What do you do when somebody in your family has a birthday? What about if you have an anniversary? You have a party! You celebrate! Are there ever times in the church when we should celebrate? Are there ever times when we should have a party? Of course there are! We shouldn’t spend all of our time in celebration, but we should celebrate things. Well, what kind of things do you think we should celebrate? Of course we should celebrate the resurrection. We should celebrate our Lord’s birth. We should celebrate our salvation. But is there anything else we should celebrate? What was the remnant in our passage celebrating? They were celebrating a great accomplishment. And I think it’s perfectly legitimate for us to celebrate accomplishment. At the end of each Awana year, we have a celebration. At the end of Bible School, if the kids reach a certain goal, we have a celebration. I can tell you that when we meet our goal of 125 in Sunday School on Pack-a-Pew Sunday, November 1st, we’re going to celebrate! We know that it’s good to celebrate. Celebrating accomplishment makes us feel good. It excites us and gives us energy. It gives us the desire to keep on keeping on. So we know that celebrating accomplishment is a good thing. The question is, how are we supposed to do it? There are all kinds of ways to celebrate, aren’t there? And we know for a fact that many of those ways to celebrate are not appropriate. But what is appropriate? How should we celebrate accomplishment? We should celebrate accomplishment the same way that the remnant did in our passage. Now, you’re going to have to use your imagination with me to see what was happening here. Remember the great things that the remnant had just accomplished. They had rebuilt the wall. 2 ½ miles around. Up to 8 or 9 feet thick in many places. Walls, gates, towers—all of it. And they did it in 52 days. What an accomplishment. Then with all of that momentum, they decided on which people would live inside the city and which ones would stay outside. They had a plan to rebuild everything. They had a huge accomplishment in the past and had a direction to go in the future. What an exciting time to be in Jerusalem. The enemies were quiet. God’s Word was being preached. The remnant was relieved and revived and excited all at the same time. Everything was going great. What better time to celebrate! So they did. And that’s what this passage talks about. In it we see four components of godly celebration. The first component is its beginning. Look back up at verse 30:
NEHEMIAH 12:30
The first component of godly celebration is its beginning. This wasn’t just something that happened. This wasn’t just some spontaneous event. Like everything that happened with the wall, this celebration took some planning. Nehemiah’s people sent word out to all of the outlying territory. They gathered up all of the Levites and the singers and they told them to bring all of their musical instruments. They also sent word out to all of the priests. They obviously organized and planned and promoted the event. But was that the beginning? No it wasn’t. Because the real beginning of the celebration came after all the people had gathered back together. The celebration didn’t begin with the planning. It didn’t begin with the outreach. It didn’t begin with the publicity and invitations. The celebration really began with the purification. Purification? That doesn’t sound much like celebration, does it? Oh, but it is. Of course the purification that the priests and Levites in our passage did was ceremonial purification. They had to ceremonially purify themselves first. Then they ceremonially purified the rest of the people. Then they ceremonially purified the gates and the wall. Now, the text doesn’t explicitly tell us what all this involved. It probably included the ceremonial washings that were included in Old Testament Law. They probably had to wash themselves and their clothes. They probably were fasting and abstaining from marital relations. There’s no doubt that it included animal sacrifices. They probably received the sprinkled blood on themselves and in turn sprinkled it on the gates and the wall. The point is that they realized that they had to enter into the time of celebration with a pure heart. Their motives had to be pure. The work of their hands in accomplishing the goal had to be pure. Their joy had to be pure. Their relationships with others had to be pure. Their reasons for entering into celebration had to be pure. So many times we can plan a celebration, just because we want to have a good time. Or we can plan a celebration because we want to show people that we can have fun too. And that they can have fun with us. We can use celebration as a means to an end. But is that the right beginning? The right beginning is to enter into celebration with a pure heart. Enter into celebration with pure motives. A few years back, there was a popular movement called, “Celebrate Jesus.” That’s fine, but the only way that we can celebrate Jesus is if we know Him as our Savior and Lord. The only way we can celebrate Jesus is if He has purified us with His blood. Otherwise, there’s not much celebration involved. As a matter of fact, instead of celebration, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Before any kind of celebration can happen, we have to begin with purification. We ourselves must be saved. And this place must be purified from dissent and division. There can be no celebration before the wall is complete. When there are breaches in our wall and piles of rubble in our midst, there is no cause for celebration. That’s where celebration begins. It begins with purity. Personal purity and corporate purity. The first component of godly celebration is its beginning. And from the right beginning, we move to the second component of godly celebration. Look at verse 31 and 38
