Being Next To...

 

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. And next to him the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. (Nehemiah 3:1-2 ESV).

 

Our reading today is merely the first two verses of the third chapter in Nehemiah’s recounting of the rebuilding of the city walls, gates and the temple. I encourage you to read the entirety of the chapter, though for our purposes today these two verses are sufficient. You will notice there are many names in the chapter; and, to those unfamiliar with the Hebrew language, very difficult to pronounce. Because of that we tend to skip over these portions of Scripture. However, that’s a mistake. To Nehemiah, they were real people, with families and stories. The people who worked on the gates and walls mattered to God, and God mattered to them. They worked, prayed, worshiped, laughed, and cried next to each other.

 

The words “next to” are crucial. God takes seriously our capacity to serve together as a community in doing his work. This picture I’ve attached is from a mission trip in East Tennessee with other men from Maury Baptist Association when we deployed a team of men to repair/reconstruct a family’s roof. I did spend a great deal of time on the roof tearing off the old roof and replacing it with new tin panels, though in this picture you can see me “supervising” in the lower left of the photo. I was privileged to accompany these men on many such trips. It was essential that we work together. That is the concept of being “next to” in our reading today.

 

Nobody worked alone, trying to control the project. The repairs were made by people working side by side. Their love and care for each other must have caught the eye of people watching them. Their diversity worked in unity. That’s community development at its best. The apostle Paul knew the story of Nehemiah well. He wrote to explain to a newly formed group of Jesus followers, “A body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body” (1 Corinthians 12:12). When we work together in any of the many ministries of the church we show the unity of Christ. When we serve next to each other in a spirit of unity and grace, Jesus becomes contagious and winsome. It’s the church’s message that Christ is real in us. This brings success and victory!