Nehemiah 4
Opposition to the Rebuilding

1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed.

How might Satan oppose your marriage being built / rebuilt?
How might you oppose it?

He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?"

Do you ridicule your spouse?
In front of others…the kids?
How can you instead build up your spouse in the presence of others?

3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building—if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!"

Do you believe it can be rebuilt?
Do you believe in one anothers potential?

4 Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of [a] the builders.

Do you ask God for help?
How often?
Does he…how?

6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

Are you working on marriage with all your heart…1/2 hearted…no heart at all?
What do you expect to happen?

7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

Do we punish our spouse when they try to improve?
Are we testing them to see if they will fail so we can say to ourselves “I told you so” and then not work on what we need to work on?

10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."

How much rubble [bad memories] do you have? Is that all you look at?

11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."
12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."
13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."

How can you fight for a great marriage!

15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.
16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

What does it mean to build and defend your spouse and your marriage?

19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"
21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day." 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

What do we guard by night and work on by day?

when you're dead...

What will the ripples in the pond be?
What will they say at your funeral?
What will your great, great, great grandchildren say?
What will God say?

The day before we are born God hands every man a bound book in which to write their autobiography. He also hands them a pen, and thus there can be no revisions of what really happened. And then this broken image of God is set loose to collide with planet earth, in the midst of billions of other intertwining stories. Most simply write their lives mindlessly mimicking what others say and do…but…a precious few stop suddenly one day and are awakened to a very different story and song. It calls out to them and collides in them in the midst of beauty, truth, and pain. It calls them home, home to the true author and architect of life. This spiritual supercollider creates a civil war within where each man must either choose to continue his life in ravenous and rebellious autonomy; or let the song become his own and merge with it learning to live life as a jazz improvisation of the song sung in his own unique voice. And if they listen hard enough and understand the song of creation they are liberated. And the liberation, far from fading, becomes a revolution within [building in power and passion day by day]. Eventually what is happening inside must be birthed outward and become a revolution around them, through them. And then their true story starts to collide with those around them with sparks of moral grandeur, spiritual audacity, and missional love the mere biography becomes a Gospel for all eternity to read and be remembered.

We see what we want to. Jack Black in the movie “shallow Hal” sees women only through the lens of their physical appearance and our cultural values of beauty. Then he is given a gift. He becomes in a sense blind to the physical and somehow sees the inner beauty of a woman he then falls in love with. The tricky question then is…which one is truly “seeing?” The Jews of Jesus day were much the same. They had a cultural expectation about what the great rescuer would be like [the messiah]. And while their Bible told them a lot, they tended to see what they wanted to and ignored the rest. Today it’s really the same. People have assumptions and idea about Jesus and God. But very few take the time to really investigate him; really listen and study his words and actions; they know what they want…not…who he is. In essence they want to make him up, and make sure that he makes their “best life now” happen and love them just the way they are. Beyond that cliché…they really aren’t interested. How sad. The God of the universe knocking on a hearts door…and somebody saying [after the ‘knock, knock] “whose there?” God…Jesus. “Jesus / God who?” The Jesus God who loves you! “Oh….i gave at the office…I just stepped out of the shower…I don’t have any cash on me…the mormons were here yesterday give me a break…no I don’t want to take a survey or sign your petition…and Jesus says “I just want to come in and talk…love you…teach you…give you peace and rest…move into the spare bedroom” and we say “sorry lost is on and my Tivo is on the fritz…it’s the 4th quarter hit the road…come back later…I’m calling the police right now…I’ve got a wedding / funeral to go to now isn’t a good time…I’m holding up a finger, guess which one…”
And Like Jessie from Toy Story Jesus is discarded by those he most deeply loves.
No tragedy…not Romeo and Juliet…not Atonement…will ever be as sad. No wonder Jesus said “the son of man has no place to rest.” God’s truest home MAY be in heaven…but he left that place for something he valued even more…YOU!. Your heart…head…soul…you are his truest home.
Pull up the blinds. Unlock the door. Don’t worry about cleaning up [he likes to do it]. Then open the door and let him in. He may look different than expected, a stranger even. But once you get to know him, and you find out just how much he loves you, you will never be the same.
We all long to be loved, and that’s what he wants to do!

Preoccupied
John 1

“What do you want?”
I don’t want. I need.
Need to do the laundry,
vacuum, dust, wash, scrub.
He’s coming – I haven’t lit the candles,
the chandelier doesn’t sparkle just so,
rain-dust has dried on my windows.
These stains won’t come out –
call a steamer, chimney sweep,
plumber, landscaper. I need…
some flowers for the table,
cut and watered, captivating
in crystal, I need some time,
just a little more time.

“What are you looking for?”
Idon’tknowIdon’tknowIdon’tknowIdon’tknow
I looked under the sofa, but it isn’t there,
I even dug between the cushions –
I’ve pulled up goldfish crumbs
and a few dirty pennies, looking.
The trash’s innards are scattered,
soggy tea bags, a broken wine glass,
moldy bread. I combed the cold spaghetti
for some sauce, but all was hardened, stiff.

“Come and see.”
No thanks, I’ve been there before.
I’ve heard your type; you say you’re different
lamb, light, life, word, savior… yada yada yada
but I know. The water’s better over here,
thank you. Living water? I’ve got mold
growing in mine, does that count?
Living water… is it bottled? No?
The boil alert in town says boil it, or buy it
bottled. Nothing about living water.
I’ll check again and see if it’s safe.
Not safe, but good?… does it come in a jug, then?

“Follow me.”
My mother said not to talk to strangers.
This living water, it must be a trick. You want me
for my body… oh. You want me for my soul.
That’s odd. Well look, my friend said you weren’t
so bad. Okay, so he said you were the messiah.
I thought that was a bit of a stretch…
you came from where?! Nothing good can come
from there. Where are you staying?
Maybe you can show me this water.
I’ve got a few goldfish crumbs stuck under
my fingernails, do you mind? I only have
a few pennies to offer for your time.
Two cents, really. You want my two cents?
Who are you, really?
Oh.