Faith Baptist Church

A North Carolina man, named William Linkhaw, was arraigned before a magistrate and fined. What was his offense?  He disrupted church services with his singing.  

According to public records—dated 1873—Brother Linkhaw’s Methodist brethren had put up with him for years; not only was his singing off key, the complaint said that even after everyone else had stopped singing, Linkhaw kept on.  But the unmelodious brother refused, saying, “Singing is a part of my duty to God.’  The courts disagreed. Finding him guilty of a misdemeanor, and ordering him to keep quiet in church.  Music was so important, that Brother William appealed his case to the North Carolina Supreme Court, where it was overturned.  William Linkhaw may not have been much of a singer, but he had the right idea. Music is a vital part of worship.

The prominence and potential of music is underscored at the dedication of the wall at Jerusalem.  At great effort, labor and sacrifice, the vision has become reality, and now, it’s time to celebrate!

How we relish those times when through planning, working, grappling with problems, and set backs, the deal is struck, the project is complete…The glad day comes when…

…the check is finally written,
…the last board is nailed into place,
…the last sentence is written.
…the diploma is in hand
…the last day draws to a close.

The word “dedicate”—in V 27—is quite interesting.  It’s from a Latin root meaning “to offer, to give.”  It is presenting something or someone to God, acknowledging his grace, his gift, and his activity. 

You may remember the boy who, visiting a church with his dad, noticed a list of names on a plague in the foyer.  “Who are these people,” he asked. Dad looked more closely and replied, “Son, these are the names of people who died in the service.”  “Which one,” he inquired, “morning or the evening service?”

This list is worthy of our pause (and our praise) for several reasons:

First, these unfamiliar heroes remind us that we are a strategic link in a chain.  We represent our God in this generation. 

Think about it this way:  Do you see the two back lines?  The same space between them represents time from creation to the consummation (described in Revelation chapter 22); About 6,000 years so to this point.

Now look at red dot between them.  That’s you…if you should live 30, 60, 90 years.   Now, blink your eyes.  Do you know how long that took? According to scientists at General Electric, it took 11/100s of a second. 

That’s your life. Then, you pass the baton to someone else, and, in the words you of the Psalmist, “You fly away.”

Your time and energies are so precious because our opportunities are  stewardships from God; NT says, “So we shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ.

Second, this list reminds us that God’s work is done by individuals in community with others.

Ministries accomplish nothing—it’s hot hearts and the willing hands and  those who serve together with others, hand-to-hand, heart-to-heart.

Some time ago, I found myself across the dinner table from a well-known businessman in our area. If I mentioned the company he owns, you would know it.  He talked about his ministry at his church, where serves with a small group of men who greet people at the main entrance before each service. His job, he explained, is to open the front door for folks, and be ready to help newcomers.  He said this, “If it wasn’t for us, the foyer would be absolute chaos.”

Dallas Willard defines “prayer” as, “Talking to God about what we are doing together.”  (“The Good Life,” J. Ortberg, 108)

Third, this list of unknowns is a reminder that there are different gifts, and all are important to the Lord’s work. 

Every male couldn’t be a priest, or a Levite, but every person and family had an important part in the building of the wall.

A carpet layer was sent to an elegant home to lay new floor coverings.  After he had finished one room, he decided to take a break.  Reaching into his pocket, he discovered that his pack of cigarettes was missing.

He began looking around, and to his chagrin, he noticed a lump in the center of the newly-carpeted floor.  The solution was simple:  He took a hammer and pounded the carpet until it was nice and smooth.

With a certain sense of satisfaction, he stood up, put his hands in his pocket, and there he found the pack of cigarettes. At that moment, the lady of the house came in and said, “Say, have you seen my missing canary?”

Few mistakes are more far-reaching than assuming that your gifts are unimportant, or than there is no place for you to serve.  You are make a difference right here in this ministry! 

Nehemiah’s character and gifts are underscored in a striking way.  

*The uses the first person pronoun “I” appears 83 times in chapter 1-7; in
  chapter 8, it isn’t found once. 

*The word “people” occurs 13 times in verses 1-12. The phrase “all the
  people”… 9 times.

*You gallop on into chapter 9—no mention of the leader. In chapter 10: verse
  1, Nehemiah is the first to place his name on a covenant of dedication to
  God.

*Note the “they” in chapter 12:27— “Now at the dedication of the wall of
 Jerusalem they sought out the Levites.” That’s Ezra, and Nehemiah, (verse
 26)

*And for the first time in five chapters, he says in verse 31:  “So I brought the
  leaders of Judah up to the wall.”

