Is there a dearth of joy right now? Has the half the population that’s unhappy about the election results doomed itself to a joyless four years?

I hope we can all remember that when God promised us joy in the coming of Jesus and exhorted us to follow Jesus joyfully, there were no elections. The government was NOT favorable either to Judaism or to Jesus followers.

Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. (Luke 2.9 – 11, MSG)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. (Philippians 4.4, ESV)

Rejoice always. (1 Thessalonians 5.16, ESV)

The fruit of the Spirit is…joy. (Galatians 5.22)

We looked at Nehemiah pausing the work in chapter five to take care of the poor. Pauses happen.

June tripped over our small dog on Saturday at 11:15a, inside the house, landing squarely on her hip. Her Apple watch detected the fall and before I could get there from the next room, the watch had called 911, and June was talking with the dispatcher. EMTs arrived in minutes. They carefully loaded her into an ambulance and took her to the ER at Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, where she was diagnosed with, not a broken hip, but several small broken bones in her pelvis. The main break was the “right superior pubic ramus.” There were two other small breaks.

This is an inoperable injury (like a broken rib or broken collarbone in that respect). “There’s no treatment; it just hurts! The ER doc said she would stay in the hospital 1 – 2 more days to meet with occupational and physical therapists. That’s exactly what happened. While she has to be VERY careful when moving in order to avoid over-the-top pain, she made great progress in those two additional days. She learned to walk with a walker, and together we learned to manage stairs. We were released around 3p, Monday afternoon, to drive home in the snow. Thankfully, we made it safely, and June’s friend Nancy from Nursing School days (class of 1967!) came over to help get us settled in. June continues to progress nicely.

In the meantime, the rest of life is on pause…I canceled two meetings scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. I performed a wedding Thursday, but June didn’t get to play the piano for it as she had planned.

We are thankful for the folks who have paused their lives to pray for us and bring food. And we’re excited that someone in the Cayman Islands National Choir, which our daughter Melody directs (in addition to her school job), is paying Melody’s way to come see us after Christmas. A blessing.

…you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4.15, 16, ESV)

And it’s my birthday, born on Friday, December 13, 1946. You can see my reflections on the number 13, written the last time my birthday fell on a Friday, 5 years ago.

Speaking of getting old(er), I experienced a first on November 24. Once or twice a year I preach a Sunday afternoon vespers at a large retirement home in Colorado Springs. When my friend Jeannie who arranges for the guest speakers called, she extended two invitations: one to speak, the other to move in!

I guess you’re old when the retirement home you used to visit for preaching considers you old enough to join them!

I told her we thought about where we should live and had decided to stay right where we are, but thanks for the invitation.

I’m in good health and definitely not retiring…yet. Yesterday I did a wedding at a neighbor’s house, performing the ceremony and playing a bit of piano at the reception. Tomorrow I play piano for the Men’s Christmas brunch at First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs. (https://www.bobplayspiano.com/) And I still write the daily Ewellogy and invest in the lives of leaders and growing disciples.

Because the stakes are so high, even though you’re up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I’m not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. This is the post to which I’ve been assigned—keeping you alert with frequent reminders—and I’m sticking to it as long as I live. (2 Peter 1.12, 13, MSG)

Nehemiah built the wall as recorded in Nehemiah 1 – 6, but Nehemiah has 13 chapters! What else is there to do?

Nothing gets a local church more excited than a building program! “Our present building can’t hold all the people! We need a new sanctuary and a capital fund campaign to support it!” And there is great enthusiasm. But along the way, we often forget to build something even more important than a new sanctuary: the people! Europe is filled with great cathedrals…empty.

What good is a new wall protecting Jerusalem if the people inside aren’t following God? Nehemiah chapters 8 and 9 record important “discipling” meetings conducted by Ezra the Priest

By the time the seventh month arrived, the People of Israel were settled in their towns. Then all the people gathered as one person in the town square in front of the Water Gate and asked the scholar Ezra to bring the Book of The Revelation of Moses that GOD had commanded for Israel. So Ezra the priest brought The Revelation to the congregation, which was made up of both men and women—everyone capable of understanding. It was the first day of the seventh month. He read it facing the town square at the Water Gate from early dawn until noon in the hearing of the men and women, all who could understand it. And all the people listened—they were all ears—to the Book of The Revelation. The scholar Ezra stood on a wooden platform constructed for the occasion…Ezra opened the book. Every eye was on him (he was standing on the raised platform) and as he opened the book everyone stood. Then Ezra praised GOD, the great God, and all the people responded, “Oh Yes! Yes!” with hands raised high. And then they fell to their knees in worship of GOD, their faces to the ground…[13 men] explained The Revelation while people stood, listening respectfully. They translated the Book of The Revelation of God so the people could understand it and then explained the reading. (Nehemiah 8.1 – 8, MSG)

