Sermon Tone Analysis

Working Well with Others

Nehemiah 3:1-32

At first glance, Nehemiah chapter 3 looks a bit dry.

One commentator refers to it as a "colorless memorandum of assignments."

It reads much like the book of 1 Chronicles with its long lists of names that are difficult to pronounce, information that seems redundant, and a chronology that seems meaningless.

I’m going to be honest; it can be a tough read – name after name.

Chuck Swindoll wrote a book 40 years ago on Nehemiah called, “Hand Me Another Brick” and he skipped this whole chapter!

While it may be tempting to skip this chapter, it contains some great insights and principles that have direct application to our lives today.

Our text for today is for the most part a list of people who achieved something pretty incredible.

And, it’s interesting that Nehemiah isn’t even mentioned at all.

I think he wanted to keep the attention on others.

Let’s quickly look at the setting of Nehemiah 3.

After the Israelites had disobeyed God, He allowed them to be conquered and deported from their land.

But the hand of God was still at work, moving and leading them back to Jerusalem.

The only problem was that Jerusalem was pretty much destroyed.

By the time of Nehemiah, the temple had been pretty much rebuilt but the rest of the city hadn’t fared so well.

The walls were broken down and the gates had been burned out.

God had moved the king to allow Nehemiah to go back to the city of Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the holy city.

The major task for Nehemiah was to find people to do the work of rebuilding.

The problem is that no one likes work.

I guess that is because it is awful hard to find the right job for each of us.

Some of you are doing exactly what you needed to be doing ­both in your career and in kingdom work.

Others of you are struggling to find exactly where you fit in.

Someone once said, "I like work -- it fascinates me.

I can sit and look at it for hours."

When it comes to the work of the Lord, there is no place for spectators or self-appointed supervisors and critics; but there is always room for workers.

D.L. Moody said

“A great many people have got a false idea about the church.

They have got an idea that the church is a place to rest in … to get into a nicely cushioned pew, and contribute to the charities, listen to the minister, and do their share to keep the church out of bankruptcy, is all they want.

The idea of work for them—actual work in the church—never enters their minds.”

Nehemiah was able to build his team around a central rallying point.

He pointed them to the purpose of the work - the glory of God.

They weren’t just working on walls; they were in essence worshipping their God.

The purpose of all ministry, and really of life itself, is the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 puts it this way:

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I’m going to do something different this morning.

Rather than reading the entire chapter (all 32 verses and a whole lot of difficult name to pronounce) I am going to just pick out a few verses that I think can help us work well with others and help us see our part in restoring and rebuilding, not just in our own lives, but in the life of Ashland Avenue.

So, I’ll pray and we’ll look at a couple of different sections of this chapter.

Pray!

Take a look at verse 1:

It’s no accident that the list starts at the Sheep Gate.

It’s another way of saying, "Put God first."

Close to the wall’s northeast corner, this gate provided easy access to the Temple, and was given this name because of all the sheep that entered through it to be sacrificed.

By beginning here, Nehemiah is establishing that their relationship with God was central.

This was the most important place to start.

They had a time of dedication right at the beginning of the construction project.

We must make sure we are dedicated to God before we begin working for Him.

This is critical.

Don’t make the mistake of focusing so much on the work or the task that you forget God Himself.

God is not impressed with your labor.

He wants your heart.

That’s why worship must always come before work.

Have you settled that question?

Are you sold-out to God, completely committed and totally devoted to Him?

If you are, then get ready to work.

There are 6 principles from this chapter that will help each of us work well with others.

Leaders must set the example

We see this in the first verse.

If anybody in the city should have been busy with the work, it was the priests because God’s reputation was at stake.

The high priest had no hesitation using his hands to swing a hammer or push a wheelbarrow.

The high priest was the guy who had the fanciest and finest clothes for church and yet here he is out at the wall picking up the rubble and laying stones in the wall.

Here is the high priest, the guy who was able to go into the Holy of Holies, the guy who made intercession for the entire nation, the spiritual leader of Israel getting his hands dirty doing the same work that everyone else was doing.

Now, I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty, I just don’t know how much help that I could be besides manual labor like carrying stuff.

Sad to say, Eliashib did not remain true to his calling and later partnered with the enemy to create some serious problems for Nehemiah in chapter 13.

This serves as a good reminder to us.

It’s not as important how we begin a project, it’s how we finish that counts.

Some people who enthusiastically begin a job or a ministry may drop out or even turn against it for one reason or another.

Leaders must set the example.

God uses all kinds of people

Take a look at verse 8:

The Lord didn’t need a thousand masons and carpenters to rebuild the wall.

He needed ordinary people who were willing to work.

People from a wide variety of different backgrounds, trades, and areas gathered to work on the wall.

The rulers and priests worked together with regular people, some who lived 10 or 15 miles away.

There was a place for everyone, and a job for everyone to do.

That’s the great thing about gift-based ministry.

One of the purposes of the church is to equip people for ministry ­

This truth is based on the belief that God has gifted each of us and called each of us to be involved in a lifestyle of servanthood.

As we use our gifts, we will be fruitful, we will be fulfilled, and the church will be strengthened.

People were assigned a certain section to work on.

And in the same way, just as one person could not build the whole wall by himself, so too, you and I are called to work in a certain part of the kingdom.

No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them…

Are you serving in your area of giftedness right now?

If not, it’s time to grab a brick and jump in.

Leaders must set the example.

God uses all kinds of people.

Some people will not work

Having said that there is a place for everyone, and a job for everyone to do, there will always be those who refuse to apply themselves.

Most people worked, but some avoided their responsibility.

We see this in verse 5:

Tekoa was a town about eleven miles from Jerusalem, and while some of the people shuttled back and forth to the job site; the nobles from Tekoa called in sick.

Actually, they refused to participate in the work of God because they didn’t want to follow orders.

They were too proud to submit themselves to the supervisors of the job.

They though that they were too important to get their hands dirty.

The phrase "would not stoop to serve their Lord" suggests that it was “pride” more than anything else which kept them from pitching in.

Is there anyone here today who refuses to roll up their sleeves and work?

Feeling like you’re too important to spend time with a hurting person, come to Sunday School, Sunday night or Wednesday night church, serve in ministry, or give of your time and resources?

Jeremiah 48:10 is a clear warning to those of us who just sit back, with our arms crossed:

“Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness…