The Making of A Leader

Nehemiah • Sermon • Submitted 4 months ago • Presented 4 months ago

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Nehemiah is well known as the man who led the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. How did he rise to this role? This book is a memoir of sorts, and in the first verses, we see how he was compelled from his life of leisure to a life as a courageous leader.

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Nehemiah 1:1–4 NASB95

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” 4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

INTRO: I want you to think about the greatest leaders you’ve know of- maybe a boss, a coach, a political figure. Some of you might think of Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, or Martin Luther. How did they get to be a good leader? Some folks believe that leaders are born, not made… how about you?

Well, as one author stated, “All leaders are born…” (Some of you will get that later) While many great leaders share certain attributes and abilities, being a leader is about action. If you are not moving and accomplishing goals, you are not going anywhere. You don’t need a leader to stay put, only a manager.

Of course, not all leaders are good leaders- we can look through history and note some leaders who made an impact, but not in a way that we would applaud.

But what does it take to make a good leader? If God has called you to lead, how will you move from where you are- perhaps a bit passive or contently complacent - to where God can use you to accomplish great things that bring Him glory?

Why am I talking about leadership? We are beginning a new series today through the book of Nehemiah. Perhaps you are familiar with this man who led in the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall. This book is a memoir or journal that chronicles Nehemiah’s life and leadership as he moved from a life of leisure as the cupbearer to the Persian king to a life as a courageous leader among the Jews who returned to their broken land.

At the same time, we recognize that this is God’s Word- a revelation of God through the writings of Nehemiah under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Our God is the sovereign God of history, so we will try to hold together the supernatural work of God with the lessons and implications we can learn from the life of Nehemiah.

Throughout this study, we’ll see how God both moved and used Nehemiah and we will learn from his example. Is God calling you to lead? My prayer is that you and I can hear God’s Word clearly this morning and allow Him to move us to lead according to His plan.

Before we get into the text, I want to take just a moment and give you a bit of context for the book of Nehemiah. [timeline]

Jerusalem destroyed by Babylonians - 586 BC

First Jews returned to Jerusalem in 538 BC (under Zerubbabel & Joshua - Ezra 1-6)

Temple rebuilt between 520-515 BC (Attested by Haggai & Zechariah)

Esther became the queen of Persia in 479 BC (Esther)

Ezra arrived in 458 BC

Nehemiah - 445 BC

Nehemiah’s name means “Yahweh Comforts” or “Yahweh Consoles” and indeed, through Nehemiah, God brought consolation to His people in restoring Jerusalem.

This restoration has two main parts: Physical and Moral, and we’ll see that Nehemiah first addressed the physical issues and then leaned in on the moral issues. He earned trust in the physical, and leveraged that trust in the moral reforms.

But today, we will focus on Nehemiah’s defining moment; the call and response to lead. As we examine just the first 4 verses of chapter 1, we’ll look at how God worked in Nehemiah to make Him a great leader. The sermon is titled “The Making of A Leader”.

If you grabbed a bulletin, I encourage you to make use of the enclosed sermon guide as we learn together. Let’s jump in.

Leadership Opportunities Arise Amid Conflict or Crisis (1-3)

Some folks hear the word conflict and they flinch because in their minds, conflict is bad. But, I would suggest that conflict in itself is not bad, but necessary for us to grow and learn. In fact, God designed us to be leaders through times of necessary conflict.

Even before sin entered the world, God allowed a conflict or crisis point for Adam to lead Eve. He failed in this regard. Throughout history, we see that it is conflict or crisis that opens the door for people to step up and move others through it to something better.

Abraham Lincoln had the crisis of a civil war and the evil of slavery

Think about WWII and Winston Churchill- would we even know his name if it were not for the crisis that came about through Hitler and Nazi Germany?

Look back at the leadership of Margaret Thatcher and her work to lead through the crisis of such immorality presented in the communist Cold War.

Look with me to v.1-3 as we see Nehemiah’s crisis-birthed opportunity.

(READ)

There is much we don’t know- was Nehemiah’s brother looking for him to step up here? When Nehemiah inquired about Jerusalem, did he expect anything other than small talk? We don’t know- but in God’s Sovereignty, He brought the crisis right to Nehemiah.

What was the crisis?

Jerusalem was not doing well- the people were distressed and the situation was volatile. The walls were broken down- this meant that the city was vulnerable to attacks. A city without strong borders is ripe for all sorts of crime and demonstrates that any governance inside the city would be ineffective.

The gates were burned- likely a report of recent attacks which signal that the Jews had enemies and these enemies were bold and determined to keep the Jews from rebuilding.

This is indeed a crisis… now we have to understand that in this day, the Jews could not worship God properly because worship necessarily involved the temple, priests, and sacrifices. They had rebuilt the temple, but the city was unsafe and the harassment by the surrounding communities kept those who wanted to worship away. God’s people were in a bind.

Let’s take just a moment to be thankful for God’s provision for us today. We can worship God in Penrose or Paris, In Hendersonville or Honolulu; The atoning sacrifice necessary for us to be redeemed was made in Christ and thus we do not face the same crisis as Nehemiah and the Jews did.

However, I believe there are a number of crises that present leadership opportunities today.

Over 70% of our community is lost and disconnected from the truth of the Gospel.

Over 400 NC baptist churches are without a pastor.

Over 2 billion people across the globe have no access to the Gospel.

