In chapter 3 of Nehemiah, there are 38 individual workers and 42 different groups of people who are mentioned as being among those who did the work. Nehemiah is not among those who are named. We don’t know if he did any of the construction work, or if he didn’t, but he isn’t named amongst those who did the building. Instead, Nehemiah called the people into service. He called them to do the work.
Some came from towns a certain distance away or from a certain district. However, many of them simply stepped out of their homes and did the work that was right there in front of them to do:
The repairs next to him were made by the priests from the surrounding region. Beyond them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs in front of their house; and next to them, Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs beside his house.
Nehemiah 3:22-23
So we see that the work that is done by the people that come from other areas is important. But we also see that it is important to simply do the work that needs to be done right within your own neighborhood.
God has a work that he wants to have done. In our case today, the work is to make disciples of Jesus who will go on to make more disciples. It is a work that everyone is called to do, a work that everyone is to be a part of. Just as Nehemiah called all of the people into the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, so we each also have been called by Jesus to enter into the work of making disciples as Jesus builds his kingdom.