Text: Nehemiah 4: 1-3, 6-9, 16-18; 5:1-7
Here at Immanuel, we have team of folks who have working together on a safety and emergency response plan.
One of the things that this group has discussed is that there are different kinds of potential threats to a community.
Those that are external, like a tornado… and those that are internal, like a fire.
And so you need to respond differently to each.
With an external threat, sometimes you need to hunker down and shelter in place.
But an internal threat might require you to exit the building and get to another location.
In all these plans however, our focus is on working together as a community to make sure people are safe and cared for.
Nehemiah shares his account of the call he receives from God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem… and in the process rebuild the community of the people of Judah.
Last week, we talked about how so many people responded and rolled up their sleeves and got to work on this effort.
Each took on their part of the project with enthusiasm!
And yet, it was not all smooth sailing.
The project immediately faced obstacles and threats that could have derailed the entire thing.
Some of these were external threats… from groups that opposed seeing Nehemiah succeed.
But some of them were internal threats and problems within the community itself.
First, let’s look at those external threats.
Nehemiah had been sent with authority from the king of Persia to rebuild this wall.
But the reach of the Persian Empire was vast and covered far more than this little corner of the world.
Regional governors had been appointed to oversee all of these different areas of what we now know as the Middle East and they didn’t all get along with one another.
Early on in chapter 2, we are introduced to Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab, who oppose the efforts of Nehemiah before he even gets started.
“They were very angry that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel” (Nehemiah 2:10, CEB)
But why were they so upset? Why did they care?
Well, they each represented groups that had been ancient enemies of the Israelites.
When God helped Moses lead the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, they forcibly displaced and battled with many other peoples and cultures.
Some of these groups would have rejoiced to see their neighbors brought to their knees and definitely didn’t want to see them rise in prestige or power again.
But there also may have been a sense that the Israelites were getting special treatment being allowed to restore their community.
Maybe they had a bit of jealousy about work of restoration that wasn’t happening in their own city-states.
So they begin to ridicule and attack the Jews and diminish the work that is being done.
One of my favorite taunts comes from Tobiah, who exclaims, “Why, if a fox climbed that wall, it would fall to pieces under his weight.” (4:3, MSG)
What a puny little wall, he is saying.
What shoddy work, done by miserably unqualified people.
At first, the people of Judah were kind of inspired and energized by these taunts… redoubling their efforts until the wall was nearly half of its intended height.
But, as often transpires – violent and hateful words began to become physical attacks.
Sanballat, Tobiah, and these enemies of the people began to plan an assault against the wall.
Living under constant attacks can be exhausting.
Before too long, the words got under their skin.
The people began to believe that they couldn’t be successful.
“The builders are pooped, the rubbish piles up; We’re in over our heads, we can’t build this wall.” (4:10, MSG)
Through it all, Nehemiah turns towards prayer and asks for God to hear their cries.
And then, he gathers up all of the people and gives one of those inspirational speeches that lifts their hearts.
“Put your minds on the Master, great and awesome, and then fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
What is more… he puts into action a plan so that the people will be unstoppable.
He creates these partnerships so that half of the people stood guard with shields and lances and the other half would work at rebuilding with a tool in one hand and a spear in the other.
Each person had someone else who had their backs.
Because they were all spread so far out in different parts of the city, they used trumpets to rally folks together if an attack came from any direction.
And when they needed to, they took turns and switched places… which was vitally important, because they worked from dawn to dusk.
When evening came, no one returned to their own homes, but they camped out and slept in their clothes, guarding the wall.
Faced with an external threat, they hunkered down and sheltered-in-place… keeping their eyes focused on God and committed to having one another’s backs.
Friends, I think of all of the ways that our church did that throughout the pandemic.
We may have had to hunker down, but we didn’t give up the things that were important like worship or small groups… we just found a new way to connect with online and printed worship.
We formed care groups so that we would be responsible for checking up on one another.
Elder care ministry and teacher buddies were formed so that folks who might be more vulnerable had extra support and encouragement.
And as we are coming out of this pandemic season, I think about those external forces of competition that we might be facing.
The Samaritans and Ammonites and Arabs in this story didn’t have to be their enemies, and yet as they battled for attention and resources, they believed lifting yourself up means putting someone else down.
Our “enemies” aren’t quite so obvious.
But we, too, are competing for people’s time and attention in the multitude of things that pull at them from different directions.
And sometimes, we can feel as if we are having very little impact and can get discouraged.
Maybe we start to cry out, like the Jews did:
We are pooped and burnt out and can’t possibly compete. We are never going to be able to get back to where we were.
And so we, too, need to encourage one another and have one another’s backs.
We need to give one another permission to take turns and share the load.
We need to celebrate the progress that we ARE making and all of the small ways that God is working in our midst.
One simple way, today, that you can do that… In the foyer we have a table with cards that say, “What I love about my church.”
Fill one of those out and add it to the wall…
and take some time to read all of the good and encouraging things that others are saying about who we are and what we are about.
Alright, we’ve talked about some external threats… but what about when the call is coming from inside the house?
All of this great work is happening in rebuilding the wall, but before too long, Nehemiah starts to hear some complaints from the people against one another.
You see, the everyday folks who lived in and around Jerusalem still had to feed their kids and tend their flocks.
And decades of first Babylonian and then Persian rule had nearly wiped them out with the taxes and levies that were enforced.
What is worse… governors and officials who had been appointed to oversee these collections in the past had lined their own pockets through excessive fees and charging interest.
The people had nothing left. They were burnt out and overextended.
Some of them were forced to sell their children into slavery or mortgage their land just to eat.
What good would it do to build the wall and bring Jerusalem back… if the people were gone and the land was no longer theirs?
So Nehemiah calls all of the leaders together and holds them accountable.
No longer would interest be collected.
Fields and vineyards and children would be returned.
The leaders are there not for their own personal self-interest, but for the good of the whole…
Centuries of prophets had called out this kind of selfish and oppressive behavior in the time before the exile… and Nehemiah made his leaders commit to walking in the ways of God.
In the life of our community, the internal threats we face are a bit different.
But I do wonder about the ways that we have burnt people out who are overextended…
How might we need to work to share our burdens of ministry more equitably?
What would it look like if we each worked to give of our time and talents to support the work of the whole ministry of this church… instead of relying upon those who are already carrying the load?
I also wonder about who we have forgotten and who has been pushed to the margins.
We have done really excellent work of reaching out to support some groups like our elders.
Are there neighbors whose voices and lives have we overlooked?
For many years when I first came to Immanuel, Imani was a completely separate church that shared part of our building.
For the last four years, we have created the same kind of space for Immanuel Gospel Fellowship, but now they have become part of our larger Immanuel community.
What does it really mean, however, to extend welcome to people of a different culture or ethnic background?
What does it really mean to claim them as a part of us and us as a part of them?
And what would that look like for welcome of homeless neighbors?
Or community members who rely upon food stamps?
Or our youth who are LGBTQ?
How can we partner and work together and make sure that people know that we have their backs?
Threats to community are abundant and can be internal or external.
But in all things, let us keep our eyes minds focused on God, who is great and awesome, and work together as a community to have one another’s backs.
Let’s fight for our children, our families, our neighbors, and our community.
Amen.