Corrupt government officials (in America, in NC!) are pushing ideologies that are both dangerous and sinful.

There is a need for Godly leaders- leaders who understand the crises and conflicts and see them not as something to whine about, but something to change. I believe that God in His sovereignty has allowed these opportunities so that His people, Christians like you, would have the chance to leverage their your for His glory.

Leadership Opportunities Arise Amid Conflict and Crises. But opportunity itself is not sufficient for good, Godly leadership to emerge. Indeed, all sorts of wicked people have seized the opportunity to step into leadership, but they do it for selfish reasons; Money, power, fame, etc.

Something more must be in play for a Godly leader to emerge. That leads us to the second principle:

Leaders Are Called By Conviction (4a)

(READ)

This news struck a chord with Nehemiah… this was not just an emotional or sympathetic response. Allow me to paint this picture:

Nehemiah was in Susa- a city about 750 miles away from Jerusalem. He was born in the Persian empire under Persian rule and had likely never been to Jerusalem. Nehemiah had the job of cupbearer to the king of Persia (11b) which meant that he was trusted by the king and he likely lived in relative luxury.

It would have been so easy for him to just shake his head and pity the situation from a distance. Or maybe he could have just donated some money and sent it back with his brother to help pay for some repairs. That would make him feel better about himself and it would not require any real sacrifice.

But, and this itself is a work of God, Nehemiah felt conviction that this situation demanded his personal attention. Look back at v. 4a - He wept and mourned for days!

In fact, we will see as we move through this book that Nehemiah was under conviction months from this moment. God moved in such a way that Nehemiah not only acknowledged the opportunity, but was pulled to be a part of the solution.

What does this mean? Leaders who do not have conviction or authentically believe in the mission will not be effective leaders.

ILL: Think about how this works in your own life:

You can acknowledge the opportunity you have to lose weight, but unless you are convicted that this diet and exercise is right and necessary, you won’t do it for long.

I read recently that 90% of people who had heart disease due to smoking, drinking, or obesity choose death over changing.

The same is true about work ethic, study habits, spiritual disciplines, moral boundaries, etc.

Friends, it’s like salvation; it is not simply a decision you make, but a conviction of the Holy Spirit that you need Christ so desperately that you MUST surrender to Him.

Here’s my point:

Unless fathers have the conviction to lead their families in the ways of God - to prioritize God, the gathering of the church, and demonstrate godly principles, we will continue to see children walk away from the faith and embrace the culture around us.

Unless pastors, SS teachers and deacons have the conviction to model what they teach, the church will be a place of hypocrisy.

Unless you are under conviction that God has called you to lead others to follow Jesus, you will not share the Gospel and the result will be eternally catastrophic.

Let me challenge you this morning church, if you do not have the conviction to be a godly leader, then be a godly follower and pray that God would one day call you to lead in ways that will bring Him glory.

Leadership opportunities abound through conflicts and crises, but Godly leaders are called by conviction. Of course, these two principles still fall short of the action required by a leader. This action is our final principle today:

Leadership Requires Consignment to God (4b)

To consign means to entrust. So, and I know what some of you were thinking- just like you entrust the second-hand store to take and sell your old clothing (that’s what you thought when I said consignment), Christian leaders entrust or consign the leadership mission to God.

Let’s read 4b (READ)

Nehemiah knew that something had to be done and was convinced that he was to be personally involved in whatever that was. But he didn’t just jump on the next camel-train to Jerusalem and try to fix it all himself. Nor did he call an architect and begin planning out his strategy nor did he begin recruiting workers to go with him… all of this is important, but Nehemiah’s priority was to pray - the job was too big, the obstacles were too great. This was God’s mission and Nehemiah is not God.

The best use of his time was to spend it with God- to hear from God and then make other moves. Nehemiah would learn that the physical structure of the wall was phase 1. Spending time in prayer allowed for him not to become overwhelmed and to embrace the Lord who called him to this mission.

Every leadership opportunity is given by God. Therefore leaders must humble themselves before God and seek His wisdom and direction.

Nebuchadnezzar learned this the hard way- when he began to brag about all he had built, God humbled him- took away his sanity and reminded him that whatever position we may hold, we hold in humble consignment to the God of creation.

Nehemiah fasted and prayed. The task ahead was so big that he could not afford to waste his time trying to plan or strategize without God’s direction.

I know that this sounds counterintuitive, but hear me out: The reason we get so overwhelmed sometimes is because we think we have to be constantly busy busy busy so that we can accomplish the mission. This is in part because we think we know all the right answers and priorities… that somehow we just need to dig deep and we will overcome.

But when we prioritize prayer, we are acting on trust that God will see us through - that He will align our priorities with His.

As I read recently, “Leaders are always in over their heads… that’s because God’s assignments are supernatural and He gives those assignments to vessels of clay - cracked, chipped clay pots!”

If we are going to lead well, we must lean on God.

What is God calling you to this year? What crisis do you believe God has called you to be part of solving? Where is He calling you to lead?

Maybe in our time this morning, God has impressed upon you the conviction that you need to turn from your sins and trust in Christ for salvation.

Friend, Make your first step a step of prayer. I’d love to pray with you.

Discuss: What opportunities do you see for leadership?

Discuss: What does it mean to have conviction? What are you passionate about?

Discuss: How can you balance the busy by prioritizing prayer?

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