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Don’t Despise the Small Things
Text: Nehemiah 11
Proposition: It is in the small things, the things that we least prefer nor expect much of, that the Spirit of God uses to accomplish His will.
Introduction: It is easy to miss, like a wedding ring lost in the grass, like the quiet beauty of a misty morning when you are late for work, like the tiniest words of encouragement coming from a stranger. That was what I experienced this last Friday after speaking at our community’s Remembrance Day service. When I returned to my chair on the floor of the auditorium I caught this tiny movement out of the corner of my eye but I didn’t pay attention. Then just a moment later it happened again, a young boy of about 12 leaned towards me from across the aisle and simply said, ‘Good job’. I gave him a ‘thumbs up’ response but I had never seen him before, didn’t know his name and haven’t seen him since yet it was a great encouragement to me. It reminded me of the words of Zechariah 4:10, ““Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the LORD that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?” (NIV) It refers to the time when the Temple was rebuilt by Ezra and how in the eyes of some it was a small thing in comparison to the former one built by Solomon that had been reduced to rubble by the Babylonians. It’s a caution to not to miss the way the Lord sees and works because it is often so very different from our ways. In that same passage of Zechariah 4 he says, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” (Zec.4:6). As it often is we need to be reminded of things we already know, so about fifty years after these words of Zechariah comes another call not to despise the day of small things. It’s in Nehemiah 11, have a look at that with me.
I. For Those Who Will Lead, Do Not Despise the Day of Small Things.
Chapter 11 opens with the simple statement, “Now the leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem…”. Doesn’t sound like much does it, a small thing perhaps, but the reality was that Jerusalem even with its newly rebuilt walls and rededicated Temple was pretty much a ghost town. Most of the people of these two tribes of Judah and Benjamin were living in the country and in a city that had the capacity to hold 20,000 people there were barely enough to make it function. Jerusalem was but a shadow of its former self. It was a new beginning on a frontier version of Israel and it didn’t have much to offer by all appearances. Yet the statement is there, “The leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem” because this was the place that God chose to be the center point, the place where His name dwells. This was the place where the Word of God directed them and it is their faith in this Word and in this God that calls them to lead by stepping into Jerusalem. For every leader the words to remember are, ‘Not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord of hosts.” Before you can ever lead it will require the utter surrender of your might and power to the will and timing and method and words of the Spirit of God. It’s only as you do this, walking in the day of small things by faith, trusting that your investment here though flawed in the world’s economy, is the place you are sure God would have you be doing what He has enabled you to do for this time.
II. For Those Who Are Appointed, Do Not Despise the Day of Small Things.
Look at how verse 1 continues, “…the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine-tenths were to dwell in other cities.” Remember way back in Nehemiah 7:5, when the walls were barely built and many of the gates had yet to be set in place that Nehemiah makes this peculiar statement, “Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people, that they might be registered by genealogy.” That small thing now became the means by which this next step occurs. One tenth of all the people are selected by lot, their names are drawn from that genealogical record to be appointed to live in Jerusalem. Of the 50,000 people of Judah and Benjamin, five thousand would now sell what they had and move into the city of Jerusalem. Did they not have a right to live in the country or work in another place? Did they not have the right to take the path that offered the best possibility of success for their families? The answer is yes yet if Jerusalem would survive as a strategic city with the Temple, the place of sacrifice for sin, the choice of God overruled their choice for themselves. It may sound strange to us today and we wonder how we would react to such a lottery yet the lot was regarded as the way God chose them, appointed them. When a person enters into ministry do you think they didn’t have a life before that? When a woman or man becomes a missionary do you think they weren’t already making plans? When you first became a Christian was it because you just chose to because you had figured it out or was it too an appointment, a being chosen to now live in a different way, life in Christ? Perhaps at first when God spoke to you, began to appoint you, it was a small thing, a passing thing that you thought could be outwaited. Perhaps you found yourself looking down on this thing called faith in Christ, it was small in possibility it seemed. Perhaps now you are a Christian and God is yet again calling you to a ‘small thing’. It is just that, a small thing that at the moment has little might or power in it yet undeniably it is what the Spirit of God has been and continues to direct you in. Do not despise it.
III. For Those Who Choose To Go Where They Didn’t Have To, Is Blessing.
Look at verse 2, “And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.” So why was Jerusalem at that point such a hard choice, why did it deserve the blessing of the people around them? Perhaps the obvious is that it was safer in the country, Jerusalem was a target. Perhaps it was that they could make a better living in the country and times were going to be tough in the embryonic economy of the city. Perhaps it was the loss of leaving the familiar, friends and family to go be with strangers. To be sure… to not despise the day of small things will mean that you have to let go of might and power if the Spirit of the Lord of hosts will have your full attention and agreement.
When God selected David as the leader of Israel it was a small thing that He chose to use, the youngest of the sons of Jesse. Just a kid, but it was the kid who would one day slay Goliath. Think for a minute what this looked like in Jesus day. Do you think that 5 loaves and two fish could be seen as a small thing? It’s clear Andrew thought so, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” What about Jesus birth, a baby in a manger, alone and vulnerable except for two young parents in way over their heads. What about the town Jesus grew up in, Nazareth, can anything good come out of Nazareth? What about the cross, a death reserved for the despised, a place between two thieves, a borrowed tomb, a few godly women and just two second string disciples that stayed to the end. A Day of small beginnings. What about the choice of just twelve disciples, a small thing on the day that Christ ascended entrusting to them the gospel for all future generations.
So for those of you who choose to go where you didn’t have to, who are blessed because you did, know the power of the Spirit as He now leads you in this act of your faith. Whether you lead, are appointed or choose freely do not despise the day of small things. Christ did not and neither can we.