Sermon Summary:
A couple of weeks ago we kicked off Nehemiah. If you are new to the bible, then you need to know Nehemiah is in the Old Testament. Nehemiah takes place at a time in Israel’s history when the spiritual leaders and political leaders in Israel have neglected to do their job, therefore, the Lord allows surrounding empires like Assyria, Babylon, and Persia to bring judgment and essentially deport the best and brightest out of Israel to live in a foreign land.
In our world today we are not Israel, we are not in the same context of Nehemiah, but we do see spiritual and political leaders that are neglecting to do their job. We do have systems that are broken in our country at large that make us feel vulnerable. And even in our church family we see our relationships with one another are not as strong as we would like to be, therefore, we are asking the Lord to build us up and move us to a place of belonging.
This morning we are going to look at Nehemiah 3 and we are going to see Nehemiah’s burden move from private prayers to public participation. It’s possible you’ve been studying Nehemiah 3 on your own throughout the week, that’s the benefit of our devotional, so that you might have found yourself skimming through chapter 3 because Nehemiah 3 is a long list of names of people we’ve never heard of probably won’t remember, so, this morning we are going to see three sub-points; 1. How It All Starts. 2. The People. 3. The Result. Let’s look at our first sub-point.
- How It All Starts.
Nehemiah 3:1-2, “Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. 2 Next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.”
Now I get it, at first glance these words don’t jump off the page with excitement. At first glance we see a long list of names we can barely pronounce, have no idea who they are, so that we don’t have an emotional connection.
But we need to remember these broken-down walls started 140 years ago. It would be equivalent to the civil war in our country, and you still see broken down cannons, houses in rubble and nothing ever changing. Generation after generation after generation and people thinking, “It’s always been this way.”
The other challenge we have to this passage of names is that our culture in the United States doesn’t resonate with collective participation because we are largely individualistic. Many Western countries tend to be individualistic compared to Asian and Latin cultures that are more communal.
This is what made the pandemic so challenging for our country because in the United States the most important unit isn’t the whole unit, it isn’t even the state, the region, or the family, but we value the individual. This isn’t a biblical mandate but a by-product of our culture today.
Economically we work for what we can get as individuals. Politically we vote for who we want individually. Even sexually as a culture we value getting, feeling, doing what we want individually. That will wake you up!
Many times, our individualistic values bleed into our faith so that when we show up to a worship service, we often find ourselves thinking, “What do I get out of the experience?” instead of seeing ourselves as a part of the collective whole. Why? It’s because the culture in the Unites States is one of individualism.
Therefore, when we open the bible to read Nehemiah 3 and see a list of names it is difficult for us to emotionally engage the passage because we think to ourselves, “What do these people have to do with me?”
We don’t even see Nehemiah show up in this chapter. We see someone with the name Nehemiah but it’s a different person, and if we were writing the chapter, we would have made Nehemiah the focus of the chapter.
We would have seen Nehemiah barking out orders, “You over there. You over here. Come on, now! You can do it.” like a great orchestrator of events, so that when the wall is completed, the people would fade into the background and Nehemiah takes a bow as we all erupt in applause, because we want to be Nehemiah! That’s the story we would want but God’s Word knows the story we need, so chapter three is full of people. Let’s look at our second sub-point; 2. The People.
- The People.
Nehemiah 3:1-2, “Then Eliashib the high priest arose with his brothers the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They consecrated the wall to the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. 2 Next to him the men of Jericho built, and next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built.”
In verses 1-2 we see Eliashib the high priest building the Sheep Gate. The Sheep Gate was the gate by which animals were brought in from the surrounding area for sacrifice at the temple, therefore, in verse 1 we see the high priest is involved in rebuilding the wall.
This is a big deal. The high priest doesn’t work in construction. The high priest was elevated in the community. The high priests focused on prayers and sacrifices for the people. The high priest was kept behind closed doors but in verse 1 see the high priest getting his hands dirty.
But in Nehemiah 3 we are going to see people look beyond their status and titles. In Nehemiah 3 we are going to see all types of people come together for the common good. In verse 2 we see some people get their names recorded, and some people simply get “men of Jericho.”
Why? It’s because, and we are going to see this theme repeated over and over throughout chapter 3, when it comes to doing something great then everyone needs to be willing to get involved. Look at verse 3:
Nehemiah 3:3, “3 Now the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.”
