Willingly Offered | Nehemiah 11:1-2

Opening Remarks: 

Nehemiah 11

In between series, revisit a text we’ve looked at before, especially with Church Planting Conference

There’s a truth here that can be a helpful reminder as we enter into a busy week

In Nehemiah 11, the walls of Jerusalem have been built and dedicated and the city is ready to be reinhabited. It has sat empty and unprotected for so long that very few people live there.

But how do you decide who moves in? A city isn’t meant to sit empty. It needs people.

READ Vs. 1-2

TITLE Willingly Offered

INTRODUCTION

Some years back, I learned about a city in North Korea called Kijong-Dong built by the communist government to make North Korea appear to be a normal and peaceful place. The village has brightly painted buildings, schools, daycares and apartment buildings.

But a closer look reveals something odd: There is no glass in the windows, the lights turn on and off at the same time every night, and there are no people observed. They say it’s a “Propaganda Village.” It’s a facade built to project images of prosperity and peace. It’s located close enough to the South Korean border that some believe it was built to lure South Koreans to defect to the North.

That’s just weird. Not only because it’s a deceptive facade, but because why would you build a city with no people? Cities are meant to inhabited. It doesn’t seem right to have a city that sits empty.

And in many ways, that’s the condition Jerusalem is in.

New walls

Restored Temple

Protection from enemies

Protection

But no one’s living there

Jerusalem is a city meant to be inhabited. What good does it do sitting empty?

I.   Nehemiah wanted Jerusalem to be full of people.

A. Jerusalem was meant to be occupied.

The city of Jerusalem has historically been the center of God’s work on earth. It will be through the Millennial reign of Christ.

It’s meant to be inhabited by God’s people. But it’s never been easy.

It’s always been the target of enemies. It’s control has exchanged hands many times over the years. Even still, if you pull up a map of world hot zones with the greatest tension, Jerusalem will always be marked.

B.   It was no different in Nehemiah’s day.

But that didn’t change the fact that it was meant to be populated.

To this point, for more than 70 years, Jerusalem was a ghost town. Babylon came through and sacked the city and took most of its inhabitants captive.

After Persia defeated Babylon, the Jews were given permission to return, so a group led by Zerubbabel came to rebuild the Temple, but it took them 15-20 years.

And then it sat unprotected and unused until Ezra returned about 60 years later and reinstituted worship.

Nehemiah came about 13 years after Ezra to rebuild the walls.

But without people, what’s the point?

There’s no life. There’s no hub of activity. And if there are no people, there’s no one to protect and defend the city.

Jerusalem needs people, but there’s a problem:

II.  Living in Jerusalem wasn’t appealing.

A.  It had been without walls for about 160 years.

For a long time, it was just a pile of debris. Anyone that stayed in Israel during the exile had moved to the suburbs outside of Jerusalem.

As people began to trickle in, there were some city leaders and temple workers that lived in Jerusalem, but most of them had homes and property elsewhere.

It wasn’t appealing:

B.  Possible reasons why:

1.    To live in Jerusalem, you would have had to give up material things.

Moving Jerusalem meant giving up your home. Giving up your property to move into the city. Many people farmed, so moving to Jerusalem meant giving up their livelihood and starting a new job.

2.    To live in Jerusalem, you would have to say goodbye to friends and family.

The Jewish people were communal. They had established lives and friends and relationships. It would be a big decision to give that up.

3.    To live in Jerusalem, you would be committing to lots of work.

It had been a ghost town for decades. Just because the Temple was rebuilt and now the walls are up didn’t mean homes and business were rebuilt. Moving meant a long road of hard work instead of the ease of a settled, country life.

4.    To live in Jerusalem would put an enemy target on your back.

God’s enemies didn’t pay much attention to isolated houses on the hillside, but they were always aware of what was going on in the city. Nehemiah and his new wall had put Jerusalem back on the radar.

C. CHOICE: A - Live in quiet village, no one cares or notice or B - Move to big city, probably targeted by God’s enemies

A lot of people weighed their options and said, “I’m good where I’m at.”

Giving up your life to move to an unsettled was not appealing.

III.  Nehemiah has a plan to repopulate the city

A.  The Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce has an idea to get people back.

Vs. 11:1 – They started a draft.

