Nehemiah 3, 4:6, 6:15
Introduction: We lived near a small town called Webb City in MO. Until a year ago, it was under the direction of a city developer whose last name is Urban. I thought that was kind of humorous in itself, but a few years back I read that Webb City was going to take a census of their trees. We just had a census of people in the country this year, so most of you are familiar with how that sounds. Can you imagine what a census of trees would sound like? "Excuse me, Mr. Oak, may I ask you few questions? How long have you lived here? How many saplings do you have? Do any squirrels live in you?..." There is a point to Webb City’s tree census. They want to make a better future. They want, as a city to progress. Most cities do. In fact, that's the platform of most anyone running for a political office: "If you want progress, vote for me!"
Progress. It means moving forward, right? Someone wisely noted that if the opposite of pro is con, then the opposite of progress is [congress]!
Usually, progress is considered a positive and good thing, but I have to admit that as our kids began to grow up, we worked hard to avoid it. They kept trying to grow. We figured we’d put a stop to it. My daughter Jenni got a part-time job when she turned 16. Over time, she graduated from high school, and after some more time, decided she’d move out of the house. But we knew that as soon as she did that, she’d start trying to gain independence. But, we made the mistake of letting her, and, sure enough, she’s in college, and what’s more now she’s married. As much as we tried to stop her from working, and graduating from high school, and meeting the love of her life, she did it, and here we are living in different states even!
At least we have a chance with Andy. We’ve stopped feeding him. The more food we put in him, the bigger he keeps getting. It’s a never-ending cycle, so we’re putting a stop to it right now. We also have quit buying him bigger clothes. We figure, if there’s no room for him to grow, he can’t, so we trying to put a halt to it.
Not really! Kids grow. It just happens. If they get what they need, they grow in several ways. They’re supposed to. And if they don't, we begin to worry. Either something's wrong or they're not getting something they need.
Jesus said, "I will build my Church." (Mt 16:18). The Church is being built. Growth happens. And if it's not growing, it's not because we're not making it grow.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (NIV)
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
God is the One Who gives the increase. If growth isn’t happening here, we shouldn’t be asking, “What should we do to make it grow?” A better question would be, "What are we doing that's preventing growth?"
Over the past 10 years, CCC has averaged 48 additions to this church family each year. That means, in 10 years’ time, 480 people have become members here. 10 years ago, the average attendance was 473. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that the church here hasn’t more than doubled in the past 10 years. Why? Some members have died, some have moved away, some have simply left. That means, to simply maintain our current membership numbers at the current rate, we have to see more than 48 people joining each year – at least one person a week. Just something to think about.
Especially since growth isn't measured just by our numbers.
There's another growth factor, and it's measured by more than just how full our auditorium is or whether or not we're running out of classrooms. It's called maturity.
Hebrews 5:11-6:1
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity…
We have posed a question for this series: What do we need when life is BIG?"
Big Ideas; Big Leaders. Big Strides
That is, we need in our lives individually and as a church body to have visible progress.
We're going to talk about why, and then we're going to consider some ways that we get there.
Progress definitely was a visible thing in Jerusalem around 444 BC. In fact, that's one of 3 lessons I want us to learn from the story of Nehemiah today:
I. The Value of Measuring
Socrates urged many years ago "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Ill - Howard Hendricks was relating the story of a dear lady who had been teaching a SS class for 25 years. But she'd never taken a step back to consider that she was actually doing a terrible job, and her years of experience hadn't done her much good. If anyone would approach her with helpful suggestions or constructive criticism, her response was always, "I don't need your advice. I have 25 years of experience teaching SS!" Hendricks says that's not true. Because she never evaluated her work, what she really had was 1 year of experience 25X!
As I look at the story of Nehemiah, it's just oozing with the importance of seeing progress:
4:6 "So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart."
6:15-16 "So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God."
Progress is easy to measure when you can count the bricks, or add up the income, or look at the map and see how far you've come.
Tracking your personal spiritual progress is a little tougher.
So, some reduce spiritual growth to numbers (I'm a person who likes to do that):
• How much time do you spend praying each day?
• How many verses do you have memorized?
• How much money do you give?
Problem is, we can manage to improve the numbers without really progressing much. It's called going through the motions. Other people know it as hypocrisy.
