are you too good for this work?

I imagine hearing the clinking of hammers meeting nails. Of grunts as men and women lift heavy bricks. I can picture people taking measurements and wiping sweat from their brows and their necks red as the sun shines down.

Priests are beside goldsmiths who are beside rulers who are beside slaves. All for one cause: to rebuild the tabernacle, the place where their God dwells.

These people whose day jobs were so different, lifestyles were so different, backgrounds were so different came together for a singular purpose. They did the same sort of hard labor. There was no arguing over who was more worthy, who didn't deserve to do such hard work. They just wanted the tabernacle completed. They wanted to honor their God.

This past summer I spent time in a church with a mosaic of differences. Some grew up atheist, some Hindu, some Christian. Some are now doctors, pastors, teachers. Some like jazz music and some like rap. Some are just now finishing high school and some are in their seventies.

But we came together for one cause: to honor our God.

During this time I saw distinguished men doing dishes after a church supper. I saw busy parents making time for a dinner in their chaotic home. There were many times when someone could have said I'm too good for this or I am not the one who should be doing this. 

But they didn't.

They knew that just as our Jesus came from his safe place in heaven where he was given the worship he deserved to a dirty, lowly manger to live a life often forgotten, overlooked, belittled, and bullied we could also step down from our "place of position" to serve in ways that might seem beneath us. The way of our Lord was not a way of exaltation but of embarrassment. It was not a way of self-glorification but of self-sacrifice. It was not a way of what can you do for me but what can I do for you.

I can imagine the sound of hammers meeting nails. Of a man grunting as he lifts up a heavy block. Of him taking measurements and wiping the sweat from his brow, his neck red from the heat of the sun.

This is our Jesus. A carpenter coming to make a life among us. Coming to tabernacle among us. All for one purpose: to honor God.





if you're interested in reading up more about nehemiah:

why nehemiah @ the gospel coalition

matthew henry's commentary @ blue letter bible