Nehemiah starts his journey and makes it safely to Judea.  After three days, he goes out alone at night to inspect the condition of the walls.

He then brings the plans to rebuild before the people.  He explains that it will take everyone’s help to accomplish the task.  They agree and immediately set to work.

While they are building people from nearby cities come to mock them.  Here is some of the discouragement that is said of them:

“Whatever they build – - if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall!”

“Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned?”

This idea of stone walls and a stone temple is seen in new context in 1 Peter 2:4-5 where it says:

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

This is the verse that Living Stones church has been founded on.  The idea is that now the church is made up of Living Stones and that they create a ‘spiritual house’ with ‘spiritual walls’ and are built upon Jesus, the ‘cornerstone’.

I live within a block of the University of Nevada and so I usually take a walk around campus every night.  I’ve been a part of Living Stones for about 7 years now and just about the same amount of time with a campus ministry called Intervarsity.  One night with the Nehemiah story fresh in my mind, I went on my nightly walk around the campus.  I tried to imagine what the spiritual walls of the campus looked like.  As I thought more and more about the many things that plague the campus I realized that the University, like Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day, had its walls broken down.  I took this idea home with me and sat down with my Bible almanac (I’m a nerd, I know) and printed out a quick copy of the campus map.  Much to my surprise, the university had a little more in common with Jerusalem then I had thought:

Now, I better clarify before I get all sorts of angry emails.  I don’t think by any means that this is more than a mere coincidence nor do I think that the University of Nevada is in any way the New Jerusalem.  I do, however, think that it solidifies the idea that the people invested in the University or the people that occupy it should be actively engaged in rebuilding the ‘spiritual walls’ of the campus.

The University of Nevada is unique, that’s for sure, but it’s also very broken.  In November the Sagebrush (the University newspaper) released an article discussing the health issues at UNR.  It explained the results of a recent study — “The assessment, conducted by the American College Health Association, a national organization that monitors the health of post-secondary students in the United States, showed UNR with above-average rates of almost every health problem, from minor allergy problems to sexually transmitted infections.” – It goes on to explain the steps the University is taking to help address these issues — “Now, the center is even more intensely working to develop better educational programs in an attempt to fix the campus’ health problems.” – The health issues in my opinion are just the results of some much deeper issues.  It’s my belief that physical problems often times reflect a spiritual reality and vice versa. Not to say that all physical problems are caused by spiritual problems, but where spiritual walls are broken down the people who live within those walls are open for attack.  I can say this with confidence because of the areas in which the university has been most affected. — “Among the biggest disparities with the national averages were rates of sexually transmitted infections, substance abuse and depression.” – Educational problems might shrink the numbers a bit, but I would be willing to bet that most of the students are well aware of substances and infections and depression and what they are.  What the students aren’t as aware of are the things that lie beneath the surface, the things that can’t be measured or studied, the reasons why they feel a need to abuse substances or feel depressed.  Most aren’t even aware that there is more to them than flesh and bones and perhaps maybe a slight chemical imbalance.  There is a spirit within them and a soul deep at the center-most part of them.  It has an effect on their physical body and their physical actions have a direct effect on their spirit.  If we’re going to develop better educational programs, let’s include spiritual education as well.  Now, I’m not saying we implement spiritual programs into the university. But those connected to the University who are part of the church or these ‘Living Stones’ that make up the walls must step up and teach the truth of the spirit.

It isn’t just the University that has these above average statistics, the city of Reno has recently been in the news for a similar reason. — Reno was #1 of the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas—defined as counties or groups of counties with a population of 10,000 or more with the highest rates of heavy drinking. The study found that 9.4% People in Reno, Nevada drink heavily. The city is notorious for gambling, drinking, legal prostitution and more.  This is how our city and our University are viewed by people outside of it.  Now, we might not be nearly as bad as we’re portrayed and in fact we were recently viewed as one of the best places to live, but we are broken and we are well aware of it.  We just don’t know quite how to fix it.  The biggest little city is lost.

When I was about two years old, just old enough to be walking around on my own, my family was attending a church on Oddie in Sparks. After church one night, my parents stood in the foyer engaging in conversation with friends while all of the children ran around nearby.  My mother scanned from child to child and back again as we darted back and forth across the foyer. As she always would, she kept us all accounted for, like a mother hen and her chicks. Suddenly, she realized one of her ‘chicks’ was missing.  Just then, my parents frantically searched throughout the church, but I was nowhere to be found. They searched the sanctuary, the bathrooms, the nursery, closets, kitchen, everywhere – still nothing. After a while, a couple came to the front doors of the church with a small boy with them, they had found me.  They went on to explain that as they were standing outside of the apartments where they live, a little blue-eyed boy wandered up to them and began to interact with them as if they weren’t at all strangers.  It was then that they realized that this child must have wandered off from the church next door and so immediately set out to bring me back.  I could imagine my parent’s reaction to this heart-wrenching episode and believe it must have been the same reaction as a similar account in the book of Luke:

Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.  And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Aside from the obvious differences in these stories or perhaps even the obvious similarities, there are some interesting parallels between the two stories that I’d like to briefly investigate.