Draw names, 1/10 men were going to have to move into city

Want to or not, name gets called, call Two Men and a Camel because you’re moving

I’m sure most people weren’t happy when their name was called

B. But there was a 2nd group of people that caught my attention.

Vs. 11:2 – Some volunteered to move to Jerusalem.

Some that lived outside the walls voluntarily uprooted their families, left homes and lives, said goodbye to friends and family, and moved into the frying pan. And they did it of their free will.

They exchanged land, homes, and lives for something undesirable

They left peace and comfort for danger and hard work

And they volunteered

IV.  They willingly offered themselves.

They were willing to walk away from homes, family, friends, businesses, security, and comfort and walk into risk and danger.

Why would they do this? What would someone have to be thinking to take this step?

They could have done this for many reasons:

#1 - Some did it because they valued spiritual things over temporal things.

The Temple was the hub of spiritual life. For some people, they made this move because it meant being close to the Temple.

They were more interested in spiritual things than temporal things. And the reward was worth the risk.

It takes people willing to set aside temporal benefits for spiritual blessings:

Willing to give instead of save.

Willing to invest time in ministry and sacrifice some personal time.

Willing to offer their services instead of charging the church, which many people do.

There are thousands of things that you could spend your life investing in, but it’s special when God’s people view God’s Kingdom as their greatest investment.

When a family views giving to God’s work as greater than having a nicer car or paying their house off more quickly.

Or when God’s people volunteer to serve in a ministry like cleaning or Scripture Printing, which means time outside of services every week.

It’s a blessing when a couple willingly serves in the bus ministry or teaches a class, which means a chunk of their free time is spent focusing on things besides each other.

Or when a family says, “We choose church over the kids’ involvement in sports.”

“Willingly offered” meant putting spiritual priorities above everything else.

This is how God’s work succeeds. When God’s people make Him the priority.

Which means your giving impacts your budget. It’s not easy, but that’s what this looks like.

It means the church calendar impacts when you take vacations. That may sound extreme, but that’s what this looks like.

That means prioritizing your church family impacts how many other things you fill your week with. Many families in this room have decided long ago that church determines their schedule.

I remember a few years back a family in our church changing their vacation for camp. That’s what this looks like.

Why would they offer themselves?

#2 - Some did it to support Nehemiah.

They willingly offered themselves to support God’s man.

This isn’t meant to be self-serving, it’s a principle. God blesses when we support spiritual authority in our lives.

Not because spiritual authority deserves or demands it, but because that position means a lot to your spiritual life, and God made it clear that we are to get behind His man. No one else answers to God for your soul.

My one priority is to help prepare you for the most important moment of your life - The Judgment Seat. No one else in your life has that role.

Pay attention to what God uses your pastor to say. Because God ordained this relationship between an undershepherd and sheep.

I’m sure plenty of these who willingly offered themselves did so because they wanted to support Nehemiah.

It helps a leader’s confidence to have others make choices simply because they know that’s the leader’s heart. They may not even see it the same way, but they’re willing to align themselves with him.

I know it can be hard to submit to leadership if you don’t share the same opinion, but I honestly never felt like that was a good argument for me.

In areas of preference, I may not have always understood, but I never struggled to submit to my Pastor’s leadership because I knew God’s sovereignty formed that relationship.

So they offered themselves because they were spiritually minded. Some did it to support Nehemiah.

#3 - Some did it because they wanted to be close to action.

They didn’t want to miss a fight.

High School - If word got out that a fight was planned after school, hundreds of people would show up for it.

Some people like to be in the middle of the action. For some of them, as soon as they heard, “Men and families wanted to rebuilt and resettle Jerusalem” said, “I’m there! I don’t want to miss anything!”

I’m so thankful for people like that.

It’s the Pareto principle like I’ve mentioned before. The 80/20 principle where 80% of the productivity comes from the same 20% of the people. Because every church is made up of people who want to be involved in everything.

We need members like that. “No matter what” members.

No matter how late.

No matter how cold.

No matter if they have company in town.

No matter if they feel like it or not.

This morning: No matter the cost, No matter how humbling, No matter what others say

There’s a need in this ministry? I’ll do it.

There’s a teacher needed there? I’m in.

There’s help needed to set up or tear down? I’ll be the first to jump in.

VBS Help? I’m there!

The first to sign up. The first to volunteer. The first to say, “Whatever it takes.”

We need more “No matter what” members than we do “Twist your arm” members.

