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February 10, 2007
On the Road to Renewal with Nehemiah—
All Together Now
a
sermon on Nehemiah 3.1-5; 4.15-20; 6.15-16
by David C. Mauldin
Westminster
Presbyterian Church, Mobile, Alabama
When Nehemiah organized the work of
rebuilding Jerusalem‟s defensive walls, his enemies mocked and ridiculed him. At
the beginning of chapter 4, in a part of the book I did not read, we find one of
them saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will
they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of
the heaps of rubbish—and burned ones at that?” Another said, “That stone wall
they are building—any fox going up on it would break it down!” Poor Nehemiah, he
succeeded because he didn‟t know it couldn‟t be done. If God puts a dream in
your heart, never let anyone tell you it cannot be done. There is one thing you
can be sure of concerning the opinion of experts—they don‟t really know. Let me
share with you some famous opinions given by experts in their fields. Keep in
mind these are not the opinions of the uneducated and uninformed. They represent
the best thinking of the brightest minds at the time. In 1859 Edwin L. Drake
tried to hire drillers to test his idea to drill for oil. They answered him,
“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You‟re
crazy.” An 1876 internal memo at telegraph giant Western Union dismissed the
threat posed by new technology: “This „telephone‟ has too many shortcomings to
be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of
no value to us.” In 1895 Lord Kelvin, president of Britain‟s Royal Society, the
premiere scientific institution at the time, declared, “Heavier-than-air flying
machines are impossible.” Once the airplane was invented, France‟s top military
strategist was unimpressed. He stated, “Airplanes are interesting toys but of no
military value.” In 1899 Charles Duell, commissioner of the U.S. Office of
Patents, asserted, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” In 1923
Robert Millikan, winner of a Nobel Prize in Physics told the world, “There is no
likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.”
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In the 1920s, David Sarnoff thought radio was a good investment. His associates
criticized him, “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who
would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” Irving Fisher was a
professor of economics at Yale University in 1929 when he opined, “"Stocks have
reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” In 1943, the chairman of
IBM claimed, “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
Optimistic about advances in computing Popular Mechanics magazine in 1949
excitedly suggested, “Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”
And, I think we have all watched enough sports to know that when an expert says,
“This team has no chance …” Well, the fact is, they do. A successful sports
prognosticator is right, what, about 70% of the time? I have heard, although I
am not sure it is true, that monkeys throwing darts do as well picking stocks as
the best analysts on Wall Street. I wouldn‟t be surprised. When it comes to the
future, we think we know, but we don‟t. God does know, however, and he calls us
to do his work. The best way, therefore, for us to move into the future is to
give his work our best effort and trust him to lead us and work things out. This
is especially important for Christians these days because now, as so often in
the past, conventional wisdom thinks the church has no future and Christianity
is a bad investment. The past 50 years have been a period of decline for the
church in America in terms of numbers and cultural influence, especially the
mainline denominations like ours that were once the spiritual backbone of the
nation. Many expect we will go the way of Europe, where the Christian church
retains a mere shell of its former glory. Christianity is still there, often
powerfully so in small pockets, but Christians are now a minority with little
influence. Will we eventually see that in America? Or will another revival like
the Great Awakenings turn things around? Or does God have something else in
mind? I honestly don‟t know, but I know experts have been wrong before. G.K.
Chesterton in his book The Everlasting Man chronicled how often in the past the
church was so beset with problems that its future looked bleak. He wrote: “At
least five times, therefore, … the Faith has to all appearance gone to the dogs.
In each of these five cases it was the dog that died.” What about Westminster?
What will this church be like in 10 years? Twenty years? Forty years? Will we be
a mega-church? A small, struggling congregation? Something else? Will we even be
here at all? I honestly do not know what God has in store for us. But like
Nehemiah, I know that God is in control and I can trust him. So I am not afraid
to invest myself in ministry here.
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What about you? Nehemiah has something to say to all of us because every one of
us faces challenges and discouragement as we try to live as Christians in an
increasingly secular culture. Let‟s put the church to one side for a moment and
talk about you as an individual Christian. If you are serious about your
commitment to Jesus Christ, you are going to be different. You will pay a price.
And if the culture continues to become more secular and more religiously
diverse—it is amazing how we can do both at once, but we manage—as the culture
leaves its Christian roots farther and farther behind, you will be increasingly
out-of-step and the price you pay will only go up. Why bother? Is it worth it?
