Speaker 1: 0:03

Hello, I am Dwight. I am one of the pastors here at Westtown Church. If we've not had a chance to meet, I hope you'll introduce yourself to me today that I might get to know you. I want to give a special thanks to Scotty, who's been playing the cello for us today. I've really appreciated what it's added to our worship. Glad you could be here with us.

Speaker 1: 0:21

As a church we have been going through the book of Nehemiah the last several weeks. The tie-in has been Nehemiah was called by God to rebuild the walls around the city of Jerusalem that was lying in ruin. We're in a building project. We hope we'll be starting soon with replacing the bridge. Sometimes when you get involved in a big project like that, it can sort of eclipse the broader purposes of a church. So much time and energy gets focused on something like that that it sort of takes over that. We're here to reach and equip our surrounding community with the good news of Jesus Christ and to be equipped ourselves in that task. So the thing about Nehemiah that is so great is that he not only undertakes that construction project but he does it in a way that makes the connection that all things are under God and therefore spiritual, but he also focuses on renewing the hearts of the people, and so that is what my hope and our desire is as we go through this series that our vision of who God is will be enlarged, our hearts will be renewed, we will grow together as a community and our witness to our community will be strengthened. That's our hope, our prayers.

Speaker 1: 1:42

We go through this series, and one of the components that's involved in renewing our heart in Christ's grace is involves a word that has a lot of baggage associated to it. In fact, if we had the time, I'd love to play word association with you. And if I say this word, have you told me what first comes to your mind? But the word is it was the first word in John the Baptist's first public sermon. It is the same word in Jesus' first public sermon. It is among the very last instructions that Jesus gave prior to ascending into heaven, and it was the mission under which Christ sent out all of the apostles. So what is this important baggage written word? It's the word repent. Now, like I said, I'd love to know what your thoughts that come to mind when you hear that word, because a lot of times we have this picture of these fire and brimstone pastors that are verbally grabbing you by the lapels and say repent. But that's really not what the concept of repentance involves, and so what I would like for us to do this morning is to take a look, in Nehemiah, chapter nine, at how Nehemiah and Ezra are being used of the Lord to renew the people's hearts through repentance. I'm going to read just the first three verses and then I'm going to give an outline of what the rest of the passage entails and then, throughout the message, I'll come back and pick up some of those other portions of the passage.

Speaker 1: 3:26

It's quite lengthy, but the context here is that in chapter eight, you might remember that when God's word was read, the people started to weep and they were grieved as they became aware of their sin, and the leader said no, no, no. This isn't a day of weeping a morning. This is a day of rejoicing and celebration. So they celebrated the Feast of Booths for seven days, waited a couple of days, and now it's nine days after that first reading, where the people begin to see and become more aware of their need of being restored with the Lord. So, nehemiah, chapter nine, verse one Now, on the 24th day of this month, the people of Israel were assembled, with fasting and in sackcloth and with earth on their heads, and the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and for another quarter of it they made confession and worship the Lord their God.

Speaker 1: 4:27

Now, from this point on, from verse five through verse 31, is a prayer that the Levites offer to lead the people of Israel into their confession of sin, and it encompasses different parts. It first acknowledges that God is the creator and that it also remembers the work that he's done among his people. He starts off by recounting God's work with Abraham and then moving on from there to talk about his work through Moses and leading the people out of captivity in Egypt, giving them the Ten Commandments, and then giving them the command to enter the promised land and the way he sustained them throughout the years of wandering in the wilderness. And then the prayer remarks how there's this pattern of the people being involved in sin. They're experiencing great difficulty, they cry out to God and God delivers them again and again and again, and then, finally, the passage ends with a plea for God's mercy and their self-inflicted misery.

Speaker 1: 5:28

So what is this idea of repentance and the way the Scripture is presented? It's not just for those that are not yet believers in Jesus and what they need to do to become a believer in Jesus and have their sins forgiven. This is to be characteristic of our lives, even as followers of Jesus. So what's involved in this? Well, the first aspect of repentance is this it simply means that we acknowledge that the Lord is God and we are not. The good message, the good news of the gospel is God exists and you aren't Him, and we need to remember that he is the one who rules over us all.

Speaker 1: 6:16

Look at how the Levites address the people and tell them to bless God in verses five and six. Stand up and bless the Lord, your God, from everlasting to everlasting, addressing the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. You are the Lord alone. You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the season, all that is in them, and you will preserve all of them and the host of heaven will worship you.