Then Nehemiah and Ezra encouraged the people to celebrate and share bounty with the poor:

Nehemiah the governor, along with Ezra the priest and scholar and the Levites who were teaching the people, said to all the people, “This day is holy to GOD, your God. Don’t weep and carry on…Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don’t have anything: This day is holy to God. Don’t feel bad. The joy of GOD is your strength!” …So the people went off to feast, eating and drinking and including the poor in a great celebration. Now they got it; they understood the reading that had been given to them. (Nehemiah 8.9 – 12, MSG)

Chapter 8 ends with the people celebrating the Feast of Booths (Leviticus 23.33 – 36):

The entire congregation that had come back from exile made booths and lived in them. The People of Israel hadn’t done this from the time of Joshua son of Nun until that very day—a terrific day! Great joy! Ezra read from the Book of The Revelation of God each day, from the first to the last day—they celebrated the feast for seven days. On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly in accordance with the decree. (Nehemiah 8.17, 18, MSG)

Let’s spend one more day on this. Chapter 9 is another solemn assembly too good to skip over. After a special post tomorrow, I’ll come back to Nehemiah.

But the lesson for today is clear: the real building is the people.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3.16, ESV)

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2.19 – 22, ESV)

Nehemiah chapter 6 opens with the enemies trying repeatedly to get Nehemiah off track:

Sanballat and Geshem sent this message: “Come and meet with us at Kephirim in the valley of Ono.” (Nehemiah 6.2, MSG)

I love his response:

I knew they were scheming to hurt me so I sent messengers back with this: “I’m doing a great work; I can’t come down. Why should the work come to a standstill just so I can come down to see you?” (Nehemiah 6.2, 3, MSG)

“I’m doing a great work.” Sometimes, the easiest way to say “No” to an activity is that it would take away from something greater. Once a church asked me to serve on the Christian Education committee. I replied, “While you all are meeting to talk about Christian Education, I will be doing Christian Education: teaching an adult Sunday School class and leading a discipleship group.”

I am doing a great work; I can’t come down.

And by staying on task…

The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul. It had taken fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard the news and all the surrounding nations saw it, our enemies totally lost their nerve. They knew that God was behind this work. (Nehemiah 6.15, 16, MSG)

A success! As I’ve said, there aren’t that many success stories in the Bible. Joshua led the conquest of Canaan, for example. That was a good story. They finally got the temple built as recorded in Ezra, and you could say that Esther (coming up shortly) was a success. And so was Nehemiah, but the work isn’t over. Stay tuned.

A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul… (Proverbs 13.19, ESV)

After all that effort in Nehemiah chapter 4 to keep the wall-building project going, why would he pause in chapter 5?

A great protest was mounted by the people, including the wives, against their fellow Jews. Some said, “We have big families, and we need food just to survive.” Others said, “We’re having to mortgage our fields and vineyards and homes to get enough grain to keep from starving.” And others said, “We’re having to borrow money to pay the royal tax on our fields and vineyards. Look: We’re the same flesh and blood as our brothers here; our children are just as good as theirs. Yet here we are having to sell our children off as slaves—some of our daughters have already been sold—and we can’t do anything about it because our fields and vineyards are owned by somebody else.” (Nehemiah 5.1 – 5, MSG)

In short, the rich are oppressing the poor. And is that worth pausing the work for? Yes, it is…

I got really angry when I heard their protest and complaints. After thinking it over, I called the nobles and officials on the carpet. I said, “Each one of you is gouging his brother.” Then I called a big meeting to deal with them. (Nehemiah 5.6 – 8, MSG)

You can’t build the wall and have a big meeting at the same time.