Our heart for the Lord should cause us to want to be in the middle of the action. God will bless that spirit.

#4 - I’m sure of those that moved, many simply did it because they had a heart for God.

In Mt. 22:37, Jesus said the greatest commandment is, “Love God with all your heart.”

How do we know that our love is right? When we’re willing to sacrifice for it.

John 3:16, “For God so loved that He GAVE”

Romans 5:8 “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Our love for God will result in decisions of sacrifice.

Whatever their reasons, let me ask simply:

V. Are YOU a willing offering in God’s work?

A. “Willing” means your will is involved.

Some are grudgingly offered. Some are half-heartedly offered. Some are unwillingly offered.

But the offering that means the most to God is the willing one.

Sacrificing for and serving God by choice, not force.

Motives matter to God. I’d hate to get down to the end of my life and realize none of what I did mattered because my heart wasn’t in it.

In Colossians 3 Paul writes to husbands, wives, children, fathers and employees and says (23-24), “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

Our motivation here impacts our rewards there.

We don’t serve God because we drew the short straw.

We shouldn’t help in Jr. Church because we feel guilty if we don’t.

We ought not invite someone to church because we feel forced to do it.

Ask God to help you do what you do for the right reasons. To be a Willing Offering.

B. An OFFERING means doing the undesirable thing for the greater good.

It means sacrifice for a cause greater than ourselves.

Just like they dealt with risks moving to Jerusalem, those who offer themselves will take some risks.

Inviting someone to church is risky. They may not like you. They may yell at you. But you have to decide if telling them about Jesus is worth the risk of rejection.

Standing for God at work or school is risky. You may be laughed at. You may be singled out.

It’s going to be risky. It’s going to be inconvenient.

C. A lot of our folks will be inconvenienced this week.

Monday evening is usually full of other activities. But we have plenty of people that will choose God over everything else.

Some will take off work to be in the nursery or help in the kitchen or in serving lines on Tuesday.

Anyone in the choir is saying, this week, “I’m sacrificing what I could be doing for a greater cause.”

Plenty will say, “Here’s money to commit, Pastor. It’s not a lot, but it’s a sacrifice for me.”

Then it pleases God. He sees and takes note.

D. And it’s not just this week:

Trustees - Spend day off on work days, get up extra early on snow removal days

Outreach - Giving up some free time, physical effort, taking time away from other important things.

Discipleship - An hour a week with someone

Giving - Missions or Building means less Milky Way this summer.

But that’s what it means to be Willingly Offered. It means sacrificing some of our earthly treasure. Things that you enjoy. Time, talent, treasure, whatever it is. It means being spent.

E. But we must stop looking at God’s work like a cost. And start realizing it’s an investment.

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

In a week like this, we may feel like it’s costing us, but like we said this morning, God always notices the sacrificial investments of His people.

He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him according to Hebrews 11:6.

F. I believe Eastside is the kind of church that has a lot to offer

It’s why I volunteered to host a CPC. Because we have people that are Willing to be Offered.

It’s why we’re doing a Youth Conference later in the month. Because we have you’re willing to invest.

It’s why I put our name down to host a National Fellowship Meeting September 2026. CPC is kind of a trial run for that.

Who knows what happens beyond that. But one thing I’m convinced of is, our willingness to offer ourselves in these present things may give God confidence in us to bring along even bigger things.

How we treat the next few days could strongly impact how many new opportunities God sends our way.

How we approach Bible School and the Youth Conference could determine how much the Lord uses those meetings.

VI. CONCLUSION

Preached a Youth Rally on Friday, talking to man in the church, drive an hour and a half to go to church, and his pastor said, “They come to everything. Special events. Wednesday nights. Everything.”

When we perceive the benefit to be greater than the expense, we’re willing to pay the price.

Why should we do this for God’s work? All the motive we need is found in the cross. We Willingly Offer ourselves, because He Willingly Offered Himself.

Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

He’s already willingly given us more than we deserve. So I’m willing to offer whatever I can, no matter what.

Two Ways To Pray Tonight:

Help Us To Be Willing Offerings This Week

Serve cheerfully out of love

Be a blessing in every interaction

Give up something to be a blessing (time, finances, time off work)

God bless our Willing Offering this week

Help church planters

Encourage pastors

Increase the Kingdom of God

Give us greater opportunities in the future

Are you Willing To Be Offered?