A Heart for the Broken

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.

It is not hard to get caught up in our everyday routines. We get up, get cleaned up, fight to get the children out of bed and off to school. Then we go to the job (if you have one) and work through the pressures there. We find ourselves like the O’Jays, “Living for the Weekend”. We have all the extracurricular activities for our children like dance class…football, basketball, and cheerleading. So when the weekend comes, we focus on things that bring us pleasure.

But when do we make time for the broken walls of our city…nation…the world?
Just following someone else’s vision is ok, but what is God vision for the broken that he has given to you?

Main Idea: In order to know God’s heart, we must adopt His heart for broken people and be willing to seek him only for direction and resources

Having a heart for the broken has nothing to do with your station in life

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,

In the time of Nehemiah, Susa was the capitol of the Persian Empire. Nehemiah came to be there because Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon carried away the Children of Israel in 586 BC. Then, the Medo-Persians led by Cyrus the Great, swept through Babylon in 539 BC an set the Jewish captives free to return to Jerusalem in Judah which In the year 444 BC, had become a province in the Persian Empire. While some of the Jews returned, others remained. After all, they had built lives there.

140 Years later, Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the great “Artaxerxes” who ruled Persia from 464 to 423 B.C. And Shushan (or Susa) was the capital city of the Persian Empire and the site of the king’s winter palace. A cupbearer was much more than our modern “butler” It was a position of great responsibility and privilege. At each meal, he tested the king’s wine to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. In addition, a man who stood that close to the king in public had to be handsome, cultured, knowledgeable in court procedures, and able to converse with the king and advice him if asked. That Nehemiah, a Jew, held such an important position in the palace says a lot about him.

And it also says a lot about God. The Lord had a work for him to do there that he could not have accomplished anywhere else. When God wants to accomplish a work, He always prepares His workers and puts them in the right places at the right time. God put Him in a position of influence, because it suited His purpose. God put him close to the king…No poison touched Nehemiah’s lips…

Application: You can live God’s purpose for the broken wherever you are

If we use Nehemiah’s example, your place of employment is an ideal place to find God’s purpose for life. But in order to do that, you must be really good at what you do.

People will be drawn to excellence

God’s purpose is born out of a burden for the broken

2 … 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.”

When the first survivors of the exile returned to build the temple in Jerusalem, they ran into trouble because of problems inside the city as well as problems in the countryside. So why would Nehemiah care about a struggling remnant of people who lived a thousand miles away? After all, he was the king’s cupbearer and he was successfully secure in his own life.

Some people would prefer not to know what’s going on, because having that information might bring obligation. “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” But, Nehemiah asked about Jerusalem and the Jews living there because he had a caring heart. When we truly care about people, we know about their suffering, no matter how painful it may be.

That’s why God sent His Son even though it would be painful for Him.

Romans 5:8 (NASB95)8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Application: There is no purpose in Christ without love

Don’t let anyone fool you. A life without love for others is an empty life indeed. It is filled with attempting to acquire more and more stuff in order fill the void that is left.
Find out where the suffering is, and go there

There is no purpose without grace…forgiveness…looking beyond faults to focus on needs. Just as God does it for us, we are expected to do it for others

A broken heart seeks the heart of God.

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.

What makes people laugh or weep is often an indication of character.

Weeping can be considered a sign of weakness; but with Nehemiah, it was a sign of strength, as it was with Jeremiah (Jer. 9:1). When reading chapter 1 of Nehemiah, you can feel the passion the Nehemiah felt for these people. But more than that, he realized that there was no hope without God.

He wept openly and He mourned openly in the hope of finding the direction of God in the purpose. He did everything he could under the circumstance. But the most important thing he did in finding his purpose was that he converted his passion for the people into a passion to reach the heart of God. Fasting was required of the Jews only once a year, on the annual Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29); In fact, Nehemiah not only fasted and prayed, he fasted and prayed for four months over the suffering of his brethren. In this, Nehemiah was like the Lord Jesus in that he willingly shared the burden that was crushing others. He knew that somebody had to do something to rescue Jerusalem, and he was willing to go.

In a moment, he realized what he was to do

Application: God’s heart for the broken is found through prayer and fasting

If you don’t know what your purpose is, begin with prayer and fasting
There is brokenness all round us, we only need to find our purpose in addressing it…There are enough broken walls for everyone to take part in the repair

There are those who are waiting for us to fulfill our purpose…They are lost and waiting for us…They are hungry…They are thirsty…They are in prison…They are on drugs…They are in nursing homes…They are grieving…They are discouraged…They are broken…They are lost in sin…

Everything we need is found through faith in Jesus Christ

Conclusion

Having a heart for the broken has nothing to do with your station in life…You can live God’s purpose for the broken wherever you are… God’s purpose is born out of a burden for the broken…There is no purpose in Christ without love… A broken heart seeks the heart of God….God’s heart for the broken is found through prayer and fasting

In order to know God’s heart, we must adopt His heart for broken people and be willing to seek him only for direction and resources