Turn to Nehemiah chapter 3
What’s your job in the Church?
What’s your work for the Lord?
What are you doing to advance God’s kingdom here on Earth?
In the world today, there are a great variety of people:
Young & old; rich & poor; educated & uneducated.
Doesn’t it make sense that it would take a variety of people working for God to reach them all?
In the Lord’s work today, there are a great variety of jobs that need to be done:
Of course, there is the teaching and preaching,
And there are the jobs needed in the a congregation like this:
cleaning, sweeping, waxing, watering, painting.
But the Lord’s work involves more than just jobs around the church,
the Lord’s work also involves jobs around the community.
In Camp 7 today, there are a great number of jobs to do for the Lord — not just cleaning the chapel:
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a widow who needs some company.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a family that doesn’t have enough to eat tonight.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a sin that needs to be confessed.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a wife who needs to ask her husband’s forgiveness.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a family that needs new clothes, but they can’t afford it.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a person who needs to tell her friend about the love of God.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a roof that needs to be fixed (I hope it isn’t Manang Rosita’s roof).
In the Lord’s work today, there are a great variety of jobs that need to be done.
Not just jobs around the church,
But jobs that need to be done in people’s lives.
People that we know.
People that we see every day.
People who live next door to us. Or down the road a bit.
People who are hurting. People who are lonely. People who are hungry.
People who will spend all of eternity in Hell because no one ever explained to them how to go to heaven.
Now, Nehemiah Chapter 3 is the kind of chapter that I always want to skip.
When you first read it, it seems to be just another one of those lists of unpronounceable names that the Bible has so many of.
But chapter 3 is not a chapter to be skipped!
In my studying for this series of sermons, I was pleased to find that chapter 3 is one of the most interesting chapters in the book of Nehemiah.
Because, along with all these unpronounceable names,
this chapter is filled with lessons to be learned about doing the work of God.
Lessons that will speak to our lives today — right here in Camp 7.
1 Elia-shib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel.
Last week we looked at Nehemiah chapter 2 —
When Nehemiah finally revealed his plan to the people and called on them to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Chapter 3 tells of the beginning of that great work.
The initiative is taken by Eliashib the high priest, who, along with his fellow priests, rebuilt quite a bit of the wall, a gate and a tower.
Now, in chapter 3 we’re going to see two different kinds of work being done: rebuilding and repairing.
It seems that the wall was not torn down evenly by the enemies of Jerusalem;
some sections needed to be completely rebuilt,
while other sections just needed to be repaired.
And, you know, it’s the same with our lives.
Sometimes there’s a part of our lives that has been damaged:
A broken heart, A wounded spirit, A cracked self esteem, A collapsed dream.
And sometimes the damaged area just needs to be repaired,
Other times it needs to be completely rebuilt from the ground up.
But either way, I know the perfect contractor to fix the damaged areas in your life: Jesus Christ.
It’s a fact that if you try to repair your own life with your own strength and your own resources, whatever you fix will quickly break again.
Illus: There was a mechanic once who guaranteed his repairs — 5 days or 50 kilometers (whichever came first).
But if you allow Jesus to fix your life, the repairs will last forever — that’s a good guarantee.
Have you ever been used by Jesus to fix someone else’s life?
What a joy!
What a great thing it is to come home at night, take off your shoes and say, "God used me today."
If you’ve never been able to say that, then you’re missing out on one of the greatest joys of being a Christian.
It may be that God wants to use you to fix the life of someone you know.
But you’ll never know if you never try to help people.
A boat. An airplane. A car. A tricee: All can be steered, but they all need one thing before they can be steered — they need to be moving.
Once you start looking for opportunities to be used by God, God will steer you.
But first you have to start moving.
2 The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.
Now, what we’re reading here is a description of the work on the walls of Jerusalem —
— section by section, counter-clockwise around the city —
— from the Sheep Gate in verse 1, around the city, and back to the Sheep Gate in verse 32.
Now, notice who’s doing the work here in verse 2: "The men of Jericho."
In chapter 3, there are workers who come from all over the surrounding area to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem:
Men of Jericho, Tekoa, Gibeon, Mizpah, Zanoah, Beth-Zur....
we read in v. 1 about the priests of Jerusalem working on the wall,
but v. 22 says that the priests from the surrounding region also came to work.
Eventually, after we’ve signed up for as many square meters as possible,we’re going to ask other Christians to help us with this project.