There are some who might say, “Concern for the poor is a distraction from preaching the gospel.” Tony Campolo and Tim McConnell at First Presbyterian, Colorado Springs, would vehemently disagree. (Please review those two blogs if you’ve forgotten.) So would James:

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? (James 2.14 – 17, MSG)

And the Apostle John agrees:

If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. (1 John 3.17, 18, MSG)

Back to Nehemiah. He chastised the rich and called for action:

“What you’re doing is wrong. Is there no fear of God left in you? Don’t you care what the nations around here, our enemies, think of you? “I and my brothers and the people working for me have also loaned them money. But this gouging them with interest has to stop. Give them back their foreclosed fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes right now. And forgive your claims on their money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.” They said, “We’ll give it all back. We won’t make any more demands on them. We’ll do everything you say.” (Nehemiah 5.9 – 12, MSG)

Note that the issue is “fear of God.” That’s what kept Job in line:

Have I ignored the needs of the poor, turned my back on the indigent, Taken care of my own needs and fed my own face while they languished? Wasn’t my home always open to them? Weren’t they always welcome at my table? Have I ever left a poor family shivering in the cold when they had no warm clothes? Didn’t the poor bless me when they saw me coming, knowing I’d brought coats from my closet? If I’ve ever used my strength and influence to take advantage of the unfortunate, Go ahead, break both my arms, cut off all my fingers! The fear of God has kept me from these things— how else could I ever face him? (Job 31.16 – 23, MSG, emphasis mine)

We’ll see tomorrow that Nehemiah finished the wall. He didn’t abandon his mission…but he took care of the poor first.

What to do when you’re leading a project and things go sideways? Nehemiah shows us in chapter 4. The work has started, everyone is participating with great enthusiasm, but…

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he exploded in anger, vilifying the Jews. In the company of his Samaritan cronies and military he let loose: “What are these miserable Jews doing? Do they think they can get everything back to normal overnight? Make building stones out of make-believe?” At his side, Tobiah the Ammonite jumped in and said, “That’s right! What do they think they’re building? Why, if a fox climbed that wall, it would fall to pieces under his weight.” (Nehemiah 4.1 – 3, MSG)

Ridicule. The first problem. The first solution? Prayer:

Nehemiah prayed, “Oh listen to us, dear God. We’re so despised: Boomerang their ridicule on their heads; have their enemies cart them off as war trophies to a land of no return; don’t forgive their iniquity, don’t wipe away their sin—they’ve insulted the builders!” We kept at it, repairing and rebuilding the wall. The whole wall was soon joined together and halfway to its intended height because the people had a heart for the work. (Nehemiah 4.4 – 6, MSG)

Love it: halfway done, people working whole-heartedly… until ridicule escalates to outright opposition:

When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairs of the walls of Jerusalem were going so well—that the breaks in the wall were being fixed—they were absolutely furious. They put their heads together and decided to fight against Jerusalem and create as much trouble as they could. Nehemiah 4.7, 8, MSG)

Solution? Prayer AND a guard:

We countered with prayer to our God and set a round-the-clock guard against them. (Nehemiah 4.9, MSG)

Then…what always happens in a project, you hit the boring middle and discouragement sets in:

But soon word was going around in Judah, The builders are pooped, the rubbish piles up; We’re in over our heads, we can’t build this wall. (Nehemiah 4.10, MSG)

Pastor Frank Tillapaugh pointed out decades ago, that it’s not like rubbish trucks were coming into Jerusalem every day with new rubbish! There had to be less rubbish in chapter 4 than there was when they started in chapter 3. Internal discouragement coupled with external threats could have shut them down, but it didn’t.

Armed guards and a pep talk:

So I stationed armed guards at the most vulnerable places of the wall and assigned people by families with their swords, lances, and bows. After looking things over I stood up and spoke to the nobles, officials, and everyone else: “Don’t be afraid of them. Put your minds on the Master, great and awesome, and then fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4.13, 14, MSG)

Work AND watch.

From then on half of my young men worked while the other half stood guard with lances, shields, bows, and mail armor. Military officers served as backup for everyone in Judah who was at work rebuilding the wall. The common laborers held a tool in one hand and a spear in the other. Each of the builders had a sword strapped to his side as he worked. I kept the trumpeter at my side to sound the alert. (Nehemiah 4.16 – 18, MSG)

A command and control system.

Then I spoke to the nobles and officials and everyone else: “There’s a lot of work going on and we are spread out all along the wall, separated from each other. When you hear the trumpet call, join us there; our God will fight for us.” (Nehemiah 4.19, 20, MSG)

Working, as we used to say in the Air Force, “half-days – 12 hours,” and watching.

And so we kept working, from first light until the stars came out, half of us holding lances. (Nehemiah 4.21, MSG)

It’s not, “Are we going to finish this wall?” but “HOW are we going to finish this wall?” Nothing stopped them…until they paused for a good reason. Paused? Yes. Stay tuned.

