Scripture: Nehemiah 5:14-19
Sermon Series: Nehemiah: Making a Difference for God – Sermon 07

Are you an influencer? The biggest celebrities today aren’t movie stars, rock stars or athletes. They’re social media stars. In the past, fame was for the most talented. While those individuals are still famous and nearly everyone has heard of celebrities like Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift, or LeBron James, they aren’t the most influential ones in our society.

The most influential American, at least among young people, is Jimmy Donaldson. Your kids probably know him as “Mr. Beast.” His YouTube channel has over 245 million subscribers and his net worth is $500 million. What’s his talent? He makes elaborate and entertaining videos to post on YouTube and other social media platforms.

One survey found that fortune and fame were the top two goals of Millennials. 1 in 4 said they’d quit their current jobs to become famous. 1 in six would choose fame over having children, and an incredible 1 in 12 would disown their family to become a household name.

Why this intense desire to be an influencer? We want our lives to matter, to have significance. We want to have influence. No one has more opportunity to be an influencer than a Christ-follower. The influence we can have can matter NOT just for this life, but for eternity. That’s real influence.

All of us have the opportunity each day to influence people. We already have a platform with our family, neighbors and co-workers. The question isn’t whether you have influence, it’s what do you do with it? Are you an Influencer, Making A Difference Where It Matters?

Jesus spoke about this to His followers 2,000 years ago: You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father (Matthew 5:14-16, NLT).

Why did Jesus choose light? Because the world around us is dark and corrupt. Our culture is dark and getting darker. While humanity has added substantially to our scientific, medical, historical, educational, psychological, and technological knowledge, we haven’t been able to change our basic nature. We haven’t found peace or peace of mind. We’ve simply invented more ways to corrupt and destroy our society. We’re spiraling downward and just when you think it can’t get worse, it does!

For a moment picture a bright, sunny day at the height of summer. You have to squint to see, but then you light a candle. How much impact will that candle have? Very little. Most people wouldn’t even notice it.

But imagine you’re in a dark closet in the basement of a massive warehouse at night. There are no windows, no safety lights, nothing. It’s the blackest black. Then you light a candle. Will that candle get attention? Absolutely! In a dark place, you can’t help but turn toward an unexpected source of light.

Our world is a dark place in need of light. Any kind of light, no matter how small, gets attention. Our goal as Christians is not to isolate from a dark world but to influence it with the light of the gospel.

It was dark in Nehemiah’s day. He chose to be a godly influencer. He’s not special. He wasn’t a preacher. He’s a government bureaucrat who loved God.

The vital question is: Will you choose to be a godly influencer? Will you choose to Make A Difference Where It Matters? What will it take? My Bible is open to Nehemiah 5:14-19 (p. 373). If you’re taking notes…

1. Godly influencers are selfless, vss. 14-15. 

Being a Christ-follower begins in your heart. Godliness is not first what you do, it’s you are. It will have behavioral changes but grows out a heart transformed by Jesus. There are external behaviors that are part of being a Christian. It’s sin to get drunk, watch porn or use profanity. Being a Christ-follower is not rules, it’s a relationship. You’re so in love with Jesus who rescued you, it transforms you from the inside out. Pagans are selfish; Christ-followers are selfless.

Nehemiah lived out the heart transformation of a Christ-follower. He surrendered legitimate rights. The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people…But I did not do so, because of the fear of God (Nehemiah 5:15). It’s the surrender of rights for a higher cause, God.

Do you suffer from “Me-first syndrome”? Do you want to be first in your home, marriage, at work? Do you find you’re driven to have your own way, to be the center of attention? You’re bothered when your spouse or family don’t make you the priority? Do you feel you deserve more at work? What was the last thing you got irritated about? Was it because you weren’t first, that your rights weren’t considered?

Abraham is the older relative, the patriarch. There’s a conflict between Abraham and his nephew, Lot in Genesis 13. They have to part company; Abraham should have picked his territory first. That’s not what happened. He lets Lot choose first. He gave away his rights out of love for God.

The Apostle Paul sacrificed his rights to reach the world for Christ: Others demand plenty from you in these ways. Don’t we who have never demanded deserve even more? But we’re not going to start demanding now what we’ve always had a perfect right to. Our decision all along has been to put up with anything rather than to get in the way or detract from the Message of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:11-12).

