How The Work Gets Done

Introduction

Good morning. If you were opening your Old Testament to the book of Nehemiah. The book of Nehemiah is where we’re going to be studying this evening. By virtue of our gospel meeting last week and some other different arrangements. It’s been a while since Ken and I both preached at the same time. And when he did, I want to remind everyone he hurt my feelings the last time. When he equated my preaching to suffering. I felt really bad about that until somebody came up to me and said, you just need to point out that if Ken’s going to tell you about suffering, he needs to read Matthew 7 and verse 3. Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye when you have a log in your own eye?

I told Deedra, that’s mean. She said, Ken’s a piece of work, which leads us to our topic this morning. How the work gets done. Nehemiah is an excellent leader, and when we study the book of Nehemiah or even Ezra, we’re in not only the Old Testament times, but Israel has become a nation, entered the promised land, been afflicted in the promised land, pulled out of the promised land, and started to return back into yes, you guessed it, the promised land. By the time Nehemiah comes around, this is the third wave of the return. The first wave around 536 BC, led by Zerubbabel. The people left their captivity, and remember, Israel and Judah were thrown into captivity because of their unfaithfulness, because of their rebellion against trusting in God’s ways and God’s plan.

And so Zerubbabel leads the people back. And then Ezra comes on the scene, perhaps around 455 B.C. And he’s there to teach them. To teach them the need to return to God, to stay on fire this time for all the precepts and commandments of God. But when it comes to Nehemiah, he’s leading the third return. We’re around 445 B.C. I know you can picture it like it was yesterday, Ken. But in 445 BC, you have Nehemiah coming back, and now the people are back, and the temple has been built up. There is a spiritual reform going on, but there is a big problem. The people are having some apathy, and the walls have not quite been finished. You think about the walls, you think about the temple.

There was a lot to rebuild. There was a lot to work on. And so, when we read in Nehemiah chapter 1, we read in verse 2, Nehemiah asks from the safety of a different empire. Nehemiah has not yet gone back to Jerusalem. He is in fact a cutbearer for the king. And in verse 2, he asks about the Jews. He asked about Jerusalem. And notice the bleak picture that he has given in verse 3. And they said to me, the remnant there is in the province who had survived the exile in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire. Appropriately, notice how severe this is in verse 4 when you see Nehemiah’s reaction. As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days.

And I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah is going to feel an appeal to be part of the work, to not just go back and to help these Jews who are in great trouble, who are facing great shame, who have no walls to protect them. And he realizes I can make a difference here. But notice in verse 4, through really most of the chapter, chapter 1, he is in prayer to God. And what we’re going to learn is not just about leadership, although that’s a point. The question is, how do we, as God’s people, in the New Testament times, as Christians, do the work that God wants us to do. Because the thing about the Old Testament is the Israelites knew what God wanted.

And I don’t just mean the sacrifices, the rituals and keeping of all the commandments. You see, they were a promised people that God made a special covenant with. Dating back to Genesis chapter 12, God went to Abraham and said, I will make of you a great nation. And not only was this a great nation in relationship with God, but he said they would be given a promised land. What God wanted for his people, aside from, of course, faithfulness, was to be his special people, and to be in the land he had specially prepared for them. But then there was that third promise that through his seed all families of the earth will be blessed. And so as Christians, those who partake in the blessings of Christ, we are God’s children in a much better capacity.

But there is much greater work then to be done as well. So when we think about how the work gets done, we have to identify what is the work, who leads us in the work, and how do we go about finding our place? Nehemiah takes leadership, notice with me in verse 5, and I said, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive, and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant, that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel, your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.

We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. But remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. Notice in verse 9, though. But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there. Then there’s this last line in Nehemiah chapter 1. Now I, Nehemiah, was cutbearer to the king. As we think about the work of Christians in this 21st century, we’re not trying to rebuild a wall.

1. Great Leadership Must Lead From the Front

We’re not trying to make sure that we have some sort of Jewish ritual adherence to law. But we do have a great responsibility. And that responsibility which we’re about to outline requires first and foremost great leadership. And that great leadership must lead from the front, or as we might be more comfortable calling it, by example. Do you notice right off the bat, Nehemiah, who I’m going to spoil a little bit of this study for you, is an amazing leader. He is a faithful servant of God to the utmost. He is who you put on a pedestal and say, I want to have faith if it’s like a man, like Nehemiah’s. But notice when he goes to pray, by the way, he’s already in prayer when he just hears about the work of the Lord being in ruins.