Why insist that Jesus is the Truth when most people believe truth is relative
and all that really matters is being a nice person? Why strive for holiness in a
culture that defines deviancy down—if doing what is right proves difficult, just
change the meaning of what is right? I don‟t know the future. I do not expect
the Christian life to be easy. Jesus assures us it won‟t be if we do it right.
But I find encouragement in Nehemiah. Let‟s turn once again to his experiences
and see what it means to do God‟s work in uncertain times. Nehemiah had so much
against him. The job was big. The defensive wall around Jerusalem ran for a
circuit of more than a mile in his day. It was 3-4 feet thick, and probably more
at the bottom. It stood 15-20 feet high. We don‟t know how badly it was damaged.
They were not building from scratch, but in some places it might have been
easier if they were. Workers had to first clear away the rubble and debris from
earlier destructions in order to rebuild. Imagine hauling the trash away,
bringing in new stones, and building them into a solid wall—without the benefit
of modern machinery. The job was big. His enemies you already know about. They
did not just make fun of his efforts. They organized to thwart them. Since
Nehemiah enjoyed the patronage of the king, his enemies had to be careful. They
could not attack in force. But they could orchestrate small-scale hit-and-run
attacks designed to drain the people‟s will to build. You heard in our scripture
reading how Nehemiah organized the people to keep this from happening. His
opponents also took every opportunity to intimidate and discourage Nehemiah.
They even tried to lure him to a meeting so they could kill him, but he saw
through their scheme. In addition to the size of the job and outside pressures,
Nehemiah had to contend with discouragement among the people. In chapter 4,
verse 10, we hear the complaint: “The strength of the laborers is giving out,
and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall” [NIV]. You can see
how Nehemiah could easily have become discouraged. He might have given up. Smart
money would have bet against the wall ever being rebuilt. But what
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did he do? He persevered. He organized and armed the people. And he encouraged
them by constantly pointing to God‟s hand upon them. Chapter 3 of Nehemiah is my
favorite boring chapter in the Bible. Are you shocked a preacher would admit
there are boring chapters in the Bible? You have to admit, some parts are
livelier than others. The Old Testament especially can get carried away with
genealogies and lists. That‟s what chapter 3 is, a list of who worked on what
section of the wall. As a list, it is not a thrilling read, but as a description
of what happened, it takes one‟s breath away. Have you ever seen a scene in a
movie where every member of the team comes in and one-by-one they take a stand?
That‟s what is happening here. Eliashib and the priests rebuilt the sheep gate,
next came the men of Jericho, next Zacchur son of Imri—and on and on it goes,
all the way around the wall, each family or group or town going to work for the
common good. No one group or family could have rebuilt the wall. It took
everybody. But everybody took a stand. Everybody worked. In fact, the project
pulled God‟s people together so completely that the one exception is noted, the
nobles of Tekoa did not help, although the rest of the town did. One by one they
came, saying, “I will do my part. I will build the wall.” The names do not
matter to us, but try to imagine the scene as thousands of volunteers came to do
the work. It‟s awesome! Nehemiah organized them into 41 work gangs, each
assigned a different section of the wall. Building was not enough, however. They
also had to look to defense. Nehemiah employed a three-fold strategy: He armed
the workers. You heard how each worked built with a sword strapped to his side.
He posted his own troops. You recall the king sent a military escort with him.
And he instituted a warning system. God‟s people pulled together. They
persevered despite all obstacles, heedless of what others said could not be
done. All the while Nehemiah pointed to God, saying things like, “The God of
heaven will give us success” and “Our God will fight for us.” And of course he
prayed. You heard the result: The work was finished in 52 days—just six months
after the king gave Nehemiah his commission. He showed up, rallied the people,
and by God‟s grace they got it done! Next Sunday we will learn what happened
next, but today it is enough the first step was finished—the wall was rebuilt.
Nehemiah offers us a lesson in perseverance and teamwork. But there is more here
than just those things, important though they are. If we just needed a lesson in
perseverance and teamwork, I could recap the Super Bowl for you. A scrappy
wild-card team knocked off a team many experts were calling the greatest team of
all time. But I have already made the point that the world abounds with examples
of what you can do when you don‟t listen to those who say it can‟t be done.
