“I do not want a job handling people’s dirty dishes! I will find a job doing something else.” her voice and face declared such work quite beneath her.
“We do not do that!” sniffed the mother of a military aged man who talked with a recruiter about joining the Army and going through Boot Camp. Her son would not be one of the grunts.
We all have heard it, some of us have even said it. Some work ranks too low to be considered worthy of our attention, let alone to do it. That is nothing new. That same attitude is found in the Bible in the book of Nehemiah
The book of Nehemiah begins with the Persian king’s cupbearer’s sadness at the reports from his homeland, Israel, and the slow progress in rebuilding. He gains the king’s approval and financial support to return to Israel to see what can be done to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem and the temple.
Once Nehemiah arrives, he walks all around the city surveying the war torn wall. He takes charge of the repairs, assigning repair of sections of the wall to different families and groups. In Nehemiah 3 we read his records of the names of individuals and groups who lead the rebuilding of their specific part of the wall.
Building a wall in the best of circumstances involves hard, dirty work. This wall came down when the Babylonians defeated the Israelites 70 years before. The Babylonians then took the best and brightest off to Babylon to serve. During those years, as with any abandoned construction, nature took its course. Plants, trees, weeds and animals began to take over the crumbled walls. Before the walls could be rebuilt, the debris needed to be cleared and the foundations secured.
All this involved a lot of grunt work to be done by a lot of warm bodies. Nehemiah assigned the sections ensuring that everyone would pitch in and help restore the city’s defensive walls. The people came together. They worked hard, even when outsiders, plotting to disrupt the work, forced them to carry spears and swords to protect themselves as they worked.
They finished the wall in 52 Days. (Neh. 6:15-16)
Pleased with the work, Nehemiah writes down who did what to repair the wall and rebuild the burnt gates. Name after name in chapter 3 records the names of those who worked on the wall. Eliashib the high priest and fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. The men of Jericho built the adjoining section and Zaccur son of Imri built next to them.
On and on, around the wall, Nehemiah lists the men (probably the leaders who had co-workers) and what they did. Some repaired the Gates including putting in the doors, bolts and bars. Nehemiah noted their efforts. Everyone got up every day for nearly two months and worked.
Everyone worked, that is, except the nobles of Tekoa. Of them Nehemiah writes down for all of the generations that followed that, “Their nobles would NOT put their shoulders to the work for the Lord” (Neh. 3:5)
It does not specify why they would not do the work, but we can speculate. The word nobles hints of fine clothing, nicer meals, more money for everything including paying someone else to do mundane work like rebuilding city walls. They were too special to dirty themselves with digging up overgrown wall rocks, clearing the foundation and lifting those heavy boulders back into place. Such work ranked low in the nobles’ minds. They were above all that.
“That kind of work is not what we do. I am not going to pull weeds off those rocks and get my hands dirty. It will ruin my manicure. I might get poison ivy,” they sniffed. So they stepped back and did not help their fellow Tekoites do the job.
That’s all that Nehemiah writes. “They would not put their shoulder to the work of the Lord.” That phrase should cause us to stop and ask, “Am I refusing to put my shoulder to do the work of the Lord? Is there anything I consider beneath me? Is anything too dirty or too much work to do for God?”
Nehemiah proceeds to list the rest of the folks who did put their shoulder to the work. He names the ones, no matter what their station in life, who got down and dirty to quickly rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
The list includes religious leaders with their many strict rules for cleanliness. It lists the skilled workers of gold; men who carefully worked with the finest of materials all day every day. They put down the gold and their precise tools. They picked up shovels and hoes and began digging. They were not too noble to put their shoulder to the work of the Lord. The perfume maker dusted off his hands. He carefully set aside all the aromatic herbs and spices. Instead he enjoyed a few weeks of the smell of freshly turned soil and stones moved into place. The rulers of various districts in the area rolled up their sleeves and got to work. They set a good example by working alongside everyone else.