In verse 3 we see the sons of Hassenaah building the Fish Gate, so I am guessing a Fish Gate in the middle of the summer in Israel wouldn’t have been very enjoyable but again, when something great is going to happen then people aren’t worried about what’s fun and what’s not fun.
You see one of our biggest challenges in accomplishing something great together is we start worrying about what we’re doing and what other people are doing. We start thinking about what time we showed up and what time others showed up. We start comparing ourselves. We start worrying who’s getting recognition and who’s not getting recognition.
But Nehemiah 3 is teaching us this morning when we want to see something great happen then something happens in the people as a whole where we start to see the collective effort more than the individual effort. Look at verse 8: (SLIDE: Verse)
Nehemiah 3:8, “8 Next to him Uzziel the son of Harhaiah of the goldsmiths made repairs. And next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.”
In verse 8 we see artists like people who worked with gold and perfumes, and yet Nehemiah has mobilized them to work with a shovel to lay mortar and build the wall. Isn’t that awesome?
Can you imagine the goldsmith and the perfumers might have pushed back and said, “But we are trained to work with fine materials.” None of these people were skilled people in wall building. None of these people had engineering degrees in construction.
It would have been easy for them to say, “This is wasting my talent” but the purpose isn’t the individual expressing their personal desires, because the connection to Nehemiah 3 isn’t the individual getting to do what they want to do but it’s about the collective community coming together for something they couldn’t do on their own.
When we started North Village Church it wasn’t 15 people expressing individual desires but 15 people doing something collectively, we couldn’t do individually. When you start a family, it isn’t 2 people expressing individual desires. But instead, it is 2 people laying aside their personal interests to do something together that they couldn’t do apart.
This next year we are focusing on our church family on “Build and Belong.” We are challenging our church to move toward one another and share meals with one another. We are challenging our church family to learn their spiritual gifts and unleash those gifts. We are challenging our church to resist passive avoidance but press into relationships with one another.
And in the moment, it isn’t going to be that exciting. It’s going to be one brick. It’s going to be Caleb meeting with Jac, Becca praying for Jessie, Geraline getting to know people she doesn’t know as well, Sam talking to a new teenager on a Sunday morning and in the moment it is just going to be a 5 minute conversation but when we all start to move in that direction, day by day, month by month, we will eventually see a layer of warmth in our church family that we don’t have today but it only happens if we all get on board.
I want to keep pressing on this because I think it’s possible that some of us right now are in a place in life where it’s hard for us to say, “Yes.” I could be wrong, but I think in general we are at a place where we are slow to say “yes” because we don’t know what will happen.
Maybe it’s the season of life, maybe it’s the economy, maybe it’s the transition in our city but I just have this image of our church family being on the shore of an ocean and we keep touching our toes to the water. You know those moments when you go to the beach, and you start testing the waters?
I feel like we have that in our church family right now where everyone is kind of testing the waters to see what’s going to happen. We are trying to figure out where we fit into life. We are trying make sure we don’t get hurt. We are trying to make sure everything is going to be okay.
I think you can apply this to our church, marriage, city, faith, parenting, friends, I think we are doing this in a lot of areas of life and I want to encourage you to jump in the water. Specifically for our church family, make sure we’re not crazy, ask your questions, and then jump because you are only going to get so much out of your faith standing on the shore, right?
You only get so much out of the ocean standing on the shore if you want to experience the most the ocean has to offer then you have to jump into the ocean. In the same way, how are we going to say, “Jesus, I want all of you in my life, but I am only going to give you some of me?” Repeat.
John Legend says it in his song, “Cause all of me, loves all of you.” If we want to get the most out of marriage, parenting, career, faith, and our church family we can’t keep testing the waters. We need to jump all in. If perfumers and goldsmith can work on a wall, we can go all in also! Look at verse 14:
Nehemiah 3:14, “14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of Beth-haccherem repaired the Refuse Gate. He built it and hung its doors with its bolts and its bars.”
Some translations use the term “Dung Gate” for “Refuse Gate” because the Refuse Gate was the sewer line of Jerusalem, which means Malchijah worked on the part of the wall that had to be the worse part of the wall to work.
That has to be the job that nobody wanted. That’s the email announcement that everyone assumes someone else will answer that call. For some of us there are parts of a church family that we love and then there are parts of the church family that are a little harder. Some of us love deep conversation, some of us want to keep it surface. Some of us love the preaching, some of us are here for the singing.
