You can watch the video of this service at the following links -
https://vimeo.com/422218690?fbclid=IwAR3yx35L4KAPTADcwP4UqtUeOBr8ZpeBMwsKIuA9iBASTM-b02xQC9t4gOU
https://www.facebook.com/david.p.charlton.9/videos/10163631160600298/
In the fall of 1987, I began my first doctoral seminar. It was a three-week-long class, with a big workload. A few days into the class we were assigned a paper – due the next day – that was 15 or 20 pages long. Not too long, but for an overnight assignment it made for a busy evening. I had just purchased my first computer, and in that time of ancient technology auto-save did not exist, and I had not learned the importance of saving my work on a regular basis. It was close to midnight when I finally completed my paper. I was ready to print it when suddenly, a car ran into a utility pole just up the street from our house, knocking out our power. The power out for only a moment, but it was long enough to turn my computer off. When I turned the computer back on, the paper, of course, was gone. The paper was almost twenty pages long, and due at 8:00 in the morning. So there I sat, late into the night rebuilding that paper, word by word by word, and page by page by page.
Rebuilding is never easy. Rewriting a paper, however, was not the end of the world. I lost a few hours of sleep. But rebuilding life after great challenges is very difficult, and it is something everyone experiences in some way, at some point, in life. Those who have lost a home to a fire know how difficult that rebuilding process can be. When a loved one is lost, rebuilding life after loss is very difficult. And here we are, in our third month of this pandemic, and a lot of lives need rebuilding. Loved ones have been lost. Jobs have been lost. Businesses have closed. Homes have been lost. The rebuilding process, for millions of people, is immense.
Last week I began a new series of message from the book of Nehemiah. We’ve been in the Old Testament since we first cancelled services, on March 15th. If you ever think, or say – but please don’t – that the Old Testament is old and irrelevant, it is not, as we will see in this morning’s Scripture text. Nehemiah, you will remember, led the effort to rebuild the temple and the city of Jerusalem, which was still in ruins decades after its destruction at the hands of the Babylonians.
Nehemiah was among those who were living in exile in Babylon – an exile that lasted almost 70 years – and when they were granted permission to return, they faced a very daunting rebuilding task. The city of Jerusalem was in ruins. The temple had been destroyed and the walls of the city had been reduced to rubble.
The title of today’s message is The Tough Task of Rebuilding. Rebuilding is never an easy task, and it was certainly not an easy task for Nehemiah and the people. It will not be an easy task for millions in our world, as we rebuild after this pandemic. Follow with me as I read from chapter 2 of Nehemiah, which gives us a glimpse into the rebuilding process –
Nehemiah 2:11-18 –
11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days
12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
14 Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through;
15 so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate.
16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.”
18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
This morning, I will share three words that sum up the way Nehemiah approached the rebuilding effort – leadership, focus, and commitment.
1. Leadership.
When it comes to leadership during the pandemic, we have seen leaders who have emerged and risen to the occasion – and some who have not.
One of the most important qualities of any leader – especially great leaders – is their ability to rise to the occasion and to inspire. Rising to the occasion and inspiring go hand in hand. A great leader can inspire people to not only attemptthe impossible; a great leader can inspire people to dothe impossible. When a group of people look upon a near-impossible or impossible task, and shake their heads in disbelief and say to one another, this is impossible, this is crazy, this can’t be done,it is a real leader who not only steps forward and says, we can do this, but also convinces the people that it can be done. Sayingsomething can be done is one thing. Anyone can saysomething can be done, but convincingpeople to do what seems impossible, that takes an entirely different skill set. I think of President Kennedy’s challenge to go to the moon as an example of inspiring people to action. On May 25, 1961, before a joint session of Congress, President Kennedy announced the goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. At that moment, the total time spent in space by an American was 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes! Much of the needed technology to reach the moon did not exist. That was a crazy challenge! But it was a challenge that was met.
To convince people one starts with a pep talk. Pep talks are a hallmark of a good leader. From the coach who gives a halftime pep talk in the locker room, inspiring the team to stage a dramatic comeback, to a political leader who speaks to people in a time of great trial, a good leader inspires not only hope, but action, in others.
Before the rebuilding began, Nehemiah gave the people a pep talk, which stirred excitement in them, and in turn convinced them to get to work. What I find interesting about Nehemiah is that he gave one of the shortest pep talks in history. Nehemiah had gone out at night to survey the damage around the city. After surveying the damage and understanding the scope of what needed to be done, Nehemiah gave his pep talk, and get this: it was only one verse in length! One verse! Here it is – you see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace(2:17). At this point you might be thinking,you know Dave, you could take a lesson from Nehemiah when it comes to the length of your messages. Probably so, but Nehemiah had the gift of distilling a powerful message into a very few words, which is a gift I do not possess.
One key element of Nehemiah’s speech was his blunt honesty. He begins by saying, you see the trouble we are in. That’s not the way most political leaders would begin a speech, is it? I would imagine that if we brought Nehemiah into our time and he began a speech in such a way, as soon as those words came out of his mouth the political consultants would step in and say, whoa, wait a minute Nehemiah! You can’t say that! That’s not what people want to hear! Tell them something positive! And then they would rewrite his speech with some meaningless platitudes, perhaps add an orchestral soundtrack in the background, some dramatic lighting, and maybe even some fireworks to top it off. Today, it is more likely that leaders will say what we wantto hear, rather than say what we needto hear.