When he hears about the people of God facing great shame. Notice what he says in verse 6 and 7 We have sinned against you. Israel has violated your wills, but notice the end of verse 6 Even I and my father’s house have sinned. Nehemiah from the beginning includes himself with the people, and let’s be honest this morning. If you read the book of Nehemiah, he is a lot more faithful than most in that nation. But he realizes he too is a person. He is somebody who needs to be part of the work. In fact, in chapter 2, when you continue in the reading, you see the king notices him in verse 2 and says, Why are you sad? His countenance had fallen. The king is concerned, perhaps for his own well-being that his cupbearer seems disturbed, but also perhaps because of the close proximity between Nehemiah and the king.

And he’s saying, What’s wrong, Nehemiah? And what’s on Nehemiah’s mind? God’s people are facing great trouble and shame. They’re at risk. They are vulnerable because the walls have been broken down and consumed by fire. Nehemiah says, I have to do something. But notice what Nehemiah does about this to continue a theme here. In chapter 2, beginning in verse 4, the king said, What are you requesting? Stop. So I prayed to the God of heaven. Continue, verse 5. Then I said to the king, and he gives his request that he go back with the people to help them in this work. Nehemiah is a great leader for numerous reasons, but just to identify a few from chapters 1 and 2, when he sees a problem, what is Nehemiah’s first reaction?

He stopped to pray. And in verse 4 and 5, we say, okay, well, he was in great emotional distress, so he stopped to pray. That’s great. I do that. But what about in chapter 2? What about verses 4 and 5? Do we really think about stopping to pray in any conception of prayer? In the moment of a crucial, tough conversation. Nehemiah did. It’d be really easy for someone with the important rank of cupbearer. Or even the faith of Nehemiah to say, I know I’m doing what God wants. I don’t have to stop and pray. I don’t have to stop and ask. But he did. The idea that verse 4 would read, the king says, What are you requesting? So I prayed to the God of heaven is astounding.

Nehemiah, this great faithful leader, this person of great prominence in a foreign Gentile empire, stops to pray to the God of heaven because he knows God alone gives strength, understanding, and his will will be done. You see, the work needed to be done. What did they need to do? They needed to go back. They needed to come together as Nehemiah mentioned in his chapter one prayer. God, if we are faithful to you, you said you would gather us from everywhere, the utmost of creation. You would bring us together if we would keep your will. The people needed spiritual reform that Ezra brought. They would need more spiritual reform after Ezra and Nehemiah worked with them. But they needed walls. And Nehemiah said, There is a need, so I will do what?

I will try to fix it. And the first step in me helping is getting God’s decree. See, sometimes we’re so quick to say, hey, there’s a need out there that we just run and do it. And we don’t first stop and ask, is this God’s way of fixing it? Nehemiah took ownership. I think really one of our concepts of leadership in the 21st century really is the idea of a CEO or a company president, somebody who sits in an office and maybe has what we might call big picture ideas and they decree down and everyone below them does all the hard work. Or maybe if you go back, maybe even past Nehemiah’s day, or even into that kingdom, the Persian kingdom, perhaps, you think of a king who sits back and makes his decrees, and if they’re not followed, he has his servants tortured, beaten, or lashed.

And again, this is the idea of the leader sitting behind, bellowing out commands. Scriptural leadership like Nehemiah says, I can be useful. I need God’s guidance and send me. What was Nehemiah’s request in chapter 2 in verse 5? He says, if it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, you send me to Judah, the city of my father’s grave, so that I may rebuild it. He doesn’t say, King, support this work. He could have done that. He doesn’t say, send them all the supplies he’s about to ask for. He could have done just that. He said, send me, and I will help rebuild that wall. As we think about servant leadership, there is no greater example, perhaps, than in John chapter 13.

And the example of Jesus in John chapter 13 is certainly the principal example of this. In John chapter 13, if we think about building a wall as something maybe for servants to do, you think about John chapter 13, washing feet certainly was not at the top of the list for people of high ranking status in society.

Notice in verse 3, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter and said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, What I am doing, you do not understand now. But afterward you will understand. Peter said, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Notice Peter’s tune changes quickly in verse 9.

