Nehemiah - lesson 14
Preventing Burnout and Preserving power
Lesson 14
Preventing Burnout and Preserving power
BYRAY C. STEDMAN
Nehemiah - lesson 14
Preventing Burnout and Preserving power
As we come to the closing study in this greatbook of Nehemiah it has been a refreshing thingfor me to see how God greatly used this remarkableman, cupbearer to the King of Persia, to restore theworship of Jehovah to the nation of Judah.
The title of this message, Preventing Burnoutand Preserving Power, tells the whole story of
Nehemiah’s final acts. It is the account of his reformafter his second return from Babylon to Jerusalem.It is the story, as we will see, of the reinstatementof Sabbath observances and his refusal to permitthe intermarriage of Jews with pagan peoples. Youmight well be asking, "What does that all have to dowith burnout and power?" I am glad you asked that!I will attempt to answer it as this passage unfolds.
Let us begin in Chapter 13 with Verse 15, therestoring of the Sabbath regulations. Nehemiahsays:
In those days I saw men in Judah treadingwinepresses on the Sabbath and bringing ingrain and loading it on donkeys, together withwine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads.And they were bringing all this into Jerusalemon the Sabbath. Therefore I warned themagainst selling food on that day. Men from Tyrewho lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fishand all kinds of merchandise and selling themin Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people ofJudah. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and saidto them, "What is this wicked thing you aredoing-desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn't yourforefathers do the same things, so that our Godbrought all this calamity upon us and upon thiscity? Now you are stirring up more wrath againstIsrael by desecrating the Sabbath." (Nehemiah13:15-18 NIV)
Even today in Israel you cannot get a hot mealin a Jewish hotel from sunset on Friday to sunset onSaturday. The elevators will not be operating. Youmust use the stairs to get to your room. The shopsare closed. Buses quit running, all because it is theSabbath. This causes a great deal of inconvenienceto tourists. Even many Jews do not like it. But theorthodox Jewish groups are powerful enough thatthey can require the whole country to observe theSabbath Day whether they like it or not.
Even in Nehemiah’s day we can see that thiswas a burdensome requirement to the people. Nowork was to be done and no business to be carriedout, making trade very inconvenient. On his returnfrom Babylon, Nehemiah found that in the twelveyears he was away people had begun again to ignorethe Sabbath day requirements. The streets were fullof traffic. The stores were wide open.
His reaction is one of shock, not so much atwhat was happening, because this had happenedbefore, but at the ease with which the peopleseemed to forget the lessons of the past. He remindsthem that this violation is a serious thing. "Whatare you doing?" he cries. "Don t you know that Godtakes the Sabbath seriously? All the hurt, calamity
and disaster which we have been going throughhas been caused, according to the Scripture, by thefailure of our forefathers to observe the Sabbathregulations."
Then, using his full authority as the governor,Nehemiah immediately orders some changes.
When evening shadows fell on the gates ofJerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered thedoors to be shut and not opened until theSabbath was over. I stationed some of my
Nehemiah - lesson 14
Preventing Burnout and Preserving power
own men at the gates so that no load could bebrought in on the Sabbath day. Once or twicethe merchants and sellers of all kinds of goodsspent the night outside Jerusalem. But I warnedthem and said, "Why do you spend the night bythe wall? If you do this again, I will lay hands onyou." From that time on they no longer came onthe Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites topurify themselves and go and guard the gates inorder to keep the Sabbath day holy. (Nehemiah13:19-22a NIV)
It is clear that Nehemiah was deeply concernedby this disregard of the Law. He saw it not merelyas an ignoring of certain traditional ritual, but assomething that God took very seriously. He is intenton trying to correct the difficulties that had causedso much of the problem of Israel in the past. So heorders the gates to be closed at sunset on Friday.Those who camped outside the walls, waiting forthe regulations to be ended to come in and begintheir selling, he orders driven away from the city. Hedoes not want them even hanging around outside.He requires the Levites to cleanse themselves and toguard the gates so that no one violates the Sabbath.
Then in a closing prayer in Verse 22 Nehemiahhumbly prays that God will guide him and blesshim in this zealous concern and expression.
Remember me for this also, O my God, andshow mercy to me according to your great love.(Nehemiah 13:22b NIV)
What does this all mean for us?
Should we also keep the Sabbath by refrainingfrom work and travel? A lot of people today stillthink so:
Seventh Day Adventists, most of whom aregodly, warm-hearted Christian believers, think thatit is wrong to celebrate Sunday as the Lord’s day.They claim that Saturday is the Sabbath day and thatwe ought to be holding church services on that day,refraining from work, and following the limitationsthat the Law required.
