Rebuilding Home: 13 Days in NehemiahSample

How is our worship up to God also a witness to others?

For most people, the most boring parts of the Bible are the various lists of names. Admittedly, it can be difficult to get excited about and learn deep truths from what reads like pages from ancient phone books. Christian ministry happens when God does a saving work for someone, then does a sanctifying work in someone that culminates in a serving work through someone. The list of names in Nehemiah 12 is new leaders who were rising up to help lead their urban ministry as a city within their city. The multiple lists of names scattered throughout the book of Nehemiah show us that a healthy ministry needs a continual influx of new leaders with new skills to pursue new opportunities that can ensure the continued health and success of the Ministry.

Behind the simple list of names in Nehemiah 12 is a host of complex challenges. The rising up of new leaders means that some preexisting leaders were being redeployed in the organization based on performance, rising new leaders were ascending the ladder of influence quickly, and seats were available at the table of senior leadership for new leaders. Pre-existing leaders were reassigned to new tasks. Obviously, it was yet another season of reorganization and the complex pains that accompany a movement that desires to keep moving. Just as the people had stacked the stones together to rebuild the wall, God is now stacking the saints together. Each of the names listed is, in some sense, an important stone that God had chosen to bring wisdom, insight, service, counsel, and such to the city within the city so that it could remain a vibrant ministry.

Nehemiah 12:27-43 then reports the enormous worship service in honor of God to celebrate all that He had accomplished in their midst through their sacrifices and dedication. The entire point of rebuilding the walls and city, relocating believers back into the city, was to renew the worship of God.

The worship of God is a mega-theme of the entire Bible. Christian worship is not just a musical style, religious issue, something that happens in a church building, or something that starts and stops, although it does include all of those things. The Bible says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” In some ways, worship involves every nook and cranny of life.

Hebrews 13:15–17 says,

“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

In this section, we see that worship includes:

1. Praise: Who or what do you praise most passionately and frequently?

2. Proclamation: How commonly and clearly do you confess Jesus Christ in the words you speak, type, and sing?

3. Service: Do you serve others with gladness in response to God so faithfully serving you? Or are you someone who prefers to be served rather than to serve? Do you serve when it is inconvenient or unnoticed or when you are unmotivated?

4. Love: Are you an active participant in the life of your church and community? Do you give your time, talent, and treasure to share God’s love in tangible ways with others?

5. Generosity: For whom or what do you sacrifice your time, health, emotion, money, and energy? What do these acts of worship reveal about what you have chosen to deify in your life?

6. Submission: Are you submissive to Godly authority, or do you tend to ignore or rebel against Godly authority (e.g., parent, teacher, pastor, or boss)? Our English word “dedication” comes from the Latin word which means “to offer” or “to give.” The dedication that occurs in Nehemiah 12 is part of their worship of God. It would have likely included ceremonial washings, reading of Scripture, repentance of sin, and possibly temporary abstention from marital sexual intimacy to focus on God.

Their dedication included the following three categories:

1. Leaders - because leaders set the example and pace of a people, it was important to establish godly known leaders named in Nehemiah 12, mentioning that they obeyed what the Bible commanded.

2. People – as the people dedicate themselves to God in Nehemiah 12, their joy and unity are emphasized, showing them as God’s holy people, which means they were devoted to God. They are set aside by God for blessing and joy.

3. Things – because the money and stuff in our life are meant to be used in such a way that God is worshipped as we live as stewards. In Nehemiah 12, the people give their first fruits generously, and everyone and everything is stewarded wisely. As a result of these dedications, God’s people were showing that worship was a daily lifestyle with incredibly practical implications marked by joy. In many religions, there is a noted absence of joy among worshippers. In some religions, the people chant a few choruses that are more akin to a dirge. In other religions, the religious leaders sing, but the people do not participate in songs to God. However, in Christianity, corporate worship includes joyous and enthusiastic singing in delightful response to who God is and what He has done and is doing for us through Jesus Christ. In the example of Nehemiah 12, we see this truth shine forth in three ways.

First, there was a delight in people’s hearts for who God is and what God had done in their midst. As a result, the Scriptures use the words “gladness,” “thanksgiving,” “thanks,” “rejoiced,” “rejoice,” “great joy,” and “joy” in various English translations.

Second, there were instruments in peoples’ hands. These include cymbals, harps, lyres, trumpets, as well as other unnamed instruments.

Third, there were songs on peoples’ lips. As a result, we are told that, in delight, the choirs sang as well as the people in the words “singing,” songs that “gave thanks,” and “great sacrifices.” Summarizing this grand event, Nehemiah 12:43 reports,

“And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.”

By gathering to worship God through songs of rejoicing, they were showing that they worshipped God while scattered throughout life and also gathered as His people to celebrate all that He had done for all the people.

In summary, people who have been loved and served by God respond by dedicating themselves and their things to God so that they worship God in everything and every day. They gather together to delight in the goodness of God by singing with joy the praises of their good God. Everyone and everything are for God, which is the mark of real revival.

Question:

Why is corporate worship, where God’s people meet together under teaching and leadership, vitally important?