Speaker 1: 6:56

Now, if you think back to the garden, that the initial temptation of Satan to Eve was that if she ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, her eyes would be open and she would become like God. And so this distorted desire enters where no longer are people content with living under the Lordship of God and recognizing Him to be the Lord, but they want to be the Lord. In fact, many of our problems in life trace back to this very thing. We are trying to run, we are trying to control our lives and the lives of other people, and we're trying to orchestrate events to get the blessings that we want so that we can be fulfilled in life. But here's the thing Whatever you are ultimately seeking for fulfillment and satisfaction in life will rule you. I'm going to reveal my age to you.

Speaker 1: 8:03

Back when I became a Christian, I was really not impressed with the contemporary Christian movement, a Christian worship music. At the time it was bland, it was repetitive. And then Bob Dylan, who converted from Judaism to Christianity, came out with his album Slow Train coming and it blew me away and I thought, wow, the Christian music is a lot more than what I had been exposed to up to that point. And on that album Dylan has a song entitled Serve Somebody. And if you haven't heard it in a while or maybe you've never heard it treat yourself this afternoon. Get up in YouTube, search Bob Dylan, serve somebody and click on the link where Dylan is dressed in a tux, because Dylan is performing this song at the Grammys. It's got a great funk groove. There's a gospel backup. It is great. So treat yourself at some point today with that.

Speaker 1: 9:05

But in the song what Dylan points out is that everybody has got to serve somebody, and then this crowd of socially elite and shakers and movers in the world and who we would consider to have it all. Dylan begins by singing you may be an ambassador from England or from France, you might like to gamble, you might like to dance, you might be the heavyweight champion of the world, you might be a socialite with a long string of pearls. It ain't hybril poetry, I get it. But if it goes on and he says but you've got to serve somebody, it may be the devil, it may be the Lord, but you've got to serve somebody. And then he goes on and again aiming the words that would hit hard with the people that were there. He sings you may be a businessman or a high degree thief, they may call you doctor, they may call you chief, but you've got to serve somebody. And then he picks on people that wash dishes, the preachers, filled with spiritual pride.

Speaker 1: 10:11

It doesn't matter who you are, what your station is in life, you will serve somebody. What you set your affections on for fulfillment and satisfaction in life will ultimately rule you. And the question is well, who is it that we want to rule us? And that leads us to the next aspect of what repentance is. We not only acknowledge that God is the Lord and we are not, but we also humbly admit that God's ways are right and ours are wrong and we must follow him. So repentance first of all involves this acknowledgement of who God is, and then it acknowledges, includes the further acknowledgement that we align ourselves with God's way and we commit ourselves to following those ways by His grace.

Speaker 1: 11:12

We see this time and time again throughout this passage, verse eight, speaking of Abraham you found his heart faithful before you and made him with him the covenant to give his offspring the land of the Canaanite, hittite, amorite, parasite, the Jebusite and the Gurgashike. You have kept your promise, for you are righteous. You came down on Mount Sinai verse 13, and spoke with them from heaven and gave them, the Israelites, right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments. You see, god's laws and commandments and statues are true and they are good. But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and they did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them. But they stiffened their neck and they appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger abounding. Instead, fast love and did not forsake them. And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which, if a person does them, he shall live by them. And they turned to stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. Yet you have been righteous and all that has come upon us for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. So what makes our way wrong when we depart from God's way, is that we are transgressing the holy and righteous law of God. We are saying that we do not believe that what God says is right, but we have come up with another, alternative way for which we are going to live and seek fulfillment in life. But the other way that it is wrong is the grief and the harm that it brings upon ourselves and other people when we go apart from God's way.

Speaker 1: 13:25

One of the best stories that's Hank that illustrates this is Jesus' interaction with the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman, and Tim Keller does a great job of describing everything that is taking place here in this interaction. And what happens is that Jesus sends his disciples off and he goes to Jacob's well and he meets the Samaritan woman and he begins to converse with her. And at the time, the people of Israel and Samaritans were sworn enemies of one another. They did not interact with each other and, furthermore, it was considered scandalous at the time for a Jewish male to be speaking with a Samaritan woman by themselves. And furthermore, the woman the scripture says comes to the well at noontime During the heat of the day. She's not coming in the cool of the morning when everybody else came, because she is ashamed. She has had five different husbands and she is considered to be a social outcast.

