Nehemiah 02: Working Together for Restoration
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INTRODUCTION
Nehemiah: Restoring A Nation:
“Working Together”
INTRODUCTION
This morning during our first hour today, we began a series on the book of Nehemiah the twill focus on Nehemiah’s efforts to bring restoration among the remnant of God people who were in Jerusalem. Throughout this book, he leads the people of God in restoring the nation.
The things that Nehemiah does for his nation serve as a good example for us as we seek restoration in our own lives.
WHAT IS RESTORATION?
And what do we mean by restoration? As we discussed in our lesson during our first hour, a good illustration by what I mean when I use this term is restoring automobiles. You begin with a vehicle that does not look like it did when it first left the showroom floor. The desire of the restorers is to make it look as good as new — like it was when it was first designed and built, and it is constantly being prepared for the time in which it will before the eyes of others in a show, when judges will examine it to see just how well the work has been done, and hopefully rewards will be given for a job well-done.
This is what we are aiming for as God’s people — to be restored to what God first intended at the creation of mankind — that we would be individuals who submit to His rule as those who are made in His image. We are being transformed into the image of Christ so we can enjoy the relationship with Him that He made us to have. This is a daily process for all of us as we help others to be restored to God and grow in a relationship with Him and as we ourselves work in our hearts to accomplish the same.
and it is safe for all of to say that we have not achieved this goal yet. There is still work to do for all of us in being restored to what God originally intended for us. It is a life-long process for us. And it is a life-long mission for God’s people to help others be restored to God.
THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH
Nehemiah was the trusted cupbearer to king Artaxerxes of Persia. He would be in a great position to help God’s people. He learned about the state of his people in Jerusalem, and out of compassion for his nation, he decided to do what he could to help. It wasn’t good enough for Nehemiah to pray that God would send others to help His people. Nehemiah wanted to be part of the solution. He wanted to help by serving God and His people.
He fervently and persistently prayed over a period of about 4 months for the opportunity to approach the king about this matter. And as he waited for this opportunity, he prepared for God’s answer by making a plan regarding the things he would need to accomplish the work he would do for the Lord.
And God blessed Nehemiah and answered his persistent prayers. He got his open door, and in , Nehemiah is granted all that he requested of the king to do the work. And the reason was because the “good hand of [his] God was upon him.”
We are picking up our study of Nehemiah in verses 9-16 of ch2. When Nehemiah got to Jerusalem, he didn’t go straight to the people and tell them about his plan that the Lord had blessed. He first finishes planning the work and making sure everything is ready. He inspects the walls and prepared for three days before he brings his vision of restoration to the people.
In verses 17-18, Nehemiah finally speaks to the people and shares his plan and how God (and the king) had blessed him, and he receives the response from the people that he hoped for:
“17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” 18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” (, ESV)
For our lesson today, I would like us to consider some lessons we can learn from this group of workers that decided to put their hands to the plough and get to work on the walls of Jerusalem. What lessons can we learn from them that can help us in our own restoration efforts for the Lord.
THEIR MOTIVATION TO WORK
Let’s begin by considering some of their motivations for deciding to get to work.
Nehemiah’s words give us all of the necessary reasons why this group of people decided to get to work.
First, Nehemiah gets them to consider the state of the walls and the trouble this brought to them as God’s people. This is an important thing that servant-leaders do — they bring the attention of the people they are leading to the problem and plead with them to join them in the work that needs done. They don’t just say, “get to work.” That is not what kingdom leaders do. This is not what Nehemiah does. Nehemiah wants them to see the problem, to empathize with what he is feeling about the problem, and to be willing to be moved to do something to fix the problem alongside him with him.
Being willing to understand the need before them and the consequences of leaving things the way they are is a good motivation for God’s people here to answer Nehemiah’s plea to get to work alongside him.
A second motivation that the people had was the blessing of knowing that God was behind Nehemiah’s vision. There was not any doubt among the people that God’s hand had been in all that happened in bringing this work about, and they were confident that God would bless their efforts and be pleased with them in their work.
These motivations are important for us also as we approach our work to bring restoration. We need to share the vision of Jesus and His Apostles. We need to see the need to get to work. And God has given his his people leaders to help them see the work that needs done and to motivate them to do it, understanding that, as they do their work for the Lord, Jesus will be with them and bless their efforts. This is what Jesus promises His people as they seek to bring restoration.
“18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (, ESV)
Jesus is talking about restoration in this passage. He is talking about going into the world and restoring people to the Lord — making the lost disciples of His. And then, once they become disciples, to continue this process of teaching them so they can grow to be more like their teacher. This is the work Jesus has given His people. We need to see this great need to help souls be restored into the image of God and be moved to do something to help this work get done.
