Git-R-Done Series

Text: Nehemiah 3:1-32, Title: Git-R-Done! Date/Place: NRBC, 9/16/17, PM

A. Opening illustration: tell about the mission team from Petsworth that really got her done in April of 2003

B. Background to passage: A burden was born, a king was won, a midnight moonlit ride was taken, and a speech that was given, and people were ready to build. Now what? A lot of writers, teachers, and preachers skip this chapter, because it is kinda like all the begets in Gen 5. But this is a very important chapter with some helpful admonitions for us. But these men get to work. Nehemiah as a wise leader continues to do things right in order. And so we will see several more things that he does along with the people that make this project happen.

C. Main thought: In our text we will see how the people rose up under Nehemiah’s leadership to begin the work.

A. Division and Delegation (v. 1-4)

1. The first part of Nehemiah’s plan was to break the job down into smaller manageable units. Best that we can tell, he divided the wall, which was about a mile and a half long, into about 40 or so. So each unit, assuming it was divided evenly, was about 65 yards long. Then he was fine with delegating responsibility. He let go without letting up. He was not a micromanager. He was definitely seeing the project through, just not as a control freak.

2. Ex 18:17-21,

3. Illustration: like when you wash the car or mow the yard, you do sections at a time, It was said of Sangster: “his greatest grasp of leadership was knowing the importance of delegation and of choosing assistants with care…”

4. Whether you are talking about a home entertainment function like a birthday party or about a group that ministers like a church or Sunday School class, when there is a large job to dividing up the labor is good. This is how I think that we could cut our own grass and vacuum our own carpet. This is how we can pull off large ministry events, or consistent care from within our group. But I can’t do it all, and I am not saying that you expect me to. I am just looking at Nehemiah’s example, and if we want to follow it, there must be delegation to willing and passionate individuals. And with that comes management, not micromanagement.

B. Everybody worked Efficiently (v. 6-12)

1. In this list of people working, we see that all kinds of people did the work. We see priests, people from the surrounding villages, tradesman, city officials, women, bachelors, temple servant, city police, and merchant, etc. And Nehemiah wisely set them working near spots that were they had a vested interest. He set the priest to work at the Sheep Gate, had several at work around their homes, police near the citadel, governors near their offices. Therefore they worked harder, better, and lost less time in transit. And it worked so well that several groups did another section.

2. Argumentation

3. Illustration: I’d rather put 1000 men to work than do the work of 1000 men, a recent survey of workers across the USA, nearly 85% said that they could work harder at their job. More than half claimed they could double their effectiveness "if (they) wanted to." Each One Reach One, JWs do it this way, Amish,

4. It takes lots of variety to get the work done. However God has designed you, you are important to the kingdom and to the ministry of this church. But to have an effective church or ministry or family everyone has to do their part. The goal of modern ministry strategy is to get every member in ministry of some sort, but it has been more like a football game at a stadium at most churches—with 80K people screaming and watching, while 22 wear themselves out in need of a break. A side benefit to ministry within something you enjoy is effectiveness and efficiency. This is why it pays to know your spiritual gifts and serve in areas where you can be best used. This also helps combat ministry fatigue. And if you are passionate about something, you will do it much better than someone just trying to maintain the ministry.

C. Disregarded the Disenfranchised (v. 5)

1. One statement Nehemiah makes is that one group of people didn’t want to help. They for whatever reason felt like this wasn’t a good idea. We are not told why the nobles of Tekoa did not work, but we know that it didn’t slow Nehemiah down. There is some speculation that the city of Tekoa was close to Geshem the Arab’s territory, and thus it was not viewed as a friendly act to go and help them rebuild, although the people of Tekoa did go help. But Nehemiah didn’t spend much time with them, he just went right on. But he only notes it. He didn’t go and visit them, or write a letter, but kept focus.