Speaker 1: 14:32

So we see Jesus bridging every cultural and social and economic barrier as he reaches out and he begins to speak with this woman. He asks her if she would please draw him some water and the conversation unfolds and she says you, jew, are talking to me. And she talks about getting some water for Jesus. And Jesus responds to her and he says to her that if she knew who it was that was talking to her, that she would ask Jesus for the living waters that he would give, that she would be forever quenched and would not have to drink anymore. And she says well, give me this water. And then Jesus says to her go and get your husband. And we're like, wow, that was a subject turn in a hurry, wasn't it? Well, what does this have to do with getting water? Well, it has everything to do with getting water, because this woman was thinking that she would find fulfillment and satisfaction in life through men and she went from man to man to man. She had five husbands and Jesus says to her the man that you're with now is not your husband. And Jesus is saying that is not going to satisfy your soul.

Speaker 1: 15:55

We do not achieve fulfillment in life from the outside in, but Jesus says it happens from the inside out, as we take to ourselves his living water and we believe in him. And so what happens is is that when we do not follow God's way for seeking purpose and meaning in life, perhaps we set our desires on good blessings they aren't evil things. You can set your heart on them. You can set your heart on evil things too. I think everybody would say, well, that's not right. But when we desire even good things and blessings to the point that they become demands, here's what happens they enslave us. Because if we think that, as the woman at the well did, that having a relationship is what I need to be fulfilled in life, we're going to give everything and are all for it. And if it's withheld from us, we're going to become angry and anxious. And so Jesus is saying that if we do not follow his way, it's going to lead ultimately to our harm and to dishonor him as well, of course. But the other thing that happens is that for those people who are successful and obtaining the things that they think are going to bring them fulfillment in life those outside, outward things they find that they don't satisfy my golly. We could produce example after example of people who, quote-unquote, have it all but they're hollow inside.

Speaker 1: 17:32

Great tennis player Boris Becker famous interview. He talked about how he won Wimbledon twice. He was the youngest person to ever win Wimbledon. He had all of the success. He had all the perks that went along with that success. But Becker said I have no peace inside. So Fiya Loren famous interview that she has that you can listen to, where she talks about again having everything that people would count as being fulfilling and satisfying. And she said I do not feel fulfilled. And so there's this carrot that we think that if we go after these things, that they will provide fullness in life. And yet it keeps getting moved further and further from us and it remains outside of our grasp.

Speaker 1: 18:21

There was a man by the name of David Foster Wallace who gave the commencement address at Kenyon College a number of years ago and this is what he says said in that address everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship, and the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of God to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before your loved ones finally plant you. Worship power and you will end up feeling weak and afraid. You will never feel more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being as seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud always on the verge of being found out. Look, the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they are evil or sinful. It is that they are unconscious. They are the default settings.

Speaker 1: 19:50

Now, it may be interesting for you to note that Wallace was by no means a religious man, but he understood the truth that everybody worships. Whatever it is that you are pursuing for meaning and fullness and satisfaction in life, that is your God. Jesus says where your treasure is, that is where your heart is also. Very sadly, a couple years after delivering that commencement address, david Foster Wallace took his own life, and this non-religious man's parting words are pretty terrifying Something will eat you alive Because, even though you may never call it worship. You can be sure that you are worshiping and you are seeking after something. And Jesus says unless you're worshiping me, unless I'm the center of your life, unless you see that the solution must come from inside rather than the outside, then whatever you worship will ultimately abandon you in the end. So repentance involves acknowledging that God is the Lord. It involves that we admit that his way is right. But repentance also means joyfully accepting God's mercy alone to deliver you and for you to concede that you can do nothing to deliver yourself.

Speaker 1: 21:25

Four times in the prayer that the Levites offer, they make reference to things happening according to God's mercy, according to His great mercy. Even though the Israelite, god would deliver the Israelites, they would be all happy and then they would go back into their old, sinful ways again. God would deliver them again. We read in verse 18, even when they had made for themselves a golden calf, and said this is your God who brought you out of Egypt and committed great blasphemies. You and your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way in which they should go. Therefore, you gave them over to the hands of their enemies, who made them suffer, and in the time of their suffering, they cried out to you and you heard from heaven and, according to your great mercies, you gave them saviors, that is, deliverers who saved them from the hand of their enemies. But after they had rest, they did evil again before you and you abandoned them to the hands of their enemies so that they had to mitten you over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven and many times you delivered them, according to your mercies, and then in verse 31,. Nevertheless, in your great mercies, you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. The reason that we can go to God and admit to him that we have been trying to overthrow his rule in our lives, the reason that we can go to God and we can acknowledge that we have been trying to create our own way rather than living by his way, is because we know that he is merciful and through his grace he will forgive us of our sins. In Romans, chapter 2, the apostle Paul says that this way, that the kindness of God leads you to repentance.

