Welcome and Prayer Night Thanks

Good morning. Welcome to Big Valley Grace. If you’re here for the first time or you’ve just started coming, we’re really glad you’re here. My name is Joel. I’d love to meet you. After the gathering, I’ll be standing right down here when the worship gathering is done. I’d love for you to come up. Just say hi. Introduce yourself. I’ll get to know your name and your face and just personally welcome you to Big Valley. We’re really glad you’re here. We hope that today’s a great day for you.

Well, I want to say thanks to everyone in our church who came to our all-church prayer night. It was a really, really special evening to come together and pray together as a church — to pray for our lives as individuals, for our homes, for our church family, for what God wants to do in us, to reach our community. And it was very, very powerful. A very special evening. In the future, we will have more prayer nights. And I would challenge you, if you have not been to one — come. Come to a prayer night. It’s really special to come and to seek the Lord together as a church family.

A New Season, a Need for Priority

Well, today we’re going to be in Nehemiah. If you have a Bible, you can take your Bible and turn to Nehemiah. We’ll be starting at the last verse of chapter 9 and then we’ll be in chapter 10 today. As you’re turning there — I’ve shared with you before that this last July, my wife and I took some time one of the weeks in the month of July, and we did a multi-year planning process. When we walked through that process, we considered our own values as individuals who follow Jesus. We looked at what we understand the mission to be that God has placed on our lives. We are a family that’s pretty big, pretty complicated, and we are definitely in a new season as a family, and a lot of changes have taken place in our family. And so we really took a hard look at what is this new season that God has for us and what would be important in this new season. We put some goals together for the years that are coming up.

And there came a moment where we were going through the process and we just got overwhelmed, because there was so much that we were considering and we needed to bring priority to what we were looking at. We were looking at so many aspects of our lives, it was hard to kind of wrap our arms around it without a sense of priority. And no matter what type of family life you have, we all have the same situation in this. We have limited time, energy, and resource. Yet we have unlimited demands on our lives. So there are unlimited demands that are coming at us from all different directions, and we do not have the resources to meet all those demands. So we have to have priority. We need to have a sense of priority — what is the priority that God has for me? How am I to use my time, energy, and resources in a way that’s going to honor him?

Well, that’s exactly what the text is going to be about today. The question we’ll use is: what does a life prioritized in devotion to God look like? We can’t do everything, but we can do what he’s calling us to do. We can live in a way that’s prioritized in the way that he has for us. And so what does that life look like that’s prioritized in devotion to God? The group of people we’ll be reading about today — it’s a group of people that have come out of exile from the nation of Persia. They’re now back in Jerusalem. They’re Jews, and they’re trying to find their way out from slavery, back into their land. Nehemiah leads a process to rebuild a wall. And then he leads a process to rebuild the people. They experience a month of revival in God. And now they’re looking at what must happen so that the community we’re a part of experiences reform — so that our community will look like a people who are devoted to God.

Before we begin, I want to pray for us. Father God, Lord, help us. We really need your help right now. God, help us to be humble. Help us to be open. God, help us to receive your will for us that’s going to come to us through your word. God, would you help us right now to know you’re a real God who really loves us and really wants to be a part of our life? And may we respond to you. And I pray this in Jesus’ name. And all God’s family said, “Amen.”

The Sealed Document (Nehemiah 9:38–10:29)

Now, I’m going to start in chapter 9, verse 38. That’s really where this passage begins, not at 10:1. And so I’m going to start in 38. And I’m going to read a pretty significant amount of the text. I think you’re going to find out pretty easily why I’m about to do that. So, let’s dig in.

“Because of all this, we make a firm covenant in writing. On the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.” On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah — Zedekiah, Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah — these are the priests. And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel and their brothers — Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

Praise the Lord. I made it through three services this weekend.

“The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, and all who have knowledge and understanding — join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and to do all the commandments of the Lord our God and his rules and his statutes.”

Why Names Written Forever Matter

Now, as we read this long list of names that are thousands of years old, from a totally different culture — not sure how to pronounce them, not sure what those names mean — we can feel pretty disconnected and go, why do those names even matter for us? Well, this group of people, when they signed their name on this document, they took a huge risk and they put their lives on the line. There was a king in Persia that they were subservient to. And what they are signing their name to on this document is to live very differently than according to the way of the Medes and the Persians — that they were going to live according to the law of God. They are declaring, “We as Jews, as the nation of Israel, we are getting back to the law of God.” And they’re putting their name on it.