The Principle is:  Effective leadership requires more than gifts (or abilities), it
requires spiritual maturity.

To state it another way:  Unless administrative (or leadership) gifts are accompanied by spiritual leadership, gifts become ineffective, and even harmful to a ministry or organization.

Leadership ability is important but spiritual leadership is most important.

In his classic book, “Spiritual Leadership,” J. Oswald Sanders notes:

   “Spirituality is not easy to define but its presence or absence can easily be
   discerned. It has been called the diffused fragrance which has been
   assimilated in the garden of the Lord.  It is the power to change the
   atmosphere by one’s presence, the unconscious influence which makes
   Christ and spiritual things real to others.”   (p. 25)

The celebration at the wall would never dim from the psyche of even the youngest kindergartener:   Nehemiah says,  “I appointed two large thanksgiving choirs.”(Verve 31)  “Thanksgiving” is mentioned 4 times in the chapter.

Picture this unforgettable scene in you mind.  Thousands of people gather at the Valley Gate, the very place where Nehemiah has viewed the ruins upon his arrival at the city.  Can you imagine Nehemiah’s thoughts and emotions at this movement!  I bet he stood there stoic like Droopy, and said, “Well, praise the Lord!’  Ya, right!

They are divided into to great choirs. Have you been at symphony performance during pre-concert warm up?  I played in the high school band.  Ten minutes before concert, it was absolute bedlam, but there’s an anticipation in the air that you can’t describe.

The two choirs, with their instruments, mount the wall.  Archeologist Kathryn Kenyan found in digs in the 1960s, that it was 9 feet wide.

Remember what Tobiah had said early on, “Why if a fox steps foot on their wall, it would crumble.”  Big mistake; it is God’s wall.  From chapter 13, you learn that Tobiah is in the crowd of onlookers.

I imagine as the choirs stick up that Nehemiah make eye contact with old Tobiah back there in the shadows and with stomps it out:  “How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord.

But the most important thing about the dedication service isn’t the march around the walls. It the expressive worship of joyful praise that filled the air, and pulverized the hearts of all the people!

Choir number one, led by Ezra, heads north; Choir number 2, led by Nehemiah heads south, singing and playing…See their faces—men, woman, children—weeping, playing, and singing their innards out!  

What did they singing? Psalms of David and Asaph, from the book of Psalms!

”Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet.
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praising Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. 
Praise the Lord!

The mountain peak, the summit, is verse 43. 

On a Saturday afternoon in October, I was a part of group touring of Los Angeles. We were leaving a museum, when, in the distance, probably quarter mile away, there was a roar of shouting and cheering.  It sounded like thunder. We decided to check it out….the closer we got, the louder it got, until it was almost deafening.  We arrived at the coliseum where the USC Trojans were playing football.

“…so the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.”

But walk on the wall at all? Was this some kind of in-your-face- tactic by Nehemiah and Ezra.

In that day, to walk on a piece of property meant you were claiming it as your own. God had said to Abraham,  “Arise, walk through the land…for I will give it to you.”  To the people camped on the bank of the Jordan, God said, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I am giving to you.”

It was symbolic and testimonial of the fact that they were stepping out by faith to claim God’s blessing!  They trusted him when they were waist-deep in garbage; they were trusting Him now!

The choirs converged that the Temple for a magnificent praise jam!  Scholars think they sang antiphonally…One choir sang a line…the other answered…

”Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Indescribable!  There wasn’t a dry eye in the place!

The closest thing to it we have seen in our lifetime was the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in November of 1989.  However, on this occasion, the people are delirious with praise and celebration because a wall has gone up!

I want to point out two touch points To help us get this passage into our lives this week:

1. An Atmosphere of Joy Should Surround God’s People.

Things were not perfect; the enemy, Sanballat the Frustrater, and Tobiah the Intimidator, were still mingling in the crowd.  Tobiah shows up in the last chapter, hounding, harassing.  The book doesn’t end on a hallelujah point…It ends with Nehemiah in the trench tackling the nasty, gritty now-and-now!

Their prospect for the next day and the future wasn’t a cake walk to glory! No more than your is!
Do you ever entertain the thought, “If I were God…” This is one of those moments for me.  If I were God, these guys would be fish bait.  No, not even that. One nanosecond lazar beam… Zitt! 

Why done God allow the “stuff” to keep hanging around…

   “that the trial of genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than
    gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise,
    honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ whom having not seen
    you love Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with
    joy inexpressible and full of glory…”

”Joy,” said C. S. Lewis, “is the serious business of heaven.”

It has a magnetic, soul-lifting, power-releasing effect…knowing Who we know; knowing what we know…joy should envelop us.

