The Importance of Lists

Nehemiah 12:27–31a ESV

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall. Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate.

Nehemiah 12:42b–47 ESV

and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.

Revelation 14:14–15:8 ESV

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia. Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

Opening Greeting

“Grace and peace to you from God who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead” (Revelation 1:4, 5 ESV). Amen.

Narrative Introduction

Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Amariah, Malluk, Hattush, Shekaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah (Nehemiah 12:1b-4). The book of Nehemiah is filled with lists like this one. Lists of names that we often ignore, and at least more often than not, we ask ourselves, “Why did this get included? Why in the world is this important? Is there really something that God is supposed to be speaking through this? Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah, Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah and Jedaiah (Nehemiah 12:5-6a). In fact, if you paid attention to your bulletin, you’ve noticed that even the lectionary skips over most of the lists. Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua (Nehemiah 12:10-11). Name after name after name…

This past week we celebrated All Saints’. I went back to my home church in Columbus, OH, and during the Eucharist one of our pastors read off the names of those of our congregation who had departed over the last year. Name after name after name. I couldn’t help but cry as I remembered them. Sometimes tears of joy that someone had passed from a long bout with cancer. Sometimes tears of grief for someone who had died in a traumatic car accident. But as the list continued, every person had one thing in common. They were faithful.

Ancient Context of Nehemiah

Nearly 500 years before Jesus’ birth, the Jews are in exile in Babylon, and Nehemiah—cup-bearer to Persian King Artaxerxes himself—learns that the remnant of Jews in Judah were in distress and that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down. So, he asks the king for permission to return and rebuild the city of David. Artaxerxes agrees and sends him to Judah as governor of the province with a mission to rebuild, letters explaining the royal support, and even provision for timber from the king's forest. Once there, Nehemiah defied the opposition of Judah's enemies on all sides—Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines—God delivered them from their enemies and Nehemiah rebuilt the walls within 52 days.

And as important as this mission of rebuilding is, the book of Nehemiah doesn’t simply give us the events themselves, but actually details lists of names, people who came with Nehemiah and rebuilt the city. These lists are important because they are the saints. Saints whom we need to remember. Saints who were faithful. And their faithfulness allowed for the fulfillment of the coming of the Messiah.

And at the dedication of the Jerusalem walls, the faithful people of God offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away (Nehemiah 12:43 ESV).

Our Calling From Revelation

We, too, are called to faithfulness. You may have noticed that in our Revelation passage today, there’s also a lot happening: there’s angels with sickles, there’s reaping, there’s fire, there’s plagues and blood. But there’s also a harvest. And this harvest is of the faithful. The saints. An angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped (Revelation 14:15-16 ESV). Notice that it is the son of man who sits on a cloud who does the reaping. All the saints of the earth will be collected by our savior Jesus.

What Does This Mean For Us?

So what does this faithfulness look like for us? Well, it’s impossible to give the specifics as it will look differently for each of us, but the bottom line is that it’s answering Christ’s call and being obedient to him—allowing God to work in and through us. For some of us, that will mean going home and ministering in the communities we came from. For others our faithfulness will be tested fully—even unto death.

Following Christ’s reaping of the harvest, two more angels come from heaven—one of them with another sharp sickle. And the second one says to the first:

“Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia (Rev. 14:18-20 ESV).

This harvest of judgment will come to a symbolic Babylon—the world which has kept God’s people in exile. And the blood which flows is the blood of the saints—the martyrs, the innocent, Christ himself. The faithful who understood their earthly exile and followed Christ to the end of their own lives. Why are they thrown into the great winepress of the wrath of God (Rev. 14:19 ESV)? Because their blood turns into God’s wrath poured out on their killers. The martyrs didn’t die because of God’s wrath. Rather, their blood (the wine) becomes the very wrath Babylon will drink. The faithful saints become almost a sacrament of damnation with their very lives.

But it doesn’t end there! An amazing thing happens. Like in Nehemiah, after God’s wrath is given to their enemies, the saints sing praises to the Lord.

Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed (Rev. 15:3-4 ESV).

Remembering the Saints

So, why lists? Why remember the saints who have come before? Perhaps the author of Hebrews gives us the best reason why when he says this:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him.

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 

By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight.

And all these died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. And God provided something better for us. (Hebrews 11 Paraphrased ESV)

The Gospel for Us

You see, we too are called to faithfulness. Like the patriarchs and the judges, the prophets and the kings, and like Nehemiah, our faithfulness is in the hopes of the fulfilment of the coming (back) of our Messiah. We see him promised, even from afar. What do we do with our unfaithfulness in the face of the faithfulness of these saints? We trust in and follow the same savior who saved those who’ve gone before us. And that’s the beauty: in our weakness, in our failings, in our struggles and doubts, in our inabilities to reconcile our existence on earth with our place in God’s kingdom, Paul reminds us of this beautiful promise:

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20 NET).

It was Christ who had perfect obedience to his Father’s will, being faithful even unto death on behalf of us, his saints. May we follow in his perfect faithfulness.

Closing Prayer

To Jesus Christ, who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us to be a kingdom, priests of his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever (Revelation 1:5-6 NRSV). Amen.