Consider this. It has been thousands of years since they signed this document. And we just read their names out loud in our worship gathering. Thousands of years from now, I expect no one to read my name out loud in a worship gathering — but we just read their names out loud. Their names are written forever in the word of God because they were willing to put their name on a document that says we are getting back to the law of God. As you consider that — what might that look like in our context?

Well, in the United States of America, there’s something that is different but has some similarities: the Declaration of Independence. There was a king who was ruling a certain way, and there was a group of people who said, we are going to sign a document. And one of the main issues of this document was that our value and rights as human beings are not going to be because of a king — our rights and value as human beings are going to be because of our Creator who made us. And very specifically, they call that out in writing, and they sign their names. And they take a huge risk by signing this document, the Declaration of Independence, and they say explicitly in this document, “We are going to live differently.” And they took a huge risk.

This last week, I read the Charters of Freedom. If you don’t know what I’m referring to when I use the term Charters of Freedom, then you probably should go read them. But I want you to know, it was pretty easy to see as I read through those documents — and it takes a little bit of time to read through them — but as I read through those documents, it’s pretty easy to see we have come a long way. We have traveled pretty far away from the heart and the intention of when people signed this document, the Declaration of Independence. And what Nehemiah is doing in the passage we’re reading about, and these people are signing their name to, is they’re saying, “We have gotten so far away from alignment with God, and we have got to get back on track to be in alignment with God.” He said, “We got to get back to the law of God.” When the people signed the Declaration of Independence, they were saying, “We have gotten a long way away from honoring God as the King. We have got to get back to understanding we have been made in the image of our Creator.”

We All Sign Our Name to Something

Well, for all of us, we all sign our name to something. And I’m going to give you some really practical examples in our time together today of ways that we sign our name. One of them has to do with this: we sign our name when we turn in a ballot to vote. When we turn in a ballot, we are saying, we as a citizen, we are expressing our will. The term “vote” comes from the term votum. It is a Latin word, and it means to express our will. So when you go and vote on a ballot, you are saying, “I am expressing my will as it relates to the schools that my children go to, the city that I live in, the county that I’m a part of, the state that I live in, the country that I’m a part of. I am expressing my will.” And in all of those realms, when we vote, we have the opportunity to sign our name and express our will and say, “In this specific issue, or in this specific sector of our culture or our government, I would like to be a part of moving us closer to being in alignment with what God would have for us. And so I am going to express my will through a vote.” If we choose not to express our will through a vote, it is the same as saying, “I will allow someone else to express their will.” I think we have seen what happens when everyone else has expressed their will. I think we see right now the impact on our culture of what is true when everyone else has expressed their will. And there is great opportunity as a follower of Jesus Christ to show up and to express your will through a vote — for the school, for the city, for the county, for the state, for the country that you are a part of as a citizen — and say, “I want to express my will and be a part of signing my name to say I want to get us closer back to alignment with what the Lord would want.” That is what Nehemiah is doing with this group of people that we just read about. They’re saying, we got to get back to God’s law.

We all sign our name to something. We all align ourselves in some way. We all give allegiance to something. But for Nehemiah, there was a very clear starting point that gave priority to everything else. And the priority was: we got to get back to the law that God gave us. We got to get back to his word.

So what does a life prioritized in devotion to God look like? Well, it starts with this: a life devoted to God will obey God’s commandments. This is the starting point. It is the starting point that helps clarify the priorities for every other sector. And that is exactly what’s addressed in the passage that I just read.

Obeying God’s Commandments: The Bridge to Today

Now, at this time in Nehemiah, they had the law of Moses. The law of God was given to Moses. So we need to connect that concept with us today. During Nehemiah’s time, they understood Yahweh the Lord is God. It was true at the time of Nehemiah and it is true now: Yahweh the Lord is God. In Nehemiah 9 — we looked at this passage last week — they prayed, “You are the Lord, you alone.” And it was true when they said it, and it’s true now: you are the Lord, you alone. In Nehemiah 9:6, there was also though the promise of Messiah, but they didn’t quite fully understand the promise of Messiah. They didn’t understand that Messiah was also God. And Jesus clarifies that for us when he comes, in John 10:30. He says, “I and the Father are one.” So “you are the Lord, you alone” is totally true at the time of Nehemiah, and it’s totally true now. And Jesus says, “I and the Father are one” — which was true at the time of Nehemiah, but they didn’t understand. But Jesus clarifies that. He says, “I and the Father are one.” So Yahweh the Lord and Messiah Jesus — they’re two persons of three that make up one God.

