all at once. Uh, the three things Nehemiah mentions are a famine, debt, and taxes. They had an agricultural economy, and so if growing conditions were down for a while, they wouldn't have enough money to pay their bills and get along. In fact, we might call it a recession. Um they had borrowed money to get through it, and now they couldn't make the payments. And what was even more difficult was that their taxes were too high. So 2,500 years ago, 500 years before Jesus physically lived on earth, Nehemiah and the Jewish people have an opportunity to change their lives and their families' lives. And as hard as it is, it's even more difficult because they're in the middle of a recession with too much debt and their taxes are too high. Does that sound familiar? Vaguely, there's something about that. And so I struggled a little bit this week because I'm like, you know, this isn't really where I wanted to go with the story, but it's where the story goes, you know, and and I think the thing that that I struggled with is it seems a little out of left field. They're building this wall, and there's this huge project, and they're working together as a team, and God's providing everything, and and they're facing the you know uh army type attacks, and then out of nowhere, it's it's you know, debt and it's the economy and it's taxes, and here they are. They're about to to get derailed again on this uh important project. And I think the more I thought about it, I realized that this isn't out of context at all. It's not really out of left field. In fact, it's a perfect snapshot of life. It's a perfect snapshot of what it's like to build and rebuild our lives. Um think about it for a minute, I guess. The type of things we're talking about building and rebuilding are marriages. How often are we working through a marriage crisis and a financial crisis simultaneously? Often. In fact, sometimes it's the the financial pressure that reveals the opportunity to strengthen our marriage. But often those things go hand in hand. You know, if we're trying to build uh a career or a job or a business, often financial struggle is uh is an initial part of that. You know, addictions. If if overcoming an addiction is the wall that needs uh rebuilt in our lives. Um you know, financial problems and addictions go hand in hand. And so often you're fighting both things at once. Rebuilding the wall and a financial situation, health situations, you know, the the snow's family situation, a perfect example. Okay, now they're rebuilding their lives uh after this accident. And not only are they faced with the rebuilding, but the financial situation that goes along with it. A lot of the building and the rebuilding we do are simultaneous with a financial problem or crisis or situation in our lives. And so how good of God to take a step back and say, okay, here's another thing they had to deal with as they were building and rebuilding in their lives. You know, if that's you, you're not alone. You know, it it kind of comes with the territory, and uh you will make it, and we will learn from Nehemiah how. So far, what Nehemiah teaches us is like to me surprisingly practical. I mean, you really can apply it to uh to our lives, whether it was how he was at work, how how they worked together, his relationship and understanding of God, all those types of things are are uh have been pretty easy to apply. And uh so maybe we can see how he handled money in this particular situation and apply it as well. The story goes on. In Nehemiah 5.6, when I heard their complaints, I was very angry. After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them you are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money. Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem. Okay, what jumps out at me is that there's three problems the the Jewish people identified uh the economy, taxes, and interest payments. Um Nehemiah only mentions one. The one that they could control. You know, I mean, is he focused on the one thing that they could control, they couldn't control the economy. Um he definitely couldn't control the taxes. You know, we get to to vote and try to hold our government accountable, and occasionally we get mad enough that we uh we do. And um but there's no vote uh for king of Persia. I mean, Artaxerxes was it, and Artaxerxes decided what the taxes were going to be. And so when Nehemiah steps back to to look at the situation, he focuses only on the part of the situation that he can actually affect, that they can actually um control. And this specific situation is that the the Jewish people were violating God's plan and that they were charging each other interest when they when they loaned them money. In Deuteronomy 23, it says, Do not charge interest on the loans you make to a fellow Israelite, whether you loan money or food or anything else. You may charge interest to foreigners, but you may not charge interest to Israelites, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you're about to enter and occupy. God's desire was to bless them in everything that they did. But they got themselves in a mess because they weren't following his plan. I learned early in marriage counseling, not in doing marriage counseling, in receiving marriage counseling, um, to look at at situations that Susan and I were having and and ask myself, what is my part of this situation? You know, and and usually, at least in our marriage, it's either mostly my part or there's some part that that I'm contributing to my situation. That's a good anytime we're having an area of struggle, it's a good question just for us to ask. Do I have a part in this? And yet, with financial things, we won't always have a part. You know, things happen, um, and there's things that we don't control. And so sometimes there isn't a part. It's just something we need God to get us through. But then there's other times that we can say, yeah, you know, here's an area that uh that I can work on. And that was true in the Emaya situation. Two out of the three areas were really out of their control. Um, but one area they did have control. And so he says at the meeting I said to them, We're we're doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them? And they had nothing to say in their defense. Then I pressed further, what are you what you are doing is not right. Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of charging interest. You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day, and repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil. They replied, We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say. Then they called the priests and made the nobles and officials swear to do what they had promised. And so first Nehemiah focuses on the part that they can affect, and then they fix it. I mean, not a lot of drama. I mean, they they they faced it, and then they fixed it. The uh in this situation they gave back all of the interest that that they've been charging. Um there's a lot that we can learn from just this one situation. Debt eventually enslaves us. Um not to take advantage of people in desperate situations. It's not enough just to recognize we've harmed someone. Um if we can, we we need to try and fix it. Okay, we can learn all that from this one um uh situation. But two of the biggest picture things that that Nehemiah did were pretty simple. He didn't waste any time worrying about things he didn't control. He just, you know, he uh uh he dealt with what he could control and then he fixed it. Um he faced it, he fixed it, and then he moved on. Nehemiah does something else for us, and that's really where I kind of want to finish at looking at. And and that is that not only does he talk about the specific problem, but he shares with us his own personal philosophy of uh of dealing with uh with his money, particularly as he was in a position um of leadership. And so in Nehemiah 5 and 14, for the entire twelve years that I was governor of Judah, from the 20th year to the 60, I mean to from the 20th year to the 32nd year of the reign of King Artaxerxes. Okay, that's news here. This is the first time this is mentioned, but but Nehemiah becomes governor of all of Judah. You know, here a wine steward that saw something good that God empowered and he did it God's way with God. An attitude of love and helping the people. And he eventually is made governor over the entire region. It says that neither I nor my officials drew on our official food allowance. The former governors, in contrast, had laid heavy burdens on the people, demanding a daily ration of food and wine, besides forty pieces of silver. Even their assistants took advantage of the people, but because I feared God, I did not act that way. He feared God. It doesn't mean that he was scared of God. It meant that he put God in his proper position. He understood how things worked, he understood what God was like. And the fact is that God works against oppressors and for helpers. You know, and so he recognized that. He feared God. He wanted to do that. He wasn't going to take uh advantage of people. He kept God in a proper position in his life. He wanted to make sure that he was playing on the same team with God. He says, I also devoted myself to working on the wall and refused to acquire any land. And I required all my servants to spend time working on the wall. I asked for nothing, even though I regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at my table, besides all the visitors from other lands. The provisions I paid for each day included one ox, six choice sheep or goats, and a large number of poultry. And every ten days we needed a large supply of all kinds of wine. I don't know what was going on every ten days. Um, but I do know there was a lot of feasts and celebrations uh in the Old Testament. Yet I refused to claim the governor's food allowance because the people already carried a heavy burden. See, for Nehemiah, his role as a leader was a responsibility. It was a responsibility felt, not a personal opportunity. He was careful that his actions reflected that, that he could have taken. It actually would have been okay and and and maybe even appropriate for him to take, but he won it. He won it. He only gave. You know, the midterm elections this week, so we're unusually focused, you know, on uh on that kind of stuff. And most people are frustrated with with uh with politicians. I kind of am. I'm in kind of a throw-em-all-out um frame of mind. And um but that's not really my point. That's you all can decide your own opinion about that. But um but I do want to say that I don't want to get too jaded, because there still are a lot of Nehemiahs in the world. You know, I mean there are a ton of people who lead in business and in communities and in classrooms and and uh that that are doing it not to not to get, but to give. That that's their heart, is to is is to help people, that they could take, but they don't take. That uh that their focus is on helping people who are um already burdened. And when we see these people, uh we can appreciate them. We can you know uh um uh aspire to be like them. There's so many Nehemiahs here. I mean, this is basically a volunteer church, and so many people are giving and helping and restoring and and building. So there's a lot of good people still in the world. There's a lot of people like Nehemiah. And not only that, we can be like Nehemiah. You know, as as as God grows us into positions of influence, we're all in positions of influence in our families and with our friends and and at work and school and wherever we are. We're all, God's put us all in positions to make a difference, in positions of influence. And we can be like Nehemiah. Um we can we can have a heart to to give, not to get. And even when there's things that might be appropriate, we can say, no, I just want to help. You know, I just want to help. And that was Nehemiah's attitude, and that's how God was able to use him to make such a huge difference uh in in people's lives. And we can we can aspire to be the same way. Now I will say that Nehemiah wasn't entirely selfless, and that there were things that Nehemiah uh wanted, there were hopes and dreams that Nehemiah had. And he finishes with a quick prayer. He's a quick prayer, and that's one of the many things I like about Nehemiah. But he finishes this, you know, he's talking now, it's just the same, the same section of verses. He's talking about how, although other people before him had taken, that he wasn't going to do that. And not only did he not take, he actually gave. He paid for the food and he paid for the stuff for for other people. But then he finishes with this quick prayer. Remember, O my God, all that I've done for these people and bless me for it. You see, it it it is he knew something about God, and that was that if he did the right things with the