How many loves a good party?
I’ve always enjoyed get-togethers with friends and family. I’ve had some memorable times through the years at Christmas, Thanksgiving, and even Super Bowl parties. Great food, fellowship, and fun.
In today’s world we are looking for any reason to throw a party. There’s the big obvious days like holidays, birthdays, graduations, and weddings. But there’s other days we can throw a party and celebrate as well. Like did you know that this past Wednesday was “National Mud Pack Day”? And today is “Change A Light Bulb Day”? Coming up this Wednesday is “National Bathtub Day”, and then Thursday is “World Octopus Day”. Of course who can forget that this entire month is “National Pizza Month”! Not sure any of those would gain traction as a national holiday that would demand a day off (maybe bathtub day…), but a reason to celebrate, none the less, if we so choose.
Nehemiah 12:27-47 describes an event that required great preparation & great organization, and resulted in a great, massive celebration that reverberated greatly throughout the country.
They had a REAL reason to celebrate.
We do as well. Every time we get together in God’s House it’s a cause for celebration.
We sing the song “Look What The Lord Has Done” which says, “He healed my body, He touched my mind, He saved me just in time!”
It’s a full on, pull out all the stops, nothing held back celebration of ALL the Lord has done for us!
These people back then had a process and plan to celebrate. So should we! They recognized that a great God deserves great praise. So should we! They believed His great joy deserves great celebration. So should we!
Nothing half way. Nothing just good enough. Nothing thrown together. It was all or nothing-at-all, with excellence and a whole-hearted expression of thanksgiving for all that the Lord had done.
What would we need to do to have a successful celebration like this? What’s the ingredients we’d need to set aside for a great party?
Based on our text, I see where we’d need to set aside three things.
First, we need to set aside time.
This takes planning.
The Levites cleared their schedules and came to Jerusalem to celebrate.
Nehemiah 12:27 says, “At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps, and lyres.”
We clear our schedules and prioritize times to celebrate God corporately and individually.
The singers were also brought together and formed 2 large choirs under the direction of a man named Jezrahiah.
V. 28 says, “the singers were also brought together from the region around Jerusalem…”
We have singers who work to make excellent worship to the Lord and lead the rest of us in great worship to Him.
The choir organized a grand processional to the Temple.
V. 31 & 38 describes it.
Great honoring requires great organization. All of the workers at Faith (singers, greeters, teachers, prayer team, ushers, etc) do their part to create one giant, great voice of worship to God every Sunday.
The musicians tuned their instruments and rehearsed.
V. 35 & 36 describe it.
Just as the singers rehearse, so do the musicians. They practice to make their skills better and work to provide excellence to the Lord.
Great sacrifices were prepared for the celebration.
V. 43 describes it.
That’s all of us. We don’t bring a fatted calf to church every Sunday, but we do bring our tithes and offerings, our best, first, and greatest of our increase, and we bring our best, first, and greatest worship to Him in our sacrifice of praise.
There’s no replacement for time. And if it’s worth investing our time it’s worth planning and doing with excellence. God wants quality and quantity.
No one would want to attend a party where it was half thrown together. Limp veggie tray, deflated balloons, melted ice cream, moldy cheese dip. Musical entertainment from the retirement home residents down the street. I mean, God bless them, but come on! Next.
King David was instructed to build an altar to the Lord on Araunah the Jebusite’s threshing floor. Araunah was willing to give King David the property as well as the oxen and yokes for the wood and sacrifice. But David refused. 2 Samuel 24:24 says, “I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
King David understood the value of a great investment worthy of a great God. Worship that costs us nothing is not worship worthy of One who gave us His all.
Throwing a party to celebrate our Savior requires that we set aside enough time and effort to make sure our celebration is nothing but excellent for our Lord.
Second, we need to set aside sin.
Nehemiah 12:30 says, “When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.”
The Levites first act was to purify themselves.
This ceremonial purifying, found in Exodus 28 & 29, included the following steps –
Washing in water
Putting on Priestly robes
Anointing with oil
Sacrificial offering
Apply blood to right ear, thumb, and big toe.
In the NT we are all priests. So how does this translate to us today?
The washing in water is the washing of the Word of God over us as described in Ephesians 5:26. It reveals sin, purifies us from within, and points us to repentance through Christ’s finished work.
The putting on of priestly robes is taking off our filthy rags of fleshly works of righteousness and enrobing ourselves in Christ’s complete and perfect holy righteousness as described in Isaiah 61:10, “The Lord has clothed me with garments of salvation, and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.”
The anointing with oil is the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, which anoints us with power and wisdom for service. Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1&2 to announce His ministry, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, release from darkness the prisoners, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…”
The sacrificial offering is the worship of our entire lives in complete surrender to Christ as we take up our cross daily and follow Him. 1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
The applying of the blood to our ear, thumb, and big toe is the blood of Jesus being applied to our hearing, reaching, and walking out of His unique and specific instructions of Jesus’ plans for our life in service to Him and His kingdom and priests of the most High God.
Galatians 6:14,17, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”
We have the mark of the blood of Jesus on us. We are the set apart ones. I’m not willing to take the mark of the Beast, but I gladly wear the mark of the Savior. His blood mark on my heart sets me apart, makes the death angel pass over me with no effect, gives me victory in all my struggles, and ensures me eternal life in Heaven with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
After the priests went through the ceremonial purifying of themselves, then the people, the gates and the wall was purified. These represent our family, friends, abilities, possessions, everything that represents us. We purify and sanctify and set everything, everything apart for service to Jesus.