Do we have the right to protest at a Gay Rights Parade? Yes. Periodically, you’ll see Christians at a Gay Pride parade confronting participants. Personally, I don’t believe it’s the way to reach people. You don’t reach the lost by getting in their face.

I have someone I’m building bridges with. I’m fairly confident my friend is gay. Their greatest issue is not sexual sin. It’s not knowing Jesus.

Do you and I have the right to put up political signs? Absolutely! And there are candidates, most of them local, that I like. For me though, I don’t want to alienate someone from the gospel because of my rights.   

Please understand that the lines are not always clear. It’s a matter of conscience. With our Bill of Rights, we have the Freedom of Religion. I believe we need to defend that right as long as we have it.

For example, if the government said we couldn’t have a cross on our building, we’d defend our rights. Yet, even when we defend our rights, we must do it in a way that pleases Jesus. G. K. Chesterton said, To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.

What influences Nehemiah to give up his rights? the fear of God (Nehemiah 5:15). Because he wanted to honor God, he’s compassionate. There’s a famine. Many are indebted. Some are on the brink of starvation.

We need to ask questions before demanding our rights. When Nehemiah looked at all the food and tax money allotted to him as governor, he knew it would hurt others. It was his right, but it wouldn’t glorify God. He goes without compensation for 12 years, even though he’s the governor.

What I’m going to say is unAmerican. Prosperity can be deadly to our souls. Thomas Carlyle said, For every one hundred men who can stand adversity, there is only one who can withstand prosperity.

Is God calling you to give up rights that may come with your prosperity? Are there things you’re doing with your rights that cause others to stumble? Is God calling you to give up some rights because it honors Him?

45-year-old, Victoria Ruvolo was driving to her niece’s voice recital when she passed a car driven by 19-year-old Ryan Cushing going the opposite direction. Cushing was joyriding with five other teens and had just used a stolen credit card to go on a spending spree. One of their purchases was a frozen turkey, which Cushing decided to toss into oncoming traffic.

The 20-pound frozen turkey smashed through Victoria Ruvolo’s windshield, crushing her face and breaking every one of her facial bones. Somehow, she survived. She spent 10 hours in surgery while doctors repaired her face.

But Victoria attended Ryan Cushing’s sentencing and asked the judge for leniency. She said, Despite all the fear and the pain, I have learned from this horrific experience, and I have much to be thankful for…Each day when I wake up, I thank God simply because I’m alive. I sincerely hope you have also learned from this awful experience, Ryan. There is no room for vengeance in my life, and I do not believe a long, hard prison term would do you, me, or society any good.

Ryan Cushing wept and expressed remorse. He was sentenced to six months in jail when he could have been given a 25-year prison sentence if Victoria hadn’t intervened, given up her rights and shown compassion.

Are you slavishly clinging to your rights? Maybe its rights in your marriage or job? Is it standing in the way of honoring the Lord and the gospel moving forward in your family, workplace, or city. Will you give up rights for Jesus? Nehemiah laid aside his to honor God. Godly influencers are selfless.

2. Godly influencers are servants, vs. 16. 

Five chapters passed before we know Nehemiah is the governor. If most of us had been in his sandals, the first thing we’d have done is update our résumé and print new business cards.

How many bosses have you had who got in there with employees to do the work? How many leaders do you know willing to do the dirty work?

Nehemiah is, though he’s the governor. He’s right in the middle, laying bricks. Because he is, his servants joined him. I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work (Nehemiah 5:16). He’s a servant leader. He’s like Jesus. He’s what every church needs. The Church doesn’t need celebrity pastors. We need servant leaders.

D.L. Moody said, A holy life will produce the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine. Nehemiah never read Ephesians 2:10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. It’s this simple – Christ-followers serve. Nehemiah didn’t use people to build the kingdom for himself. He wasn’t buying land while it was cheap and they’re desperate. He comes alongside to help build the kingdom. 

God has called every Christ-follower to serve. FYI: Just attending church and filling a seat is not service. Too often you’ll find that the Christians who are the most critical are the ones who give the least and do the least.

Why don’t we serve? We’re too b-u-s-y. Wasn’t Nehemiah? He’s building the wall, feeding a huge crowd, and he’s the governor, but he still works to build the wall. So, if your spouse or children or those in your circle of influence drag their feet on serving, maybe they’ve been influenced by you.

