About this time some of the men and their
wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews. They were
saying, “We have such large families. We
need more food to survive.” Others said,
“We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the
famine.” And others said, “We have had
to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes. We belong
to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like
theirs. Yet we must sell our children
into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters,
and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are
already mortgaged to others.” When I
heard their complaints, I was very angry. After
thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, “You are hurting your own
relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!” Then I called a public meeting to deal with
the problem. At the meeting I said to
them, “We are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to
sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery
again. How often must we redeem them?” And they had nothing to say in their defense. Then I pressed further, “What you are doing
is not right! Should you not walk in the
fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? I myself,
as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain,
but now let us stop this business of charging interest. Nehemiah 5:1-10 (NLT)
The
first time I ever heard this expressed, it was Dr. John Sullivan, Executive
Director-Treasurer for the Florida Baptist Convention who said it,
There’s
never a right time to do wrong, and
there’s never a wrong time to do right.
As
we continue with the Nehemiah journal, we find this kingdom builder dealt with
external pressures (chapters 4 & 6); He also had to face internal strife which
we see in Chapter 5 this morning.
One
writer described the problem this way:
“The object of
hostility was the rich people who had not acted like brothers to the poor, but
had instead seen them as a means to get rich.
They had lent the money at exorbitant rates; they had confiscated the lands;
they had cheerfully accepted girls from poor families as slaves and were now
ready to take the boys as well. The root
cause of this problem was selfishness; of course, the root cause of internal
conflict and discord is always selfishness!
We can disagree; in fact, if there are two people who always see
eye-to-eye on everything, one of those people is useless! At a time when the people should have been
rallying as teammates, they were acting as enemies. Nehemiah faced a crisis, once he became aware
of the problem.”[1]
Perhaps
as a leader Nehemiah was a little too focused on the walls to see the people,
but it is like that when you’ve got a major responsibility.
Most
pastors I know attempt to do some visiting at least a couple of times a
week. It helps to know what’s going on
in the lives of folks. However, when a
problem arises, it is a good thing for the sheep to let the shepherd know.
In
our text the people finally let Nehemiah know of their problems. Here’s what he did:
He Tried to Understand the Problem
At
this point in the story it is harvest time.
Nehemiah had encouraged the people to work hard on the wall. Many of the poor needed to work in the
harvest for their living. They had given
their working time to the Lord’s work, borrowing on their lands just to provide
food and pay their taxes. But, now rich
Jew was charging poor Jew, even taking young children as debt-slaves, selling
them to slave traders from other lands.
Nehemiah
got very angry over his richer brothers taking advantage of the poor. This was very serious; the evils of slavery,
debtor prison, as well as the very stability of their society were at
stake. It was forbidden in Deuteronomy
to treat your brothers like this.
Yes,
Nehemiah was angry. And there is an
appropriate time to get angry.
· It is time to get angry when children are
abused, and families are forced to live on the street while we do nothing.
·
It is time to get angry when those who have
much oppress those who have little or nothing.
Nehemiah
got angry because there was good cause – something over which he should be
angry.
What
did he do next?
He Dealt With the Root of the Problem
Nehemiah
read his rich brothers the riot act in plain language. He called a public meeting; no sweeping it
under the carpet! Wrongdoing that
affects many people ought to be brought into the open. In our day we are seeing the CEO’s and
Financial Officers of major corporations in the headlines for insider trading
that has robbed the pensions and jobs of many working people. In many cases this is the life savings for a
near-retiring couple.
I
read about one Chief Financial Officer who had sold his stock only a few weeks
before the company went bankrupt. He
offered to give a million dollars to the several thousand employees to help
ease their pain. One of the employees
was quoted as saying, “Yeah, he sold his stock for $170 million and now he
wants to give one million back. That’s
like having someone pick your pocket and then offer you back the lint.”[2]
Our
charge conference information includes a copy of our church’s financial
statement. One of the things we ought to
do in all churches is make certain there is full disclosure of financial
information. Selfishness has no place in
a Christian’s life. But when we discover
selfishness-driven practices they must be stopped. That’s what Nehemiah was after.
What
else did Nehemiah do?
He Stood Strong to Help Those Wronged
When
you have widespread or deeply ingrained problems they sometimes must be dealt
with decisively and definitively. Strong
measures are required for severe problems.
Tollefson’s
work on this text[3]
gives the model for resolving the kinds of conflict that can arise, and how
Nehemiah applied them. It is good for us
as the family of God to keep these things in mind:
1)
Separate the people from the problem.
Nehemiah didn’t treat it as a “class” (i.e.
rich or poor) problem. He treated it as
a “we” problem for the whole community.
Around here, if one of us is cut, all of us should bleed! That’s a “we” kind of church.
2)
Focus on interests, not positions.
Nehemiah demonstrated how the actions of one
group (rich) were hurting the whole community.
All were needed to build the wall.
