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DON’T LET ANYBODY

TEAR YOU= DOWN!

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Nehemiah 4:6-9, 15, 21, 6:15-16

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Nehemiah models five positive ways

to handle opposition.<= /p>

A sermon preached by

Dr. William O. (Bud) R= eeves

First United Methodist Church

Hot= Springs, Arkansas

August 10, 2008

I still miss the Peanuts comic strip. I keep running across Peanuts stories in my sermon files= and my research, and it just recalls to my mind again what a keen observer of h= uman nature the late Charles Schulz was. One of my favorite Peanuts comic strips shows Linus having just written a comic strip of his own. He brings it to Lucy, his older si= ster, for her comment. He hands her= the piece of paper and says, “Lucy, would you read this and tell me if you think it’s funny?”

Lucy looks at the comi= c strip and a slight grin comes across her face.&n= bsp; She looks at Linus and asks, “Who wrote this?”

Noticing her smile, Li= nus puffs out his chest, grins and says, “Lucy, I wrote that.”=

Lucy wads up the paper, throws it over her shoulder, and says, “Well, then, I don’t thi= nk it’s very funny.”

Linus sadly picks up t= he crumpled paper as Lucy walks away. He throws his security blanket over his shoulder and says, “Big sisters are the crabgrass in the lawn of life.”[1]

Anybody have a big sis= ter like that? It seems like ther= e is always someone who is ready and willing to be the crabgrass in the lawn of = our lives. In fact, if we are hon= est with ourselves, we can probably remember times when we were the crabgrass in the lawn of someone else’s life.&nbs= p; There is a common thread running through almost everyone’s experience, and it’s the thread of opposition. There is going to be conflict, fri= ction, tension in our lives if we have any relationships whatsoever. It’s what I call the omnipresence of opposition. It’s everywhere! One of the most important skills w= e can learn is the ability to handle opposition in a positive way. Today’s Great Adventure give= s us a lesson in this very practical and important challenge.

Nehemiah was the gover= nor appointed by the Persian emperor to oversee the resettlement of the Jews in= Jerusalem following the exile in Babylon. Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians, and the people of Israel were in exile for 70 years. W= hen the Persians defeated the Babylonians, they allowed the Jews to return home. Unfortunately, the peop= le who had filtered in while the Jews were gone were not exactly excited about the Jews coming back and claiming their land and their city. Nehemiah’s special project i= n the resettlement was the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. It was a matter of protection, for= sure, but it was even more a matter of pride and tradition and dignity for the pe= ople who had been away from home for so long.

Nehemiah got his crew working so fast that the walls were halfway up before the local heathens ev= en took notice. But when they sa= w the walls taking shape, they immediately began their tactics of opposition, the same ones we see today.

The first was ridicule. They made fun of the Jews and = their efforts. They called them nam= es and laughed at the wall they were building.&nb= sp; Finding themselves ignored, they turned to resistance. They plotted to do harm to the workers, but Nehemiah prayed for protection and s= et a guard on the wall. Finally the opposers tried rumors. They passed around the fearful tal= e that they were going to launch a secret attack.= It never became reality, but it was enough to strike fear in the hea= rts of the workers.

Ridicule, resistance, rumors—does this sound like anything we run into today? Of course it does. These tactics of opposition are as= old as the Bible and as new as today’s newspaper. They are like termites—blast= ed little devils that eat away and eat away until everything you’re tryi= ng to build up become a pile of sawdust.   The forces of opposition wil= l gnaw at you until they produce fatigue and fear and frustration and failure̵= 2;if you don’t know how to deal with them. It was starting to get to the work= ers on the wall in Jerusalem. Nehemiah had to do something, or t= he whole project was in jeopardy.