If nearly every time there’s an opportunity to serve or a request to serve, you have a NO and think of why you can’t or that you’re too busy, you don’t understand what it is to be a Christ-follower. The truth is that we always find time for what’s important to us.

How much time do we spend on social media, watching TV, chilling, doing what we really love? There’s always seems to be time for that. And while serving our families is vital, if that’s the limit of our serving, isn’t that on the selfish side? Most of us are great at NO, yet terrible at YES. How about you? 

Pastor and author, Craig Groeschel, said this about leadership. Leadership is influence. Everyone has influence. Let that sink in. Everyone has influence on someone. Who are you influencing and how are you influencing them? Godly influencers are servants.

3. Godly influencers are sacrificial, vss. 17-18.

Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.

It’s easy to spend someone else’s money. Yet, here’s a governor who foots the bill. Nehemiah realizes his wealth is not his. He’s a manager of God’s treasures that God has entrusted to Him. So, he refuses to live extravagantly. Instead, he sacrifices though he didn’t have to. He could have had others pay the bills. That was his right, but he believes in sacrifice.

Sadly, few of us do. And the Church limps because we don’t. Our church limps, not just because we don’t understand sacrifice, we fail to understand the basics of giving.

Did you know the average American family spends about $115 to $130 per week eating out, which totals to roughly $500 per month? Some of us spend more on tips for servers than we do in giving in worship.

I just finished a powerful book by my friend Tim Keesee, Dispatches from the Front. Our church supports his ministry, Frontline Missions, thatworks to advance the gospel in the world’s worst places. It brought me to tears to read about tremendous sacrifices of believers around the globe.

Tim writes: It’s the foot soldiers that God uses to move the boundaries of His kingdom into more and more hearts. Not long ago I was on the Syrian border where Christians run a little clinic, providing medical services along with the gospel to Bedouin tribes. A British nurse named Claire told me that radical Muslims have threatened to kill them and burn the hospital down. She told me also they had not reported these threats because the government would close the clinic for the safety of the staff. She said that matter-of factly, “Whether it’s the bad man with the gun or the nice man with a tie, the result is the same – the clinic will be closed. We have no reason to stop now. They have stolen our vehicles and threatened to kill us, but they have not harmed us yet and cannot unless God permits it – and even then, it will be OK because we will be with the Lord.

Even though she’d faced armed robbers and lethal force, Claire’s voice was as steady as her faith. Claire doesn’t have a death wish; she has a living hope. She knows Christ is powerful to save her and to save all who come to Him.

Let me share one more. Misko was a Croatian soldier who came to Christ. He used an entire month’s pay to purchase a smuggled New Testament and read it through six times. After coming to Christ, his father disowned him.

Misko was invited to share the gospel to a village in Bosnia. It was winter and he was delayed. He hitchhiked as far as he could and then walked all night in waist-deep snow, reaching the town at four in the morning. Rather than finding the villagers asleep, they were still waiting up for him. Misko has led Croats, Serbs and Bosnian Muslims to Christ, to the only peace that will bring peace to that battled and divided region. That’s sacrifice!

Do you want to have a godly influence that lasts beyond this life? First, learn to give, then learn to sacrifice. Hebrews 13:6, Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. What a difference from most in this world, even from many Christians.

Think about this. If you continually helped out a friend, would you grow closer? If we give in worship and out of love, don’t you think we’ll grow closer to Jesus? Yes, Christians need money as much as anybody else, yet Christ-followers refuse to idolize it. It’s a commodity to use, not an idol to be worshiped. It’s to be used to honor God and advance His kingdom.

Why don’t we give? If we’re honest, we struggle with selfishness. Some Christians believe in tithing and give 10%. For some it ought to be 20 or 25%. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, was known for his generosity, giving away some 50% of his income throughout his life.

Please understand, it’s not just money. Sometimes that’s the easiest to give. It can be your time or abilities. God wants us to sacrifice what we struggle to not overvalue. Jesus wants to be Lord of all. It’s not fear or obligation that motivates generosity. It’s love and gratitude for what Jesus has done for us.

