A game of two halves
Nehemiah 9:1-37
This is turning out to be quite a week of sport. The Warwickshire Bears annihilated that Yorkshire village side, the Vikings; it’s Wimbledon grand slam; and we’re into the European Cup knockout stages.
The problem is, I’m filming this on Friday and you’re watching this on Sunday or later. How is that going to work? It could go either way.
It’s Sunday and Britain’s Andy Murray is through to the Fourth Round of the Men’s Singles Grand Slam, and England are comfortably through to the Semi-Finals of the European Cup, having comfortably beaten Ukraine, and are now favourites to go all the way to lift the cup.
Or… 
It’s Sunday and Scotsman Andy Murray crashed out in the Third Round of the Men’s Singles Grand Slam, and woeful England were beaten by underdog Ukraine in a nervy and 
[Carys, can you please insert whichever is the right ending!]
Watching England is an emotional rollercoaster. One team, one match and yet such a mixed bag of emotions – the highs and lows.
2,500 years ago, the people of Jerusalem were also on a physical, emotional and spiritual rollercoaster.  One minute they were confessing how good God was. Then, in the same match, they were confessing how bad they were.
Maybe you find yourself doing the same? We all seem to be a mix of good and bad.
Today, we’re going to see that there are two halves to confession.
They confessed what God had done - how good God is 
Paul says in Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.“
First, they confessed that Yahweh alone is God. 
Verse 6 says: “You alone are the Lord.”
Some Christians are under the misunderstanding that there are lots of ‘gods’. As if, out of a pool of multiple ‘gods’, one God emerged supreme. So they sing about “Our God, as opposed to “your god.” That is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches there is only one Divine Spark, one source of all life, once single source of all love – ONE God. It’s so much easier to reach out to, pray to, God when there’s only ONE God. No chance of backing the wrong one when there is only one.

Second, they confessed that God is the source of all reality.
Verse 7 says: “You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that’s on it, the seas and all that’s in them. You give life to everything.” 
No wonder “the multitudes of heaven worship God.” Not just the world we find ourselves on, or even the moon and sun. But the 100 billion galaxies. And that work of Creation is not finished. The Cosmos is continuing to expand, species are continuing to evolve. The Lord of Creation is still active, still creatin today. Don’t get stuck thinking about six “days” of Creation, it’s way bigger than that. We see our “stuff” – our worries, struggles, needs - for what it is when we see it in relation to Eternal God without beginning or end, the God of the 100 Billion Galaxies. Look up at the sky at night and confess the bigness of God.
Third, they confessed that the story they find themselves caught up in, is God’s story too.
They confess the faithfulness, provision, protection, and goodness of God, as experienced by those that have gone before them. Knowing that God had on so many occasions come through for them in the past, gave them peace for their present and hope for their future
Confessing the goodness of God was:
•	An act of worship/ adoration
•	A reminder to themselves to keep the faith
•	An invitation to others to taste and see that the Lord is good.
No wonder, Ezra told them in Verse 5 to: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God who is from everlasting to everlasting.” Do you need to “stand up” and praise – to be proactive in your response to God?  Are you ready to confess that God, is not just their God but, your God, and as Lord of your life?
BUT, being a game of two halves, the more they worshipped, confessed God, the more they began to see the shortcomings in their own lives.
As you know, we’re making full use of the Foyer by turning it into our Café – Crossroads Café. The Foyer was built in 2005. Back then, the fashion was to paint everything magnolia or cream. Sixteen years later, grey is the new magnolia. So Jasmine has been painting the foyer grey or Pebble Shore to be precise! We had all come to accept the 16-year old magnolia. It looked OK, it was what we had become used to. But, as soon as Jas applied a brush stroke of Pebble Shore it triggered two responses in all who saw it: first, we marvelled at how fresh, clean, inviting the new paint is; second, the fresh paint showed up the old paint for what it was. Isn’t that how it works for us and God?
Confessing how good God is, made them confess how bad they had become. The more they marvelled as God’s holiness, the more they began to see what their lives had become. Confessing how faithful God is brought into question how unfaithful they had become.
When compared to each other they looked OK, even good. But when they compared themselves to God, to Pure Light, they realised things weren’t all that they had thought. That’s they same for you and I. 	
The people of Jerusalem came to realise they had allowed themselves to remain slaves. The physical chains might have long gone but they were still enslaved. Do you sometimes feel the same? Enslaved to patterns of destructive behaviour? Enslaved to a habit that stops you thriving? Enslaved by shadows from your past that tell you, you’ll never change. Their way out, as it ours, is to confess what they had done, what they had become, to the One who is All Knowing, All Powerful, all Present, all Loving.
So, it says in verse 1, the people fasted and wore sackcloth and ashes. Not as punishment. Not as guilt. Not to make God think better of them, as if they could. When you feel so broken, so full of grief, you don’t feel like eating. Wearing sackcloth wasn’t about wearing something uncomfortable or shaming. Sackcloth were everyday work wear. When you’re so full of remorse, you don’t feel like getting all dressed up. It was all about how good God is. God’s GRACE.
                					DannyBrierley@ChesterRoadBaptist.org.uk