In the highly honored film Chariots of Fire,Eric Liddell, the young Scottish athlete, refused torun a race on the Sabbath day because he had beenbrought up in the Presbyterian church to regardSunday as the Sabbath. I think he was mistaken inthat, but his actions are a wonderful picture of theteaching of the New Testament that "whatsoever isnot of faith is sin," (Romans 14:23 KJV). He wouldhave violated his conscience had he not observedwhat he had been taught was right.
But as we have already seen throughout thisbook, these regulations imposed upon Israel, andthese limitations, especially regarding the Sabbath,were what the New Testament calls "shadows,"pictures of something even more important thatGod wants observed. God teaches that truth bymeans of these regulations, these pictures andshadows, but what he really wants is the truth theyare portraying. And that truth, of course, is whatthe New Testament wants Christians to observe.You observe the Sabbath when you fulfill what theSabbath portrays. What is that?
At the heart of the Sabbath is the word "rest."The Sabbath is intended for man, that he may learnto rest. Here is where the problem of burnout enters.We are a restless people today. One of the majorproblems in Silicon Valley is stress and burnout.People cannot handle life any more because of thetremendous pressures they are under.
I heard recently of a man who ran up to anairline office and said, "Give me a ticket." Theysaid, "Where to?" He replied, "Anywhere. I've gotbusiness everywhere!" That is the kind of pressurethat some have to live under these days.
The Sabbath, to put it in modern terms, is God’sstress management program! It is how to preventburnout — how to recover from too much pressureand catch up with yourself. It is how to gatheryourself together, and become able to handle thework you must do, without falling apart or beingemotionally damaged.
The first thing God emphasized in giving theSabbath, of course, was that human bodies needrest. You cannot keep working day after day withoutexacting a tremendous toll on your body. Ourbodies, even as believers, are not redeemed. Theygrow weary.
I spent this past week at Dallas TheologicalSeminary and spoke sixteen times in four days. Oneday I spoke six times, ending up with a large homeBible study in Fort Worth. I have to tell you I amfeeling a bit of stress today. My body is weary. I amlooking forward to tomorrow (which is the Sabbathfor me), when I can enjoy a little rest and recovery.
According to the Word of God the body musthave one day in seven to rest. The mind and the
Nehemiah - lesson 14
Preventing Burnout and Preserving power
emotions require it, too. We are under so muchtension today from so many demands upon usthat our emotions sometimes get out of joint. Wefind ourselves growing irascible, testy and short-tempered. We are unable to keep control at times.These are symptoms of approaching burnout. Thespirit within, the very center of our being, requirestime to meditate, to contemplate and relate to life.We need time to see the big picture and pull backfor a bit from things around. God has provided forthis in the Sabbath.
There are two reasons given in the Scripture forthe inauguration of the Sabbath. Most of us knowthe first one, which is found in Exodus 20, Verse11. There we are told that because God finishedcreation in six days, and at the end of the six daysrested on the seventh day he, therefore, asked hispeople to rest after six days of labor.
You have to ask yourself, why did God rest? Godis not a man. He does not get weary. The answeris, he rested because he was through! He did whathe intended to do. He accomplished his objective.What he is teaching by that is that man, too, mustrecognize a limit to his work. There is a time to sayyou are through. There is a need to let go, to stop,to allow the body, mind, and spirit to recognize itslimitations, and be content with them.
The second reason the Sabbath was given isoften ignored. It is found in Deuteronomy Chapter5, Verse 15. God said to Israel, "Remember you wereslaves in Egypt. The Lord brought you out with amighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore,the Lord your God commands you to observe theSabbath day," (Deuteronomy 5:15 NIV).
That is a different reason from that of creation.They were to rest in order to reflect on God’sability to work beyond the labors they had alreadycompleted. Israel did not deliver itself from Egypt.It could not. When they came to the Red Sea theypanicked. They did not know how they were goingto get through the waters. The Egyptian army wascoming on like forty acres of horseradish behindthem, and the Israelites were afraid. But God openedthe waters before them. They were delivered with amighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore,they were to think of that when they observed theSabbath day, the day of rest.
So there are two aspects of the Sabbath —creation and redemption. There are two forms of
rest. There is a rest of cessation; a ceasing from ourown works. As the much-loved old hymn has it,
Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save and Thou alone.
I cannot contribute to my own redemption. Mygood works do not save me, nor can they. That is the"rest" of the new creation. It is to cease from yourown works and trust God in the work that he hasdone for you.
But then there is the rest of rejoicing in themighty delivering power of God. That deliveranceis a process. It goes on beyond the rest of salvationto the rest of accomplishment. It is learning how tokeep calm and poised, to not become overwroughtby anxiety or pressure but to keep steady becauseyou are looking to God to work in what you aredoing. That is a rest of faith in the mighty hand ofGod.
