On Nehemiah: The Pastor Produces Some "Theater in the Round"

 A Final Sabbath Sermon On Nehemiah 

The entry portico of Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta. This appealing exterior conceals a few difficulties that require attention.

A MAJOR SERMON SERIES FOR A MAJOR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN.  TODAY’S FOCUS WAS ON NEHEMIAH CHAPTER 3

Today’s sermon by Lead Pastor Fredrick Russell at Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, Atlanta, continued the series entitled “Rebuilding the Ruins.” Pastor Russell has selected the Book of Nehemiah, one descriptive of the restoration of the broken-down walls of Jerusalem by the Hebrews, as an appropriate theme to introduce an initiative to restore Berean’s ageing facilities. Useful generalizations may be derived from the specifics of these talks. The February 20th sermon, based on the third chapter of Nehemiah, shared the multipurpose interpretations of preceding instalments, but was not presented in the usual format. It was short. It was dramatic. It addressed itself to just one topic: the need for unity of purpose. The third chapter of Nehemiah consists, in its entirety, of a list of the names and areas of responsibility of those who worked to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls. The list is comprehensive. Pastor Russell informed the membership of Berean that participation in the forthcoming restoration must be similarly comprehensive.

Words are not sufficient to describe the techniques utilized by the pastor in order to make his point. As usual, here is a link to the ENTIRE SERVICE. The sound on this link does not kick in until the 9:17 mark (Berean’s antiquated production facilities are one more shortcoming that needs amelioration). Pastor Russell’s “demonstration” begins at time marker 1:46. A difficult attempt to summarize this highly theatrical message may be found close to the bottom of this post.

Not a singer of Spirituals exactly, but a singer of “spiritual music.” Brian McKnight is a fifth generation Seventh-day Adventist.

TWELVE NEGRO SPIRITUALS IN THE ADVENTIST HYMNAL

• 069 – Lord, Make Us More Holy
• 121 – Go, Tell It On the Mountain
• 138 – Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow
• 151 – Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley
• 158 – Were You There
• 305 – Give Me Jesus
• 319 – Lord, I Want to Be a Christian
• 403 – Let Us Break Bread Together
• 475 – Balm in Gilead
• 580 – This Little Light of Mine
• 624 – I Want Jesus to Walk With Me
• 627 – Jacob’s Ladder

The morning Hymn at Berean, like last week’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” related to Black History Month. It was number six on the list shown above, #305: “Give Me Jesus.” As the Berean version is incomplete, here is a LINK to a underappreciated rendition by tenor Vinson Cole.

PASTOR FREDRICK RUSSELL’S SERMON ON NEHEMIAH 3

Pastor Fredrick Russell wondered aloud, “how do you make a sermon out of the third chapter of Nehemiah?” As noted, it contains nothing beyond the names of the participants in the restoration of Jerusalem’s walls, and describes the particular parts of the wall that they were involved in. My initial reaction to the question was an unworthy one, as a former involvement with many church fundraising and building campaigns has made me familiar with some unusual approaches. A “laundry list” of participants reminded me of a project for a Christian college I helped to document. Nehemiah has memorialized the names of his helpers in Chapter 3. The provosts of the college in question were going to memorialize the names of their donors by incising them in bricks, and then form a circular plaza from the bricks. A similar scheme has been used to fund Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park. It took less than a second to get over my initial reaction. Pastor Russell stands above this kind of gimmickry.

“But bricks don’t like to be in a circle!” My objections were brushed aside. This image vindicates me.

Nehemiah 3:7 mentions Melatiah the Gibeonite, along with the “men of Gibeon” as participating in the work. This reminded me of the introduction of the Gibeonites in Joshua 9, which tells the story of how this people were relegated to the role of “hewers of wood and drawers of water” for the Hebrews. Either the Gibeonites in Nehemiah were simply inhabitants of the city of Gibeon, or they were descendants of the people that were reduced to subservience. In the later case, I wondered if their status had improved by Nehemiah’s day. Adversity is a great equalizer. Twenty minutes invested in searching for an answer to this yielded nothing.

Pastor Russell read aloud Nehemiah 3:1-8, observing that both blue collar and white collar types were participating in the work. The pastor said that the balance of Chapter 3 was much the same as what he had just read. It was now time to enlist the services of the “Pastors and Elders Theater Company,” all experienced players. and accustomed to treading the boards. They are not always masters of improvisation, however. The performance illustrated the consequences of this hypothesis: “what if you held a fork in your hand with the intention of feeding yourself, but were unable to bend your elbows?” The actors were arrayed in a manner that duplicated the chain of Hebrew rebuilders of Jerusalem’s walls. The result was a tableaux that featured the players attempting to feed each other. How could everyone be satisfied? In hindsight, it seems that they would have to stand in a circle to do this. But I am not very perceptive. Neither were the thespians, at least not today. I can’t resist mentioning the Commedia dell’arte at this point, a 16th century Italian form of theater where the actors assumed the attributes of one of several stock character, and then improvised their parts. Elder Kennedy Noisette would be well suited to the character of “the Innocent.”

