Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Nehemiah 1:1-6, 2:1-5   Luke 1:1-4

Back in July, 1982, Larry Walters, a truck driver from North Hollywood had an idea: He tied 45 weather balloons to a lawn chair (he was the first to do this, I think there have been others since). Then he filled them with helium, strapped on a parachute, and then he got into the chair with a six pack of beer, a CB radio and a BB pistol. He had his friends strap him in, tied some gallon jugs filled with water to be ballast, and then his friends let go of the ropes holding him down, and up he went!

He had thought he would float gently up to around 500 or 700 feet, and drift around his neighborhood, but instead, he shot like a rocket up to 16,000 feet! And the winds took him into the flight approach of Los Angeles International Airport. He was spotted by two different airline pilots who were on their approach to LAX!

He had dropped the six pack during his rapid ascent and he was able to get out a "Mayday" on his CB radio, noting that he was "getting numb" in the cold...as he drifted high above LA...

We continue on our Heroes Sermon Series today with one of my favorite Hebrew Scriptures characters-Nehemiah, a Jewish man, who was the cup bearer-the sommelier and butler (also the wine taster, to make sure wine wasn't used to poison the king!)  to the Persian King Artaxerxes, when Judah was a province of the Persian Empire in the middle of the 4^th century, BC. Well over a hundred years earlier, Jerusalem had been sacked by the Babylonians, the walls torn down and burned, and the people had been taken into exile. Even though the Jews had been given their freedom by the Persian emperor Cyrus, and even though many had gone home, the city remained in ruins.

Worse yet, with the walls torn down, any foreign armies or even bandits could simply enter the city and take what they wanted. When Nehemiah heard of the condition of his homeland's capital, it broke his heart... It also filled him with the desire to do something about it, even though he was not a builder, an architect, or a leader, at least not yet. He was a service worker-a trusted employee of the king.

But we remember him today. We have a book in the Bible that bears his name, because he was willing to leave his comfortable, honorable lifestyle and undertake a difficult and important task-fraught with danger-both physically, and politically (when there were political disagreements in those days, your life could be in danger quickly...)- there were those who didn't want the walls rebuilt...

Most importantly, Nehemiah gives us a model for how to act when a challenge presents itself in our lives, or we identify a need in the community and we wonder if we can meet that need- and he provides us with the example of what can happen when ordinary people, working with each other and with God, undertake extraordinary tasks!

If I had had my way, our first reading would have been Nehemiah, Chapters 1-4, and we would have had a wonderful study of Biblical leadership, but we really don't have the time to go through all that this morning. But we can look at our first reading- and the examples we see set there, and get a good start.

Nehemiah got first hand information: he asked those who had been to Jerusalem what the situation was. He wasn't afraid to learn... When you are looking at a challenge, or a need, study up on the situation as best you can!

I told you a few months ago that Bethlehem has been asked to work with Messiah Lutheran in building a multi-cultural congregation in the Phillips neighborhood. I had to confess that I know next to nothing about how that is done-that we as Lutherans have been dreadful at reaching out to people of different cultures. But we are looking together at some folks who have had some success in this area-even though they aren't Lutherans-namely the Assemblies of God-a conservative and charismatic denomination... what can we learn from them? That's a process that is continuing...

I know a woman at Bethlehem who is passionate about the issue of children and poverty- especially the grinding, overwhelming poverty facing so many in sub-Saharan Africa. As we speak, she and her teenaged son are on a trip in east Africa, learning first hand what the issues are...

And as you learn, it becomes apparent that the status quo- the regular way of doing business is no longer tenable- it is no longer acceptable. Nehemiah says that when he learned about the condition of Jerusalem, "I sat down and wept, and mourned for days..." He experienced what you might call a "holy discontent" with the state of things in Jerusalem...

I have another Bethlehem friend who as he learned more and more about the poverty and hunger in Minneapolis could no longer continue his old job, and wound up quitting and now works for a small not-for-profit that helps people who are homeless and hungry... Had he not been profoundly unhappy with the status quo, he could never be doing what he is doing today... Indeed, if there is no discontent, there is no reason to change, or to act!

Then, Nehemiah fasted and prayed-he sought God out in specific ways-both listened and spoke to God about the situation in Jerusalem... Fasting is something that many of us have mostly forgotten as part of our faith lives...But it is certainly a part of our longer tradition. Fasting is mentioned at least seventy times through both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. It is something Jesus did regularly, as part of his devotional life. Indeed, you might remember, Jesus fasted for 40 days before he began his ministry...

And for the purposes of this discussion, let's define fasting as giving up food or some other activity in order to devote more time and attention to prayer- it's choosing not to do something in order to turn to God...I know Pastor Greg fasted repeatedly in the process of getting Jacob's Well started. It is something that I do, but not often enough, I fear, when I am seeking God's guidance for Bethlehem. It is something our youth do each year, as they participate in the 30 Hour Famine and learn about the issues of local and world hunger... I would not recommend a long fast for someone who has never done it. Start with sun rise to sun set--at most, 24 hours. Keep the water and/or fruit juices flowing. When you feel hunger, use it as a call to prayer! And please, share your experiences with us...