At the time of Nehemiah, they had the law, and they understood they needed to obey the law. And that’s what Nehemiah is getting everybody back to. What Jesus said in John 14:15 was, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” So in the Old Testament, the command was to obey the law. And Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And so we obey Jesus and his word because Jesus is the fulfillment of the law.

When I counsel individuals, or counsel a couple, or counsel a family, the starting point is always the word of God. Because if we cannot agree on the starting point being the word of God, this is what happens in an individual or a couple or a family: they spin circles in the room endlessly around their feelings and opinions. We have to have a starting point that we agree on. And the starting point is the word of God. And that is exactly what Nehemiah is doing. He’s saying, “We have to agree on this starting point. We got to sign our name to this.” He leads people to go back to the law, to the word of God.

What we’re going to read about in this passage is they do not write a new law. They already had a law. They’re not writing a new law. What they’re doing is they’re highlighting a commitment to a law that has been forgotten. And so they are bringing the pieces of the law back to their attention. When they had the law, it was to protect them from being corrupt, but they didn’t follow the law, and they experienced corruption. And so now what Nehemiah is doing is he’s identifying the places of corruption that they’re experiencing in their community, and they’re going back to highlight the places of the law they need to obey to correct the corruption.

In the Home with Our Family and Friends

So we see the first example in verse 30. “We will not give our daughters to the people of the land or take their daughters for our sons.” Now when we look at this verse in our everyday, our current-day culture, and if we looked at this verse through the lens of our current culture, we would probably misinterpret this verse pretty poorly. What is this talking about? Well, this verse is not about various ethnic groups marrying one another — though practically, various ethnic groups would be involved in what this verse is talking about. This verse is not about racial purity. It’s not about racism. It’s not about segregation or anything sinful like that. It’s not about any of that. What this verse is describing is — practically, what happened in the nation of Israel is that when a Jew married a non-Jew, the idolatry or the idol worship, the pagan god worship of the non-Jew, pulled the Jew away from the pure and undefiled worship of Yahweh the Lord. That’s what had happened in their history.

And you might be going, well, can a person who’s not Jewish have a relationship with the Lord? And the answer is yes. In the law, there was clear provision given for those outside of the nation of Israel to come and to worship the Lord. In fact, Israel was supposed to be set apart to be a testimony to the nations, so that nations would go, “Wow — how is that nation so blessed? I want to come and know that God.” And there was provision in the law for how it was allowed properly to have someone outside the nation come and worship. But in the Old Testament law, there was no provision at all that ever allowed the person who was Jewish to be led astray to worship a false god and an idol. It was never allowed. It was always prohibited. So what this verse is about — “We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons” — this is about protection from idol worship entering the home of God’s people, because it’s how it had happened. They had done what this verse is talking about, and they didn’t stand their guard. They didn’t keep their commitment to the word, and they fell to worshiping idols. And it started in the home.

So, how are we going to have a life that’s devoted to God, obeying God’s commandments? Well, the first place that a life devoted to God will obey God’s commandments is in the home, with our family and friends. It’s the first issue that Nehemiah addresses with this community as they’re going to get back on track. It’s in the home. And maybe you’ve gotten off track in your home. You’ve gotten off track with your family. You’ve gotten off track with your friends. You’ve gotten off track in this part of your life. This is an opportunity for you to get back on track — just like this group of people had gotten off track, and they’re signing this document saying, “We are going to get back on track to honor the Lord in this area.”

I tend to have a lot of conversations with people about these subjects. And often, a person who claims to follow Jesus will justify to me that dating an unbeliever is okay, or marrying an unbeliever is okay, because of how they feel. “I fell in love. So it must be right to date somebody who doesn’t know Jesus, because I fell in love with them. Or it must be right to marry somebody who doesn’t know Jesus because I fell in love with them. You know, we’ll do missionary dating, you know, missionary marriage.” Or they might say, “Well, it’s just the Old Testament that prohibited such things, but now we’re in the New Testament.” Or they’ll say, “You know, I’m a Christian. Aren’t I supposed to reach the lost? Isn’t dating somebody a pretty good way to reach them? Isn’t marrying somebody a pretty good way to reach somebody with the gospel of Jesus Christ?”

