Fear Has No Power

Pastor Brian Carroll

A Work in Progress / Nehemiah 6:1-19

 

The Fear of Fraud

• Every one of us has had this situation unfold before.

• Your phone rings, and it’s a number you don’t recognize.

• You answer it, and there’s a voice on the other end that sounds calm, confident, professional.

• “Hello, this is the IRS. There’s a problem with your account.”

• Or maybe it’s, “This is your bank. We’ve detected suspicious activity.”

• Or, “Your Amazon account has been compromised.”

• And for just a moment, even if you’re a cautious person, your heart skips a beat.

• You start thinking, Wait… is this real? Did something happen?

• Truth be told, they’re counting on that moment.

• Because they know fear makes people react.

• Fear makes people say things they wouldn’t normally say.

• Fear makes people do things they wouldn’t normally do.

• Eventually you realize it’s a scam, and you hang up.

• Maybe you laugh about it.

• Maybe you shake your head and wonder who falls for that.

• Honestly, there have been times when I keep the ruse going for longer than I should.

• But recently, I learned something I didn’t expect.

• There are places in the world where the people making those calls don’t want to be making them.

• There are people who were promised good jobs… who boarded planes… who thought they were going to build a future for their families…

• And instead, they found themselves trapped.

• I recently heard a story of a young man called Max who found himself in that exact situation.

• Max is from the Philippines.

• He’s a husband. He’s a dad.

• He was doing everything he could to provide for his family.

• He drove people around in his family’s van, trying to piece together enough income to make ends meet. But it was getting harder.

• So when someone approached him about a job in Thailand, it sounded like an incredible opportunity.

• They told him he’d be working for an online casino.

• The pay would be about four times what he was making at home.

• They’d provide housing. They’d provide food. Everything was taken care of.

• His sister was cautious, which you’d expect.

• She actually met the recruiter face-to-face.

• Asked him question after question.

• And he had an answer for everything. He was friendly. He was generous.

• He looked her in the eye and told her it was safe.

• So Max got on the plane.

• He landed in Bangkok, and a driver picked him up to take him to the job site.

• But the drive just kept going. They left the city. They went out into the countryside.

• Eventually, they stopped at a river and told him to get into a boat.

• On the other side, there were men with guns.

• They put him in another vehicle and drove him to a compound surrounded by concrete walls and barbed wire.

• That’s when he realized something wasn’t right.

• The next day, he reported for work. Sat down at a desk. They handed him a script.

• Only it wasn’t a script for an online casino.

• It was a script to scam people.

• So he went to his supervisor and said, “There’s been a mistake. This isn’t the job I agreed to.”

• And his supervisor looked at him and said, “This is your job now. And if you try to escape, there’s a shoot-to-kill order.”

• Just like that, everything changed.

• He wasn’t free.

• His phone was monitored. Cameras watched his every move. He was given quotas he had to hit. He worked long hours every day.

• One of his fellow prisoners summed it up perfectly. She said, “I am scared… but I don’t have a choice.”

• That’s how the whole system worked.

• Fear kept people in their seats.

• Fear kept their hands moving.

• Fear kept them doing work they never would have chosen.

• The goal was simple.

• If fear could control them… fear could control their future.

• That story gives us a little bit of insight into Nehemiah 6.

• Because Nehemiah had enemies who understood that same principle.

• They couldn’t stop the wall with force.

• So they tried to stop the work with fear.

• Nehemiah 6:9 says, “They all wanted to frighten us, thinking, ‘Their hands will drop from the work.’”

• That was the plan.

• If fear could make their hands drop… the work would stop.

• Let’s turn our attention to the Scriptures now as we take a look at all of chapter 6.

Scripture Reading

Nehemiah 6:1–9 ESV

¹ Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),

² Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm.

³ And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”

⁴ And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.

⁵ In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.

⁶ In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king.

⁷ And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.”

⁸ Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”

⁹ For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

• At first glance, this chapter is all about Nehemiah’s enemies pulling out last-ditch efforts to stop the work.

• In the first section, they attempt to lure Nehemiah into a…what we might call a “summit” in today’s vernacular.