But don’t we all want, really, want to hear the truth? Don’t we? We don’t want to be lied to, and we don’t want a leader to varnish the truth. When time are tough, don’t try and tell us they are not. Be honest with us, because we can see the truth and we know the truth. The truth must be acknowledged, even when that truth is already difficult. Nehemiah told the truth – you see the trouble we are in. Nehemiah did not construct an alternate reality of false facts and false information and he didn’t offer fake news; he simply laid out the difficult reality they faced – You see the trouble we are in. It’s impossible not to respect his honesty and forthright manner. It might not have helped the people to feel better or to sleep better, but they were told the truth, and they respected the truth and Nehemiah for saying it. Most importantly, the people responded to the truth, and went to work at rebuilding.
2. Focus.
This might sound strange, but when things are bad – especially when they are really bad – it creates the ability to focus in a way that might not otherwise be possible. When there is much rebuilding to be done, there is no time to be pulled in many different directions. You have much to do, and because there is much to do, you have to get to work. When Nehemiah looked around at the destruction of Jerusalem, he knew there was one task – rebuild. But where to start? The walls needed rebuilding, the gates of the walls needed rebuilding, the temple need rebuilding, homes needed rebuilding, businesses needed rebuilding; there was no end of the work before them. When rebuilding life, it is easy to be overwhelmed and become frozen by the enormity of the task, and in the case of Nehemiah and there people, there was so much rebuilding to do, the people could easily have become mired in arguing, indecision, and other reactions that would have slowed or stopped the work before it even began.
Being the effective leader he was, Nehemiah said, let’s start with the wall. Nehemiah had already surveyed the damage, and he knew what needed to be done, so when he turned to the people he could say, come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace. Notice that Nehemiah didn’t take on the entire project of rebuilding all at once. Instead, Nehemiah said, let us rebuild the wall. But how were they to rebuild, when they had so few resources? I don’t know what the exiles were able to bring with them from Babylon, on their return to their homeland, but I assume it was not very much. I suspect the people were low on resources. Money was likely scarce, and other rebuilding resources were probably not on hand. How were they supposed to rebuild the city, its walls, and the temple without money and supplies? They used what they had on hand. There were stones and rubble. Stones and rubble could be repurposed and reused. They are the building blocks of a strong wall, so they had one resource. Nehemiah asked for permission to cut timber from the king’s forest. There was another resource.
There was also a very practical reason for starting with the wall. Not everyone was pleased that Nehemiah and the others had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild. There was very serious opposition among their neighbors, who feared a resurgent and powerful kingdom of Judah and capital city of Jerusalem. The opposition was so fierce that the people worked with a weapon in one hand and a tool in the other.
But Nehemiah took hold of the situation and focused on what needed to be done, focused on how to do it, and on who would be assigned what tasks. In chapter three, we see the fruits of Nehemiah’s focus. Chapter three provides a list of who rebuilt the different sections of the wall and the gates in the wall. Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate. The sons of Hassenah rebuilt the Fish Gate, and the details of who built what part of that gate is listed. And on goes the list in chapter three of the rebuilding process.
I think that churches can, at times, become less effective because they lose focus. Even simple decisions can become so burdened by a labyrinth of rules and regulations that nothing ever gets started, let alone completed. Sometimes, a group of people can talk something literally to death. A church I once served was in need of a new copier for the office. We went through multiple committee meetings, a half dozen church business meetings, and finally were ready to make a presentation, when someone said, I know someone who might be able to get us a better deal. And the entire process started over. It made me crazy! Things don’t need to be unnecessarily complicated, and when they are, we lose focus.
There are so many opportunities presented to churches, and they are very often good, meaningful, and important opportunities. If churches try to do too much, however, their ministry can be diluted into a lack of effectiveness by trying to do too much. Focus requires that a church prayerfully consider their calling and their strengths and how the combination of their calling and their strengths can best be expressed.
The rebuilding of life will be different for each of us, but the need for focus is required of us all. Find a starting place. Don’t try and take on everything at once. Understand that it will take time. But focus, and work.
3. Commitment.
Listen to verse 18, which tells us of the response to Nehemiah’s pep talk – they replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. There is a lot of economy in the words in this story. Nehemiah gives a pep talk of one verse, and in response the people answered with just four words – let us start rebuilding. They didn’t waste words back then, did they! Short and to the point!
I believe that people respond to a challenge. In fact, I believe that people often lovea challenge. I believe that people oftenlongfor a challenge. I believe everyone wants to feel that their life matters, so they want to do the things that do matter.
Nehemiah made his case in such a compelling manner that he drew a great sense of commitment from the people. They were ready to go to work. That’s not to say there weren’t problems along the way, and we will look at some of those problems in the coming weeks, but they made a commitment to the work.
I look at these empty chairs almost every day and I think about getting everything going here again, and I think, we’ve got to rebuild our worship services and everything else that goes on here. But then I also think, that’s not going to be difficult, because we’re all committed to the life and ministry of this church. We’ll be fine. But there are a lot of people in this community and beyond who will not be fine. We’ll find some of that need, because some of it will make its way to us. But not all of it. As we begin to come out of the dark tunnel of this pandemic, and back into the light, the light of life returning to the world will reveal a lot of need. As it does, it will require leadership, focus, and commitment to reach out to meet that need. We will need to decide what is important and what can wait. We will need to consider our resources and where they are most needed.
And then we will go to work, rebuilding.
Do you see the trouble the world is in?
Are you ready to go to work?
Let us, then, ready ourselves to start rebuilding!
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