A Note from Pastor

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As I work my way through the entire Bible during my devotional reading I’ve made it to the book of Nehemiah.  This book famously records the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the exile.  But I’m reading it with a new set of eyes. 

This wasn’t exactly a monumental achievement.  If you read between the lines the work probably wasn’t done very well.  First of all, the city was still mostly empty.  They worked most of the time with swords nearby worried that raiders would come and tear down what they had built.  Each section was repaired by the family that happened to live near that section of wall.  In other words: all-volunteer.  No professional wall builders, no one supervising or making sure it was all uniform.  Everyone just did the best they could with their little section of the wall.  It was initially only built to half the normal height. 

The work must have looked a bit shoddy.  Some outsiders hurled a pretty devastating insult.  “Look at what these guys are building!  If a fox runs across the top of it the whole thing will come down.”  I expect they were probably telling the truth. 

And yet it wasn’t the strength or quality of the wall that mattered.  It was pride they were rebuilding.  And they were all doing it together, each person doing as much as they were able.  It may not have been top-end quality.  It probably could not have kept an army out, but it showed that people cared enough to try and were willing to work together. 

I guess there is an analogy for church work.  We work together to accomplish what we can in Christ.  It may not look professional or super high quality every time.  But it’s God’s people coming together for a united purpose to glorify God.  And that’s all that matters.