Nehemiah teaches us
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something even more important than that. What makes Nehemiah‟s experience
special and so relevant to us is God. God called Nehemiah to the task of
rebuilding the wall and renewing the community of Jerusalem. It was God‟s work.
Nehemiah knew that, and he trusted God. That was the secret of his dogged
persistence. Doing God‟s work does not assure success, particularly as the world
likes to define it. God‟s people did not enjoy success when the walls were torn
down. They had not prospered when Ezra tried to rebuild Jerusalem about 15 years
before Nehemiah got it done. I could give many more examples. John the Baptist
comes to mind. Herod had his head served on a platter. Yet he knew, as Nehemiah
did, that he was answering God‟s call. He knew God‟s plan would prevail, no
matter what happened to him. He just wanted to be faithful. Let God handle the
results. In my own life and work, I have seen the same three things that gave
Nehemiah success give success in the church. The most important is the hand of
God. Whenever I have been a part of something big, something successful in a
church, there is always an element of surprise. We didn‟t exactly plan what
happened. We were just doing our best, doing what we thought we should, and
things came together. God did something wonderful, often not because of us but
in spite of us. God builds the church. God changes lives. At times you might
feel you are just along for the ride, but that‟s not quite right. God does use
us. Every time a church has success in its mission—whether we are talking about
worship, evangelism, discipleship, administration, fellowship, or service—it
happens because willing people make it happen. The results may surprise. God may
do something spectacular. But he still uses us to do the work. We could not
operate as a church or have worship services if people did not say, “I will do
my part. I will answer God‟s call. I will make it happen.” No dinners would be
served. No homebound or sick people would be visited. Neither children nor
adults would be taught. The building would fall down. Weeds would take over the
yard. The homeless children we feed and shelter through the Interfaith
Hospitality Network would have to find some other place to stay. Everything we
do happens because somebody cares enough to make it happen. Every church could
create a list like Nehemiah 3: These people taught classes; these people cooked
meals; these people organized weddings and funerals; these people … on and on
until all the work of the church was listed. It takes everybody—all of us
working together. Unless you want to be like the nobles of Tekoa. Perseverance
is the other factor. Success is rarely quick and easy. Consider a young person
who professes faith and makes a commitment to Christ. Think of all that went
into that decision. All the people who in big and small ways influenced that
young person. Think of our Refresh and Renew event. Not only does it take a lot
of work on
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our part to make it happen; but also it takes the visiting team. And what they
will bring to us is their own experiences. They will share ways God helped and
guided them along life‟s path. Each person who will bless us took a lifetime in
the making. Perseverance is critical because often we do not see the results of
our efforts, at least not all of them. You have no doubt heard of people who
turned their life around because some Christian invested love and care in them
while they were young. They strayed from the path for a while, but they came
back eventually. Sometimes the person who made the difference never even knew.
So we may not see results, and we may go through dry seasons. God‟s people
always have. Slavery in Egypt, the exile, Peter in prison, Paul shipwrecked,
Roman persecution, on and on it goes throughout history down to our day. There
is a good reason why that story about Elijah running away, hiding in a cave, and
asking God to let him die because no one else in the whole world served God is
in the Bible. Loneliness and despair come to every servant of God who really
cares and tries hard. Yet the Word of God always comes back: “I am not finished
yet.” God was not finished with Elijah. He wasn‟t finished with Israel. He is
not finished with us. So we must persevere. Let me close by sharing a dream I
cherish. When I am old, I want to serve on a session with a few people I
baptized as children and watched grow up. I imagine myself saying at their
ordination: “I baptized you. God has brought you on an amazing journey. Now we
will serve together in the work God has given us.” I know most young people move
away after college to find work, but not all. Plus, you never know how God will
weave the pattern of your life or who he brings across your path. I think about
the children of Westminster and try to imagine them as adults. Which of them
might it be? Who is a little elder or deacon, and only God knows it? I hope God
will give me that satisfaction, but who can say? I do not know the future. No
one does but God. Yet because he does, because he not only knows but also
controls our future, we can answer his call and persevere in his work. Whatever
happens, his purpose will not fail, and he will bring us safe into his kingdom,
that glorious reign of God that shall never end. Amen. rev_mauldin@yahoo.com
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