Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

We are a month into studying the OT book of Nehemiah where we are focusing on how God is at work in our world to save sinners and how you and I are invited by God to participate in that work.

And in Nehemiah, the work that God invites his people to participate in is to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem that were destroyed.

Last week we looked at and saw that Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem and called the people of Israel to rebuild the walls so that God’s name would be glorified.

It is important that you remember when we talk about the wall in Nehemiah, it was something bigger than just a construction project.

Now this work is more than just a construction project.

The wall instead was a symbol for God redeeming his people from exile to again be his holy people and proclaim his glory to the nations.

In other words, the wall was a symbol that God desired to save sinners from their sin and idolatry and transform them into his holy sons and daughters to live for him.

And if the main point of the second half of was that God invites his people to join Him in his work, then as we continue , we are going to see how every individual has a role to play in God’s kingdom.

Being a part of God’s people through the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be a part of God’s family.

And being a part of a family means we are active members of it.

Not passive participants.

It’s not like in God’s Kingdom you have some Christians who carry the load where the rest sit on the sideline as casual observers.

I think many Christians look at serving God and his kingdom on the principle of proximity.

What I mean by that is that some Christians will actively choose to hide on the fringes of God and his people.

They deceive themselves into thinking that as long as they are a part of a community that is following the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength then they are to because of their proximity to the people of God.

However, God calls every individual to be a faithful steward of the gifts he has given to serve his kingdom

And in , we are going to see what serving God truly is, and why it is so crucial for every one of us to play our part in God’s grand purposes for our church.

Now if you have read ahead for this week, you’ll know that chapter 3 progresses through a list of names of different people who worked on the wall of Jerusalem.

The chapter talks about 45 different sections of construction that was done by God’s people including 10 gates.

And the chapter works around Jerusalem in a counter clockwise progression starting at a gate named the Sheep Gate and notes the names of individuals who worked hard to rebuild the wall at each section.

At our church, we definitely affirm that every single word of Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for us in our Christian life.

However, in debating over how to handle these 32 verses, I think it is best to relieve you of listening to me mispronounce dozens of Hebrew names for 7 minutes, and instead jump into why this text is in the Bible in the first place and how it is profitable for us today.

I think as you are reading through God’s Word you should read through parts that appear initially mundane, because, as I hope to show you, every piece of Scripture is able to reveal to you who God is and how we are called to live in light of our salvation in Jesus Christ.

So what I want to do from today is to show you what serving God truly is and why it is so crucial for every one of us to play our part in the body of Christ.

What is Serving God?

But even here I have to define our terms.

In our culture of vague Christian spirituality, people define serving God however they see fit.

They assume they can do something vaguely Christian and call it worship.

However, I want to be specific so that we can see practically how serving God should look in our lives.

In Nehemiah, they are rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was the city where God himself dwelled under the old covenant.

It was ruled by him and Israel was meant to be a holy nation set apart to live under God’s rule and order.

Therefore, the work of the people in Nehemiah in building the wall is aimed at proclaiming and expanding the kingdom of God.

From this, we learn that to truly serve God is to serve is kingdom.

Now this can be done in a variety of ways.

We can love and serve our families friends and coworkers like Christ served us.

We can see to live in light of the kingdom in our own lives by living holy before the Lord.

But what I think is most helpful for us today is to see how participating and serving the ministries of the church is the clearest way we are able to proclaim and work to expand God’s kingdom to the lives of others through the proclamation of the gospel.

It is through the church that God is growing his kingdom on the earth and if we want to join God in his work, the clearest way we can do that is by joining a church and using our gifts to further the ministry of the word in that church.

So a lot of the examples you will hear today are about serving the Lord by serving the church, but this is not the only way we participate in God’s kingdom in our life.

It is just the primary we are able to serve God together as a local body of believers.

So lets begin with what it truly means to serve God by looking at 4 points from this passage.