Those are all good things, but numbers don't always measure the unseeable. How have you grown in the area of forgiveness? How much have you increased in your love for God? How much have you progressed in your faith? How do you measure your patience?
Making big strides in those things is encouraging, but a bit harder to really measure.
As a Church body, we have the same need – to measure the right things. Numbers tell us something, but not everything.
A study was done of churches of all sizes worldwide. In the churches that have had good, steady numerical growth in the past 5 years, about 70% hadn't announced any kind of actual attendance goal. In other words, increasing in size didn't happen because those congregations were focused on measuring their numbers.
One challenge before us is to measure the right things; to recognize that growth isn't just quantity, and that quality precedes lasting quantity. Numbers are an evidence of quality growth, but not just numbers. A church may suddenly boom in numbers because the community grows, or it may decline just because a plant shuts down – but what do those things have to do with people becoming more like Jesus? What does that have to do with people growing a greater love for God, or a stronger care for lost souls?
When we measure progress in the right areas, then we can see if we've made big strides or not.
Life is getting bigger at a dizzying pace. Are we? Are we bigging back?
Every week we gather around the Lord's Table and that's the time we ought to be asking this question. The Lord's Supper is a time for examining ourselves. Were you focused on that today? Were you asking, "Have I grown this week? Where am I still faltering and needing to change? Is the fruit of the HS evident in my life? How did I fail Him this week? Where did I make progress this week?"
Ill - You reach a point in your life where the doctor regularly checks your BP, your cholesterol, and other signs. If you visit him and he says, "Hey, you've made progress! Your level is down from 296 to 221! Keep up the good work!" Suddenly, you appreciate the value of measuring. Not only do you like your doctor better, but you are encouraged to press ahead.
Quote - John Foster Dulles - The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it's the same problem you had last year.
So, we need to put into our lives some ways of measuring our progress in the right things. We need it because progress is essential, and we need it because when we do make big strides, it encourages us to make more.
II. The Power of Cooperation (ch 3)
Joke - Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demands that Linus change the TV channel and threatens him with her fist if he doesn't. Linus asks, "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" "These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they're nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that's terrible to behold." Linus says, "Which channel do you want?" Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?"
Jerusalem had about 1 mile of wall to rebuild. The first hindrance was rubble. The workers could hardly even reach the place they needed to work. Then there was opposition, internal problems, discouragement. It's interesting to me that the wall was finished to ½ its height. It wasn't finished a section at a time. The whole wall was finished…to ½ its height. In other words, the work was going on all around the city at the same time. It was a cooperative effort.
What if, as the work got under way, there were some who said,
“You’re not keeping your receipts. You haven’t submitted your section’s materials list! You’re neglecting the financial side of this job!”
And then someone else chimed in: “You people are making this the ugliest wall in history! What about color coordination? What about not spilling so much mortar on the ground? Has anyone considered that this old style of trim went out with the late Bronze Age?”
And someone else said, “I want to know who’s making sure that all this rock and brick moving is being done in a safe fashion. If there were such a thing as OSHA right now, this whole works would be shut down!”
I count in the text at least 10 gates to be rebuilt and set, some 4-5 towers, about 1 mile of wall. It took people working together!
Nehemiah 3:9 (NIV)
Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section.
Nehemiah 3:12 (NIV)
Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section with the help of his daughters.
Everyone was doing his part! (her part!) And then we get to people like Malchijah at
Nehemiah 3:14 (NIV)
The Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah son of Recab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem. He rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place.
3 cheers for Malchijah!
These people made big strides because everyone joined in. Of the 46 people and groups named in ch 3, only one group didn't help –
Nehemiah 3:5 (NIV)
The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
Party poopers!
This may shock you, but in groups of people today, like the Church, those aren't the usual figures! What usually applies is called the "80-20 principle" That is that 80% of the work, 80% of the giving, is usually done by 20% of the people. And the other 20% of the work, and 20% of the giving, is usually done by 80% of the people. Does that sound right to you?
But when the 80-20 principle becomes the 98-2 principle, and 98% of the people throw themselves into the task, things happen! Big Strides are made!
What I'm saying for us is this: Every person who belongs to Jesus Christ is a minister. God has prepared good works for every one of us to walk in. Every part of the Body of Christ has an important function. Every member of the family has significance.
