Actual Work! (4)

Nehemiah 3

But we must also together examine the condition of the church, so that we can close in the gaps in the walls that make up the distinction between living like the world and living like God’s children. We must build a safe place in which we can dwell and a safe place into which we can bring others. That safe place is the household or family of God – the Church. It is a double-headed task that we have in front of us: To attend to our personal spiritual condition and to build up a credible, Christ-glorifying, gospel-enhancing witness through our lives together as the family of God, the church.

Nehemiah put the situation before the people: “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we may no longer suffer derision (shame).” And they said: “Let’s rise up and build!” Under God, I am repeating Nehemiah’s words to you: Come on, lets rebuild this church so that we do not shame Christ’s name. Will your answer be: Let’s rise up and build?

The moment they rolled up their sleeves and committed to this good work, the critics and cynics began their work, too. 2.19: “They jeered at us and despised us and said, ‘What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?’” Nehemiah replied: “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.” That was the point: A new thing was happening in Jerusalem. There would be a clearly defined inside and outside marked out by the walls.

There must be a clear demarcation between the kingdom of Christ and the values of this world. That delineation must show up in our personal lives, and our lives together must present Christ with clarity and beauty, like a city on hill that can’t be concealed. The church is made up of walls and gates; walls that demarcate the difference between the church and the world. But it also has gates; gospel gates through which people properly come to participate in the life of God in his church. And suitable gates through which God’s people can go out to engage with and bless a suffering world.