TUESDAY, 2 February, 2021 “Teamwork”

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Good Tuesday morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

Today let’s talk about something essential to every healthy endeavor. TEAMWORK is something essential to success in any society in team sports, business, health care, politics, education, even family, in fact almost every aspect of life at every age, isn’t that true? Isolation from each other is one scheme of the devil to lead us to self destruction as a person, an organization and even society, right? That’s part of why the forced shut down of so many aspects of teamwork life due to COVID like schools, businesses, large group gatherings like weddings, funerals, sporting events, shared dining rooms in retirement homes, even church gatherings are all wrecking havoc with so many people. And there are a multitude of things which complicate and cause dysfunctional teamwork aren’t there? Today let’s look together at one of the most remarkable teamwork projects ever undertaken.

Join me again in the Bible book of Nehemiah. Let’s begin in chapter 2 verse 18 where Nehemiah has just cast his vision for rebuilding the long ago demolished city wall. The people who have lived all their lives in Jerusalem with the debris of their broken down wall all around them, responded to Nehemiah’s vision with: “Let us start rebuilding. So they began this good work.” Do you hear enthusiasm for a teamwork project? But not everyone was so excited. There is always opposition to any project requiring good teamwork. “But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us . ‘What is this you are doing, are you rebelling against the king?” (Nehemiah 2:19) Have you noticed opposition to society helping, teamwork projects are always rooted in distortions, lies, criticism and discord? Look around your world and consider all the ‘teamwork’ efforts needed to make life work right, and how much opposition do you see breeding discord in your city?

Nehemiah’s response is very significant and essential to helping teamwork function well when engaged in God honoring, society helping projects: “The God of heaven will give us success. We His servants will start rebuilding…” Nehemiah could say that because this wall rebuild project was a God given vision. He’d prayed for months after hearing a report of the conditions of the city, and God had given Nehemiah a vision of what God wanted to accomplish and how God wanted to include Nehemiah in the project of rebuilding this city wall. Nehemiah was right… the only way the God vision was going to be accomplished was with God giving success to those who put their hands to the work by enabling them to work well together toward a common, God given, goal! Now think about that as you reflect on the dysfunction of so many aspects of the society where you live right now! What’s missing? Is God missing? Is clarity on the goal missing? Is unity among the workers missing?

Chapter 3 of Nehemiah is simply remarkable. It’s a description of how the normal people of the city, folks just like you and me, put their hearts and hands to the work of rebuilding the wall, working together, shoulder to shoulder, in amazing teamwork. See if you can count how many times the little phrase ‘next to them’ is used in this chapter. You’ll notice most of the people worked on that section of the wall which was most important to them... the section in front of their house, or their business, or the gate in the wall they’d use most often. This project mattered to these folks.

Do you notice who the very first person mentioned as starting to work is? “Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate.” (Nehemiah 3:1) The spiritual leaders caught the vision and led the way in putting their hands to this important work. May I ask, do you see spiritual leaders in your community leading the way in the work of rebuilding the broken down aspects of the society where you live? Broken families, broken schools, broken healthcare, broken politics, broken government, even broken churches? Something very positive happens in the momentum of any project when spiritual leaders join in, isn’t that true?

As you continue reading Nehemiah chapter 3, do you get excited as you see teamwork happening all around the city? It’s not difficult to picture it, can you even put yourself there, first clearing the rubble, then digging a foundation, and then rock by rock, boulder by boulder and gravel and cement. By the way, this city wall was likely about 10 – 15 feet wide at the base, and would rise up in some places 40 or 50 feet, and be wide enough at the top, that watchmen and armed warriors could walk along watching out over the landscape below and far out to the horizon, giving ample warning to the gate keepers to close the city gates if some enemy was seen approaching. The top was also wide enough that armed warriors could position their weapons and supplies to fight from that elevated advantage perch against any approaching enemy.

Oh no my friends, this was no 5 foot high little fence… this was a massive project requiring scaffolding and ladders and carts to haul piles of rocks and a huge force of people to construct this wall of protection. From a construction management perspective or an architectural perspective, this was a very complex, huge project, and it was all happening simultaneously all around the perimeter of Jerusalem city!

Sadly not everyone was enthusiastic about joining in the teamwork. Look at verse 5: “The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work…” While the momentum of teamwork is contagious, so is the lack of involvement of some, especially if they are leaders, people of influence. Sadly there are always those who view themselves as not needing to get their hands dirty and join in the hard work. Don’t let them discourage you friends, if you are involved in a project and some folks, especially leaders, are unwilling to engage in the project with you. As you see in Nehemiah’s situation, other people stepped up and they went forward in teamwork without those ‘nobles’ who simply stood by watching.

In fact, look at verse 12 “Shallum, son of Hallohesh, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section with the help of his daughters!” I love that! I’ve seen it in my own family many times, as both my wife Dawn and our daughter April were quick to put their hands to the challenges before us, and often their enthusiastic participation drew their friends in with them, and great things were accomplished for God’s glory! Have you had that experience?

I urge you my friends, to read the remainder of Nehemiah chapter 3, allowing the momentum of the refrain “next to them” to stir your enthusiasm for this monumental project, just as it stirred up hundreds of people in Jerusalem to join together in one of the greatest ‘teamwork’ movements of all time. Then look around your city, your church, your business, your society… where is such ‘teamwork’ needed to help rebuild broken parts of your world?

Could it be God is using Nehemiah’s story to stir something deep in your soul? Is God beginning to grow a vision in you of how God wants to bring change, making a difference in your part of our world… and especially, how God wants to involve YOU in His teamwork project? What will you do about that my friends? I challenge you to spend some time, with pen and journal in hand, giving serious thought to what rebuilding work God wants to do in helping repair the damage of the dark kingdom in your city! Ask God to help you see what HE sees, to feel what HE feels, as God looks at your city… and let the Holy Spirit guide you to write in your journal what God shows you!

Are you a Nehemiah and are there some broken down walls God wants to rebuild where you live? How does God want to include you and maybe a team of others in great teamwork, my friends ?

Today’s Scripture is Nehemiah 3.

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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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