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Guest Minister: Rev. Geoffrey Tate, Jr., Pastor
St. Mark AME Church, Wilkinsburg, PA
Metropolitan AME Church
Sunday, February 28, 2010
www.metropolitanamec.org

Scripture Lesson: Nehemiah 1:1-9 “Nehemiah’s Prayer”: 1The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.  3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”  4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.  8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As sinners, we are born in debt; not financial debt, but debt due to the mistakes of others. Someone in our family lineage didn’t “do right”. Then the descendants inherited it, and they passed it down to the next generation – a generation that can choose to CORRECT it, or hand down the debts of the past to the NEXT generation.

Most people run from the prospect of trying to correct the mistakes of the past. But before we can build on our future, we must learn from our past mistakes and failures. It is a lonely path, filled with hurt and pain, and dark places we would rather forget.

Some of us are unable to move forward because of what someone said or did to us – our father walked out, our mother had her own agenda and was not focused on us as a child. But we can CHOOSE to: 1) stay defeated, or 2) rise above our situation.

There are a number of great people in our history who did not allow their realities to hinder their destiny – people like Harriet Tubman – whose determination led to her discovery of a pathway to freedom; she took 19 trips on what we know as the “underground railroad”. And Jarena Lee who, despite the injustices within the church, went on to become the first female AME preacher. Frederick Douglass, the forerunner of the abolitionist movement; dynamic speaker and writer, publisher of the North Star newspaper, advisor to President Abraham Lincoln, who helped to change voting rights for former slaves. There’s Rosa Parks, Bishop Vashti MacKenzie (first female AME Bishop), and of course Barack Obama, the first Black President of the United States.

No matter who we are, we are all living in the aftermath of our family’s inheritance. But your destiny is not determined by the negativity of your past. You can rise up from the oppression and depression of your past.

Listen to the words of Nehemiah’s prayer for his people (verses 5-9): 5 Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.  8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

Nehemiah’s name means “comfort of the Lord”. The lesson of Nehemiah’s prayer is: acknowledge, reflect, learn, and move forward. He had to reflect on the past before he could move forward.

Nehemiah teaches: As we reflect on our past, we must carry our concerns to God in prayer. Don’t blame a person who may have been responsible for your pain. Nehemiah asked God to forgive his father, and his father’s fathers, and himself. The lesson we must learn from Nehemiah is to forgive those who hurt us in the past. Don’t walk around upset because of what your Daddy did, what your Mother didn’t do, the neighborhood you grew up in. Take a lesson from Nehemiah and “cast all your cares upon the Lord.”

In his book, Up From Slavery, Booker T Washington tells the story of the coarse shirt made of flax that slaves were forced to wear, and the agony he endured as a slave boy the first time he had to put on a new flax shirt. Aware of his little brother’s discomfort, his older brother broke-in Booker T’s flax shirt for him.

Brothers and Sisters, Jesus tried on your flax shirt for you. He loves you so much. He put on your flax shirt and he carried that flax shirt all the way to Calvary, dragging your burdens, your sins, and your distress with him.

You can remain defeated, or you can choose to rise above the disparity of your situation. No matter what life brings your way, know that you can be “more than a conqueror”.

We were all BORN IN DEBT; we have all fallen short. But Jesus paid our debts of sin and we walk in victory!

Related posts:

1. Sermon Notes: He'll Be Back
2. Sermon Notes: God Will Show Up in the Rubble Places
3. Sermon Notes: When Mountains Loom Larger Than Faith
4. Sermon Notes: Hope for Weeping Eyes
5. Sermon Notes: Be Clear About Your Relationship with God