Then don’t just wash my feet, wash my whole head. And my hands as well. Verse 10, Jesus says, The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you, knowing Judas was there. When you think about what Jesus did, Peter’s reaction is normal. You say, Jesus is the master. They are his servants. If anybody understood to some extent the greatness of Jesus, you would think it would be the disciples. And so when the master gets down to wash the disciples’ feet, Peter goes, No way. You can’t do that. What does Jesus say? You must allow it. What principle is Jesus teaching? First and foremost, the idea of servant leadership.

But notice even as you continue, notice the idea he illustrates in verse 12. Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Verse 14, that’s the stinger that stomps on my toes. Jesus says, if I am your Lord and teacher, and I am, and I wash your feet, what do you have to do? You better be washing feet as well. Jesus is the master. He is Lord. He is the Son of God in the flesh.

And he got down and washed Peter, who would deny him three times feet. He washed feet in the presence of Judas, who he knew. The chapter 13 even notes the context. Jesus knew Judas was about to betray him.

2. Understanding the Work We Are Called to Do

Because Jesus knows leadership is from the front. Unlike the CEO pictured in the boardroom office or the king who sits back and bellows down commands. Biblical leaders lead by example and from the front of the line of service. Not from the back. So when we think about work to be done, we have a question. What is the work to be done? Well, one of those works, if you go to the end of chapter 13, involves how we view other people. Not surprisingly, in the context of Jesus’ great lesson on how we should serve humbly others, verse 34, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another.

To serve one another, all people will know you are my disciples. You have to evangelize. There is work to do. There are walls to be built up. Do we look around and see what Nehemiah was reported? Notice when Nehemiah says, What’s the state of the people? They didn’t stop and say, hey, there’s a lot of them and they’re back. So Rebel led them back. He said, No, the people are in great shame. They’re in trouble. The walls are in destruction. There was no satisfaction with just being there. There was constant risk and struggle that the people would be once again wiped out if they began to pose any threat whatsoever. And by the way, that’s what you see in the book of Nehemiah. And so we say, okay, well, we need to evangelize, we need to serve one another, and my leaders need to do that.

But here’s my question. Do we all, collectively, as individuals, even, have an understanding of the work we are called to do. I think if we’re honest, painfully so, sometimes what we say and what we do reveal two answers to that question. If I were to ask, is the harvest just simply a need of laborers to yield fruit? Is there a need for evangelism? Is there a need for servant leadership? Everyone would say, yes, of course there is.

And that forgiveness is only in following Jesus the Christ because of his great sacrifice. And I tell no one about it. Can I really say I see or understand the problem? And if I see it, and I’m not doing anything about it. Scriptures teach that’s even worse than being ignorant. As we think about the work then that needs to be done, it’s not just something that Nehemiah need to do. It’s not just something that Peter needs to do. It’s not just something that the elders need to do. It’s a workload that we all have to understand not only needs to be done, but needs to be done by me. I have a spot I can serve in. Notice in chapter 2, Nehemiah has successfully pleaded to the king.

Go back to Nehemiah chapter 2, by the way, I hope you left a bookmark there. In Nehemiah chapter 2, as you turn back, he has come into Jerusalem. They’ve inspected the walls, and they see, surprise, surprise. It’s a disaster. It’s in ruins. But notice it’s not just Nehemiah in verse 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. 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. And they strengthen their hands for the good work.

Do you see the two elements so far? There’s two more points this morning. They’re going to be quicker than the first two. Good leadership. Nehemiah goes, he surveys the land. He says, We have a major problem that we have to deal with. And the people in verse 17 see what? That there is a major problem that we have to deal with. Let us arise and build. So we strengthened our hands for the work. It would take a collective. And if we think building a wall takes a group of people, what do we think about the world needing the message of Jesus? Do we really think? Do I truly believe that sometimes my actions might demonstrate that evangelism can prosper in Orlando, Florida, by four or five people doing all the work.

It doesn’t work that way. The New Testament example shows us time and again that’s not how it works. In fact, in Acts chapter 8, the very people you think would be the ones who would conquer the world, the apostles, when there’s a time of persecution, where do they stay? In Acts chapter 8, there’s a great persecution, and they stay in Jerusalem. And in verse 4, everyone else was scattered, and they went about preaching the word. It may be that everyone here is not someone to go out and to teach the history of the book of Ezra, Nehemiah, Zephaniah, or Zachariah. But can you invite somebody and find a Nehemiah who can study with them? Maybe you’re not Ezra or Nehemiah, but do you know an Ezra that you can bring somebody to?

