All of who we are is meant to be used as an offering to God. This is what stewardship is. As we continue to consider the Book of Nehemiah and how to apply it to the state of affairs in our day, we recognize that in today’s world, we are considering not so much repairing physical walls, but the absolute crumbling of our cultural standards and truths. How can we rebuild the walls of faith and righteousness in a modern context?

Nehemiah 3:1 says that the high priest and his brothers “rose up” to rebuild the Sheep Gate. I like that terminology. Just like the priests of that time “rose up” and got their hands dirty to accomplish God’s work, we also need to rise up and commit ourselves to God’s work in our day. This month’s Election Day was a great example of the power of people rising up to commit themselves to accomplishing something they are passionate about. Each vote counts.

Verses 1 and 2 go on to show that each group of people was assigned a specific portion of the wall they were responsible for. They weren’t worried about the overwhelming task of rebuilding the entire wall. They were each concerned only with their own assignment, trusting that the group working next to them would take care of their own responsibility. This is a great lesson for the Church of God. We don’t need to be worried or overwhelmed about the enormity of the entire task, and we don’t need to be micromanaging everyone around us. We need to focus on our own assignment and trust everyone else to accomplish theirs.

Then verse 5 goes on to shame one group of nobles who “would not stoop to serve their Lord.” How shameful to be named in the Bible this way! We need to be humble and not consider ourselves above any task in the work of God. Instead, we need to be like our Lord Himself, who stooped to wash the feet of His disciples, and then even gave His own life for us.

There is no task too large or too small to matter in the work of God. You are called to faithfully steward your talents and abilities to serve in whatever way you can. Every job is critically important in the mission of the Church. You are not responsible for the entire work, just for your own assigned responsibility. Just like with the people of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day, we will see mighty works accomplished when we all rise up and faithfully fulfill our responsibilities, both large and small.

Stewardship of Responsibility – Sermon by the Rev. Charlie Holt from The Church of St John the Divine on Vimeo.