How Do We Rebuild? - Nehemiah 3

Nehemiah 3 is one of those passages that we read quickly or skip over entirely. It is a list of people who worked on the wall, and what they did. This looks about as interesting as a laundry list. But if we read it carefully, this passage, there is something here that can have a profound impact on our lives.

Nehemiah 3 is made up of forty-seven brief stories of people who rebuilt the wall. Some are no more than a mention. Others describe in detail what they did to rebuild the wall they built. Don’t get bogged down in detail--look at the people. See how they divided up the work, how they helped each other, and how they worked diligently. Then, ask yourself how we compare to them in our building of the kingdom.

We can learn three principles from their stories.

The first principle is this--Each began at home with their own private responsibility.

The task was clear. The goal was obvious.  Each person was willing to accept his or her personal responsibility. Each one concentrated first on where they were living. 

This is a principle the old theologians called subsidiarity. We know it better as your job begins in our own homes and our own neighborhoods.    

Each one could find an excuse not to take on their own part of the wall. They didn’t. There were plenty of excuses they could have used.

They could have said, “It’s not my kind of work.”

Eliashab, the high priest is the first one mentioned. A priest works with his mind, not with his body. No doubt he was tired from looking after spiritual needs, but he rolled up his sleeves and hauled bricks with the rest of them.

Hananiah was a perfume maker. What does Max Factor or Givanchy know about carpentry? Yet that did not stop this man from building not one section, but two. Evidently, after he repaired one, he found out he liked it, and did another.

What about the goldsmiths and the merchants? They were specialists, but they put down their money counters and their little hammers and took up the trowel and the brick buckets.

They could have said, “No one told me what to do.”

The sons of Tekoa might have used that excuse. The only negative comment in the chapter was towards the noblemen of Tekoa. They were too proud to work under the contractors. But the men of Tekoa worked anyway, even without leaders. When their leader failed, they kept on going. In fact, just like the perfumers, they built two sections!

The women could have said, “It’s men’s work!”

They didn’t let their gender get in the way. Notice the daughters of Shallum. Shallum had no sons, so his daughters pitched in and did the work. In a society where women are kept under veils, these girls tramped through the dust and lifted rocks like men. They gave up their assumed gender roles to do the work of God.

They could have said, “It’s someone else’s property. Let them do it”.

A man named Meshullam built in front of his living quarters in verse 30. This man lived in an apartment. He was probably a temporary resident in Jerusalem, yet he worked as hard as anyone else. If anyone would say, “I won’t help. This isn’t my city.”  Meshullam showed them better.

They could have said, “I’m too young.”

Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph took his own section of the wall, according to verse thirty. Where were his five older brothers? We don’t know, but their little brother was building the wall.

When it comes to the rebuilding of the kingdom, setting up the spiritual walls and standards, we have all kinds of excuses. There are a hundred reasons for not praying. We can come up with all kinds of reasons for leaving our Bibles unopened, for not giving, not witnessing, or building bridges of forgiveness. But when we read of these people, and what they undertook it puts us to shame. Spiritual walls are more important than their physical walls.   We all have our place in its rebuilding.

  Spiritual walls run right through the center of our souls. They protect our homes, businesses, and our private lives. Our private walls affect the health of our church. To be responsible for our part of the wall means that we take responsibility personally for our own spiritual walk. 

The second principle is this--they linked arms.

 Most of the time, people worked on the portions of the wall near their homes, but there were some exceptions. The first was Eliashab, the high priest. He worked on the wall near the temple.  Meanwhile, Meremoth worked in front of the high priest’s home. Since the priests were working on another part of the wall, someone did his home for him. Another example are the men of Tekoa. They finished quickly, so they helped on another part of the wall.

People from outside Jerusalem worked on the walls. The surrounding villages came to make sure Jerusalem was safe. They got nothing out of it, but they built anyway. 

 They couldn’t all do the same quality of work. Some of them finished their section “laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place.” This was probably what contractors mean today by a “lock and key job.”  Others just built the wall.  Someone else with greater skill to put on the finishing touches.

All along this wall, there is a wonderful mix-up of people. Perfume makers and goldsmiths gave themselves to unaccustomed work. Women worked with men. People helped each other out.  Because of this, they all had a wonderful time. God’s work needs to be done, even if we are the only ones doing it. But God’s work goes easier when God’s people link arms and work together.

After high school, I spent a summer working at a children’s camp. One lazy afternoon, the kids were bored; someone suggested we play Red Rover.  The children made lines by holding hands, and then called over one of the others to try to break the line.

The game went well for a while, until someone suggested that we counselors also play. Red Rover is not to be played by adults. It becomes about as genteel as football or rugby. When a hundred-and- eighty-pound man comes running at your line at full tilt, you can be assured that you are going down.  There is no way to stop him. 

We tried linking hands--that didn’t work. I still have scars from it. Then, we linked elbows. But when we linked our elbows and dug in our heels, a whole line of us could just stop one of those chargers. We got bruised and battered, but we didn’t go down. 

The devil tries to break our unity. He charges us at the places we’re weakest, where one’s work meets the other. But when we link arms and hold each other up, we lock him out. He can’t penetrate the wall when we cooperate. 

Third, we follow the Leader.

There is only one reference to the supervisors. There’s no talk of architects. It didn’t just happen. The vision came from God. Nehemiah conveyed it to others, who were able to put it into reality. Then the rest of Jerusalem carried it out. The supervisors were not worthier than the workers, but they had the specialty of leadership. In the lists they are barely mentioned, but they were essential. 

When we set out to do God’s work, we need two essential elements. The first is leadership.  Leaders look to God for direction. Leaders must look up, not down. They must look to God’s word for their inspiration and be men of prayer and study.

Equally important is followership. People must be willing to trust their leaders. When God’s people wandered in the wilderness for forty years, whose fault was it? Was it Moses? No, the people didn’t want to believe, so they did not follow. They were left leaderless by choice. If we do God’s will, we must trust God’s leadership, and the leadership God gives us. We must put aside our pride, our selfishness, and our vision of what the church ought to be and follow the direction that God gives us. 

We need to trust each other. In the Reformed tradition, we have always believed that the Holy Spirit works through the structure of the church, not perfectly, but better than through individuals trusting in only their own judgment. We believe that God has a plan for us, and that he will express that plan through the councils of the church.

How did the leaders lead? If we look here, we can see some of its principles. 

They led by encouragement. Notice how encouraging and upbeat this passage is. Everyone is praised by name. The only criticism is against those who would not work at all. Even if the effort was half-hearted or half-done, they receive personal praise. Good leadership encourages far more than it discourages.

They led by service. Everyone had a place on the wall. They got right in there with everyone else. They led from the front, and nor from the back.

They led with grace. They trusted God’s grace in the people below them. They did not stand over the shoulders of the workers telling them what to do. Instead they believed that God was leading them the same way God had led the leaders.

Now it comes to us. What lessons have we learned? There are three.

1.       Begin at home.

2.       Link arms.

3.       Follow the Leader.

Let’s keep our eyes on what our walls need to be. They are spiritual walls, built by spiritual means. Buildings of bricks and mortar are important, but not as important as building a kingdom of the spirit and of grace. Let’s follow the Leader. Always ask ourselves, what does God most want for us.  Keep focused on that task, and God will bring us victory.