NEHEMIAH 12:31 and 12:38
The second component of godly celebration is boldness. Now, this is where your imagination comes into play. I want you to picture what they did here. First, remember that the wall is up to 8-9 feet thick. It’s easily thick enough for 4 people to walk along, shoulder-to-shoulder. So here’s what they did. Nehemiah probably gathered all of the people together at the Valley Gate which was in the middle of the western part of the wall. When all of the people were gathered there, he split them up into two groups. The first group was led by Ezra. They went up on top of the wall and started heading south toward the Dung Gate. Then after that whole group was on top of the wall heading south, it was the next group’s turn. They went up on top of the wall at the same place and started heading north. When the last man of that group was on the wall, Nehemiah brought up the rear. Now, picture that for a second. This whole group of people assembled on top of the wall. Notice what verse 31 calls them. The KJV says, “two great companies of them that gave thanks.” Notice those words in italics. That means that they were added by the translators. Some modern translations use the word choir there. The original word literally means “thanksgivings”. “Two great thanksgivings.” What a way for God’s people to be known as! When God’s people celebrate, that’s how we should be seen. We should be seen as one big thanksgiving. Now, notice I said that we should be seen. Because that’s exactly what happened here. Why do you think that they went to all the trouble to go up on the wall? Who do you think was on the other side of that wall? Do you suppose that Tobiah and Sanballat and all of their enemies were out there? How bold was that! And it was there that they chose to celebrate their accomplishment. There they stood, before a watching world. And they praised God at the top of their lungs. They were two great big, loud thanksgivings. And everybody could see them. But they didn’t just stay in the same place there at the Valley Gate. No—they walked all the way around the wall. Nehemiah’s group went in a clockwise direction. And Ezra’s group went in a counter-clockwise direction. And as they did that, they were calling attention to two things. First, they were calling attention to how small they were. You think about how small they looked compared to the hugeness of that wall. But not only were they calling attention to how small they were, they were calling attention to how big their God is. Because the only way for them to have been able to accomplish that huge task was if God did it through them. And as they marched around that wall, they boldly proclaimed that fact to the watching world. Everybody could see them. Everybody could hear their praise. And everybody, all around Jerusalem, knew that their God is great. Their celebration was bold. The second component of godly celebration is boldness. The third component is bragging.
Bragging? Is that what I said? Yes, the third component of godly celebration is bragging. Now, don’t get me wrong. If bragging is prideful, it’s wrong. If bragging is telling people, “Look what I’ve done,” it’s wrong. But it’s not wrong to talk about good things that God has accomplished through you. Now, you’ve got to use your imagination again. Picture all those people singing and praising God along the top of the wall. Each group walked half the total distance of the wall. So that means that each person in each group walked around a mile and a quarter. What do you think that they were walking across in that mile and a quarter? Each of them was walking past the parts of the wall that they had built. So how do you think they reacted when they walked past their part? When the sons of Hassenaah walked past the Fish Gate, do you think their chest might have puffed out a little bit? When Malchijah and Hasshub walked over their section, do you think they might have said, “Hey, that’s the one we did!” When the people around Zadok walked on the wall in front of his house, do you think he might have pointed it out? “Hey, that’s my house and this is the part of the wall I worked on.” And can’t you just hear the people around him? “Man, Zadok, you did a great job. This part of the wall is going to stand forever!” Can’t you just feel the joy and fellowship that was going on there? It wasn’t a boastful, prideful kind of bragging. It was a joyful feeling of accomplishment. The same kind of feeling we get when we say, “Have you seen our nursery?” or, “Have you seen our new classrooms downstairs?” or, “Have