So anyone who is a part or who is considering being a part of CCC needs to consider: being a part of this body of believers comes with an expectation that you'll be giving the gifts the Lord intends to give His Church through you, whatever they may be.
Big strides are made when more than just the faithful and tired 20% are joining in. There's great power when "each does his part." That’s the power of cooperation.
III. The Real Heart of the Matter
Nehemiah 4:6 (NIV)
So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
Nehemiah 6:15 (NIV)
15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
They had a great leader; they considered a need, made plans, sought God's help from the start. But even more basic to all these important things is the heart. Behind every piece of rubble that was moved, behind every stone, every ounce of mortar that was mixed was a heart set on doing great things for God.
Step outside the scene here this morning and consider what it means to be a Christian, to be the Church. What's the real heart of the matter?
A better question would be: What's your heart in all this?
Is it a matter of being saved by being good enough, or a matter of pleasing God?
Is it a matter of doing what you have to do to make it to heaven, or a matter of doing whatever you can for the God Who has saved you and loves you?
Let's get even more practical:
When you attend Sunday morning worship, maybe SS, or, maybe even on a Wed. night, is it an effort to remain a "member in good standing," or is it because there's no place you'd rather be than together with the Lord's people worshiping Him?
When you give money, is it to pay the electric bill and the staff salaries, to "pay your dues," or is it for the sake of reaching lost people and helping people to know Christ fully?
When you gather around the Lord’s Table, is it because this work somehow "clinches your status" with God, or is it because you wouldn't want to miss a chance to acknowledge and remember what Jesus has done for you?
When you watch the nursery, is it to "do your time babysitting," or is it to be a part of taking the earliest chance to instill Jesus in those kids and to give their parents the chance to be fed?
When you refrain from language that's wrong, or when you’re the only one who doesn't laugh at an off-color joke, is that because you just can't bear the thought of doing that to your Lord and Savior, or is it because you know that somehow you're supposed to be different from everyone else even though you really don't want to be?
The people who all returned to rebuild Jerusalem weren't all wall builders by trade. That's not what made it happen. The people had a heart to work.
Somewhere behind all the "good things" we might do is the underlying heart of the matter. Hearts that are set on doing the work make great strides for the Lord.
That makes sense. Jesus said, " For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." If your heart is right, your words will be too!
Whether or not we'll invite our lost friends to come with us to church isn't a matter of technique as much as it's a matter of heart. If we really care about them, we won't be content until we figure out how to do it!
How involved and effective we'll be as a congregation in missions work isn't as much a matter of strategy and money as it is first a matter of our hearts. The real heart of the matter is what will make us effective and keep our focus outward and BIG.
Let's look at ourselves this morning with honest eyes. What's the heart of the matter when it comes to what we look like? The real heart of the matter is the reason Jews in Jerusalem, church congregations in IL, and you right there this morning, make big strides.
Conclusion:
When the starter raised the gun and said, "On your mark, get set ..." it looked like every other hundred-meter dash. The contestants were lined up in the starting blocks. The crowd was on the edge of their chairs in suspended anticipation.
The starter fired the gun, the contestants sprang out of the starting blocks, and even the casual observer could tell something was different. This was the Special Olympics. It was special because the contestants were developmentally and physically disabled.
It was special for a far greater reason than that. It was special because of the way that 100-meter dash was run. The runners moved down the track shoulder-to-shoulder. Suddenly one of the young women sprawled headlong on the track and turned over in some amount of pain and embarrassment.
The rest of the contestants moved on for 10-15 steps. Then, without any communication among themselves, they all stopped, turned around, and ran back to their fallen friend. They picked her up off the track, dusted her off, and then arm in arm they ran together to the finish line. You see, those runners would rather finish together than win the race individually.
Isn't that a great picture of the body of Christ? All of us have spiritual, emotional, and relational disabilities. We might look as though we're fine when the starter raises his gun, but as soon as the race begins, all of our warts show. And sometime, we'll fall over.
But with the right hearts, with the power of cooperation, and with the goal in sight, the whole group can make big strides and finish together.
This morning, we want to invite you to make big strides. We want for you to be able to look back at this day and say, "August 15, 2010; that was the day I made the most important step in my life. That was the day I said, 'Yes' to Jesus and have been moving forward since then."
