Sermon Tone Analysis
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ME
Our world is becoming more and more fractured.
Everyone has an opinion, or an opposing opinion on a variety of issues.
It has come to the point where many can’t seem to talk to one another anymore in a civil manner.
You can’t say you are for some issues and against others.
You have to take on the whole package so you can be labelled left or right, conservative or liberal.
Some of these issues have bled into churches, particularly in the United States.
All you need to see is the twitter volleys back and forth over so many issues.
WE
We in Canada, especially in Chinese churches, aren’t affected as much.
That’s perhaps the saving grace for ethnic churches.
Now that doesn’t mean we are free from the threat of disunity.
Or that it can easily be achieved.
In fact, our cultural issue is often we don’t face our differences head on, but go around the issue in a game of saving face, of bestowing honor or shame.
So fissures are hidden, kept under the surface, until they spew over again.
The sacrifice?
Our younger generation would rather be part of a people who is vulnerable, transparent, and willing to admit mistakes.
They would like to know that they can have a say and are valued, and that everyone can work together.
When this doesn’t happen, some leave the Chinese church or the faith because of this disillusionment.
So what does God have to teach us about unity in the pressure and threat of challenges from outside and within, as individuals, as a people, called to represent his kingdom?
GOD
We’ve been exploring what it means to return to normal, and we are half way into this discussion.
with the rest of November to go.
And whether it’s returning to normal, to worship, to opposition, to prayer, to faithfulness and last week to mission, normal is not going to be the same.
That’s because God is leading us to rebuild after the pandemic, this crisis that has destabilized our usual patterns of life.
It has caused many of us to think in new ways about what it means to be a Christian.
And so today, as we continue to explore what it means to “return”, it’s important that we return together.
Nehemiah is part of a memoir from the book of Ezra-Nehemiah.
It is a historical account of the Jews’ return to Jerusalem after being exiled in Babylon.
They rebuild the temple and the city walls in order to restore the worship of the LORD and preserve covenant faithfulness.
This week, we will finally see how the wall was built.
We also see more challenges arise, both from within and outside the Jewish community.
These challenges will test the faithfulness of Nehemiah’s leadership with the people of Jerusalem.
This is the main point:
Our Unity is Witness to God’s Kingdom.
So if you have a Bible, turn with me to chapter 3, even though we will spend the bulk of our time in chapter 4. Because depending on how you read it, we already know the end of the story.
The wall is rebuilt in chapter 4 verse 6.
And even though it is half its height, as probably compared to the previous wall, it is a strong start to ensure some level of protection for the people.
What goes on before verse 6 and after verse 6 actually jumps around in time, where the story starts with the wall being built and then goes back in time to explain how it was built.
This is a plot device you see in movies as well.
This is an example of a frame story.
The climax of the story is shown first, and then they go back in time to explain everything leading up to the event.
The movie “Titanic” is an example of this, where the movie starts with Rose as an old woman and then goes back to tell her story when she was a young woman on the ship.
Or Forrest Gump talking to a stranger as a feather spins upwards and goes back to his childhood.
For that, we have to go back to chapter 3 where it all started, our first point.
I. Our Unity is Shaped by a We and Us mentality (3:1, 5, 8, 12)
Now it’s easy to skip chapter 3 because it basically has a lot of names followed by another group of names in a counter-clockwise fashion building up the wall.
But if you read it carefully, you will see some interesting pattern emerge, right from the first verse:
When Nehemiah has motivated the people to build, the first to rise to the occasion is the spiritual leadership of the group: Eliashib the high priest, along with other priests.
The sheep gate, where the sheeps are led in to be sacrificed, is also near the temple mound, shown here.
(show diagram)
Notice that they not only built the gate, but they also consecrated it and the doors, as well as the two towers.
Even though it is a physical project, it is also a spiritual project.
But just like any other project, you have supporters and you have detractors.
Verse 5:
And this is pretty rich.
The Tekoites are more than willing to help, and again they appear in verse 27 to help.
But here it’s explicit that their leaders “would not stoop to serve their Lord.”
Depending on which Lord you are thinking of, it’s just as bad if it’s their earthly lord or the leader Nehemiah or God himself.
And they had another opportunity and still wouldn’t support the cause.
And we will see this attitude permeate further into chapter 4. Next, in verse 8:
What’s a goldsmith doing repairing walls instead of making gold?
And why is one of the perfumers there, and not making perfumes?
Wouldn’t it make more sense for the perfumer to rebuild the dung gate?
Okay, jokes aside, there is an obvious benefit to their trade once a wall is built.
Their business will no longer be at the mercy of bandits and people will feel safe to buy and sell.
However, we also see here people who aren’t so tied to their role because the mission and purpose is greater.
Yes, our church loves to split us into AV or worship singers, or sunday school teachers, or small group leader, but we are united by an overarching goal.
We shed those identities temporarily so we can all roll up our sleeves and be the hands and feet of Christ.
Lastly, in verse 12:
In contrast to the nobles of Tekoa, Shallum didn’t care for his title and status but got into the project, and even brought his daughters along to help.
This is a family enterprise.
When the task is so broad and vast, all hands need to be on deck.
So we can see when something bigger than one of us requires all of us.
And most will be onboard, and will do their part, irrespective of title, status, or whether they fit that role or not.
Some live in the immediate region and others travel from nearby cities. Yes, there will always be some who oppose from within, but the many united can always overcome the few who dissented.
Our second point:
II.
Our Unity is threatened by the Naysayers and the Echo Chambers (4:1-3, 7-8, 10-12)
For those who have been following our series, Rev. Alvin spoke about the enemy of the rebuilding effort, Sanballat.
He first appears in chapter 2 of Nehemiah.
He was the governor or satrap of Samaria to the North, assigned by the Persian empire to oversee the mixed-Jews in his province.
He feels threatened by the wall and what it may do to his own people’s loyalty to his governance, and fears the Jews would prosper and rebel.
Feeling threatened and afraid makes us do scary things.
His temper turns his fear into rage and then into jeering, not only to his kinsmen but also to the army.
To his eyes, these people called the Jews are a bygone people of a bygone era still thinking they can return to their glorious days, but they are nothing.
He questions the motives behind the wall.
Is it to re-establish their worship?
Will God accept your sacrifice (look at yourselves now)?
Only by magic or a miracle can this be possiblly built in a day!
You are starting with nothing but reminders of your failure as a state (the heaps of burnt rubbish from the Babylon defeat).
Did you count the cost?
Surely, this would affect the morale of the united people on this project!
To add insult to injury, Tobiah, a Jew whose name means Pleasing to The LORD, and a governor of the Ammonites says the wall they are going to build is so fragile a fox or jackal just needs to jump on it and it will tumble!
Verse 7-8,
When the jeering didn’t embarass or shame the Jews from their ongoing work on the wall, they, along with more enemies turned to violence.
They planned to go to war and spread rumours to spread fear among the people.
Such is the trajectory of sin.
It is that restless fire which becomes more and more violent and intense.
They become more angry because they were basically ignored and not seen as important.
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