Sermon Tone Analysis

*Intro*

Life is full of distractions.

Have you ever sat in a really bad traffic jam thinking it must have been a really bad accident that caused this, only to find out that it was a simple fender bender pushed off on the side of the road causing passing drivers to slow down, lose focus of the road, to look at the accident, or gape at it (that’s why it’s called a Gaper’s Delay)?

We may get angry and frustrated at all the drivers who were guilty of this, but we too are looking at the accident as we drive by as well right?

We are so easily distracted!

There are so many times when I wake up wanting to accomplish a lot in that day and I got my list going, only to put my head on my pillow at night realizing that I did a whole lot of things, but not the main things.

Ever feel that way?

The worst feeling is when Jenny will often ask me if I did such and such task that I had said I would do or she had asked me to do.

Usually I say, “I was going to, but things came up.”

I am hoping she does not ask me what things were so important that kept me from the task at hand.

The reason is, if I had to be honest, I would have to say, “Emails came up.

Then facebook came up.

Then an email about a facebook message came up.

Then the game came on.

Then the mail arrived.

Then Abbie wanted me to play with her.

Then I wanted to play with Abbie’s toys.

Then my hunger came up.

Then a nap came up.”

It is so hard for me to pray silently or read the Word silently, because before I know it, I am on the island of LOST, eventually thinking, “How did I end up praying for Jack and Kate right now?”

This is why if no one is around, I pray out loud, I walk around or type out prayers.

Distractions, distractions, distractions!

We deal with it all the time!

Whether it is daydreaming, the television, emails or phone calls to answer, or a child pulling at your shirt tail, it is easy to have good intentions, but really difficult to follow through on them, especially with distractions all around.

They are not always bad distractions, but distractions nonetheless.

Do you know that a major obstacle in doing God’s work is distraction?

Actually, it is a major obstacle from people even knowing God.

The enemy is hard at work keeping people busy and occupied with so many things so that they do not have to think about their soul, until it is too late.

But his major tactics are geared toward believers.

He wants to distract us from the work of God.

I am not talking about your prayer or devotion time, but your life course.

Satan is not looking to put a little dent in your fender, but looking for a major crash.

Perhaps this is why the author of Hebrew exhorts us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb.

12:2).

We need to look at Him all the time, because everything around us beckons us away.

And if we are not careful, we might live our life chasing the distraction and end up in front of the Lord one day saying, “Sorry Lord, things came up.”

I would hate to be in that position!

We are winding down the first half of the book of Nehemiah as we have been learning about God’s work: how God prepares us for it, prospers us in it and in the last few weeks, how God helps us overcome the problems in God’s work.

We looked at the enemy’s ridicule in Neh.

4:1-6, the halfway hurdle in Neh.

4:7-23, internal strife in Neh. 5 and today distractions from serving God in Neh.

6:1-14.

How do we deal with distractions from serving God?

We are going to look at three different distractions Nehemiah will have to face.

Let’s begin with this thought:

*I.

When distracted by good opportunities, stand firm on godly priorities (Neh.

6:1-4)*

We haven’t heard from Nehemiah’s enemies for a whole chapter.

But guess what, they are back!

They were there at the beginning of the work, in the middle and now at the end.

We saw them attacking externally through ridicule and threatening physical violence, but here they go personal.

This is because they are running out of time and so they are going to make a final push and this time it is a direct assault at Nehemiah.

Cyril Barber says, “When Sanballat had his co-conspirators realized that they have been outmaneuvered, outgeneraled, and outwitted by Nehemiah, they decide to attack him personally.…

Their wounded pride will not be appeased until Nehemiah has been humiliated.”[1]

Like in football, they are going to try to sack the quarterback.

The attacks never seem to end.

The enemies are relentless.

A huge moment is coming up.

It’s been almost 100 years since the Israelites came back from the exile.

Remember God had called Nehemiah from his job in Persia to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was where the nations would see the glory of God.

It was where people worshipped God.

To have its wall built meant their identity was secured.

People could live there in safety again, not fearing enemies attacking them.

They had tried once to rebuild the wall, but stopped when enemies threatened.

This time, through the leadership of Nehemiah, it hasn’t been easy, but they finally persevered.

The wall is almost done and right before a major victory, the enemy shows up again.

Look at Neh. 6:1.

The wall is done, except for the gates.

This is like building your house, but your front door is not set yet.

How comfortable are you to sleep at night?

Probably not much, especially if you live in dangerous parts of town!

So yeah, almost there, but not quite!

I wonder if Nehemiah, finally seeing the finish line ahead, feels confident the work will be finally completed.

Just then, notice what happens in Neh.

6:2.

He gets a polite invitation for a getaway vacation.

Ono happened to be an oasis---a retreat location for the wealthy.

It had fertile land with trees and water.[2]

Take a look at the map.

Can you see Ono? Which province is it close to?

Samaria, which was where Sanballat was from!

It was 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem.

James Boice says, “At such a time, the invitation seemed to be a concession speech by a person who had just lost a political campaign.

‘Nehemiah, it is no use pretending that we have not been opposed to your project.

We have been.

It has not been in our best interests.

We have had our differences over it.

But you have succeeded in spite of us, and now there is no use to carry on our opposition.

For better or worse, we are going to have to live together, you as governor of Jerusalem and ourselves as governors of our own provinces.

So let’s be friends.

What we need is a summit conference.

Why don’t we meet on the plain of Ono?

It is a neutral site about equidistant from each of our provinces.

You pick a village in Ono, and we’ll meet you there.’”[3]

Sanballat’s trying hard to lure him away from the work.

I mean dialogue is good right?

Talking is better than fighting right?

You’ve been laying bricks for a while, Nehemiah.

Let’s talk it over and relax at Ono Resort and Country Club.

See how subtle the Enemy works?

This is just like how Satan works as well.

He makes it look like he is offering something for your best interest and then when you give in, he destroys you.