Even from a young age, Jesus had a strong sense of purpose.  He knew that he ‘had to be in his Father’s house’.  His parents later find him in the temple courts.  These courts, if you might not have guessed, were a series of courts leading up into the temple. Here’s a quick explanation of the courts:

Farthest from the temple doors was the Gentile Court, the area where non-Jewish believers worshiped. This court was separated from the interior courts by a low wall called the Soreq; no Gentiles were allowed inside the Soreq wall. Beyond the Soreq was a gate leading to the Women’s Court, a place where people gathered for worship. In each corner of the Women’s Court were smaller courts, including one for lepers and Nazarites. The other corner courts were used to store wood and oils for Temple sacrifices.  At the western end of the Women’s Court was another doorway leading to the Israelite Court, an area only males could enter. Beyond this court was the Priests’ Court, where sacrifices were made on the large altar.  At the innermost part of the temple courts stood the Temple building. Inside was the Holy Place, where the table of showbread and the altar of incense were kept. A large curtain separated this room from the Holy of Holies, the innermost Temple chamber that represented God’s presence among his people.

We can’t be completely sure, but if Jesus was in the temple courts, he must have been interacting with strangers and outsiders who weren’t necessarily allowed into the ‘Holy of Holies’.  What a strange bit of irony that God’s presence could now be found dwelling in the temple courts and would later be found in some incredibly unlikely places throughout the region.  He was now found interacting with both outsiders and insiders, asking of them questions, and seeking out their ‘presence’.  This is some completely new and revolutionary stuff that’s happening here.  Even more mind blowing, is that it’s all taking place within the story of a lost child.

Although it was most likely not my intention at the time that I wandered off, the idea of finding an equal if not greater importance on the world outside of the church than the one inside, is essential.

Here is an article from Relevant Magazine on the ‘outsider’ Jesus:

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/mission/features/1374-the-outside-jesus

So, why is Jesus doing this? Why can’t people continue to meet with God in the way they always have?  Besides, shouldn’t only the most elite have access to God anyway? That’s a good question.

Whatever the reason, call it grace or mercy, God has made a way and has chosen to meet with his people in a whole new way and for some (who have not been known before as his people) is choosing to meet with them for the very first time in history.  This, my friends, is the heart of the Gospel.

It continues to this day — but since a fortunate misfortune took place and Jesus was killed and then raised from the dead and now resides in heaven, he has entrusted ‘his people’ to continue to bring God’s presence to those who would normally have no access to it.

But why are there still people who don’t have access to God’s presence? That’s another good question.

Well, I believe there are a lot of reasons.

Here’s the best analogy that I can come up with that I think covers some of the reasons:  Suppose you are an orphan, who has never met their real Father.  You have never known anyone other than a few orphanage workers and a bunch of other orphans.  As far as you can tell, nothing like a father even exists.  In fact, you assume something like a father can’t possibly exist, it just doesn’t make sense. If fathers exist, where are they? Men have visited the orphanage before and have sometimes left with a child and sometimes haven’t.  Were these men fathers? You might also have some of the workers tell you stories of what fathers are like and of the hope that one day one might just come and adopt you as well.  But, these just seem like stories that they make up to help you cope with being an orphan.  They tell you to be on your best behavior in case one day a father arrives looking to adopt.  They tell you that no father would ever adopt a child that acts up. Again, it just seems like more fairy tales, like tales of Santa Claus that were probably just made up to keep you on your best behavior.  By now you’re well aware of the terrible truth that all of those fairy tales have been debunked. You’ve come to accept the world for what it is and have grown sense of independence and complacency. You’ve lost all hope in a father.  I apologize for the gloomy analogy.

Stop and take a moment to be thankful that this isn’t your reality.

Here’s what I mean: Many of us have lost hope that a God exists because of failed examples, harsh realities, and misinterpreted experiences.  Some of us still believe, but have been told to be on their best behavior if they wish to be ‘adopted’ or even considered.  We have been driven far away from the idea of God and have been forced to become independent and complacent with the little we have, sometimes by the very people who claim to be closest to him.  The phrase, “This is just the way things are.” has become our mantra.

Lucky for us there is a God in the temple courts searching us out.  There is a God seeking us out in the most incredibly unlikely places that we spend our time. He is here and wants to adopt you and you don’t need to be on your best behavior to convince him of this. Wow, that’s good news! That’s Gospel.

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