We can relate to that, can’t we? When you try = to do something new and positive with your life—a new job, a new friendship= , a new ministry, any new adventure that you might think of—it is quite l= ikely you will encounter opposition. Whenever you exert leadership in any realm of endeavor—your vocation, your sch= ool, your community, your civic club, even your church—you will encounter opposition. When you face rid= icule or resistance or hear the rumors floating around, what are you going to do? Nehemiah came up with five strategies to deal with the opposition in Jerusalem.= = [2]

First, rely on God. The primary way to handle all opposition, conflict, and negativity is to depend= on the most positive force in the entire universe. Rely on God. When the opposers started ridiculi= ng their efforts, Nehemiah prayed first. He took it to the Lord. Throughout Scripture, when people of faith get in a tight spot in th= eir lives, they turn to God for help. As the Psalmist sang: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”[3]

I remember a story from years ago about a miss= ionary in Southeast Asia who was trying to tran= slate the New Testament in the native dialect of the region. He was having a difficult time wit= h the word “faith.” The= re just didn’t seem to be a native word that conveyed the deep trust the missionary was trying to communicate. One day a villager came into his hut while he was working on the translation and plopped down on a chair.&n= bsp; Suddenly a light came on for the missionary. “What is the word for what y= ou just did?” he asked his native friend. He had relied on the strength of t= he chair. He trusted it to hold him. He rested there in compl= ete confidence. Just like we do w= ith God. So the word for faith in= that missionary’s translation was the same as plopping down on a chair. When you’re weary from the opposition of everyday life, plop down on God. He will hold you up.

Second, respect the opposition. In other words, realize the strength of the enemy. Don’t take any chances. Failure, defeat, destruction, and = utter humiliation are always options. But forewarned is forearmed. Know= ing the evil intent of his enemies, Nehemiah took every defensive precaution. He posted guards at night, and dur= ing the day, half the people worked on the wall while the other half held their weapons at the ready in case of an attack.

It was “Praise t= he Lord and pass the ammunition.” Do you remember that phrase? It was the title of a popular song written during World War II by Fr= ank Loesser and recorded by Kay Kiser. The hit song was based on a true story t= hat happened during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Navy Chapla= in Howell Forgy, a Presbyterian minister, was stationed aboard the USS New Orleans, one of the boats that was not immediately sunk in the attack. Every available sailor was manning= the guns and firing at the Japanese planes as they came over the ship. Because it was their first taste of combat, the young men were scared to the point of panic. But Chaplain Forgy kept walking be= hind them, patting the boys on the back and repeating the phrase, “Praise = the Lord, and pass the ammunition.” Throughout the battle, he was a calming and reassuring presence. After Pearl Harbor, the story of t= he chaplain on the New Orleans became a legend across the Navy. Finally the press got the story, then the song was written, and eventually there was hardly an American alive who did not know the refrain, “Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition, and we’ll all be free!”[4]

Don’t take oppos= ition lightly. As Darth Vader was f= ond of saying in the Star Wars movies, “Do not underestimate the power of the dark side.” Indeed, if we are working for Godly outcomes, the source of our opposition is ultimately supernatural. Remember how Ephesians says, ̶= 0;our struggle is not against enemies of= blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cos= mic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”[5] In God, the victory will ultimately be ours, but we cannot let our spiritual defenses down. Respect the opposition.=

The third strategy for= handling opposition is to recast the vision= . When the opposition is wearing= you down and filling your heart with doubts about your efforts, you have to remember the vision. You are = part of something bigger than yourself. When Nehemiah’s people were failin= g, he reminded them why they were building the wall in the first place—t= hey had been called by God to do this! Nehemiah recast the vision, and the work continued.

I recall a story about= a child who entered on of the great cathedrals in Europe, where there is always renovation and rebuilding going on. He saw a stonemason hard at work.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> He asked, “What are you doing?”

The stonemason replied, “Can’t you see? I’m chipping away on this rock!”

The child then saw a stained-glass artist repairing a window.&n= bsp; He asked that man the same question: “What are you doing?̶= 1;

The glass artist said, “I’m repairing this window.” Fair enough.

