The Cost of Building

Isaac Wales is a man most people have probably never heard of. He arrived in Syracuse in 1810. He arrived in New York as a slave. He eventually was able to purchase his freedom for $80. He was able to do this by taking jobs. One of which was digging the Erie Canal through Syracuse (what is now Clinton Square). That $80 purchased his freedom, and Wales was able to go on to buy property, build businesses, becoming one of the first builders of a city that would grow to be come remarkable in the 1800s. 

In 1925, Syracuse filled in the Canal that went through the city. As New York opened the barge canal, Syracuse was able to create more space by moving the canal. In 2001, the city had a ceremony naming that spot “Clinton Square,” after Governor DeWitt Clinton, who was governor during the building of the Erie Canal. 

The stories that get buried in time is always interesting. This is not shade on Governor Clinton, or the name Clinton Square. It is more of a picture of what can get sacrificed if you are a builder. There is a cost to building, and it is sometimes important to take a step back and honor those who got their hands dirty, sacrificed, and helped build great things. 

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be builders. Everyone wants to be at the ribbon cutting when things are great, but it takes courage to join the call of building. 

Being a builder takes sacrificial participation and sacrificial resilience. 

When Nehemiah first told his people the project that was at hand, he did not sugar coat the reality: “You see the trouble we are in.” Being honest with the current reality will build trust and buy-in. His people responded with “Let us start rebuilding.” They understood the assignment (as much as they could at that point) and joined the mission. 

These were not masons, contractors or soldiers. Nehemiah 3 tells us exactly who we are dealing with. Nehemiah had perfume makers and goldsmiths, amongst other random groups of people. This was not necessarily the lineup of workers one would pick when the project calls for extensive civil engineering. 

Yet, what we find, the people were all in. 

Not only were they willing to build, but they were resilient in the face of intense opposition. The threats were extensive, and serious enough that the people began working with weapons in one hand and building tools in the other. Nehemiah talks about how he and his men worked from sun up to sundown. They did not change their clothes, they did not even stop for food and water. They showed sacrificial resilience in order for the mission to be completed. 

The most important part of all of this was why they were building. Nehemiah reminds the people time and time again, most elegantly in Nehemiah 4:
When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

As we build and rebuild the church, there is a reminder that we are custodians of the future. How we build, how we pray, how we worship, all of it is framing how future generations will respond to the things of God. 

We build, not for recognition, but because God has called us to it.

We build, not with the promise of an easy path, but in the face of opposition. Knowing full well that the future of the church is stronger based on the building we do today.