Well, 2 Corinthians 6:14 says this: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership does righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?” What Nehemiah is doing is he’s saying, “Hey, we got to get back on track in the home.” What Paul’s writing here, he’s saying, “Hey, you got to be real careful to be on track in your home.”

Real practically, there’s a way that we sign our name to something regarding our home, and that is in a marriage license. When we sign a marriage license, we sign — we are going to live as married people until one of us dies. In a Christian wedding, we come and we make vows before God and witnesses that we are making a covenant with God and with the person that we’re marrying. We put a ring on our finger to remind us of the vows that we have made in front of everybody, in front of God and other people, and we sign our name on a marriage license and say, “We are going to live together till one of us dies.” We make a commitment. Well, the scriptures teach, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, that those outside of God will always influence those inside of God away from God when those who are inside of God do not stay committed to God. So it’s always a progression away from God. That is always where the influence goes unless somebody is vigilant and somebody is alert and they are in the battle and they are praying. So Nehemiah is leading the people to correct a problem that started when they began intermarrying with those who worship false gods and idols, and they’re correcting the corruption at the source of the problem. And it is the home. It might be that you’re here and there’s been some corruption, and it needs to be corrected at the source of the problem in the home. A life devoted to God will obey God’s commandments in the home with our family and friends.

In the Workplace with Our Co-workers and Clients

Then they turn their attention to the next issue. Remember, he’s got this community of people signing this document saying, “We got to bring some reform in our community.” Well, the next issue they address is in verse 31. “If the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. We will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.”

So again, if we look at this through the lens of our current culture, we can end up with some pretty poor interpretation. What are they talking about? This verse is not about labor laws. This verse is not about labor unions. This verse is not about business loans. What this verse is about is that the nation of Israel was designed by God to be set apart, different, and holy for the purposes of God. Israel was supposed to be noticeably different from the surrounding nations. They were supposed to be different in how many days they worked every week — they were to work six days, not seven. They were going to be different in how they harvested their crops — they were going to harvest their crops for six years in a row, but not on the seventh. They were going to be different in how long they remained in debt — their debt was going to be temporary and not permanent. And then when the nations observed all of this and saw how Israel had prospered, they would wonder, “What kind of God does this nation have?” I mean, they don’t even work a full week — and look how prosperous they are. They don’t even go out into the field in year seven — and look how prosperous they are. How is it possible that this nation is doing so well? What kind of God did they serve? What this verse is about is protecting the Lord’s reputation to the nations around. So that when the nations around — when those who don’t know the Lord observe those who do know the Lord — they go, “There is something very different about them.” And they come to know the reputation of the name of the Lord. And Nehemiah is saying, “We got to get back to protecting the reputation of the name of the Lord in how we engage our business.”

So, if you want to have a life that’s devoted to God, you’ve got to obey the commandments in the home with your family and friends, but also in the workplace, with your co-workers and your clients. You know, sometimes I hear things from people who claim to know Jesus, and they justify dishonesty in their workplace. It’s not good. They justify dishonesty as an employer, or they justify dishonesty as an employee. They think, “Hey, I deserve it.” Or someone might say, “Well, the other party has so much wealth — what’s a little bit for me? I’m not taking money from a person; I’m just taking it from a company.” Or, “I can’t get ahead if I don’t take advantage of the systems in a way that will benefit me.” Or sometimes people would say, in a different realm regarding work, “Well, I have to work every day. I never can take a day off. My work needs me. Or if I don’t do it myself, someone else is going to take my work. Or if I don’t do it myself, someone else is going to ruin my work.”

Well, the scriptures teach about how we work. And in the New Testament, we have an example in Ephesians 4:28. It says, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” At the time in Nehemiah, he’s having everybody sign this document. They’re saying, “We have got to get back to how God wants us to engage in the workplace in a way that honors him and protects his reputation.” Well, the same thing is for us. We’ve got to honor the Lord’s reputation when we go into the workplace.