And it’s right for us to do so.
It was right for Nehemiah to ask God’s people from all over the world to help with the work of the Lord back then.
And it’s right for us today to ask God’s people from all over the world to help with the work of the Lord here in Camp 7.
3 The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place.
Now, here is a family working together.
What better way to grow closer as a family than to work together?
And what better work is there than doing the work of God together?
Does your family find ways to serve the Lord together?
That’s why this project is such a great opportunity for families to participate together in the work of God;
For families to sacrifice together to buy this land for the Lord’s work.
What a great thing it’ll be to stand on this piece of land a year from now with your spouses, your children, your brothers and sisters and be able to say, "God used our family to buy this land for his Church."
4 Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section. Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs, and next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs. 5 The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
Now, Tekoa was a small town about 16km from Jerusalem.
The "nobles" of Tekoa were the wealthy land-owners of that town.
And it says that they refused to participate in this work of God.
Because they wouldn’t be placed under a supervisor.
These men were rich. These men were employers.
When there was work being done in Tekoa, they were the supervisors and others did the work.
Are there people in the world today who are so used to giving orders that they refuse to take orders from someone else?
Are there people in the Church like this today?
Can you picture it?
A bank manager, A successful businessman, A person who just built a house in Petersville,
Being asked to build a wall?
Being ordered around by someone else: "You! Work on this section here!"
Let me tell you this: You can never be so successful in this world that God will no longer place you under someone else’s supervision.
Jeremiah 48:10 — A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD’s work!
A curse on him who is lazy or negligent in doing the Lord’s work!
I hope that once we buy this land and start building on it and we ask for your help,
I hope that none of us will think that we’re too rich, or too successful, or too good to do the work that needs to be done.
6-8 The Jeshanah Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. Next to them, repairs were made by men from Gibeon and Mizpah — Mela-tiah of Gibeon and Jadon of Meronoth -- places under the authority of the governor of Trans-Euphrates. Uzziel son of Harha-iah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired the next section; and Hananiah, one of the perfume-makers, made repairs next to that. They restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
Now, look who’s working here: Goldsmiths! Perfume-makers!
Now, this was not their job! Not their specialty! They didn’t know anything about building walls!
But they did what needed to be done.
God didn’t need a thousand masons and carpenters to rebuild the wall — he needed ordinary people who were willing to work.
It’s the same way in God’s Kingdom today:
God doesn’t need trained, professional Christian workers to build his Church;
all he needs is ordinary people who are willing to work.
These people are the opposite from those who say, "I’m too good to do this kind of work."
These are the people who say, "I’m not good enough to do this kind of work."
"I can’t do that." "I don’t have the right education."
"I don’t have the right talents." "I don’t have enough money."
Instead, look at the work of the Church and say,
"I’m not sure how to do it, but I see that something needs to be done and I’m willing."
...And God will use you.
9 Repha-iah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section. Adjoining this, Jeda-iah son of Haru-maph made repairs opposite his house, and Hattush son of Ha-shab-ne-iah made repairs next to him. Mal-ky-jah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pa-hath-Moab repaired another section and the Tower of the Ovens. [LISTEN TO THIS] Shallum son of Hallo-hesh, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section with the help of his daughters.
Ladies, girls, don’t ever let me hear you say that you can’t do something because you’re a woman.
Many, many women throughout the centuries have been used by God to build his church.
Sometimes, God prefers to use a woman or a young girl.
So when there’s work to be done, don’t look around for someone else to do it.
Look first at yourself.
If you’re willing, then God will use you.
13 The Valley Gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zan-oah. They rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. They also repaired five hundred yards of the wall as far as the Dung Gate. The Dung Gate was repaired by Malki-jah son of Recab, ruler of the district of Beth Hak-kerem. He rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place.
Very often, there will be something unpleasant that needs to be done in the work of the Church.
I don’t know why this gate was called the "Dung Gate" but I can’t think of anything good.
Many times, we’re willing to do the work of the Church, as long as it’s pleasant or fun or exciting.
Look at verse 13 — Hanun was working along; working hard, building, building, building... but when he got to the Dung Gate, he stopped.
"We’ll just let someone else take care of that."
But someone has to repair the Dung Gate!
Oh, sure! Everyone wants to repair the Tower of the Ovens (v. 11) — that’s where they baked the bread in Jerusalem!
