Transforming the City

This is the 300th year of our city. I am amazed at that. Think of the amount of history that is involved from 1718 to 2018. I read somewhere that the traditional date of the anniversary is May 7th, but the actual day is unknown. Some interesting information that I was not aware of about our beloved city. The Southern Christian Leadership conference although headquartered in Atlanta was actually started in New Orleans when a group of people gathered together to form it. New Orleans also has the highest number of historic districts. According to the national register New Orleans has no less than 20 historic districts more than any other city in the US. One church member told me a few weeks ago in a gathering of people that I don’t have to go see the world, the world comes to me here in New Orleans. And he is so right. This is a mixture of so many types of people. The common bond that many people have between them is a love for the city. Today, we are going to go back to the Old Testament to examine a story of a man who had love for his city. He desired to change his city. We will be in Nehemiah 2 this morning. It will be on the screen if you would like to follow along.

What Breaks Your Heart? Or What Excites You?

"I said to the king, 'Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire.'" — Nehemiah 2:3

A little bit of historical background is needed to fully understand what is going on. In 586 BC, the Jerusalem temple was destroyed at the hands of the Babylonians. You can read about the actual destruction of the temple in Jeremiah 39 and Jeremiah 52. In the process of destroying the temple, Jeremiah 39:8 tells us that the Babylonians tore down the palace, the houses of the temple, and the walls of Jerusalem.

The Israelites are force to go in exile. They serve the Babylonians and later the Persians for many years away from their homeland and their culture. Nehemiah is one of the Jews who lived in exile away from his homeland. Eventually the Babylonians fall to the Persians, and the king that Nehemiah serves as cupbearer for is the Persian King, Artaxerxes. Like many Jews of his day, Nehemiah is working and living in Persia but feels a longing to return to his native land.

If you are going to be a part of renewing this city or any city for the gospel there is a formula that Nehemiah teaches us here: What breaks your heart? Or what excites you? As we seek to be a church that transforms people through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to ask ourselves these question both corporately and individually. What do you see in your city that breaks your heart? Is it the enormous amount of children in our foster care system? Is it the corruption of our local government? Is it the people who profess no belief in God? Whatever it is, the things that break your heart often times move you to action. Where do you find excitement and motivation?

Nehemiah was visibly and painfully upset at the disaster that had struck Jerusalem. A cupbearer was typically a position where your physical appearance was important. They were well kept, and often handsome in appearance. When the king says why does your face look sad he is most likely referring to the fact that Nehemiah looked sloppy. He did not have his typical appearance this day.

Nehemiah desperately wants to be a part of renewing the city that he loves so dearly. Many of you in this room have a similar experience to Nehemiah. How many of you in this room lived in another town or city for an extended period of time after Katrina? And how many of you felt the constant pain of being away from home? In fact, I would venture to say that some of you made the conscious choice to came back to be a part of rebuilding the city. Well the city for the most part is back from a structure standpoint, but you and I have a responsibility to renew the city with the Gospel of Jesus. So we start with this question, what breaks your heart?

• There is a beautiful park in NYC called the High Line. Originally built for trains to travel from what part of the city to the next in the 1930s. It last ran in the 1980 and a group of property owners wanted it demolished, but one resident in the Chelsea district of NYC who loved trains fought for it to not be demolished. Fast forward to 1999 where two different men fight to make it a park that stretches across the city, and after 15 years of work the final section of the park was completed in 2014. If you ever go to NYC, you should check it out.

 Pray:

"Then the king said to me, 'What are you requesting?”'So I prayed to the God of heaven." — Nehemiah 2:4

After we determine what breaks our heart we begin the process of bathing this decision in prayer. It is tempting to immediately move into action, but that is not what we see Nehemiah do. He prays to God. Take a moment later to go back and read chapter 1, which is his entire prayer to God about what was on his heart.

The reality is that there are 1,000 things that need to be done in this city and every other city, but we don’t want to do things that God is not calling us to do. There might be something that our church is not best equipped to do that another organization is equipped to do.

• There is a great organization here called Operation Spark. They are training at risk youth how to do computer programming. They even have an 8-week program where they teach high school graduates how to do coding, and then assist them in finding a job. They are changing the lives of teenagers who might not otherwise be able to find a job that would pay them well enough to be independent.

We as a church are not equipped to help in this way, and that is ok. God has uniquely gifted us to do other things. You cannot solve every single problem that the city has. This church cannot solve every single issue that the city has so this is where prayer becomes so important. God can show you exactly how he wants you serving. Doing good things without God leading us to do them is disobedience. Sure people might still be impressed, it might improve society in someway, but if it is not what God has led us to do than we should not be doing it.

Gather a Team:

"And I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.'” — Nehemiah 2:7-8

The cheesy slogan reigns true here: There is no "I" in "team." When God lays something on your heart that he wants you to do you need to gather a group of people who have a similar burden on their hearts.

• The classic business book by John Kotter entitled “Leading Change” details how you go about making changes in any organization but the second step in the process is to build a guiding coalition, which is just a fancy way of saying you need to form a team of people who not only want to join you but who also understand what you want to do.

Nehemiah had the greatest asset possible on his side. He had the king. The letters had to be written because governors in the various areas had the power to refuse passage through their districts. Nehemiah needed the letters from Artaxerxes to show people that he did in fact have permission to travel. Not only did he write a letter to the governors but he also wrote a letter to Asaph who managed the king’s forest. Nehemiah was going to need materials in order to begin his project, and the king’s letter secured the materials needed.

It is very difficult to do something that God has laid on your heart in isolation. As bold as Nehemiah was, he still needed people around him to use their giftedness and talents to get the job done.

 Assess the Need:

"I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire." — Nehemiah 2:13

Notice that in verse 12, Nehemiah tells us that he didn’t do this alone. He took a group of people with him. So take your team that you have created and walk in the areas where you want to do ministry. Gather data on the population that you want to work with. Talk with other people who are doing similar ministries in your area. Pray over the area where you want to do ministry.

Nehemiah went out inspected the problem. He walked around the various gates of the city. He needed a visual of the problem before he could find a solution. Don’t underestimate the power of walking in the area where you desire to do ministry. God often times speaks to us as we walk. He brings people to mind, he plants ideas in our hearts, and he guides and directs our paths.

Most of us have a difficult time understanding Nehemiah’s sadness. After all, it’s just a wall. But you and I are not as dependent on a location for worshipping God as the Israelites were. Remember, the Jewish people’s faith was strongly tied to Jerusalem. The temple was located there in this city. When the Jews were forced out of Jerusalem, it was like they lost the ability to worship God in some respects. There is no headquarters of Christianity, but for the Jews their faith was strongly tied to Jerusalem itself. When Nehemiah saw the walls destroyed, it represented an incomplete picture of the way worship to God should be.

• Many of you might know the story of Geoffrey Canada who started the Harlem Children’s Zone. The project began in 1997 on one block in Harlem. The goal was to address issues that children and families in Harlem were struggling with: crumbling apartments, rampant drug use, failing schools, violent crime, and chronic health problems. It now covers over 100 blocks of Harlem. 861 students in college since the program started. Over 1,200 families have stayed together and avoided the foster care system since their family support center opened in 2010, and 1.2 million healthy, nutritious meals prepares for students in school in 2017. All of these statistics sound really fancy and impressive, but don’t forget the most important part of this story. This started with one block. And once that one block was fixed, they moved on to another, and then another. What God has laid on your heart doesn’t have to be this huge city-wide endeavor. It could be one block, one child, or one meal that could make the difference. Please hear me, what God has called you to do doesn’t have to be a huge thing. Just be obedient to what he has called you to do.

 Respond in Faith:

"Then I replied to them, 'The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right to claim in Jerusalem.'" — Nehemiah 2:20

Trust that God will provide for you as you seek to be obedient to him. God will equip you in the moment to do exactly what he has called you to do.

If you follow the steps that Nehemiah has laid out for us in this passage, I truly believe God will bless your efforts. Respond in faith to what he has called you to do. Don’t underestimate the power of the Gospel at work in your life to make a difference.

Who is more equipped to transform the city then Christians? Look at this quote by famous atheist Richard Dawkins, “There are no Christians, as far as I know, blowing up buildings. I am not aware of any Christian suicide bombers. I am not aware of any major Christian denomination that believes the penalty for apostasy is death.” Richard Dawkins