A pastor friend of mine has one of those "glint-in-the-eye" responses whenever a visiting friend asks to see his church. "Oh we can’t do that," he replies, "there isn’t enough time to visit all our members!"

His response touches upon an obvious, but often overlooked truth—something akin to "not being able to see the forest for all the trees." The "church" is not a building. Rather, it is the people. The building is among the many "tools" available to the church for doing its ministry and mission as a part of the Body of Christ. The building provides a place for ministries such as corporate worship, education and Christian fellowship. The building is a place for missions to take place and be organized, such as Moccasin Walk and the Adopt-a-Family and Christmas Shoebox programs—to say nothing about the training that takes place that inspires such mission programs. The building is a place where some of the work of the Kingdom takes place—a means to the end of proclaiming the gospel, not the end itself.

What we celebrate today are the opportunities provided by this "means" we call our church building. We celebrate the renovations made this past summer and supported by you the members, the true church, renovations that make more possible the ministry and mission of our church.

Helping us in our celebration is, once again, the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. You may recall when we began the capital campaign for the renovations we used Nehemiah as our guide. What we learn from Nehemiah today, in the dedication ceremony for the rebuilt wall, are the lessons of remembrance, reminder and renewal.

First, the lesson of remembrance. In viewing and dedicating the rebuilt wall the people of Israel remembered, first of all, just how far they had come. Remember that in their not-too-distant past the city of Jerusalem, including the temple and the wall surrounding Jerusalem lay in ruins and the people were languishing in exile in Babylon. Things looked pretty bleak, even in the rebuilding of the wall. As they began the work the surrounding tribes mocked their efforts, pointing out that the meager wall they were building "couldn’t keep out a fox." Now, with the work completed and a dedication ceremony taking place, the people remembered just how far they had come.

They also remembered the people who helped them get there. That’s the reason for all those names mentioned. Included in the list are not only the celebrants and those who worked on the wall, there are some genealogical remembrances as well—all those references to the "son of…someone, who is the son of…someone else, who is the son of…someone." Also, they remember in their dedication ceremony some heroes of the past, including David and Solomon.

So, first there is that, the celebration of remembrance.

Then there is the lesson of reminder. First, and foremost, in their dedication ceremony was the reminder of God’s presence with them. That presence was not just in the building—in the wall, or even more specifically, the Temple which the wall enveloped. They were also reminded of God’s presence with them as they went from that place to serve Him. That is the caution of the prophets—that the celebration of worship taking place at the church building is meaningless without extending that worship in acts of service to the community away from the building. In their dedication celebration the people were reminded of God’s presence with them—within the building and away from the building.

They were also reminded about the work they were to do. Again, the caution of the prophets is a valuable reminder here. Service in God’s Kingdom is never self-serving. The good news of God’s majesty and might, celebrated in ceremonies at the Temple and within the reconstructed walls of Jerusalem, is good news to be shared with others. The faith story shared to those present at the dedication by those they’re remembering in the dedication is a story, likewise, to be shared with others. As the congregation remembers its past it also is reminded to look to its future by re-committing to the work they are to do.

So there are the lessons of remembrance and reminder.

Then there is the lesson of renewal. Within the dedication ceremony itself, there is the renewal of purification. Sin and its consequences hinder the work of the Church. Purification releases the worshiper from sin’s burden. And so, the service of dedication in Nehemiah includes rituals of purification for the leaders, the people and even the building itself (purification of the gates and the wall). There is renewal through the Law, the Word of God. Ezra, Nehemiah’s contemporary and protector of the Law, is present to insure the Law is represented. There is renewal through the worship itself and the sacrifices offered as a part of their worship. And there is renewal in the commitment to take care of what they have built, "men appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes." The "contributions, firstfruits and tithes" were the commitments of the people for the maintenance not only of their buildings, but more importantly for the maintenance of their faith, their ministry and mission.

Taking our cue, once again, from the book of Nehemiah, we see applications for us today in our own service of dedication through remembrance, reminder and renewal.

In our remembrance today, we remember how far we have come. Thankfully, we’ve not experienced the devastation that the people of Nehemiah’s time experienced, but we remember how far we’ve come from where we first started. As we gather here together, some among us remember the early days of this church when the people gathered in such places as a dance studio, a school building and the first sanctuary which is now our Fellowship Hall. We experienced a bit of that first sanctuary as we worshiped in our Fellowship Hall for a few weeks while some of the renovation projects required us to be out of the sanctuary. Perhaps you remember our Palm Sunday processional when we returned to worship in our yet-to-be-completed sanctuary, carrying the Bibles to return them to the pew racks from which we had carried them out a few months before. And we remember the work that was done in here, transforming this building from what it was to what it is today. We remember on this dedication Sunday just how far we’ve come in the building used for our corporate worship.

More importantly, remembering that it is not the building that is the church but rather the people who are the church, we remember the people who have helped us get to where we are today. In a few minutes, we will recognize those who played important roles in the renovation project itself. But on a much larger scale, we also remember those from our past, those who laid the groundwork for this church, nursed it through its infancy and brought it to fruitful service in the work of the Kingdom. Each of you can recall in your heart with fondness someone instrumental in the life of this church and in your connection to this church. For visitors, our guests this day, perhaps you can be thinking about someone instrumental in your life, someone who helped you get to this point in your life today. I encourage you to think about that person, or persons in our dedication service today. We remember how far we’ve come in the life of this church and we remember those people who have contributed to our church life, or our faith life.

We also have our moments of reminder this day. Like those who gathered in the time of Nehemiah, we are reminded of God’s presence with us. In the journey of Shepherd of the Hills to this point in time, we are reminded of God’s presence with us in the journey. Right now, as we worship, God is present with us as He promised to be whenever two or more gather in His name. In each one of us, the Spirit of Christ is with us encouraging and prompting us on our faith walks. We are reminded this day of the continuing presence of God with us.

And we are reminded of the work of the Kingdom, the work that God calls us to. We are reminded of the work that has taken place in the ministry and mission of this church…and of the work that is still to be done—the work of growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ and the work of making new followers of Christ of those in our neighborhoods and in our community. May it be to that purpose we use this building we dedicate this day.

And let us also, in this dedication service, experience renewal—the renewing purification of confession, renewal through the hearing of and responding to God’s Word and the renewal of commitment to serving Jesus Christ as Lord.

Such remembrance, reminder and renewal leads to rejoicing. In the time of Nehemiah a rejoicing was experienced by all present at the dedication—from the leaders in worship and those who helped build the wall to the women and children also. The specific mentioning of women and children is Old Testament language to emphasize that all present were filled with rejoicing, a rejoicing that could be heard by those far away. Let there be a similar rejoicing in our dedication today. A rejoicing in what God has done…and what God is going to do. A rejoicing in the presence of God with us and in what God will do through us as we faithfully follow Him. A rejoicing that today, and in the days to come, will be heard by those who are far away.