• They attempt to lure Nehemiah away to a place called Ono. (It’s probably wise to never meet your enemies in a place called Ono).

• However, Nehemiah sees right through it and tells them he’s too busy to meet with them.

• They are persistent, sending invitations on 5 different occasions.

• However, on the fifth occasion, they up the ante.

• It says in v. 6 that they have drafted a letter.

• The letter is basically an attempt at blackmail, saying that the Jews are getting ready to rebel against Persia.

• Nehemiah is going to be their king.

• They need to meet to discuss this letter and the implications therein.

• That’s when Nehemiah recognizes their play…fear.

• In fact, Nehemiah calls out the tactic down in verses 13, 14, and 19.

• Fear isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

• It is an emotion that God gave us to help protect us from harm.

• I was listening to a pastor friend of mine preach one time and he said the funniest line, “Every zoo is a petting zoo if you’re brave enough.”

• Fear - especially when coupled with things like wisdom - is really for our good.

• Some of you may have heard about this…SHOW HONNOLD PIC

• Back in January, Netflix streamed Alex Honnold’s attempt to free climb Taipei 101 - one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world.

• The climber did this without ropes, without nets, and honestly, without common sense.

• One wrong move, one bad grip, one misstep and that’s the end of his story.

• While Honnold was successful in his climb, I can assure you that fear would do a really good job of making sure that I didn’t try to copy him.

• What about when fear becomes unhealthy?

• One of the most repeated phrases in the Bible is “do not fear.”

• Sadly, we do know that like all of our emotions, fear can become crippling.

• What God gave us for our good and for our protection can become overpowering.

• Not only can fear become crippling in the moment, it can ultimately evolve into an even more paralyzing form.

• We call it anxiety.

• The WHO says that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders in the world - impacting hundreds of millions of people around the globe.

• It isn’t lost on me the struggle that people face when their fears and worries turn into chronic anxiety.

• My goal this morning isn’t to try to “fix” those issues.

• Sometimes, these issues are deeply rooted and a Sunday morning sermon doesn’t even scratch the surface.

• Those who struggle with chronic anxiety need the support of godly, trained professionals who can help get to the root cause.

• However, I do believe that Nehemiah 6 can help us recognize how the enemy uses fear and anxiety to render us ineffective in the work that God has called us to do.

• What we see in this chapter is that fear and anxiety aren’t just emotions on the fritz.

• Fear and anxiety are strategies that our enemy wants to use to sideline us from making a meaningful contribution to the work of the Kingdom of God.

• How do those strategies play out?

Fear tries to distract you (vv. 1-4)

• We go back to the first four verses and we see them trying to get Nehemiah’s attention elsewhere.

• There’s no doubt that Nehemiah has been a driven, efficient leader.

• He’s had a laser focus on his calling and hasn’t taken his foot off the gas since his first conversation with the king back in chapter 2.

• We find out in v. 15 of this chapter that he is able to accomplish that which seemed impossible in 52 days.

• So their first play is a very persistent “we’d like to ‘meet’ with you.”

• He recognized their intentions.

• Whether he had intelligence that told him that or whether he just discerned that, we do not know.

• But it isn’t hard to see how that fact could produce crippling fear.

• Just imagine this thought rumbling around in your head, “They’re out to get me.”

• That’s a particular kind of fear called paranoia.

• The idea that there’s a boogie man around every corner.

• In Nehemiah’s case, the boogie man is hiding in plain sight at Ono.

• If the bible said, “Out of fear for my life, I posted a guard outside my residence while the workers completed the project,” we wouldn’t find that to be a surprising response.

• Of course, Nehemiah’s response is “I’m busy right now.”

• He doesn’t let paranoia distract him from the work.

• Paranoia can become an overwhelming kind of fear.

• You can’t see what’s in front of you because you’re always looking over your shoulder.

• How does Nehemiah overcome the temptation to paranoia?

• Instead of getting distracted by fear, he lets God’s work distract him from the fear.

• He knew that he was exactly where God wanted him to be.

• This attempt at distraction was just a tactic.