There’s a real practical way we sign our name to something in this realm, and it’s through an offer of employment. When we receive an offer of employment, we write our name down on it. We sign our name, and it’s saying, “Hey, we agree to the terms of employment — employer, employee, work, workplace. We agree to these terms.” And when we put our name on that, we’re putting our name on that as a person who is now going to have a duty to protect the reputation of the Lord, as our co-workers and clients engage with us in the workplace, so that they will see — that person does something different. That person operates differently. I wonder what’s different about them. I wonder what God they serve. How is it that that person’s so prosperous, yet they’re not doing everything that I see everyone else doing? How is their life going so well? What kind of God do they serve? The scriptures teach, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, that those who honor the Lord in their work will have what they need in provision from the Lord. That’s clear throughout scripture.

And Nehemiah is leading the people to correct a problem that started when they began buying like the other nations bought, and when they began selling like the other nations sold — when they began buying and selling people like the other nations bought and sold people into slavery. And Israel was no longer distinguished among the nations. They became corrupt in their dealings with commerce, trade, finance, and slavery. And so Nehemiah — they’re going to correct the corruption at the source of the problem. And in this place, it was the workplace. Well, if we want to have a life that’s devoted to God, prioritized in devotion to God, we’ve got to obey his commands in the home with our family and our friends, but also in the workplace with our co-workers and our clients.

In the Church with Our Ministry and Mission

And now they turn their attention to another issue, and I’m going to read from verse 32 to, I believe, 39. I’m going to read a longer section here, but it’s all the same subject, and you’ll see real clearly what that subject is.

“We also take on ourselves the obligation to give yearly a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: for the showbread, the grain offering, the regular offering, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. And we — the priests, the Levites, and the people — have likewise cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God according to our fathers’ houses, at the times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law. We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord. Also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as is written in the law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks. And to bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God. And to bring the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. And the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes. And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. For all the people of Israel, and the sons of Levi, shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.”

Prior to the exile — King David made the preparations, and Solomon built a temple. A beautiful temple — incredible, beautiful temple, very, very expensive building, all prepared by his dad. But Solomon built it. Well, when Solomon’s son reigned, he reigned in a way that didn’t honor the Lord. And the kingdom got divided — ten tribes went one way and two tribes stayed there. Well, those divided kingdoms end up being conquered. The ten tribes were conquered first, and then the two tribes were conquered. Well, when the two tribes were conquered, Jerusalem was conquered. It’s why the walls were torn down, and they destroyed everything. They destroyed the temple, and they took all of the precious items that were used to worship the Lord in the sacrificial system. They removed them and took them to a foreign country. When Ezra came onto the scene — Ezra started before Nehemiah — when Ezra came onto the scene, they rebuilt the temple. The temple that Ezra built? Nothing like the temple of Solomon. Nothing. But they rebuilt the temple. Now what Nehemiah has done — he’s come, he’s rebuilt the wall, he’s rebuilding the people. And now he wants to make sure that the house of God is provided for with everything that’s needed so that they can do the temple sacrificial system as God has commanded them, so it’ll be fully operational.

And as you can see from what we just read, worship of God in Israel required a lot of time, a lot of energy, and a lot of resources — very specific things. The sacrificial system, the priests, the Levites, the holy days, the feasts. It was complex. Very specific needs that the people supplied for the house of the Lord. And they did not see this as optional. They saw it, and they understood it according to the law, as obligation to take care of the needs for the house of the Lord. And it was very expensive to do so. You can see it in the text.

So how do we bridge the gap between what they’re experiencing here and us — from the Old Testament to a New Testament believer? Well, Jesus is the fulfillment of the law — I mentioned this already. So Jesus is the last sacrifice. He fulfilled the law. What the New Testament teaches about the temple of God is that it’s right here. We are the temple of God. The Holy Spirit of God lives inside his people, and the believer is the temple of the Lord. So the church is both the visible and the invisible expression of the body of Jesus Christ, with Christ as the head of the body, and we are all members of the body.

So in this, Nehemiah is leading the people to sign their name and say, “We got to bring reform to our community. We got to get back on track in the home. We got to get back on track in the workplace.” And as we think about it in our context — a life devoted to God will obey God’s commands in the church with our ministry and our mission. And there’s a way we sign our name to something as a church family. It’s different than what Nehemiah is signing his name to, but there are some similarities. We sign our name and we say, “Hey, we want to be a member of this church. We want to make a commitment to walk with the Lord and one another as members of the church together.” And we sign our name on it and we say, “Hey, we’re going to follow the Lord together. We’re in it. We’re in this together, and we’re going to be a church family together.” And we sign our name and say, “Hey, count me in. We will covenant together as the body of Jesus Christ.”