LIKE-MINDED/UNITY
The next quality we see in this group of people is their like-mindedness and unity in desiring to do the work and continue the work. They want to get involved in fulfilling the mission together. They unite themselves together to do this common work together.
And there is a lot of credit to give to Nehemiah. The workers see the faith of Nehemiah, the man who God would use to lead them. They see His love for God, for Jerusalem (God’s city), and His compassion for God’s people. They see it and want to step in line and follow the example of their leader.
This is an idea that is emphasized all throughout chapter three, a chapter that records who repaired which section of the wall. A phrase that is repeated time and time again is this phrase: “next to him.” This phrase is used about 15-20 times in chapter 3. They are working right next to each other. They are working with one another. They are there working together, and they are there to help one another.
This attitude of being coworkers and having this likemindedness in the Lord’s work is one that Paul stresses in the book of Philippians. In , Paul says:
“27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel…” (, ESV)
We are given the picture here of the “oneness”, or the unity God desires His people to have. What is the most challenging part of this section to me is this: the unity that Christians can grow to have with one another is the result of what Paul describes in v27 as conducting ourselves “in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” Their lives as individuals needed to be lived a certain way… a way that reflected the heart of the gospel message. Whenever we think about the heart of the gospel message, it is a message of sacrifice, self-denial, and a concern for others that has the outcome of victory for those who are served.
Paul tells them that if they live lives worthy of the Gospel, then he would hear that they are standing fast together in ONE spirit, striving/working alongside each other with ONE mind, and that they would do all of this TOGETHER as they are enduring trials and suffering that God graciously brings their way. This is how God’s people live in a Gospel-honoring and Gospel-centered way (of course he will get to the “how” soon). Paul wants them to view themselves as fellow citizens and soldiers in the battle of life, standing shoulder to shoulder, helping one another to be emboldened as their adversaries turned up the heat on them, remembering the fact that they are brothers tied together by the blood of Jesus Christ.
If God gives his people work to do, they need to rally together and rise to the occasion and work together. God’s people, including us, need to see the need, and be willing to say together, “Let us rise up” and get to work.
EVERYONE SAW THEIR NEED TO WORK
Now, let’s move onto our third point. The third lesson I would like us to see from this group of workers is that, not only did everyone see the need, and not only did they want to get to work together in meeting the need, everyone understood that they had work to do. It is important for us to understand the type of people who agreed to do the work. These were not professionals. They were not carpenters and tradesmen that you would entrust to build your house. They didn’t hire professionals to do the work for them. They say, “Let US rise up and build,” not “let someone else rise up and build."
People of all occupations were doing the work. We see this in chapter 3 of Nehemiah.
v8 — perfumersv8, 31— goldsmithsv26 — temple servants v32 – merchantsv22 — The priests Leaders & officials — v9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. No one is too good to get their hands dirty. They are from other cities. Distance didn’t keep them from workingAn official with his daughters — v12 — women were working too! Everyone’s role is important.
It may be the case that we often look at the work that is being done and envision that it is only skilled men doing the work, but this is not the case.
HOW ABOUT US?
It should be sobering for us to see that you didn’t have the perfumers saying, “that’s not my skill, I can’t do this!” You don’t see the officials and leaders saying, “we can’t do this hard work. We can’t get our hands dirty!” But may it be the case that we make excuses to do things that we are called to do by Jesus? We may say things like, “I don’t know what to say to someone about the Gospel,” so we someone else to do that work. We may say, “I cannot teach God’s people or preach a sermon,” so we may ignore that work and entrust it only to those who we think can do it. We make excuses not to try. We make excuses to put off work that needs to be done. But the truth is, there is not a good excuse to neglect or ignore the restoration work that God desires His people to do. If God gives His people work to do, we need to remember that He is more than able to equip us for the work that He wants us to do. Often, our excuses may show that we just don’t want to do the work God desires us to do. Our excuses may show that we want to stay in our comfort zones and only do those things that do not require self-denial. If we see that this is the case as we examine ourselves and the excuses we make, then we have some serious work to do in restoring our hearts — in getting them where they need to be so we can please the Lord.
CONCLUSION
What do we see in these builders. Those who desire restoration are motivated to work. They want to join together with God’s people and do what needs done. And each one of them as an individual decided to get outside of their comfort zone to do the work that needed doe for God and His people.
If there is anything that we can do for you to help you be restored to the Lord or to grow in reflecting the glorious image of Jesus, why don’t you make your need known as together we stand and sing?