I’ll tell you, all kidding aside, you have someone great here, kin. Our elders, our deacons. We have so many people here who would love to study the word. But only you and I know our group of people. For some, that’s probably a good thing. For others, that’s an evangelism challenge. I don’t know who you interact with every day. But you do. Jesus looked out of the crowds and saw the sick. But more importantly, he saw that they were like a sheep without shepherd in a spiritual sense. And he had compassion on them, the gospel of Matthew says. And he said, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So pray. Am I praying that God would send laborers into the harvest? Am I in Nehemiah chapter 1 or 2?

3. A Successful Work Takes Everybody Doing Their Job

Because Nehemiah’s there taking leadership, taking charge. The people are saying he is right. God’s people need to fix something, and we’re going to help. I think we have a conceptual understanding of the situation. Do our actions show, though, I embrace the challenge God has left before me. Two quicker points before we conclude this morning. First of all, a successful work doesn’t take just great leadership and knowing the problem. Then it takes everybody doing their job. We’re going to read chapter 3. But just a few verses. Verse 3, chapter 3 and verse 3. The sons of Hasanea built the fish gate. They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts and its bars. If you notice, even down into verse 15, and Shalom, the son of Kolhazel, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the fountain gate.

He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. In verse 28, above the horse gate, the priest repaired, each one opposite his own house. As you go through chapter 3, you see name after name that’s hard to pronounce. They’re all doing the work. When they told Nehemiah, they agreed with his analysis that there was work to be done, that they strengthened their hands for the work. Then they got to work. A successful work doesn’t optionally take. It requires that everybody does their job. If we don’t all do our job, notice what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, we figuratively would look like. Consider in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. In this idea of us all having different gifts. Certainly spiritual gifts are in mind.

But as Paul is pointing out to them, no one is better than the other in the sense that we all have to serve in our own capacity. With what I bring to the table, God requires of me. And by the way, probably more. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 14, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing?

If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? Notice verse 18. But as it is, notice who this goes back to, of course. God arranged. God arranged the members in the body. Each one of them as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts. Yet one body. Here’s the picture. If we don’t all do it, we’re either missing body parts, or if we cast ourselves into one tiny roll, we’re all just a bunch of standing ears. Or standing little toes. That doesn’t help me enjoy my ice cream. We need everything. We need everybody. And if you can’t do something, are you working with somebody who can lead you there?

If you’re not good at whatever job, whatever section of the gate in God’s plan you’re working on, are you finding someone who can teach you how? What did Jesus do for his disciples who did not understand the idea of servant leadership? As a leader, he served them. And he said, Do you understand the lesson? Here it is. I am your Lord and your teacher, and I served you. What does that mean? They learned. Peter at first says, No, you will not wash my feet. Jesus says, You better let me. And Peter learned. Sometimes I don’t think it’s a matter of being unwilling to work. I think it’s a matter of being unwilling to ask for help. We don’t like asking for help because that implies a need I have, a vulnerability, a problem.

4. Trusting God to Provide the Increase

We like to act like we don’t have problems. And you know the issue with that? Nobody’s problems get addressed. Second problem with that? We’d realize I’ve had that problem before, I can help you, or you’ve had that problem before, and you can help me. God designed the body to work together, not just for his glory, which it does, but for our benefit as well. Isn’t that amazing? God designed every institution for our benefit in this world and the next. God is focused on his children, just like he was his children of Israel. A successful work requires everybody doing their job. And finally, of course, trusting God to provide the increase. Look at me in Nehemiah chapter 4. As they begin to build the wall. As they start its construction, in fact, even you see in verse 6, they built the wall, and it comes to about half its height as they’re building it all together.

You know what happens when you make good progress? Problems happen. Sometimes problems happen before you even make good progress. That’s particularly discouraging. But here, as you notice in chapter 4, at Sambao and Tobiah are causing problems. These foreign people around, and maybe even in some cases within them, are saying, Whoa, if the Jews are going to rebuild the wall, they’re going to rebuild their safety. They’re going to be a problem to us. In chapter 4, notice in verse 10, Judah is saying, as they’re being plotted against, the strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There’s too much rubble by ourselves. We will not be able to rebuild the wall. At halftime, they said, we can’t make it anymore. And this is hard too. Because they had great leadership, they had a shared vision of what they needed to do, and everybody was helping.