But then the child saw= an old woman sweeping up the debris from the day’s work. So he asked her what she was doing= . She stopped, leaned on her broom, = looked at the broad expanse above her, and said, “Child, I’m building a cathedral for the glory of God!”

When the opposition is chipping away at us, we have to remember the big picture. We have to get and keep a larger perspective. Recast the vision. Reclaim your goals. Remember the Kingdom purpose of yo= ur mission. Sometimes the only w= ay to deal with the difficulties of the day is to gaze at the horizon and remember that the victory belongs to the one who can keep the faith.

Fourth, rally the troops. Draw on the support of the people who share your vision. In the midst of the tension and co= nflict in Jerusalem 2,500 years ago, Nehemiah made provisions for an occasional pep rally. He told all the workers, "Whe= n you hear the trumpet blow, everybody come together.” They would praise the Lord for a l= ittle while, then they would go back to work energized for the task at hand.

When we are threatened= by opposition, we tend to feel spread out, isolated, fighting the battle all alone. But we’re not. There are friends, family, co-work= ers who are fighting alongside of us for the same goals, and when we get discouraged, we have to lean on them. That’s what church is all about. Trust the community of faith. Take heart in the fellowship of believers. Find support when = you get weary. We all want to come th= rough this together.

A few years ago the na= tion held its breath while nine miners in Pennsylvania were trapped for three days in a flooded mine 240 feet underground. Miraculously, all nine miners were rescued safely. Once an air s= haft was established, the main danger to the miners was hypothermia from the 55-degree water in the mine. = For three days the miners huddled together, keeping each other warm and encoura= ging whoever was having a weak moment. One of the miners told reporters after he was released from the hospital, “Everybody had strong moments. But any certain time maybe one guy got down, then the rest pulled together. And then that guy w= ould get back up, and maybe someone else would feel a little weaker, but it was a team effort. That’s the= only way it could have been.”[6]   That’s what rallying t= he troops means; that’s what it means to be a church.<= /p>
Fifth and finally, whe= n you face opposition, refuse to quit. When you know you’re right, = when you are working for a Godly outcome, no matter what obstacles you face, just keep on keepin’ on. Persevere.   Stick= with it. Don’t give up. You won’t reach your goal un= less you refuse to quit.

When Nehemiah faced his moment of crisis, he and the Jews who shared the vision simply refused to quit. They endured the opposition. They had heard the ridicule and the rumors and felt the resistance. They had tried to rely on God and = take the enemies seriously. They h= ad kept their minds on their vision and rallied the spirits of the workers as = best they could. Now they just kept on. They worked “from the break of dawn until the stars= came out.”[7]

And do you know what happened? If we can skip over= to the 6^th chapter and the 15^th verse of Nehemiah, we re= ad, “So the wall was finished on = the twenty-fifth day of the month…in fifty-two days.” In less than two months the walls = of the city that had been laid desolate by the Babylonians had been raised again!<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> So they called together all the fa= ithful Jews who had returned, and they read the Scripture, and they prayed, and th= ey gave praise to God. The people thought about their grandparents being killed or hauled away by foreign arm= ies and spending 70 years in exile. And now this great dream had become a reality.= Despite the opposition, the walls of God’s city were standing again. They were back home, and God had brought them there. And the people wept for joy.<= /o:p>

What are you trying to= build with your life? What are you = trying to accomplish? Is it a God thing? Is it worthy of the pe= rson you were created to be and the God who created you? Do you have a calling?   Do you have a passion for something great? There are two great moments in life: when you are born, and when you know why you were born. Do you know that?

I don’t want you= to be naïve today; it won’t be easy to accomplish your goals. There will be opposition to achievement. But I don’= t want you to be defeated either. Yo= u rely on God. Respect the opposition. Recast the vision= over and over again. Rally the tro= ops, and refuse to quit. You will overcome the opposition. You = will build a life that makes a difference. You will celebrate the victory.&nbs= p; Amen!