Working Well With Others Series

The People in the Work

One reason I think the Olympic ratings are suffering is that everything is on tape delay. If you want to, you can find out who won by looking on the Internet, listening to the radio, or even reading the newspaper. If you’ve already read the Book of Nehemiah you know the final results ­ the wall was built in a world record 52 days! And yet, just as it’s interesting to watch the intricacies of Olympic competition, so too, as we dive into this chapter we’re going to see more of the details. We’re also going to learn about several individuals ­ much like the human-interest stories NBC has been airing on some of the athletes.

I see 6 principles from this chapter that will help each of us "Work Well With Others."

1. Leaders must set the example. We see this in verse 1. If anybody in the city should have been busy with the work, it was the priests, for God’s reputation was at stake. The high priest had no hesitation using his consecrated hands to swing a hammer or push a wheelbarrow. As befitted the superior dignity of his office, he wore a sacred garment of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, made out of fine linen. On the upper part he had 12 precious stones set in gold with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel engraved on them. On his head, he wore a dark blue turban with the phrase, "Holy to the Lord" engraved on a diadem of pure gold.

And yet, here he was picking up rubble and laying brick. I bet he had to have his clothes dry-cleaned after this! I take seriously my joyful responsibility to be involved in the work of the ministry as well. While you’ll never catch me dead in a robe and a turban, I don’t have a problem getting my hands dirty. When we’re ready to move ahead with the Family Life Center, I commit to being involved with my time, my talents, my treasures, and my tools ­ though I may need to borrow some of yours because I don’t have very many!

Our leaders have been, and will continue to set the pace here at PBC. The elders, deacons, and staff will be giving sacrificially to the Jesus Video offering next Sunday. We will be completely on board ­ all of us. That’s exactly what happened last December when we did the Bible Reading Marathon. The leadership was completely committed to it, and signed up for large blocks of time and recruited others to do the same.

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 13:4-9. This serves as a good reminder to us ­ it’s not as important how we begin a project, it’s how we finis 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.

2. God uses all kinds of people. Take a look at verse 8: "Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired the next section; and Hananiah, one of the perfume-makers, made repairs next to that…" 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 localities gathered to work on the wall. The rulers and priests worked together with regular people, some who even lived 10-15 miles away.