It’s easy to find workers for the Fountain Gate (v. 15).
No problem when the wall next to the King’s garden needs work,
But who’s going to fix the Dung Gate?!!
We still have "Dung Gates" in God’s work today.
That is, there are unpleasant jobs to be done for the Lord’s work right here in Camp 7.
Oh, sure! Everyone wants to bring flowers and it was fun when we painted the walls,
But who cleans the toilets? Who cleans the baptistry?
Who visits the old woman? Who goes to the jail?
Who picks the drunkard up off the road when he’s laying in his own vomit?
Maybe God is waiting for you.
Let’s skip down a bit to verse 20:
Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the angle to the entrance of the house of Elia-shib the high priest.
Now, this is amazing! What an amazing description!
All of these workers were working hard.
4:6 says that "the people worked with all their heart."
But, in a crowd of hard-working people, Baruch stood out from the rest.
Have you ever wished you were young again? Remember the energy you had?
Remember how interesting everything was?
If you could, would you return to the zeal of youth?
Zeal = Fervor; Enthusiastic diligence; passion — a fire in the soul; intense emotion for God’s Kingdom.
"What we’re missing today are wise young believers and zealous old believers."
We need people like Baruch who say, "Never mind what everyone else is doing, I will do my very best."
Colossians 3:17 — Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
...If you do, you’ll stand out from the rest — no matter how hard they’re working too.
21 Next to him, Mere-moth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the entrance of Elia- shib’s house to the end of it.
This is interesting.
When I was studying this chapter, I noticed that many of the workers were repairing the wall in front of their own homes:
v. 10 — Jedaiah...made repairs opposite his house...
v. 23 — Benjamin and Hass-hub made repairs in front of their house; and next to them, Azariah made repairs beside his house.
v. 28 — the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.
v. 29 — Zadok...made repairs opposite his house...
Some people are like this when they’re working for the Church too.
They’ll do the work as long as they find some value for themselves in it.
If it’s going to help me, I’ll work for God;
Otherwise, forget it! (no one would ever say that out loud, but our actions show that this is exactly what we’re thinking.)
But look again at Mere-moth in v. 21:
When everyone else is just looking out for themselves, repairing the wall in front of their own houses —
He repaired the section in front of someone else’s house, never mind his own!
Jesus said that the second greatest command is to "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Philippians 2:3 — Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
In a world where everyone is only concerned for themselves,
Christians are supposed to be different.
Christians are supposed to take care of others first; themselves last.
27 Next to them, the men of Tekoa repaired another section, from the great projecting tower to the wall of Ophel.
Remember the men of Tekoa? Their nobles wouldn’t work under their supervisors.
These men of Tekoa — common, ordinary men
finished the section of the wall they were working on, then they went to work on another section.
Some people, when doing the work of God, would finish their work and say,
"Okay, I’m done! Hurry up you guys!"
But what an example the men of Tekoa are for us.
There is a tendency among Christians to not be involved in the work of the Church.
But among those who do work for the Lord,
there is a tendency to finish the work they volunteered for and then stop.
(stretching) "Boy, that was good to do the Lord’s work, but I’m finished now..."
But we’re never finished.
When you complete one job for the Lord, don’t just sit back as if you’ve fulfilled your ultimate responsibility as a Christian and now there’s nothing else for you to do!
As long as there is work to be done in God’s Kingdom, there’s work for you to do.
Conclusion — In the Lord’s work today, there are a great variety of jobs that need to be done.
Not just jobs around the church,
But jobs that need to be done in people’s lives.
Somewhere — today — in Camp 7, there is a sick child who needs medicine, buy his parents can’t afford it.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a boy who needs a new pair of shoes (or even a used pair of shoes).
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a child that no one wants.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a house that needs to be painted.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a person who needs to be shown some kindness.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a man who wants to go to heaven, but he doesn’t know how.
Somewhere in Camp 7, there is a sick person who needs help — or maybe just some company.
Look around! Look around yourself!
Learn to see people the way God sees them.
Learn to look at the people around you with God’s eyes.
See their hurt. See their need. See their longing.
Illus: A Man dreams he goes to heaven and an angel is showing him around. They're walking around the wall of the city and the come to a place where the wall was not finished. The man asks the angel, "Why is the wall not built in this section?" The angel answered "That part was left for you to do, but you never did the work."
If you are willing, God can use you.
But God can’t guide you until you start moving.