Guest Video: Andrew, Central Asia

Well, there’s a man who grew up right here as a member of this church, and God called him out of this ministry and onto the mission field. His name is Andrew, and he serves in a restricted access nation, and we’ve got a video from him. So check this out.

Hi church family. My name is Andrew, and I, alongside of my family, have the privilege of serving as partners with Big Valley Grace in a restricted access nation in Central Asia. I’ve really enjoyed getting the chance to reflect on the story of Nehemiah. And as we come to chapter 10, I think it’s just a really great reminder to me of the power of the word of God. As you go through seven and eight, right, you have this culmination of the wall being completed and the work being done. And then after that, the law is revealed, right? And as Ezra and the priests open the word of God, it has this huge impact on the people. And all of chapter nine is just their beautiful response to that. They’re declaring the glory of God, remembering his faithfulness, and confessing their own sin. But they don’t stop there. As we get into chapter ten, we have this commitment by them to live their lives in submission to God and into his will. And that to me is just a great example of the power of the word of God.

We live and serve in a place where there’s really not much access to his word. But reading the story of Nehemiah really gives me hope, because I know that when people are exposed to the word of God, this is what it has the power to do. It has the power to bring life as people are brought into awareness of Christ and who he is. First Corinthians 6:20 — here Paul says, “You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.” And I just pray for each one of us, as we continue to engage with and interact with the word of God, that that will move us more and more into lives that are submitted to his word. May we recognize that our lives do not belong to our self, but they belong to him. We’re adopted into his family, and it’s a privilege to serve him completely with every part of who we are. So may God fill each one of you with more and more of his grace and peace as you serve him faithfully each day.

Who’s Sitting on Top of Your Treasure Pile?

Why would a guy like Andrew take his wife and two small babies and go on mission to a restricted access nation? Well, Jesus explains it when he says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And Andrew has placed his treasure in the hands of Jesus. And that’s where his heart is. And he took his wife and his two small babies, and they went to a restricted access nation. They went on mission because their treasure is with Jesus.

Well, Nehemiah — he’s placed his treasure in the hands of the Lord. Nehemiah was very wealthy. He had great status, great security. He was the cupbearer for the king of Persia. And he went on mission. He placed his treasure in the hands of the Lord, and he went on mission. All of us, church family — we all have someone or something sitting on top of our treasure pile. I’ll give you some examples. We might have ourselves sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have our spouse sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have our kid sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have our job sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have our wealth sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have our hobby sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have our body sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have our sports sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have our politics sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have our friends sitting on top of our treasure pile. We might have an addiction sitting on top of our treasure pile. But church family — until Jesus Christ is sitting on top of our treasure pile, there is no chance we will ever have our priorities lined up in our life.

Nehemiah was saying, “Hey, we got to get back to honoring the Lord in the house of our God. We got to honor God, for us, in the church with our ministry and mission.” For Andrew, he’s saying, “Hey, we’re going to live. We’re going to go do something crazy for God. We’re going to live crazy for God. We’re going to have Jesus on top. Number one — I’m going to take my wife and babies. We’re going to go to a restricted access nation.”

The Boon Family Priority Statement

Well, I shared with you that in July, my wife and I did some work to bring priority. Well, we wrote a statement, and this statement is really for ourselves. I’m going to share it with you because it applies to what we’re talking about, but it’s for my wife and I, and it’s for us as we lead our family. “As followers of Jesus Christ, we will pursue personal health so that we can show up for one another as a family. We will do our work with excellence unto the Lord. We will steward our relationships, our resources, and our recreation in support of the higher priorities. Joel and Sarah Boon.”

Now, this is a polished statement, and you go, “Oh, that’s nice. Nice button-up.” Well, I want you to know we didn’t get to this statement overnight. What this statement actually represents — it’s a product of decades of trying to follow the Lord, of trying to figure out what does it look like for us to have a life that’s going to honor Jesus. This statement represents years of many failures in our family and many victories as the Lord has come in, redeemed, renewed, brought restoration — a whole lot of lessons learned.

This statement is a war-torn statement. My wife and I and our family, we have been through many battles. We have many wounds, many scars in following Christ. But every day we get up and we try to fight another day. Keep trying to have Jesus Christ sit at the top of the treasure pile.