Speaker 1: 23:36

Quite some time ago I can't even remember where I was, but some place traveling, and you know how you do you strike up a conversation with somebody and the gentleman that I was speaking to said well, what do you do for a living? I kind of hate that question, because as soon as I tell people I'm a pastor, things change. And so I say well, I've come to own it and try to use it for my advantage. And I say, well, you know, I'm a pastor. And he said oh, he said, you know, I'm just not into Christianity at all. I don't even know that God exists. In fact, I think that Christianity is just a crutch for weak-willed people who aren't able to handle the stresses of life. And I'm sitting there thinking, thanks, man. But I said to him you know, I understand, because of the way that Christianity is often presented to people, that you might come up with that idea, because a lot of times people say that you know, trusting Jesus and all your problems will be taken care of, and so on and so forth.

Speaker 1: 24:41

I said you know, that really hasn't been been my experience. Christianity has not been a crutch to me. I said because God has shown me that I am far more flawed and fallible than I ever cared to admit. And furthermore, I said you know, god has showed me that there's absolutely nothing I can do to change that. I said I've had to admit some very difficult things about myself and what I am able and unable to do. And I said and furthermore, christianity calls me to do things like pray for those who persecute me, to give a tenth of my income when I may not want to give a tenth of my income.

Speaker 1: 25:31

I said nothing has been easy about the Christian life. In fact, jesus says take up your cross and follow me. Christianity has not been a crutch, I said. It has been a wrecking ball in my life. I said but through that experience I have come to learn that, even though I may be far more flawed than I care to admit, I am more greatly loved than I ever dreamed possible.

Speaker 1: 25:59

And I said perhaps you have created a philosophy of life that excludes God so that you can have a crutch not to admit that God exists and you must answer to Him. You know, there are ways in which people create this whole system of life where either they use God as a cafeteria line benefit oh, I like this. I don't like that. I like this. I'll take a little more of this. And they try to create their own God of their own choosing, because they think that that's going to advance them and bring them satisfaction in life.

Speaker 1: 26:39

But the way of the Christ shows us is that it's not by our own ingenuity, it's not by our own efforts. It's by embracing the mercy of God in Christ upon the cross and believing that Jesus has paid the penalty for our sin and he has fulfilled all righteousness in our behalf, that we are freed from our sin and we are enabled by the power of his Spirit to follow him. What is the joy and the blessing of repentance? As difficult as it may be, it is where we find our fulfillment, enablement and enablement in life. And so that leads us to the last point that will really be just an introduction for next week, and that is that repentance involves that you gladly agree to live for God's pleasure, and that is where you will discover your own pleasure. In verse 38, the passage concludes by saying because of all of this, we make a firm covenant and writing on the sealed document and are the names of our princes, our Levites and our priests. And then chapter 10 lists a covenant that the people make with God as to how they are going to follow God by his strengths. And it is as we do, that in relationship to him, by his power, that we find the fulfillment and joy in life to sustain us in the difficult times and to assure us of the glories that will follow.

Speaker 1: 28:15

Now this may be all new to you. This whole idea of everybody is a worshiper, and what you are worshipping may or may not be the right thing, and you are just really not sure about all of this. What is to be your takeaway from renewing your relationship with God through repentance? Well, maybe you need to pray and ask God to help you to seek and find him in Christ and begin to search. Perhaps you have been hearing what the teaching that is contained in the scripture, that has been presented in this sermon for a while now, and yet you have not come to the place where you have made these affirmations of faith in Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring you to faith in Christ that you might find satisfaction in him. Perhaps you are somebody who believes Christ, but lately you have been living like the ancient Israelites and you want to go back to your old ways, in the bondage in which they contain for you, rather than walking in the newness of life in Christ.

Speaker 1: 29:31

Our Lord calls us to renew our faith and our relationship with him.

Speaker 1: 29:36

Over and over again, jesus says come.

Speaker 1: 29:39

Passages like this where Jesus says come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest for your souls.

Speaker 1: 29:47

The Lord invites all of those who are thirsty to come and to drink of him and seek him in the day in which he may be found. No matter how far we've departed, no matter how far we have gone from the Lord, as the children of God, if we pursue him through repentance, we know that his mercy is more than our sin and he will forgive us. For all who believe. This is a glorious time for us, as we take the Lord's supper together, to remember the fullness and satisfaction that Christ gives us from within, not of our own creating, not of our own wisdom in doing, but by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we believe in him, we know that we have a relationship with God and by the power of his spirit, he sustains us to follow him. May the Lord bless his word to our lives today. May he bless us as we take this supper together, that we would indeed be renewing our hearts in Christ, just pray.