The poor were fading – the rich were going to have trouble continuing
doing double duty.
Around most churches it is difficult to
decide on what color the carpet ought to be – if we Christians will learn to
cooperate, the Kingdom of God could go a lot further!
3)
Generate a variety of possibilities before
deciding what to do.
Nehemiah’s solution benefited the entire
community. We call it a win-win solution
these days. Wise leaders don’t act like
Lone Ranger gunslingers. I’m not the
best, smartest or best looking pastor around, but I know enough to count on our
Lay Leader and other church leaders as a source of wise counsel. They make me a stronger leader than I can be
by myself!
4)
Insist that the results be based on some
objective standard, tradition or authority.
Nehemiah
based his solution on biblical principles.
Our “objective” Methodist standard is what has been called Wesley’s quadrilateral; Scripture is primary, and helped by our traditions,
reason, and experience; if there is a
problem, an issue that threatens to divide, the Bible is our source of deciding
how to proceed and how to act towards one another.
In
the final analysis, something may come out differently than we hope for, or
someone may get angry, but we are bound together by Christ, not by our personal
agenda, likes and dislikes.
Nehemiah
built in some accountability for his solution.
He had the priests take an oath from those who said they would do right
by the poor. Shaking out the robe
(v.13) is the ancient way of telling the flock, You break your promise and you
will be emptied out by God!
(There
is something about signing on the dotted line in front of the preacher, eh?)
One
other noteworthy thing about this passage:
He Was Careful To Remain Humble Towards God
Leadership requires high standards
The
highest motive for doing right is because it is right, and pleasing to God, the
eternal Judge….Nehemiah applied the same standard to himself. This is an important point:
Nehemiah refused to preach without practicing![4]
Practice what you preach in your
heart and in public.
Remains of the Day is a movie that explores the repressed love between the devoted
English butler, Mr. Stevens (Anthony Hopkins), and the head housekeeper, Miss
Kenton (Emma Thompson), in 1930s England.
The master of the house, Lord Darlington, is being influenced by the
Nazis to establish rapport between themselves and the British government. Nazi representatives are periodic guests in
his house.
Lord Darlington addresses Mr. Stevens, "Stevens, we have some
refugee girls on staff at the moment, I believe."
"We do, my Lord. Two
housemaids. Elsa and Emma."
"You'll have to let them go, I'm afraid." "Let them go, my Lord?"
"It's regrettable; Stevens, but we have no choice. You've got to see the whole thing in
context. I have the well-being of my
guests to consider."
"My Lord, may I say, they work extremely well. They're intelligent, polite, and very
clean."
"I'm sorry, Stevens, but I've looked into the matter very
carefully. There are larger issues at
stake. I'm sorry, but there it is. They're Jews."
In the next scene, Stevens and Miss Kenton are having tea together
in one of the servants' quarters.
Miss Kenton is flustered and upset. "You're saying that Elsa and Emma are to
be dismissed because they're Jewish?"
Stevens answers firmly and calmly, "His Lordship has made his
decision. There is nothing for you and I to discuss."
Miss Kenton says, "You realize if these girls have no work
they could be sent back to Germany!"
"It is out of our hands."
"I'm telling you, Mr. Stevens, if you dismiss these girls it
will be wrong. A sin. As any sin if ever was one."
"Miss Kenton, there are many things you and I don't
understand in the world of today.
Whereas his Lordship understands fully and has studied the larger issues
at stake concerning, say, the nature of Jewry."
"Mr. Stevens, I warn you.
If these girls go, I shall leave this home."
In the third scene, Stevens and Miss Kenton have just finished an
interview of a candidate for one of the now vacant positions.
Stevens says, "Didn't you say you were leaving because of the
German girls?"
Miss Kenton appears remorseful.
"I'm not leaving. I've
nowhere to go. I have no family. I'm a coward.
I'm frightened of leaving and that's the truth. All I see in the world is limits, and it
frightens me. That's all my high
principles are worth, Mr. Stevens. I'm ashamed of myself."[5]
Every
one of us has had, or will have opportunities that frighten us. Nehemiah, I’m certain, did not relish what he
had to do. Those rich folks were his
neighbors – they were his friends.
(Nehemiah himself was among the richest, considering he didn’t even draw
a salary).
To
hit his closest friends and co-workers in the pocketbook meant he would be
pretty much alone at the top. But, he
did what was right, when it was right, and in the right way.
I
heard golfing legend Greg Norman in an interview say that he has always tried
to follow the advice of his father who told him to always do his best to give
truthful answers. He said, That
has always been best, because at the end of the day you’re clean.
It
works that way with doing right…
¶ Standing
up for what’s right
¶ Helping
those less fortunate
¶ Being
kind
¶ Being
generous
¶ Being
unselfish and truthful
That
about sums up what Nehemiah was all about.
And it isn’t a bad epitaph for your tombstone either!
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