We shouldn’t look like cheerleaders at a nuclear accident!

Second, Music Is One Of The Most Expressive Ways To Praise God and Communicate Joy

”Singing” is mentioned 8 times in this chapter.
”thanksgiving”…6 times
”rejoicing”…7 times.

Christianity is a singing religion. While other faiths have their chants and mantras, only Judaism and Christianity are distinguished by their grand music.  Christians even sing at funerals.

Toward the close of the 1st century, a Roman pagan named Tacitus wrote about the believer’s gathers:  “They sing a hymn to Christus, as God.”

From our Lord’s singing with his disciples the night of his arrest, to the present, music is a magnificent expression of praise and worship. The history of revival—as testified at the wall— is a history of great music.

In the Middle Ages, religious music (most of it a depressing dirge) was in the hands of professionals…then came Martin Luther and the Reformation.  Luther, who is remembered as “the father of congregational music,” took music to the people.

The churches would gather during the week to practice congregational singing, choirs were born.

Listen to Luther’s own words:

       “…after theology, there is nothing that can be placed on a level with
       music. It drives out the devil and makes people cheerful.  It is a gift from
       God that God gave to birds and to men. Many Bible characters were
       especially gifted in music.  Now we need to remove hymn signing from
       the domain of monks and priests and set the laity to singing. By the
       singing of hymns the laity can publicly express their love to the Almighty
       God.”

And so that did.

In chapter 8, we reveled in the importance of the Word in the service and in the life of our church.  I can not encourage you more passionately, to sing to the Lord in the services. 

Oh, what a joyous era is coming.  Many of your know that one of the downsides to relocating our services to this building is that we lost much of the power of our congregational singing.  Oh, but there is coming a day in the near future.

When we moved, Paul gave me a book that I treasure…A hymnal with my name on it!  There is coming a day when along with praise choruses, we will open the hymnal again…feel it, smell it!

Ah, friends, let us…

…sing out,
…sing enthusiastically,
…passionately

to our God!  Don’t let your mind wander to a hundred places!  And, if you count yourself among God’s elect who are musically challenged, that’s okay; just claim the verse, “make a joyful noise to the Lord,” and sing on!

We noted the mention of David (in verses 45-46).  For 500 years, the nation had enjoyed music that David wrote (the Psalms) and the instrumentals he developed.

Music is a legacy.  I’d like all the children and teenagers to stand who are currently taking music lessons.  (Benny, is studying bagpipes, he says he’s in the ‘dying goose in a hell storm stage’).  Let’s give them a round of applause!
(Remain standing).

Kids, there are a lot of activities you can be involved in as you are going to school and growing up, but none is more important, and none will bless your life, all your life like music…Listen to your preacher…

…Don’t get distracted by lesser things
…Don’t resist the practice and discipline needed to master an instrument, or
         to sing well.
…Don’t make your mom our dad be morphed into a maniac to get to practice
…Don’t quite!

I did, and it’s one of the greatest regrets of my life!  There is a principle in the bible that I have been living out all these years. Either…

    Pay now (through discipline and sacrifice) and play later (by the
    enjoyment of your dedication), or  Play (get distracted; play around) and
    pay the rest of your life!

I encourage others of your to get started taking lessons on an instrument that will add joy to your worship, your life and your future.

One day, the famous opera singer of yesterday, Mary Ann Brandt, received note that her hotel that a registered letter had arrived at the New York Post Office. She was asked to come down and pick it up.

When the arrived, the clerk ask for some identification. Ms. Brandt realized that she had none.  The rummaged through her purse, she didn’t even have a driver’s license.  She looked around for someone who might be able to vouch for her identify. Nothing.

She explained that she was indeed the well-known opera singer, Mary Ann Brandt, and that she was in New York giving a concert.

The postal employee insisted that he could not release the letter without proper identification. That was the rule.  Ms. Brandt said simple,

”Okay, I will show you who I am.”

She begin singing the refrain from one of the classics, for which she was famous.  As her golden voice resonated against the rafters of the gigantic postal building, people started gathering to the lobby, and in a few moments, surrounded her.  They listened silently in rapt awe. When she had finished, they applauded wildly.

The postal clerk, a bit red-faced handed over the letter, and said,

”Okay, lady.  Sign here, but for heaven’s sake, try to be quiet.”

Music is a gift Jesus has given us, and we should sing His praises!  The joy that is in our hearts should explode through our voices!

The Greatest gift the Father has given us is the gift of His own dear Son, who gave His life on the cross that you might be saved…forgiven…brought into His family!