We’re planning to build an addition. It’s not about a bigger, better building. It’s about our mission. It’s about discipleship, raising an army of godly influencers. I probably won’t be here when Alden Campbell is an adult or for the weddings of some of your children, but I want them to be ready to serve Jesus. There’s an old Greek saying, A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit under.

Some of you may be thinking: What will happen to this church Scott, when you retire? I don’t think Jesus is wringing His hands, do you? Recently, I was reading about Caleb in my devotions. Caleb at 85 said he was as strong as he was 45 years before. I’m not that strong, but I’m not ready for a rocking chair. Folks, let’s raise the next generation to be godly influencers. Let’s do it together. Godly leaders understand sacrifice. 

4. Godly leaders have an eternal perspective, vs. 19.

Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people. This is the fourth of Nehemiah’s prayers. Nehemiah had great influence on others because he lived for an audience of One. He’s seeking the commendation of God alone. Proverbs 16:7 says, When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Nehemiah knew that it would ultimately be for my good. He looked beyond this passing world. Too many of us are missing the opportunity to invest like Nehemiah did in the real world, in eternity.

Unless you’re really into high school basketball, you probably didn’t hear the sad sports story out of Yukon, Oklahoma. Hugo High and Millwood High were playing in the first round of the state basketball championship Hugo was leading Millwood 37-36 with less than four seconds remaining in the game. Hugo had the ball. All they had to do was hold it and let the four seconds tick off the clock, then they’d advance in the tournament.

Hugo’s star player, Trey Johnson received an inbound pass, but instead of holding it, he took a shot—and made it. He raised his hands in victory and started running around the court, looking for teammates to celebrate. Just one problem: in a moment of confusion, he had just shot at the wrong basket and scored two points for the other team. He looked at the scoreboard and realized his team had just lost. The opponent, Millwood, had won 38-37. He had shot at the wrong basket.

Most people in this world are shooting at the wrong basket. Many Christ-followers are shooting at the wrong one, too. They’re living for this temporal world. When we talk about heaven and eternal rewards, some Christians, if they’re honest, think it’s crazy. Nehemiah was serving for the real world, for God’s, “Well done” What are you living for? C.T. Studd said. Only one life will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.

Nehemiah said, “No, I will not take the glory to myself. I will not allow anyone to believe this happened because of me. I know it was because of the hand of God that made it possible for me to make this mission work, and to encourage these people to rebuild the walls. It was all God!”

He knew that those who built the walls would soon forget him. People have short memories. There’s no monument to Nehemiah. Do you really believe that 5 or 10 years after you draw your last breath, you’ll be remembered?

Have you ever been to an estate sale? They sell your house and all your nice things. You’re lucky if anyone visits your grave after you’re gone. But if you live for Jesus, you’ll live and be rewarded for all eternity. Nehemiah lived to be commended by God. He had an eternal perspective. Do you?

Conclusion

Godly influencers know that they are not godly or even good apart from God. We can’t do it. We can’t hear well done on our own from a holy God because we’ve all sinned. Spiritually, we’re a dumpster fire.

In God’s court, we deserve condemnation not commendation. The greatest news in all the world is that God loves us so much that despite our sin against Him, He has come to us Himself in Jesus. Like a good Shepherd, who loves his sheep enough to lay down his life for them, Jesus did that for us. He died and paid the price for all our sin.

He told His disciples right before He went to the cross to pay the price for their sin, The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). Jesus paid our ransom price before a holy God, so we could be forgiven and saved for all eternity. He sacrificed His rights to pay the price on a cross for us, then He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven so that He might share all of His resources with all who trust in Him.

Have you trusted Him? Have you committed your life to Him? I urge anyone listening who’s never trusted God to save you by forgiving you of your sins and giving you eternal life through Jesus, I urge you to do it today. Why would you wait another day to ask for forgiveness and eternal life from God? Why would you wait to turn aside from your sin and trust in God?

And if you know Him, this is the Savior whose Spirit is living in you right now. He’s the one who empowers us to be godly influencers who are selfless, who are servants, who are sacrificial, who have an eternal perspective. Apart from accepting Christ, we can’t do any of this.

So, have you committed your life to Him? Are you living for Him?

Do you want to be an influencer? Do you want to make a difference where it matters? Then, commit your life to Christ and live for Him. That way you can pillow your head at night knowing that the words you’ll hear from God when you get Home will be, Well done!