Some stock characters from the Commedia dell’arte era, and a kind of metaphor for the real world.

The next scene in the demonstration featured hundreds of extras, all dressed in period costumes (the period being 2016). Pastor Russell directed everyone in the congregation who happened to be sitting at the end of an aisle to stand up. They were then instructed to position themselves as facing away from their individual aisles. Everyone was at their appointed station, as were Nehemiah’s helpers (at time marker 1:38:57, the pastor briefly escorts his wife, Brenda, a few steps away from her assigned position, simply in order to note the impropriety of such a dislocation). The cast was ordered to begin to “build,” and they energetically pantomimed this activity. To illustrate a point, a selected few were asked to desist. The pastor predicted the consequences of a lack of full participation: “eventually the wall will be lopsided.” In order to build the wall “everybody has to complete their section.” Pastor Russell placed great emphasis upon this last statement. Thus concluded Act Two of today’s presentation.

The breaches in the Berean defenses were briefly restated. One citation seemed especially germane, in light of today’s audio trouble on the YouTube record, “an AV system that is held together with bailing wire.” My current obsession, the HVAC system at the old church, was revealed as requiring $600,000 of the $2,000,000 goal. The old church was built in 1963 under the leadership of illustrious  Dr. H.L. Cleveland. This link to his obituary reveals that the building was “the largest built Adventist African American church in the south at that time.” It is dwarfed by Berean’s current facility. Dr. Cleveland helped to grow Berean from 97 members (in 1960) to over 1,300 members (when he stepped down, in 1967).

The underside of a stairway from the current “War Room,” located in the 52 year-old BOMC building. Some of the rebar is now exposed to the elements.

The fundamental knowledge imparted by Nehemiah 3 is that “every family, every group, every tribe, every person had their section of the wall.” Pastor Russell enlisted the youthful choristers of “Seventh Sound,” asking them to stand in order to form a final illustration. He informed them that the works described by Nehemiah were not confined to the older generation. The younger generation was included as well. The pastor advised them to start thinking about what they might sacrifice during the six month fundraising period (the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty was paid for by the pennies collected by schoolchildren).

The pastor said that there had not been a major effort to raise funds by the Berean congregation since that conducted by Dr. Cleveland in 1963 (a drive that yielded 98% of the monies required, according to the former pastor’s obituary). The “big” church was bought for just $75,000 down. The concept of “sacrificial giving,” discussed at length in last week’s sermon, was restated as being Above and Beyond (link is to a description of qualifications required to receive the Medal of Honor) basic tithes and offerings. God’s providence as displayed in Scripture was noted. The pastor then added, “is it possible for God to do a new thing in 2016?” The answer to this so obvious, the pastor did not provide it. But, if any of us should fail to do our part, there would be a resulting “gap” in the wall. “Be faithful to your section,” Pastor Russell urged his listeners (the weak point of the Maginot Line, France’s frontline defense against Hitler, was the entire nation of Belgium).

A world-class church builder, Dr. Harold Lovell Cleveland (1928-2007)

Pastor Russell recommended that we consult with God, through prayer, as to the extent of our commitment to assist in the “Rebuilding of the Ruins.” A key phrase from an earlier sermon was  repeated, one from Nehemiah 2 that declares “the people had a heart to do, and they did it with all of their might.” Another sermon was referenced in regard to a point I neglected to mention at the time. “When the children of Israel stepped into the Jordan,” the pastor reminded us, “that’s when the Jordon opened.” This citation was directed at those who might feel that a reallocation of their scanty funds is not, at present, possible. The pastor said that he is looking forward to the “God did” stories that are an inevitable product of sacrificial giving. The choir, in the manner of a Greek chorus, underscored the present mood by singing “I Give Myself Away (So You Can Use Me).”
Elder Noisette (of whom my appellation of “the Innocent” was intended to be a compliment) delivered a benediction that was utterly lacking in pretense, and possessed a superabundance of sincerity.

The opening credits of Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 silent version of “The Ten Commandments,” a source for footage of Hebrew slaves at work, utilized in “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Get your free copy at archive.org