Serving God Is Worshipful

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate.

They consecrated it and set its doors.

They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Nehemiah begins recounting the reconstruction effort with Eliashib the high priest and his brothers the priests.

This is significant because at every turn, Nehemiah wants us to see that the primary purpose for rebuilding the wall is not for Israel’s military protection or political advancement though those are outcomes of their work.

His primary purpose in leading God’s people to rebuild the wall as God had instructed was so that God would be worshiped.

If God was going to be worshiped and praised by the nations, they must see his love for his people Israel.

By rebuilding the wall, God’s people were doing a holy work because it was a symbolic representation that they were forsaking the idols of the surrounding nations and returning to the Lord to worship him alone.

This is why the priests get involved.

They see the grunt work of manual labor as intimately tied to God’s worship and praise by his people.

Therefore, when we serve God by doing the things he has called us to in Christ, no matter how mundane we might think they are, we actually glorify his name because we show that following him is more valuable than anything else in our life.

Whether that is serving God by repenting of sin or practicing our Spiritual disciplines to help us grow in Christ

Serving other members of Christ’s body so that we love them like we love our selves and work to see them grow in Christ

Or we serve our neighbors in the world, those who are lost in their sins, in hopes that they would see the love that Christ has for them in the love we show them, we do it all to serve and worship God.

Regardless how we are serving God in that moment, it is an act of worship that says, “God you are worthy of my whole life.

No matter what my preference is or what I want, to serve you is my delight.”

Even when we serve other people we are still serving God because we are serving them for God’s purposes.

Like in Ephesians when Paul tells us to serve our employers as if we are serving the Lord.

Whatever we do for God’s kingdom, no matter how many people it benefits, we are first and foremost serving God and worshiping him.

Also notice that the priests consecrated, or sanctified, their section of the wall along with it doors.

In other words, they made their section of the wall holy as a work that was set apart for the Lord.

Now later in the book they will have a whole consecration festival to consecrate the whole wall, all the work accomplished by God’s people, once it is finished, but consecrating their section on the outset of the work is a way of emphasizing the purpose of the construction as a whole.

From beginning to end, this wasn’t just about rebuilding brick and mortar, it was about reconsecrating the people back to God as his holy people.

A light to the nations proclaiming that salvation is in God alone.

Even the fact that they consecrated it as far as the tower of Hananel is significant.

Now the tower of Hananel (map from handbook of Ezra and Nehemiah) is right here next to the Fish Gate which means the priests consecrated this whole section right here.

This was significant for two reasons.

These two gates led to the Temple where God was worshiped on the earth.

Second, the Tower of Hananel is mentioned in only two places and .

Both of which are talking about God restoring Jerusalem and once again saving his people.

In fact the word Hananel is derivative of the two Hebrew words meaning “favor” and “God.”

So when the priests consecrated this section of the wall, they were trying to say that the work of rebuilding the wall was proof that God was again having favor on his people and saving them.

Their work to rebuild the wall was an act of worship because God’s people were using their Time, Talent, and Treasure to work for God’s purposes and kingdom over their own.

Serving God Is Humble

The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate.

They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

4 And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired.

And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired.

And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired.

5 And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.

3 The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate.

They laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

4 And next to them Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired.

And next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, son of Meshezabel repaired.

And next to them Zadok the son of Baana repaired.

5 And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.

Something strange has happened in American Christianity where we look at serving as degrading.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Serving God Is Sacrificial

Unless we are in charge and getting the credit, we don’t have much interest in serving the Lord.

We seek to earn our rewards here and now instead of laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

And in verse 5 when all the rest of God’s people are laboring together to serve the Lord, the nobles from Tekoa would not stoop to serve their Lord.

In Hebrew, Nehemiah is giving the picture of these nobles being stiff necked.

Thus their refusal to join in the work is a picture of their petty pride.

The assumed that doing manual labor was beneath their position of status and position in society.