But if Nehemiah fasted for days, he prayed for months... You have a brief part of his first prayer in your worship folder, in our first reading... it's a prayer of praise and confession; if we had the whole chapter printed, you would see the prayer ends with a request for the king to hear and accept Nehemiah's request...The story begins in the month of Chislev, the Persian word for December. Nehemiah prays until the month of Nisan- the word for April. He prays for four months! We talk regularly here about the importance of prayer- of bathing everything we do- of bringing everything we do into God's presence...If we're going to ask for God's guidance, and then listening to what God has to say to us is of first importance...

Finally, Nehemiah goes to Artaxerxes and asks for permission to take an extended trip to Jerusalem. He has prepared, and he acts! And Artaxerxes listens, and gives Nehemiah the tools he has requested- the money, people and material for him to get the project going! It's a study first of preparation, and then action- an act of faith followed by an act of courage, and the result is first a rebuilt Jerusalem and then a rebuilt temple- for the first time in a century and a half, worship resumes in the Jerusalem Temple... Nehemiah is truly a hero- but as we look at him, we see an ordinary man who is willing to do great things for God! And in that, we see someone whose example can be followed by others who see a need- who want to meet a challenge that God has placed in their hearts...

That's why our Gospel is the first several verses of Luke... This "prologue," if you will, is Luke's explanation of why he has written his Gospel- and while it is more succinct, and we don't see all of the steps laid out like we do in Nehemiah, it's not a big stretch to see them...Luke has done his homework- he has copies of other people's work in front of him- including the Gospel of Mark, which he uses as an outline... But he is not satisfied with them- in fact, he is unhappy with them- why else would he have written his?

And how could there not be fasting and prayer involved in such a major undertaking? And then, Luke sets pen to papyrus, and with God working in and through him, delivers to us the Gospel that includes the story of the birth of John the Baptist- of the annunciation (Gabriel's visit to announce that God has chosen Mary to be the mother of Jesus), Mary's visit to Elizabeth and the wonderful words of the Magnificat: "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior..."Luke shares with us the wonderful story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem- the inn with no room, the appearance of the angels and then the visit of the shepherds... And did I mention the Good Samaritan, and the Lost Sheep, Coin and Son?

Luke is the only Gospel to include the words of Jesus from the cross asking forgiveness for his killers- and his words of promise to the crucified criminal who asks to be remembered when Jesus comes into his Kingdom... And the wonderful Easter Story of the Road to Emmaus, where the disciples recognize the Risen Jesus in the breaking of the bread- something we're about to do, ourselves!

Through Luke, we get a wonderful picture of our Savior Jesus- his great love for you and for me- his teaching and preaching of how God would have us live, and then his death on a cross- taking on your death- my death- everything that separates us from God and each other... And in the Easter story, how Jesus was raised from the dead so that nothing in heaven and earth can take God's love away from us!

And in his second volume, the Book of Acts, we see the growth of our faith across the known world- through Peter and Paul, through Lydia, through Luke himself, all the way to Rome, and eventually, across the ages, to you and to me!

Larry Walters hung on for dear life as his balloon continued its drifting. He was able to use the BB pistol to shoot out three of the balloons before he dropped it. And slowly, he descended into Long Beach. The ropes extending from the chair crossed a power line and blacked out a good portion of the town... but the chair was just five feet off the ground, and Larry was able to slide off and get safely back to earth...

A reporter asked him why he had done it as he was leaving jail, and this is what he said: "Sometimes, you can't just sit there and do nothing..." Now while he had hardly prepared for and completely thought through his flight, he was exactly right: Sometimes, you just can't sit there and do nothing...

Nehemiah built a wall. Luke wrote a Gospel- two completely different things, which shows us that it's pretty clear that God can use people in a wide variety of ways!

My questions to you this Sunday: what is God calling you to do in your life? Where do you see God leading you to help change God's world for the better in whatever way God has gifted you to do it?

Where are you in the process: are you learning? Is there a holy discontent with the status quo? Are you engaged in fasting- in regular prayer? Are you engaged in your mission? Perhaps you're taking the first tentative steps down the road God is pointing out to you... or waiting to see what God wants you to do. Don't worry- if you're breathing, God has something in mind for you!

Brothers and sisters, God is hard at work, using this church in so many ways. But we're not close to being done... I wonder about all the people we could reach, all the people we could serve in Jesus' Name, if we were to follow Nehemiah's example of faithfulness... like reaching 20,000 people by the year 2020- serving that many more, not for Bethlehem's glory- but for the glory of the Kingdom of God...

It's a journey we're on together: a journey of learning, of holy discontent, of prayer and of action, and there's something that everyone in the entire community can do to participate. We can start now by being strengthened for the journey at our Lord's Table, sharing in the bread and wine- his body and blood.

And we can give thanks for the life and witness of Nehemiah: cupbearer, wall builder- and hero of the faith! Amen!