A Mind to Work (Joint Outdoor Worship Service 2024 Part #1)

INTRODUCTION

We live in the ruins of Western Christendom. The walls of once great Christian nations and civilizations have been breached by new pagan hordes. But God in His kindness has done something remarkable here locally in Moscow. He has given us a mind to the work of rebuilding the walls of Christendom. And He has done this in such a way as to cause a spotlight to be shone on this work. People have noticed us building.

So what are we to think of all this? And what we are to do? The simple answer and exhortation is to remain faithful at your stations. Keep your mind to the work.

The Text: “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work” (Neh. 4:6)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This comes in the midst of God’s people being mocked for their work under Nehemiah, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Their enemies are angry, and they are trying to stir up trouble. They say the Jews are weak and feeble. They say they will not accomplish much. And they say the Jews will certainly not reestablish worship. And whatever they do accomplish, it will be worthless and flimsy and collapse again. And in the midst of that opposition, Nehemiah prays that God would hear these taunts and turn their attacks back upon their own heads. And armed with that prayer, the Jews built the wall, and they made good progress in building the wall, and the people had a mind to work.

Broadly speaking, our central tasks can divided into three areas: keeping short accounts, honest/diligent labor/study before the Lord, and worshipping like you mean it.

KEEPING SHORT ACCOUNTS

In order to keep our minds to the work, we must have clear minds. And the only way to have clear minds is to have clean hearts. Jesus says that before you talk to your brother about the speck in his eye, first remove the log in your own eye. Then you will see clearly to help your brother. Sin gums up the gears of everything. Sin is like mud on your windshield. Sin is like walking in the dark. Sin doesn’t allow you to see clearly or think clearly. One of the great lies of the Devil is that sin is just the way things are and there’s nothing really to be done about it. The lie is that since everyone sins, normal life is just full of darkness.

But the gospel says that is not true. The gospel says that God sent His Son into this dark world in order that we might have light. The gospel says that it is possible for sinners to walk in the light with God and have fellowship with one another. 1 John 1:7 says: “If you walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” How does the blood of Jesus cleanse us from all our sins? “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). It is possible to walk in the light. It is possible to have a clean heart. This is what we mean by keeping short accounts.

This is how you don’t allow sin to accumulate in your hearts or lives. If you have two houses on the same street, both with large families, and one is clean and tidy and the other one looks like a bomb went off, the difference between the clean house and the dirty house is that in the clean house they pick up. The clean house family has dirty dishes and dirty clothes and spills just like everybody else, but they do the dishes and the laundry, and they clean up the spills. The dirty house ignores the messes, tries to hide them in closets or under the rug, despite the awful smell permeating the house. So this is how you can have a clear mind: have a clean heart and stay in fellowship with your people.

HONEST AS A HUGUENOT

In the 17th century, it was common say, “honest as a Huguenot.” We want to cultivate the same kind of reputation in all our labor. This means no lies and complete sobriety. The truth is the foundational currency of value. A good name and honesty and integrity are even more valuable than the gold standard, bitcoin, or however you’re trying to stave off inflation. The most damaging form of inflation is the inflation of truth. The shysters in the ancient world shaved and clipped coins: do not clip the truth, do not shave the truth. The righteous man swears to his own hurt and doesn’t break his promises. Let your yes be a “yes” and your “no” a “no.” A mind to the work, is an honest mind to the work. Liars have to constantly keep track of their lies, but truth-tellers sleep well at night. And wherever you have not told the truth, go make it right, even if it hurts. That’s the only way to have a mind to the work. But every brick you lay in your family or in this community under pretense or hypocrisy or theft, hoping no one will find out about your lies, is a brick that has no integrity. It would be far better to confess it now, so we can repair the damage now than in six months or six years when the damage is even greater.

Closely related to honest work is sober-minded work. We are community that celebrates, and that means it is common to attend a dinner or a party with wine or beer or scotch. The Bible says that God gave wine to make the hearts of men glad, and Jesus turned water into wine for His miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. We want to be the kind of people who would gladly enjoy Christ’s miracle. But the Bible is equally clear that drunkenness is sinful, harmful, and utterly disastrous. We want to continue to build a culture of true Christian joy and celebration, but that joy is clear-headed and sober-minded, not tipsy, not buzzing.

CONCLUSION: WORSHIP LIKE YOU MEAN IT

At the center of all our labor is worship. And that means coming before the Lord honestly. If we are to be truly honest about our sins and truly honest in all our labor, we must fundamentally come before the Lord in complete honesty. God already knows everything. He sees through all our excuses, all our blame-shifting, all our hypocrisies. And those who humble themselves and come in the righteousness of Jesus Christ are most welcome, and the Spirit comes and blesses them and sends them from God’s presence with joy and vigor.

This is what we mean by worship like you mean it. Worship in faith, believing that the God of Heaven really lifts us up into His presence. That as we sing and pray and listen and eat, the gates of Hades are being shaken – that everything that cannot stand is being broken down, so that only those things that can remain stand firm.