So, we set aside time to celebrate with prepared, anointed sacrificial excellence.
Then we set aside sin to make ourselves and all that represents us pure through Christ’s finished work.
And then third, we need to set aside inhibitions.
What kind of party would it be if you went there and there was no music? No food? No activities? No engaging. No life. What if you just came in, sat down, and did nothing the whole time and then left the same way you came?
That’s not a party! That’s a dirge! That’s a crime!! The party thrower should be arrested for impersonating a fun person!
In order to have a successful celebration of God’s greatness, His goodness, His faithfulness, and His love, if we’re gonna throw a party to celebrate Jesus, we need to not only set aside the time and plan for it, and prepare our hearts and lives for it, but for goodness sake we should make the best of it by cutting loose and really, really celebrating!
Of all the people in the world who ever party for whatever reason , we have the best reason to celebrate.
There are people who went to a party this past Friday night to celebrate a victory at a high school football game, or a promotion at their job, or a recently filed divorce, or just because they got through another work week! They live for Friday night’s!! They got drunk, woke up with a hangover, spent yesterday recovering, and today are dreading tomorrow’s school or work responsibilities, looking forward to another weekend where they can get drunk, wake up hungover, and repeat the same thing over and over. Their mantra is TGIF and their escape from their pain and drudgery and emptiness is booze, drugs, empty relationships, and meaningless partying.
But we party with a purpose. We have a reason to raise the roof. We celebrate with our salvation in mind!
Psalm 138:1 says, “I will praise You, O Lord, with all of my heart. Before the gods I will sing Your praise.” My whole heart! Nothing held back! With all that is within me! And not worrying about what others think. Not being ashamed. Not letting man’s input diminish my output for my utmost Savior! Amen?!
So we set aside time in sacrificial excellent preparation, set aside time in holy repentance, and set aside inhibitions and truly celebrate.
Let me just quickly mention two more things about this celebration that are significant to us today.
First, in verses 31 & 38 the choir and leaders, a massive amount of people, walked on top of the wall.
For those of you who remember from the beginning of the book of Nehemiah where Sanballat and Tobiah opposed Nehemiah in his attempt to rebuild the wall, they tried to discourage him by saying, “Even if you do rebuild the wall, if as much as a little fox were to walk on it, it would crumble to the ground”.
But then we read where all these people walked on top of the wall all the way to the Temple and we see that they were wrong.
The taunting of the enemy turned into a testimony of triumph!
What does this say to us? Keep going with what God has placed in your heart. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t get distracted. Don’t give up! And do it well, with excellence, because someone down the road might need to walk on top of what your building today!
Satan would say “if” to you. If you try. If you complete it. If you put forth the effort. It won’t succeed. It will fail. It’ll be fruitless. You’re just wasting your time.
Remember in Matthew 3 when God publicly proclaimed for all to hear about Jesus, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”
The very next thing recorded in Jesus’ life in Matthew 4 was where satan tried to cast doubt on this proclamation by saying, “If You are the Son of God…”
But both of these taunts were turned to a testimony. The wall not only stood, but stood strong as countless people walked on it and around it to the Temple. And Jesus rebuked satan and spoke the Word against him to win the victory over his taunts and ultimately gain victory for us!
Our celebrations put satan in his place, push him back on his cloven hooves, make him put his pointy tail between his legs, and shuts him up. He cannot overcome the word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb of Jesus Christ!
Second, their celebration shook society.
They had a reason to celebrate. The wall that had been torn down and city left in ruins was now restored. Strength and hope and a future were back in place. They sang so loudly that vs. 43 says it could be heard far away from Jerusalem.
Vs. 43 says, “They offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy.”
Everyone rejoiced. Everyone! Man, woman, boy, and girl. It was a massive, out loud, rip snortin’, rootin’ tootin’, gully washer of a good time! And it impacted their community!
They rejoiced not only in what God had done, but what He would do going forward. Vs. 44-47 describes how they put things in place planning for the future, committing to celebrating going forward.
It wasn’t a one time shot or special event, but something they intended to do every time they got together. And it grew out from there to the villages and countryside. The word was out and there was no turning back.
Now I’m by no means trying to work you up to a froth and insinuate that if you’re not making lots of noise you’re not thankful or grateful or saved!
But what I am saying is that we of all people on the face of this planet have a REAL reason to celebrate.
So when we do, whether it be privately or corporately, let’s set aside time and prepare and plan with excellence (let it cost something), let’s set aside our sin and allow God to purify our hearts, and let’s set aside our inhibitions and let loose with all that is within us to rejoice and celebrate the only One who is truly worthy of our efforts to throw a grand and glorious party!
Then let’s not keep it a secret, but allow what God is doing in us to impact the community around us.
That looks differently FOR each one of us, but should be something that is actively exercised BY all of us.
After all, one day we will enjoy the grandest party of all. God is preparing for us right now a grand gathering called the marriage supper of the Lamb, where His Bride the Church, you and me, the blood bought saints of God, will party like there will be no tomorrow, because there won’t be. It’ll be forever.
If you’re not a partier now, better get ready, you’ll be doing it for all of eternity.
Until then, we have a reason to celebrate. So, let’s celebrate the only One who is truly worthy.
I wonder what this would look like if the church of Jesus Christ were to really live this out? Really set aside time. Plan. Really set aside sin. Repent. Really set aside inhibitions. Celebrate. And really allow what this looks like to impact our community for Christ.
What would this look like differently in your life or the life of this church?