And still, chapter 4 and verse 10 happens. And let’s be honest, we’ve all been there. You’ve been living life, you think things are on track, and then all of a sudden they go back off. And what’s your first thought? Are you kidding me? How is this possible? Chapter 4 and verse 10, Judah says, we can’t do it by ourselves. In verse 11, our enemies said they will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work. In fact, in verse 12, at that time, the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to them ten times, you must return to us. Give up. You’re not safe. You can’t do it. Boy. Is this a good circle of friends?

In verse 13, though, Nehemiah steps up. And notice he doesn’t step up alone. He steps up with the buy-in of the group in verse 13. So in the lowest parts of the space, behind the wall and open places, I stationed the people by their clans with their swords, their spears, and their bows. I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, do not be afraid of them. Why? Remember the Lord, who is great and is awesome. Do not be afraid. Remember the Lord. Also in verse 14. Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, and your wives and your homes. The spiritual fight, the spiritual work isn’t just teaching others about Jesus. It’s growing in what it means to be faithful to our master teacher.

And there are times of tremendous discouragement when we try to go to grow and the world wants to beat you down and make you give up, press pause, just whatever. Foreign enemies in chapter 4 are plotting against the Jews. Other Jews are coming and saying, give up. It’s not worth it. You’re going to pay the price for this. But Nehemiah makes a specific plan in verse 13. What does he do? He takes specific people. He stations them in specific places and gives them specific tools for the job they are to do. Where is your place of service? If you don’t know, find our leadership. They’ll help point you in the direction. Do you know how you can serve, but maybe not know how to serve? Find the leadership.

They’ll tell you what tools. Help you find, develop the tools you need to serve. But verse 14, don’t be discouraged. Do not be afraid. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome. Here’s the thing about the Christian’s work. Unlike a wall, a Christian’s work is incredibly hard at times to quantify. To put onto a spreadsheet doesn’t give the idea, the sense of spiritual growth. To check at how many people became faithful to God this year is impossible to verify. So it becomes discouraging. We don’t see growth. We don’t see development.

When the people of Israel were called to build the wall, Nehemiah gave them specific places. Says, you don’t worry about other people. God will take care of us. Maybe why I don’t engage in the work is because I have some fears of my own. I’m not good enough. I’m not capable enough. I don’t know what to say. We sound like Moses in Exodus 3 and 4. And just like with Moses in Exodus 3 and 4, God says, I will tell you what to speak. I will give you signs to show the people. Do we trust God not only with our understanding but with our actions that God’s the one who gives all increases? I want to say that again as we conclude our lesson this morning.

Do we trust that it is God who provides all increases in his work? Too often we say, I failed or I succeeded. Nehemiah knew from the start of chapter 1 into chapter 2, and even in chapter 4, every step of the way, Nehemiah’s first reaction was, What? Who and what does God need and want? In chapter 1, he heard about the Jews. He prayed and fasted for days. In chapter 2, he knew he needed to go, so he stopped mid conversation and prayed to God. In chapter 4, the people were afraid, and he tells them, you need to remember the Lord. And so our message this morning, this week, if we’re to have a successful work as individuals or as a collective in this city for God our master, trust God’s plan to work because God will make it work.

Conclusion

That’s the bottom line. It’s not me. It’s not you. It’s not us. Paul made it very clear that they could teach. They could plant, they could water. But God provides the increase. Do you trust God enough to come through with his promises? Nehemiah said, Remember the Lord, for he is great and awesome. If you’re here this morning, you’ve never become a Christian, recognize that great and awesome God has promised us a great and awesome blessing that through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, we can be forgiven of our sins. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, confess him as Lord and risen Savior, and all that that carries with it. If you repent of your sins, knowing that our way doesn’t work, God’s way is the only way into salvation.

And you are baptized into that death, burial, and yes, share in the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah. You can have your sins forgiven this morning. Or maybe you’re a Christian who’s been distraught by the world. Sat back because you didn’t know your place to serve, didn’t know how to serve, or didn’t want to. Our God is faithful. Our God is just. If you will confess your sins, he will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. We’re a family. We’re a team. And this team today can show you what it means to be loving, gracious, merciful, and forgiving as we want our God to be loving, gracious, and merciful and forgiving to us. If we can help you in any way, come forward as we stand and sing the invitation song.