you seen what’s going on in our sound room?” “Have you heard our Praise Band?” “Have you seen what our WOM is doing?” Is that boastful? I don’t think so. But it is cause for celebration. We should joyfully celebrate the things that the Lord accomplishes through us. And part of that is recognizing those He uses. And yes, bragging on them a little bit. Now, I have to admit that I’m just ornery enough to notice something else about the way that they were bragging. And it seems to obvious to be just a coincidence. Yes, I think that they were bragging on their work and bragging on each other as they passed their sections of the wall. But, do you know what else I think they were doing? I think that they were bragging about their work to their enemies. Do you remember back in chapter 4 when Sanballat and Tobiah were taunting them? The remnant had already started on the wall. And it infuriated Sanballat. He knew he couldn’t stop them by force, because they had the backing of the king. So he got with Tobiah to try to ridicule and taunt them into quitting. Do you remember what Tobiah taunted them with in 4:3? He thought he was being really funny when he said, “Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.” In other words, he laughed at them and said, “Your silly little wall won’t even stand up to a tiny little fox walking across it.” Who had the last laugh now, Tobiah? Will the world laugh at us? Will the world mock us? Will the world impugn us? Only if we’re doing our job. But when we are faithful to do the work that God calls us to do, we will have the last laugh. And when we celebrate the awesome things that God accomplishes through us, we can brag. We can brag on the accomplishment. We can brag on each other. And most of all, we can brag on how God makes all of His enemies look silly. Now, like I said, I’m just ornery enough to like that part. Maybe I like it too much. But even that part of celebration isn’t the best part. No, the fourth component of celebration is the best part. Look at verses 40-43:
NEHEMIAH 12:40-43
This part is the best part. Because look at what happened. Nehemiah’s thanksgiving group headed northward, clockwise from the Valley Gate. Ezra’s thanksgiving group headed southward, counter-clockwise from the Valley Gate. Each group travelled around their parts of the wall until they met on the other side. And where did they meet? They met in the house of God. And notice that it’s not like that was the end of their celebration. They had celebrated all along the wall, but when they got to the house of God, they kicked it up a notch. What does verse 42 say? How did the singers sing? They sang LOUD. In verse 43, what kind of sacrifices did they offer? GREAT sacrifices. How were they rejoicing? With God-given GREAT joy. As a matter of fact, if they would have had neighbors, the neighbors would have had to call the cops on them. That’s how loud they were celebrating. That sounds like a God-given, Spirit-filled party to me. I would say that the greatness of their celebration was only matched by the greatness of the work that God had accomplished through them, wouldn’t you? So how are we going to celebrate? I’m not talking about having another fellowship dinner. I love our fellowship dinners, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about real, unscripted, joyous celebration. The kind of celebration that begins with a pure heart and a pure house. The kind of celebration that is boldly in the face of a lost and dying world. The kind of celebration that joyfully brags on what the Lord is doing in and through each of us. The kind of celebration that blows the roof off of God’s house here at Brushfork. That kind of celebration is what I’m talking about. Are we ever going to celebrate like that? We will. We just have to understand some things first. We will when we really understand the depths of our lostness that Jesus has saved us from. We will, when we really understand the boldness of the righteousness He’s clothed us in. We will, when we really understand the Good News He’s given us to boldly proclaim to the world. We will, when we really understand the awesomeness of the work He’s accomplishing through us. And we will, when we really bring all of that understanding back to His house. I have to tell you that I’ve spent my whole life in church and have never experienced celebration like that. I don’t think that any of us have. But we can. Let’s start where the remnant started. Let’s accept the mission that God has for us. That mission is the Great Commission. As we are going, make disciples. And as we make disciples, baptize them and teach them. That’s our mission, just as building a wall was the remnant’s mission. Let’s accept our mission and let’s be faithful to do our mission. I’ll study and preach and live the Word like Ezra did. We’ll all do our mission like the remnant did. And let’s just watch what amazingly impossible things the Lord will do through Brushfork Baptist Church. And as He does, we’re going to see that kind of celebration. As we see that happen, God will make us rejoice with great joy. Our wives will rejoice. Our children will rejoice. And the joy of Brushfork will be heard even afar off.