right heart, that God would provide for him, that God would reward him. You know, that's not a uh um a negative thought. It's a truth about God, that God sees what we do and he rewards us. Jesus himself said in Matthew uh 6 4, give your gifts in private, and your Father who sees everything will reward you. See, Nehemiah knew that. So it wasn't that he didn't have hopes and dreams and things and and those you know, that that type of stuff. It's just that he trusted God. He wasn't gonna grasp and and and fight and acquire. He was gonna consistently do the right thing. And then trust God to reward him and uh and take care of him. I think the reason Nehemiah talks about this uh financial crisis and and how it can derail you know building and rebuilding in our lives. It's not just the financial part of it. They were so close to finishing the wall. I mean, they were maybe a week or two, a week, and yet they stopped again. You know, and I they probably could have gotten through a week. It wasn't the actual situation. It was just the stress and uh the fighting and the arguing and and the turmoil that was going to um derail them. It's the same for us, you know, the financial problems. When we got some really important project in our lives, and then we got all this added stress, and we've got uh the turmoil, and we're and we're trying to figure it all out. Um God can just deal with all that. And as he transforms us, um it starts being reflected in how we we handle money, how we live as helpers, not oppressors. And uh and mostly like Nehemiah, we can trust God to reward and take care of us. I think we can sum up, you know, there's a lot of we can sum up what Jesus said about money for us pretty simply. Just be honest, be generous, and mostly relax. Just be honest, be generous, and relax. I want to read something Jesus said. And if you would, close your eyes. Now, this we don't close our eyes very much. And uh I'm not gonna ask you to raise hands or anything, you know. All eyes closed, all heads bowed, that type of thing. The uh but what I want to do is I just want to read something that Jesus said. And and and and just see if you can hear Jesus' voice. This is Jesus speaking to us. If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers, most of which are never seen, don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you. What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting. So you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things. But you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God reality, God initiatives, God provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. See, that's the truth. That's that's Jesus' actual words to us. That we don't have to be preoccupied with with getting. We don't have to be stressed out. That we can relax. That God will provide for us, God will take care of us. And it's a good description of how Nehemiah lived. You know, he wasn't so preoccupied with getting that he couldn't respond to God's living. He wasn't so stressed out by the turmoil that he couldn't just step back and handle the specific fit situation to face it and to fix it. And he was relaxed because he knew God would reward him. He knew God would take care of them. I mean, the Israelites were so close. I mean, they were so close to changing their lives forever. They just needed to finish that project. And they couldn't let a financial crisis stop them. You know, Nehemiah faced it, fixed it, trusted God to reward him and relaxed. And I know many of us, you know, times are tough right now, the exact same three things, right? The economy, debt, taxes. Times are stuff, but don't get stressed out. Don't get stressed out. God loves you, God is for you. This rebuilding projects we're doing in our lives is not an us thing, it's a God thing. You know, He is gonna take care of you. So we can face it, we can fix it, and we can relax. Jesus said, mostly I just want you to relax. It's gonna be okay. He's in control. If there's something we've done, well, we'll fix it and and do it a different way. And then we'll move forward and we'll keep building. It's an important project. God wants to transform our lives, he wants to transform our families. We can't let something like a mutual financial struggle derail us. We'll just face it, we'll fix it, relax, and God will do it. So we're gonna stop there this morning. If the worship team wants to come up, we're gonna sing one more song together, celebrate just how great God is in our lives. Next Sunday, in fact, let's stand, we'll get ready for that. Next Sunday, we'll see how the story ends. Next week will be our last Sunday looking at uh at Nehemiah. I'll give you a hint. Someone's having a party. There's gonna be joy and dancing in the streets. You know, to build with God, we just gotta get connected with him. Jesus gives us that way. We turn to him. It's not a formula, just in our own way. We just turn to him and we say, you know, I'm tired of doing it my way, or or you know, I'm gonna trust you, or help me, or whatever our own words are. You know, and then our spirit comes alive inside of us, connects with his spirit, and he starts that process of transforming us from the inside out, of rebuilding and building our lives with him. Um we just gotta get connected with him so we can start building with him. You know, you're not for far from a party of yourselves. Um we're gonna do it. We're gonna do it. Whatever it is, whatever's on our hearts right now as we're talking about Nehemiah and that wall, but we're thinking about our own lives and our own walls and the things that we need to build and rebuild, we're not that far from doing it. This is a God thing. God loves you. God is for you. You know, if there's something we gotta face, we face it, we fix it, and relax, because God's for us, and who can be against us? And we're gonna finish the wall. We're gonna finish the wall, and we're gonna build, and we're gonna rebuild, and it's God that's doing the heavy lifting. So let's pray. Father, we thank you for being such a great God, for loving us, for adopting us, for taking care of us. Please help us, God. Please help us to build and rebuild, get us through any financial struggles that we're facing us, reward us and and bless us, Father. Help us to do the right things and help us to handle money the right way. And we just uh praise you and thank you and love you. Jesus, it's your name we pray. Amen.