Jesus spoke of both of these in one wonderfulsentence found in Matthew 11. "Come to me," hesays, "all you who are weary and burdened, and Iwill give you rest," (Matthew 11:28 NIV). Just come,he says, that is all. "Come to me. Trust me. Restupon what I have already done, and I will give youa rest." This is the rest of regeneration. We becomea new creation. Then he said, "Take my yoke uponyou and learn from me," (Matthew 11:29a NIV)[that is a process] "...and you will find rest for yoursouls," (Matthew 11:29c NIV). So there is a rest thatis given and a rest that is found, as we walk on withthe Lord.
Both of these are what God is concerned within the Sabbath. This is what it seeks to picture. Ifwe are doing these we are fulfilling the Sabbath asGod intended the it to be fulfilled. Stop your ownwork. Stop trying to save yourself. Trust his workfor you. And then obey him. Follow him, learn ofhim, accompany him throughout your life. You willdiscover God working through you, doing mighty,delivering things which you could not do. That isthe rest of accomplishment. Watch God at work!
We hear much about these rests these days.We sing about them in our hymns. We talk aboutthem in churches. But it seems to me that thesecond aspect of rest is very little observed. I find
Nehemiah - lesson 14
Preventing Burnout and Preserving power
many people looking for emotional help from apsychiatrist or a counselor. They are seeking humanbeings who will support and understand them. Butthey are ignoring what the New Testament offers.We have a High Priest, the book of Hebrews says,in order that we may "come boldly unto the throneof grace, ... to find grace to help in time of need,"(Hebrews 4:16 KJV). Very few people seem to relyupon that provision of strength and grace from onhigh to carry them through the pressures and theburdens of life.
Do you see now why I call the Sabbath God’sstress management program? Burnout is overstress.We need to stop and rest, and learn what God cando beyond what we have done.
I have learned in my own life to detect certainsigns of stress. When I begin to get under the pileand feel anxious and pressured, I develop an itchin various places on my body. I have learned torecognize that immediately as a sign of stress. Itcannot be cured with medicine, so I have trainedmyself to stop and take what I call "a mini-Sabbath."Let me suggest something to you. If you feelpressured at any time, try to get a half hour alone.That is about all you need:
Start with taking ten deep breaths to relax yourphysical body. Ask God to speak to you during thisspecial time. Begin to review your life for the pastfew weeks: How much you have been driven? — thepressure of problems, and so on. Then ask God tohelp you put order and priority into your life. Taketime to evaluate where you are spiritually. Makesome new commitments. Write down those itemsthat you feel are really important. Ask yourself, "IfI only had a month to live, how would I spend mytime?" Put your focus on God at work in your life.That is observing the Sabbath. That is God’s stressmanagement program.
The final problem that Nehemiah faces wasthe tendency so common in Israel to ignore theprohibitions against intermarriage with paganpeoples. When he returned to Jerusalem, he foundthe people again disobeying the Law
Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah whohad married women from Ashdod, Ammon andMoab. Half of their children spoke the languageof Ashdod or the language of one of the otherpeoples, and did not know how to speak thelanguage of Judah. (Nehemiah 13:23-24 NIV)
It was true then as it is today that when the fathersdisobey, it is the children who suffer. These childrenwere forgetting how to communicate in the languageof Judah. Pagan tribes in the Old Testament portraythe world and its ways of operation. The parallel inthe church is very plain. When Christians begin toadopt the world’s values and the world’s ways, weinvariably turn our children away from the thingsthat make for stability and strength.
In Texas last week, a pastor who has been closelyassociated with us here told me about what hadhappened to him recently. The church where he wasthe pastor had elders who insisted on running thechurch like a business. They ignored what the NewTestament says about the way elders are to functionamong the flock of God. They decided that they, assuccessful businessmen, knew more about that thanthe New Testament did. They introduced secularprogramming and ways of making decisions. Theyelected a chairman who would have the ultimatesay. The buck would stop with him. They asked thepastor not to teach expositorily from the Scripturebecause it would take too long and there was muchof the Bible they were not interested in hearing. Heobjected to that, and so, finally, he was replaced bya man who would do what they said. The result inthe church, this pastor told me with tears runningdown his face, was that the young people wereforsaking the church and turning to drugs andsexual promiscuity, no longer understanding thespiritual language of the people of God.
That is why Nehemiah is understandably upsetby this. He takes drastic action.
I rebuked them and called curses down onthem. [Literally, "I pronounced them cursed."] Ibeat some of the men and pulled out their hair.[I have been studying this as the way to handlea congregation that does not behave itself!] Imade them take an oath in God's name and said:"You are not to give your daughters in marriageto their sons, nor are you to take their daughtersin marriage for your sons of for yourselves.Was it not because of marriages like these thatSolomon king of Israel sinned? Among themany nations there was no king like him. Hewas loved by his God, and God made him kingover all Israel, but even he was led into sin byforeign women. Must we hear now that youtoo are doing all this terrible wickedness andare being unfaithful to our God by marryingforeign women?"