They all did their part, except the nobles of Tekoa who would not put their shoulder to the work of the Lord.
Nehemiah even notes that one man had his daughters helping him. No explanation is given for their participation in verse 12. It simply states that Shallum, ruler of a half district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section with the help of his daughters. Perhaps he had no sons or extensive family of men to help him. We do not know why his daughters worked, we only know that they did. They laid aside their fine dresses and jewelry to put on work clothes. Their manicured hands roughened by lifting and carrying rocks.
They helped their dad. Just as we should help our Father in Heaven by doing His work here on earth, no matter how despicable. That reminds me of a volunteer who often spoke of all the cool ways they helped other people: giving food, rides and encouragement. At least they did until Covid hit. One day one of those whom they helped asked for a ride. Shock, fear and a closed door followed according to their Facebook posting. “No, I just can’t do that. Here’s some money. Go, get a cab.” Someone replied “Jesus touched the Lepers and healed them.” I never saw that stance changed.
Shallum, and many others, did not even have a city gate or some special part of the wall to rebuild. After the wall had been rebuilt, only he and his daughters would be able to point out their part of the wall. However, any part of the wall not done, or poorly done would be a weak spot if an enemy attacked. That part of the wall could be a gateway to the city. Doing their part Shallum and his daughters guaranteed they had done what they could do to keep the city safe because they put their pretty little shoulders to the work of the Lord.
But the nobles of Tekoa would not.
The time had come to rebuild the protective barrier, to make the city secure once again. The wall would protect the nobles from the enemy but they would not put their shoulder to the Lord’s work. Yes, even moving a bunch of dirt and rocks serves as doing the Lord’s work. It is not all done in front of the church or in front of a video camera. Some of the most important of the Lord’s work will not even warrant a name in a list in an obscure chapter of the Bible.
Today, as we consider all the evil around us in our country and around the world, the time has come to rebuild the kingdom of God. A lot of work lies before us. We need to lay the foundation of God’s way once again. We need to build the protective walls again.
Anyone and everyone can do their part because there is no special degree or training required to make it happen. We cannot excuse our lack of speaking or doing for the LORD because we lack training. Jesus did not require it. He sent out people who had only encountered Him one time or for a couple of days. Consider the madman of Gerasenes. He wanted to follow Jesus, to travel with him. Jesus told him to take his message to the Decapolis (the 10 Cities) of his home area. After a short conversation, the woman at the well got so excited about Jesus, that she ran into town and urged everyone “to come meet this man.”
Everyone, anyone can do the grunt work of building the wall. Anyone can get up and make a wall, move dirt, pick up stones and rocks and get them plastered into place. In God’s eyes there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:28) Anyone can do His work. It may take a bit more knowledge to put in hinges and bolts and locks, but everyone can lift some rocks.
In the kingdom of God, all are called to serve, Jesus showed us by his example of washing the feet of his disciples. This was a lowly servant’s job- not the work of nobles. He did it as an example. He served others when they should have served Him. He put his shoulder to the work of the Lord.
Nehemiah three continues to list those who rebuilt the wall. In verse 27 the Tekoites finished another section. This time no mention is made of the nobles working or not working. Perhaps seeing the priests, rulers, workers of gold, the makers of fine perfume and even the girls helping shamed them into participating in the next section.
We all are called to go ‘for the fields are white with harvest.” It does not take a lot of skills. You don’t have to know 100 verses, or the plan of salvation. You just have to go and tell the story of what Jesus has done for you as the woman at the well did, as the madman of Gerasenes did in the Decapolis. He had NO training, but Jesus sent him anyway.
The time has come to rebuild the wall, to establish the Kingdom of God to protect us from the enemy’s onslaughts. Don’t be a noble refusing to put your shoulder into the work of the Lord. We all need to pitch in and do what needs to be done no matter how down deep dirty it seems. Anyone can do it. Roll up your sleeves and get to work.