So what’s a life prioritized in devotion to God going to look like? Well, a life devoted to God will obey God’s commands in the home, with our family and our friends, in the workplace, with our co-workers and our clients, and in the church, the ministry, and the mission.

What Will You Prioritize This Week?

How would you answer this question: what part of my life will I prioritize in devotion to God this week? Do you need to prioritize your home, with your family and your friends, to be in devotion to God this week? Do you need to prioritize your workplace, with your co-workers and your clients, to be in devotion to God this week? Do you need to prioritize your involvement with your church, with the ministry and the mission, to be in devotion to God this week? What do you see as the opportunity you have right now to move Jesus Christ to the top of your treasure pile?

Church family, we have incredible opportunities. This season is full of opportunities. I mean, it’s super weird that people come to our house on October 31st and knock on our door, but it’s an opportunity to take advantage of it. And it’s a dark night. I’ve shared with you that we have a child with special needs. This is not a good season in our home for her. This season messes with our daughter. It’s not good. But this is an opportunity to be salt and light, to share Jesus Christ. And just imagine how amazing it would be if one person, because you handed out one of those cards, one person read seven truths about how God wants to have a relationship with them. How might God use that in someone’s life? That would be incredible — that on something as silly and weird and crazy as what happens on October 31st, someone might be able to read about Christ. That would be incredible. You have that opportunity — grab those resources out there and hand them out.

You have an opportunity in going to vote and saying, “Hey, I’m going to express my will. I’m going to express my will, and I want to be a part — my little part of a bigger process — of aligning us closer to what God would have for us in my children’s school, in the city, the county, the state, the country I live in.”

We have Thanksgiving Reach coming up. That’s an opportunity to load up your car full of groceries that you’ll get from here at the church, and then drive into the neighborhood — and we have somebody who’s identified they need some help, and you can deliver groceries to them and you can say, “Hey, we’re here because we’re followers of Jesus, and we’re a part of Big Valley Grace Community Church, and this is a gift from our church to you. Hey, can we pray for you?” I mean, what an incredible opportunity to go to someone’s home who needs some help and to give them a gift and to pray for them.

When we’re heading into the Christmas season, we have something really, really amazing planned for kids, for an outreach for the Christmas season this year. It’s going to be really special. It’d be great to invite the kids that you’re connected to — neighbor kids, co-worker kids, kids from the team, man, grandkids, their friends. It’s going to be really great for our worship gatherings. Our theme is “Let’s Go.” It’s what the shepherds say: let’s go. Let’s go see Jesus. Let’s go see Jesus, and let’s go reach our community for Jesus. Let’s go. It’s going to be a great season. We have a lot of opportunities.

Closing Invitation and Prayer

If you’re here and you know you need to have God sitting on the top of your treasure pile — you need to get Jesus back into number one. Maybe you’ve gotten off track in one of these areas. Maybe he’s number two, number three. He’s somewhere on the list, but he hasn’t been in number one. But you got to get him back in the number one spot. I encourage you to stand. I’ll pray for you right now. If you’re here and you know you got to get Jesus back on the top — man, he slid down from the top of the pile. We got to get him back on the top of the pile. We got to get him back in number one priority in your life. If you’re here and you need Jesus Christ to be the number one priority in your life — somehow he got bumped out of number one, and you know it — just stand up right now. I’ll pray for you.

Father God, Lord, thank you. Thank you for everyone who’s here. Thank you for all these men and women who are standing. God, you know exactly what aspect of their life had them stand up right now. You know exactly what part of their life has gotten off track, where you slid out of first place, Lord. And God, I pray that you would bless them for the way that they are humbly right now acknowledging that they need prayer and they need your help. God, would you bless them for this? God, would you help them make the change to prioritize this aspect of their life, so that this part of their life they can live in devotion to you? And God, would you change them and transform them? And would they be used by you, God, in a powerful way to reach other people because of the change that you have brought in their life? So God, we pray blessing over all these men and women. May they be blessed for seeking Jesus Christ to be number one. And we pray this in the name of Jesus. And all God’s family said, “Amen.”

If you need further prayer, our team will be ready to pray with you. We’ve got the cards out in the lobby that you can invite people to Christmas. Church family, we love you, and we’re going to see you again real soon.