Then Nehemiah said to them, "You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no longer suffer disgrace." I told them that the hand of my God had been gracious upon me, and also the words that the king had spoken to me. Then they said, "Let us start building!" So they committed themselves to the common good.... Above the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each one opposite his own house. After them Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his own house. After him Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs opposite his living quarters....  

                                                                                                                                            Nehemiah 2:17-18; 3:28-30

The Judean sun was really hot and I had just consumed a large Palestinian lunch washed down by a couple of cold Israeli beers. Palestinian lunch - Israeli beer. I felt like a U.N. Peacekeeper. I was in a mood for a nap, but that morning I had been in the right place at the right time. Dr. James Fleming was leading a group of theological students to various places in Jerusalem. I had met Jim in the mid-eighties when I was on a mini-sabbatical outside Bethlehem. I greeted him, we chatted, and he invited me to tag along with his students. That's how I happened to be climbing around ancient ruins on a steep hill just in the shadow of the southern wall of Jerusalem. The ruins were a part of the City of David ... Jerusalem about 1000BC until shortly before the time of Jesus. At one point Fleming pointed to some rubble and said, "See those long, rectangular stones - one about every twenty feet or so? If you look closely you can see Hebrew words carved into each of the stones. These stones are the lintels - the horizontal beams - above each doorway of the houses. Inscribed are the names of the owners of each house. Many of those names appear in the Book of Nehemiah - they are the homeowners association, if you will, the members of which helped to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem about 500 years before Jesus."

That might not float your particular boat, but I got goosebumps. A quick recap: the people of Jerusalem had been carted off to Babylon around 587BC and for the next fifty years or so - almost three generations - they were captives in Babylon, far from Jerusalem. They existed far from the temple; far from the center of their faith and oh, how they yearned to return. Listen again to one of the saddest passages of the Bible, Psalm 137: "By the rivers of Babylon - there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion!' How could we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy." Jewish faith is that grounded in Jerusalem! Psalm 122 is the joyful song, "I was glad when they said unto me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'" And then the counterpoint to this lament, "By the rivers of Babylon - there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion."

But eventually, after three generations far from home, "Next year - Jerusalem," went from rote to reality. Little wonder that when the people returned they gladly participated in the project of rebuilding the walls. The people of Jerusalem would spare no expense in restoring their city to the splendor of Solomon, five hundred years ago. It was for the common good.

They were back but a few weeks when they said, "Let us start building!" And the text from Nehemiah the prophet continues, "So they committed themselves to the common good.... Above the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each one opposite his own house. After them Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs...." And so on. I saw the name of Zadok on one of the lintels that day I stood among the ruins. The pride these people took in their city ... it was evident even in the careful carving of names upon the lintel.

I need to emphasize: each man was responsible for the wall across from his own house. It's called accountability. They rebuilt the walls as best they could, for the glory of Jerusalem! But there was a bit of enlightened self-interest, with each man thinking, "My portion of the wall is going to be stronger and more beautiful than that of my neighbor." No one wanted to let the community down. I have to tell you this whole scene came alive to me when I saw those Biblical names on those limestone lintels. Whew. And that's only the introduction to this sermon - but perhaps you are already writing the conclusion.

This evening I'm going to encourage you, "Let us start building!" Let us build up this church even as Nehemiah urged his fellow citizens "build up the walls of Jerusalem." But I will not appeal to your enlightened self-interest. For it is not for ourselves that we shall be building. Oh sure, there will be more conveniences and more space for us all ... but it is not for us that we've encouraged this project. It is rightly for the greater glory of God. All of Yorktown will know "How much God must love these people ... giving them the willingness to share of their resources." Our names are not going to be on the lintels - but the Name of Jesus, the Lord of the Church! Our community is going to know there is life at Curry and Gomer. Our friends and neighbors are going to know that Jesus Christ is preached and taught - because this building is going to make a statement.

I thank God for each and every one of you and your ministry at Grace. As your pastor, I am proud and grateful ... about your willingness to share hard earned money with the church you love. Remember, on our own, our resources might not go all that far. Together, just as Jesus fed the multitudes with barely the barley to feed a young boy, together our gifts get multiplied. At times I think that writing another check to the church has as much attraction as turning the other cheek. I'm spoiled, however. In my time at Grace I've found the people of Grace to be folks willing to struggle with what it means to live Christ-centered lives. People adept at both writing checks and turning cheeks. Our money talks and God is writing the script!

Surely we share a common conviction that God is calling us to build up the walls of a new church building. Certainly we share a common faith that God has given us the resources to do just that. Sisters and brothers, this is the right place and the right time! To the Glory of God, let us start building!

That was my sermon May 31, 2000, a handful of months before breaking ground. "Let us start building," we once said with great confidence. And soon with mortgage in hand we say, "Let us start burning." Thank you all - and to God be the glory!

(A sermon preached at an initial Capital Fund Raising Event)