Introduction
I would like to start by showing you a picture (shed).
Does anyone remember? It's been more than half a year.
This is what it looked like before: (In front of the shed).
Does anyone remember what it was all about back then?
It's always exciting for a preacher to know how much of a sermon is retained. But sometimes I don't know myself and have to look it up.
At the time, we were thinking about "management according to plan" and I chose this shed, which I subsequently built from scrap wood, as an example.
There was no precise construction plan, but I did it step by step.
On the one hand, that was exciting, but it also presented a few challenges. Because I'm not that experienced in building sheds, I had to think about and try out a lot of things, which of course took time.
And sometimes I had to stop because I ran out of screws, for example. It would have been difficult for me to calculate in advance how many of which screws I would need and when.
And this approach sometimes has the disadvantage that you don't know exactly when you'll be finished. I could add a rain gutter to the back of the roof (I still have a plastic one left), I could add another shelf in the shed. Sometimes you can tinker with things endlessly.
In any case, I would like to install electricity and lighting in the shed.
If you build according to a plan, then it is clear when you are finished. Ideally, you have a kit that comes with all the parts. And when all the parts are installed, you're finished and that's a good feeling. It's a bit of a bummer if there are still parts left over.
I would like to stay with you today on the subject of "building" and accompany a person from the Old Testament a little on this subject
The desire to rebuild
God opens a new way
Nehemiah lived around 450 BC in what was then Persia and had a good position at the Persian royal court. He was cupbearer there and therefore had a position of trust with the king and he will not have been poor either.
But Nehemiah suffered from his destroyed homeland, Jerusalem, where he came from, and that did not let him go (Nehemiah 2:1-8; NL):
Nehemiah seemed to be an authentic, honest person, he seemed to find it difficult to hide what was bothering him.
How would the story have continued if he had completely hidden his grief and pretended to be in a good mood for the king? Then perhaps the book of "Nehemiah" would have ended here in chapter 2, possibly with the final sentence: "And Nehemiah died after a few years from grief over the destroyed Jerusalem."
But he is honest, as I said, he probably can't help it, and doesn't sugarcoat anything and then, after a prayer to God, he asks the king for everything he needs for his project and the king grants it to him.
I think the situation harboured a risk, which is also made clear by his fright. After all, the king was an absolutist ruler and could perhaps have interpreted Nehemiah's request as a rebellion against him.
At first glance, his honesty and authenticity can get him into trouble, but then, with God's help, completely new opportunities arise.
And it is important to him, he risks it and he is quite painless in his requests. He was probably already preoccupied with the subject beforehand, as he was able to determine an approximate duration and was apparently already aware that he needed the king's help. Perhaps he had already roughly planned ahead.
Of course, he does not know whether the people in Jerusalem even want to participate in the rebuilding process or whether they have already given up.
What is the situation really like?
However, Nehemiah is not completely naïve in his approach (Nehemiah 2:9-15; NL):
The first resistance appears and Nehemiah takes a close look at the situation on the ground. He wants to know what he is up against.
A lot was really broken. And apparently he also had to face up to it personally. The wall was torn down, the gates were burnt and paths were blocked by rubble.
I'm not sure why he first assessed everything completely on his own. Maybe he didn't yet know who he could trust, or maybe he wasn't sure in general whether the others would go along with him and wanted to find out first so that he could convince the others if necessary.
But then he takes others on board (Nehemiah 2, 17.18; NL):
This last sentence, "And they set about the good work", means something more than just getting started. This becomes clear by comparing different translations:
- And they strengthened their hands for the good work.
- They eagerly set about the preparations.
- They set to work with determination.
- They encouraged each other.
We don't know how the other people felt or assessed the current situation in Jerusalem beforehand. But Nehemiah, to whom all doors were opened by God, motivates them and they get started.
Sometimes it depends on individuals who then motivate others. Perhaps Nehemiah was generally known as an honest person, perhaps he had a special charisma, perhaps he had already brought some wood with him, we can only speculate.