• Now, let’s be mindful of the potential error here…

• We can’t allow our work in the Kingdom to be a cover for dealing with hard things.

• We can’t dodge hard, but needed conversations because we’re “busy.”

• We can’t neglect our clear but difficult responsibilities because we’re building whatever wall we’re working on.

• That’s not what Nehemiah is doing here…he knows what these guys are up to and he isn’t hiding behind his responsibilities.

Fear grows in the soil of conspiracies and half-truths (vv. 5-9)

• After the first play fails, Nehemiah’s opponents go back to their playbook and call up a new formation.

• This time, they produce the letter that is full of conspiracies.

• The sinister part of the letter isn’t the part about Jerusalem rebelling, it’s the part about Nehemiah setting up prophets declaring him to be the King.

• This is very much a personal attack and it seeks to raise doubts about Nehemiah’s intentions.

• He’s doing good things, but now people have to ask, is he doing it for the wrong reasons?

• This isn’t about God’s fame, this is about Nehemiah’s fame.

• Nobody wants to follow that leader - the guy that is only in it for himself.

• All they have to do is raise a little bit of doubt about his character and the wheels come off the whole project.

• If this played out today, this would be a post on social media that goes viral.

• There would be sensational headlines and clickbait.

• People would share the story without taking time to check the source and actually read the content.

• They’d fail to see that it was just propaganda from Nehemiah’s enemies.

• Fear feeds off this kind of stuff.

• It was likely a challenge for Nehemiah even in his moment, but it can be devastating today when there are so many ways to besmirch other people’s character without any evidence or proof.

• Nehemiah shows us how to handle this…

• Tell the truth.

• Nehemiah counters their claims with the statement of truth.

• He simply says, “None of this is true. You’re making it all up.”

• Pray.

• That sounds so simple, but that’s the honest to goodness answer.

• If you’re a Christian, you were saved by a God who understands a thing or two about being maligned and falsely accused.

• You pray to a Savior who understands false accusation firsthand, and who stands with you in it.

• And I think there’s an unwritten response here too that Peter actually articulates in the New Testament.

• 1 Peter 2:12 “12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

• Have the kind of character that stands up against false accusations.

• I believe Nehemiah demonstrated that kind of character even though Peter wouldn’t write these down for 500 more years.

• And let me say this as a freebie…

• One of the things that grieves me in the church today is when people send anonymous letters to voice their complaints and criticisms.

• When people do this, they’re quite literally using the strategy of the enemy.

• God has given us a method of conflict resolution in his word and it isn’t hiding behind postage stamps and blank return addresses.

Fear tries to spiritualize compromise (vv. 10-14)

• After the second play fails, Nehemiah’s opponents go hit the transfer portal and pick themselves up a false prophet.

• And this guy sets a nasty trap.

• He tells Nehemiah that his enemies are coming to kill him.

• So he needs to find a safe place to hide.

• There is provision in the law for someone to take refuge by clinging to the altar.

• Adonijah seeks refuge from Solomon in this way in 1 Kings 1…but the altar is in the courtyard of the Temple.

• This false prophet is telling Nehemiah to enter the Temple itself.

• Now that would be a place that nobody could come in and kill you…but it’s not because the Temple is safe.

• The reality is if Nehemiah entered the sanctuary as a layman, the opponents wouldn’t have the opportunity.

• You don’t get to go there.

• Nehemiah would not only defy his character by running from the work.

• He’s got confident, strong soldiers standing guard.

• Running away from rumors is not who he has shown himself to be.

• But clearly Nehemiah would be defying God’s law by doing what this guy suggested.

• Fear can make us do some irrational things.

• But here, the more sinister play is that all of this sounds like a good idea if you’re not confident in your faith.

• That’s the danger.

• Fear can cause us to rationalize compromise.

• It can even lead us to sanction compromise.

• Again, Nehemiah’s defense is perfect.

• He sniffs out the trick. Is it hard knowing there are people who want to do you harm?

• Absolutely…I can’t even imagine how that had to feel.

• But Nehemiah also understood his place and he understood his calling.

