Sermon from Nehemiah 2:1-8 for July 15

What is the hardest thing you have ever asked anyone for?

A raise? A job? To marry you? To move out? For forgiveness?

Big asking is a big challenge!

A clergy friend once told the story of going to someone’s house to see if this couple would be willing to give a large gift to a building campaign. They were trying to raise almost $1,000,000 and wanted to line up a bunch of big donations first, so what needed to be raised seemed more manageable.

They sat down with this business man and his wife also a business woman, and the pastor admitted that he was really nervous. He had prayed about asking as had the other member of the building pledge team. They sensed that they should be bold, but the jitters were in full force.

So, they made small talk and then mentioned the project they had come to talk about. The couple were direct, “What is it you want?” The pastor decided to be brave. He said, “we would like you to consider a gift of $10,000.”

The man looked at his wife and she got their checkbook and gave the pastor a check for $10,000. After some additional small talk, the pastor and the pledge team member got up to leave and the wife said to them. “You know, if you had asked for $50,000, we would have written that check too. It’s alright to ask big.”

There was a book several years ago that discussed what the author called the “Aladdin Principle”. You remember the story of Aladdin either from the book, “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights,” or from the Disney movie, “Aladdin”.

Aladdin gets trapped in a cave where he finds a special lamp. Finding the lamp was good. Choosing to rub it the right way was even better. Getting a genie who offered him three wishes was fantastic!

But what was totally amazing was Aladdin learning how to ask for what he really needed, a skill the author of the Aladdin Principle book suggests we all need to learn. We need to learn how to ask.

In the biblical book of James the author points out that we do not have because we do not ask God for what we need, and when we do, we ask with bad motives.

We are to pray, “give us this day our daily bread” certainly an invitation to ask for the basics but suggests with those very words that when we ask we recognize God’s kingdom is in force in our lives and in our world, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Asking is also commended by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount where he says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

So as a follower of Jesus, how well are you doing with the asking thing?

What are you asking for? What is your big ask?

Nehemiah, is in a difficult situation. He knows there is a problem in Jerusalem with God’s people. Something needs to be done. He has concluded he is one of those who needs to do something and he is uniquely in the place to ask for help.

But dare he ask? This is very, very risky. But..

He decides that he needs to speak freely to the King. It is not easy, but it is the right thing, to do. He perceives he has been placed in this unique set of circumstances for this task; to ask.

And he needs to ask big. But he needs also to ask smart.

He needs to ask in the right context, and he needs to ask for what the King can actually give him. His asking cannot be a threat to Artaxerxes, on the contrary, it needs to be clear that this rather simple request is one that honors the King, that it recognizes his power and authority.

Just like everyone one of our prayers should!

When it comes to asking, Nehemiah becomes a great example of how to ask.  

First, pray it through! Don’t ask until you have it well covered in prayer. There is no point in asking idly. Ask with clear intent and be prepared to put yourself in as part of the answer!

Next be ready to ask when the opportunity comes. Nehemiah had thought it through and had his elevator speech ready.

You know what an elevator speech is? It is the speech every junior executive is supposed to have ready in case you get stuck on an elevator with the CEO, so that in your allotted 30 seconds you can say what really matters.

“Your Majesty, would you be willing to give me letters to the governors of the provinces west of the Euphrates River, so that I can travel safely to Judah? I will need timber to rebuild the gates of the fortress near the temple and more timber to construct the city wall and to build a place for me to live. And so, I would appreciate a letter to Asaph, who is in charge of the royal forest.”

Then, make sure you have thought all the way through. What if the answer to the ask is yes, then what? That is not the point where you want to scramble to figure it all out! You want to hit the road running! What will you do, with whom, how, how long will it take, and when will you be back?

And don’t forget, ask boldly, ask for what you need, but also be brave and honor the giver. What Nehemiah asked for were things Artaxerxes could do, not ones he couldn’t. Of course, asking the God of the universe who can do all things is one thing, asking your boss, spouse, parent or child is another. What can they do? Ask for that!

And then, follow through! Don’t be shy, and don’t delay! Get to work using the new gifts you have been given and then… Give thanks with all your heart!

What is the hardest thing you have ever asked anyone for? And what is it you need to ask for now?

Be faithful my friends!

Amen.