And perhaps they were also motivated by the necessity, the meaningfulness of this task. The broken wall and the burnt gate were a real problem, a danger for the inhabitants, because a wall also meant protection from bandits back then.
My shed was basically just a luxury project, kind of useful and I had so much scrap wood left over, but rebuilding this town was really important.
To be motivated, you also have to see the purpose of a task and stand behind it.
Construction is underway...
In the next chapter, Nehemiah 3, building begins. The chapter largely consists of a list of which group of inhabitants rebuilt which gate and which section of the wall. And somehow everyone got involved, including people from places in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. They will not all have been bricklayers or carpenters, but more likely DIYers. However, I think people back then did a lot more DIY work than we do today, so basic manual skills were certainly more widespread.
A particularly industrious man named Baruch was mentioned, as well as people who shirked work, leading men from a town called Tekoa in the neighbourhood. They were actually too proud to bend their backs for work (v. 5). But these were actually the only exceptions mentioned.
Then the resistance arose again. The aforementioned Sanballat mocks the Jews (Nehemiah 3:34; NL):
In any project, there may be people who are against it or actively working against it, or there may be circumstances that hinder the work.
I found the picture of the burnt stones in the pile of rubble interesting.
They certainly couldn't buy all the material new, but had to work with what was there. That reminds me a bit of my shed.
But you may know the image from 1 Peter 2:5a; NL:
Perhaps we sometimes feel more like those useless stones lying around in piles of rubble, a little burnt out, but these are the stones with which God wants to build the church. Not the building, not the land, but we, the people who belong to Jesus Christ, we are what God's church is made of.
By the end of the chapter, they were already halfway through (Nehemiah 3:38; NL):
"With all my heart", great.
Crisis
Then came the first crises. Enemies formed alliances against the Jews and many were also overwhelmed (Nehemiah 4:3,4; NT):
And then it seemed to get even worse (Nehemiah 4:5, 6; NT):
It must be emphasised once again that the construction of the city was not directed against anyone at all. They simply wanted to live safely.
Where did this enmity come from? Was it envy? Or did they simply not want to give up their superiority over the broken city?
Nehemiah had to deal with the crisis. He could not ignore these problems (Nehemiah 4:7-12; NL):
The exhaustion could be overcome when there was a perspective again. God is on our side, and there was a leadership that had a meaningful plan.
Without a crisis, things would go faster, but the threats meant that some of the workers always had to stand guard armed. Even the workers themselves always had their weapons with them.
We are not fighting with real weapons, thank God, but we must be prepared for problems. Our weapon is the Bible, which we can use to learn and understand many things. And always having a hand on the Bible is somehow also a beautiful image.
But let's look at the situation in more general terms. I know from work that the principle at meetings or working groups is "crisis has priority". If there are real problems, such as exhaustion or obstructive external influences, then you have to deal with these first before you can move on to the agenda. This usually doesn't happen as quickly as you would often like, but sometimes you have to take into account problems brought in or brought in from outside, even if this slows down the actual work. That's how it is.
Nehemiah's social reform
Then there was another crisis: in chapter 5, it becomes clear that the unequal distribution of property jeopardises the unity of the people. Poor inhabitants have to pawn their property to pay the tax, and some children are sold into slavery because of poverty.
Nehemiah carries out a social reform (Nehemiah 5:9-11; NL):
And everyone gets involved.
Socially, an "us" is always a joke if people are always vegetating on the edge of existence due to poverty while others live in luxury. Without basic needs being met for everyone, nothing works.
And without unity, the reconstruction could not have been successfully completed.
Summary
There were then various attempts on Nehemiah's life (very exciting to read in chapter 6), but they bring the project to a successful conclusion.
Let me summarise:
- Nehemiah suffered from the state of Jerusalem. He cannot hide it and then, with God's help, dares to change something.
- He takes a realistic view of the situation. He takes people on board and inspires them.
- Everyone gets involved in the construction .
- We are the living stones for building the church .
- Exhaustion and crises hinder the work and must be taken into account and nothing works without basic needs being met .
- With God's help, it will be a success.