• He resolves, “I’m not going to let fear lead me into disobedience.”

• A little bit of sin might help him feel safe - but at what cost?

Fear tries to wear you down (vv. 15-19)

• We get to the end of the chapter and the work is finished.

• It’s a stunning result.

• It had to blow away everybody’s expectations.

• It clearly blew away the expectations of the bad guys in the book.

• But look at what happens at the very end of the chapter.

• Verses 17-19 say:

Nehemiah 6:17–19 ESV

¹⁷ Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.

¹⁸ For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife.

¹⁹ Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.

• The opponents are STILL trying.

• He’s sending letters.

• He’s got people on the inside.

• There are people who Nehemiah has to work with who are cheerleaders for the guy that has been causing so much trouble.

• I think we need to be mindful of this last play.

• You can work through fear in the moment.

• But sometimes, it lingers.

• That is when fear can take the shape of its much more chronic cousin that we call anxiety.

• That’s when we wake up every day facing the same fears.

• For Nehemiah…

• Am I getting another letter today?

• What’s today’s accusation?

• What are they going to say about him today?

• We all know, those letters don’t hurt anybody.

• Tobiah’s cheerleaders are just blinded to reality.

• There’s no danger here.

• But that’s the reality when we’re wrestling with anxiety, right?

• There’s really not any serious danger.

• It’s more that ongoing, nagging, unrelenting fear of what might be coming next.

• Listen, some of us in the room live in that space a lot.

• If there is any encouragement for you, it is to let Nehemiah’s response inform your response.

• You celebrate that which is worthy of celebrating.

• The wall got built.

• The people who saw it realized that it was a miraculous event.

• You guard against those things that you can guard against.

• Chapter 7 - Nehemiah establishes policies about when the gates were opened and closed.

• He empowered other people to help in the process.

• And you stay faithful to the work.

• V. 4 in chapter 7 recognizes that there’s another problem to be solved.

• He’s not finished yet because there’s more work to do.

• When you’re wrestling with that kind of ongoing, nagging, perhaps even faceless fear, you need to hear that God is working for your good.

• Even those things that are the source of your anxiety are things that God is working together for your good.

• You may not see it in the moment, but there will come a day that you look back and see exactly how God worked those things together for your good.

• Inasmuch as it wants to wear you down, you need to know that at the end of the day, your fears are powerless.

• Why is that? Because what was true with the LORD once is true with the LORD always.

• Isaiah 41:10 “10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

• At the end of the day, even at the end of your darkest day, your scariest day, your most anxiety-ridden day - God’s promises still stand.

• I will strengthen you.

• I will help you

• I will uphold you

• No matter if your opposition, or your fear, or your worries want to convince you otherwise.

Conclusion

• Nehemiah gives us one of the shortest prayers in all of Scripture.

• Right in the middle of the rumors…

• Right in the middle of the pressure…

• Right in the middle of the fear…

• He prays:

• “But now, O God, strengthen my hands.”

• That prayer becomes our invitation today.

• We know that Fear still runs the same plays.

• Fear distracts.

• Fear grows in conspiracies and half-truths.

• Fear pressures you toward compromise.

• Fear wears you down over time.

• Fear wants your hands to fall still.

• Some of you recognize that feeling.

• You’ve carried the weight.

• You’ve felt the pressure.

• You’ve sensed the hesitation.

• And today, God invites you into a different response.

• Lift your hands again.

• Lift your hands in trust.

• Lift your hands in obedience.

• Lift your hands in faith.

• Pray the same prayer Nehemiah prayed:

• God, strengthen my hands.

• Strengthen my hands to keep building.

• Strengthen my hands to keep serving.

• Strengthen my hands to keep trusting You.

• And for some, strengthened hands begin with surrender to Christ.

• Jesus walked straight toward the cross.

• He endured every accusation.

• He carried the full weight of sin.

• He completed the work that brings forgiveness and life.

• Through Him, you receive new life.

• Through Him, you receive strength.

• Through Him, you rise and build again.

• Today, lift your hands to Him.

• And watch what God builds through a life that trusts His strength.