In the meantime,

I also instructed the people, “Each person and his helper is to stay inside Jerusalem—guards by night and workmen by day.” We all slept in our clothes—I, my brothers, my workmen, and the guards backing me up. And each one kept his spear in his hand, even when getting water. (Nehemiah 4.22, 23, MSG)

Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire. (Matthew 26. 41, MSG)

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9.6, ESV, emphasis mine)

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2.11 – 14, ESV, emphasis mine)

Peace…it comes up A LOT in scripture, but we can’t just wait for Jesus to bring peace in some magical way. He said:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5.9, ESV)

I was reminded of this truth at a beautiful concert last week by the Collingsworth Family, whom I had not seen before. Some friends highly recommended them, and now I do too! Two of the three daughters played a simple violin arrangement of “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” accompanied by their mother. This video, shot a few years ago when one of the daughters was pregnant, doesn’t quite capture the words that were projected as they played so I reproduce them here. Take the four minutes to listen and meditate on the words. It’s worth it.

Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Let There Be Peace on Earth
The peace that was meant to be

With God as our Father
Brothers all are we
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.

With ev’ry step I take
Let this be my solemn vow
To take each moment and live
Each moment in peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me

Songwriters: Jill Jackson / Sy Miller

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12.18, ESV)

We left Nehemiah challenging the people of Jerusalem to get the wall built. They agreed, and the work begins:

The high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests were up and at it: They went to work on the Sheep Gate; they repaired it and hung its doors, continuing on as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. The men of Jericho worked alongside them; and next to them, Zaccur son of Imri. (Nehemiah 3.1, 2, MSG)

With our theme of secular/sacred, laity/clergy, note that the wall was built by untrained wall builders! Read Nehemiah 3 and look at the professions: not a builder among them, as far as we know: priests, goldsmiths, perfumers, government officials, Levites.

It’s amazing what can get done with just the resources you have. Jesus had a pretty motley crew if you look closely…and they changed the world.

 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. (Acts 4.13, NLT, emphasis mine)

Continuing with Nehemiah – a layman, remember? – we pick up some important lessons on prayer. If you do the calendar math from chapter 1 to chapter 2, you see that his season of prayer, beginning with confession, lasted about four months (from Kislev (Nehemiah 1.1) to Nisan (Nehemiah 2.1)). He takes wine in to the king (his job), and he’s sad, which got the king’s attention:

It was the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king. At the hour for serving wine I brought it in and gave it to the king. I had never been hangdog in his presence before, so he asked me, “Why the long face? You’re not sick are you? Or are you depressed?” That made me all the more agitated. (Nehemiah 2.1, 2, MSG)

Nehemiah tells the king he’s sad because Jerusalem is a mess.

The king then asked me, “So what do you want?”

Praying under my breath to the God-of-Heaven, I said, “If it please the king, and if the king thinks well of me, send me to Judah, to the city where my family is buried, so that I can rebuild it.” (Nehemiah 2.4, 5, MSG)

And here we have some simple lessons on prayer:

• Prayer is for everyone, not just priests
• Prayer isn’t long and formal
• Prayer is for everywhere, even a king’s court

He was praying for his life among other things! You weren’t allowed to be sad in the king’s presence.

He had planned so he knew how long he needed and what provisions he needed. Also, unlike Ezra, he accepted cavalry escort.

Then I said, “If it please the king, provide me with letters to the governors across the Euphrates that authorize my travel through to Judah; and also an order to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, to supply me with timber for the beams of The Temple fortress, the wall of the city, and the house where I’ll be living.”

The generous hand of my God was with me in this and the king gave them to me. When I met the governors across The River (the Euphrates) I showed them the king’s letters. The king even sent along a cavalry escort. (Nehemiah 2.7 – 9, MSG)

Nehemiah travels to Jerusalem, surveys the situation firsthand and calls them to action:

Then I gave them my report: “Face it: we’re in a bad way here. Jerusalem is a wreck; its gates are burned up. Come—let’s build the wall of Jerusalem and not live with this disgrace any longer.” I told them how God was supporting me and how the king was backing me up.

They said, “We’re with you. Let’s get started.” They rolled up their sleeves, ready for the good work. (Nehemiah 2.17, 18, MSG)

And we’re off!

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. (1 Timothy 2.8, ESV)

…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6.18, ESV)