And sometimes we tend to drift toward that which is easier but in Nehemiah chapter 3 we see something great because the people didn’t care about the titles, they didn’t care about the mentions, they didn’t care about the task but instead they wanted to focus on doing something collectively that they couldn’t do individually.
The picture we see in the New Testament is that when we are in Christ we are many members made up of one body. This is what the Apostle Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 12. Some of us are toes, some of us are ligaments, some of us are belly buttons, some of us are ears, eyes, but together we make up the body of Christ as the hands and feet of Jesus.
In a worship service it might look like I am the most important part because I am on the stage by myself talking for 30 minutes and our culture would say, “Ah-ha! This person is the most important part of North Village.”
But God’s Word says, “No.” The person who takes out the trash is just as important as the person who made the graphics. The person who plays the instrument is just as important as the person who makes the coffee.
The person who greets a new person on Sunday is just as important as the person counting the offering to make sure it gets accounted for correctly. Why? It’s because we are many parts but together, we make up the body of Christ! That’s the beauty of the local church! That’s the opportunity we have to do something great together every time we come together.
And listen to me, I am confident that many, many of hear that truth in God’s Word, whole heartedly agree with that truth in God’s Word and yet deeply imbedded in our psyche as people in the United States is this belief, “But what I am doing with my life is what’s important. My career, my family, my agenda because I need to do something great with MY life.” Do you feel that pull in our culture to do something great?
Young people, especially in your generation today there is this pressure to do something with your life and everyone is watching what you do with your life 247, and it’s getting recorded for everyone to see what you do with your life.
But God’s Word is teaching us if you are part of the church, the body of Christ, through faith in Jesus, then you have already done and are doing something great with your life. Did you hear that? I need to say that again, “If you are in Christ, you are a part of the body of Christ and if so, then you have already done and are doing something great with your life.”
That’s how this list of nobody’s and somebody’s can come together to do something great, because they were already a part of something great in Israel, and as the body of Christ today we are already doing something great. Let’s look at our last sub-point; 3. The Result.
- The Result.
Nehemiah 3:28, “28 Above the Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house.”
When you read throughout chapter 3 you see a phrase “each in front of his house” which means everyone was motivated to work on a section of the wall that was in front of their house, but also, they worked on sections of the wall, so that together they could have a completed wall. Does that make sense?
It doesn’t make sense to have a section of a wall. Remember, the purpose of the wall and the gates were to provide security and safety to the people of Jerusalem. The purpose of the wall and the gates were to slow down an invading army.
Therefore, it definitely doesn’t help to have just half a wall. You need the whole wall, and each person would have been motivated to build up a wall that was protecting their house, their land, their area of work.
Therefore, in the same way, if we are going to do something great together as a church family, if we are going to “build and belong” it can’t just be an aspirational sticker on our wall but instead each of us needs to identify our section of the wall and get to work.
It’s possible that we are going to push back and say, “What’s my area? Will someone tell me what to do?” But if you notice throughout the chapter, we don’t see Nehemiah giving supervision. Nehemiah prays (1.) Nehemiah identifies the problem and provides a plan (2.) And in chapter 3 we don’t see Nehemiah show up at all! Therefore, each of us needs to identify our section of the wall and get to work!
We need to stop standing on the shore and start working our way into the ocean. When you start touching your toes to the water that’s like showing up on a Sunday. Oh, it’s cold. Oh, the waves are rushing. You’re not sure what’s going to happen but if you stay at that place, you are never going to get the most of what you could experience, so you move in a little deeper.
Then you move into your knees and that’s like committing to a community group. The water starts rocking. The waves start bumping against your private parts. It kind of stings a little so sometimes we quit, we go back to shore, because being in community is hard sometimes, but if we are going to get the most of our church family you have to come back.
Then you start opening your life to the people of North Village Church. You start to get engulfed in the water. You start sharing your life. You start opening your home. You start praying for one another.
The waves are moving, you’re still a little nervous because there are sharks in the ocean, and the local church has some sharks, but when you are engulfed in the water you are experiencing the best the ocean has to offer.
That’s true in the local church, marriage, parenting, life and all the Lord has for us in Him, but you have to get all the way in up to your head.
You can’t cry out for more and only give a little of yourself, so let’s end our time by celebrating communion together as a church family.