A passionate lot at best

Take a moment at lunchtime or dinner later or even Wednesday morning's breakfast hour to read the first chapter of Nehemiah.

The key parts are these:
1) Things weren't going well in the province of Judah, the walls had been torn down, the gates had been burned.
2) Nehemiah was so moved when he heard this, he cried. He was passionate about the place he had grown up in.
3) He mourned he was so passionate.
4) He fasted he was so passionate.
5) He prayed to God to hear him, forgive him his sin, asked God to bring him home, asked God grant him success.

When is the last time you were so passionate about, well, anything, that you did all of the above? So passionate you did, well, any of the above?

Have you had a moment recently where you prayed for success rather than pray for help afterwards?

I'm researching a sermon series on leadership, and what amazes me more and more is how the great leaders of scripture had one thing in common, and along with a God who loves them deeply,more often than not the thing they had in common was how passionate they were about whatever it was they were attempting to do.

Bringing God's people out of Egypt? Moses was passionate about it to the extent he needed help just holding his arms up.
Slinging a rock at a giant called Goliath, an early WWE champ I think? David was passionate about it to the extent he called on the God of gods to give him victory.
Going to a tomb where her Master surely was lying? Mary was passionate about Jesus so much that she spent a tear-filled weekend waiting to put some spices on his body before the tomb was sealed forever.
Rebuilding the walls of his hometown? Nehemiah was so passionate about it, he quit eating till the walls came tumbling up again.

Passion. Not the lurid kind, but the kind that won't let you stop till what you've started is finished, then it gives all the glory to God the Father, God the Son and God the Inspiring Spirit.

The Bible says Nehemiah prayed: "O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands..."

That's the kind of prayer I want to pray in our sanctuary on Sunday mornings; that's the kind of preaching I want to say, the kind I want our people to hear. I want to have to calm them down just to get a word in edge-wise. I want passionate leaders. I want passionate followers. I want passionate worshippers. I want to not only get an Amen, I want to have to wait for them to get tired of saying them.

I once talked about that in front of some congregants. One woman said, "Well, that's just not us."
Amen, sister.

It's not.

But it can be, and it should be.

We have escaped the beheading we all deserve. We should be passionate about our thankfulness. That's just us, should be our battle cry. We should be passionate creatures till He comes in final victory.

Amen?