Speaker 1: 0:03

Joy to worship the Lord along with you. Hello, my name is Dwight. I'm one of the pastors here at Westtown. If we haven't had a chance to meet yet, I would be pleased to do so after the service today.

Speaker 1: 0:13

As a church, we've been going through the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a man who lived about 450 years before Christ and was used by God to lead the Israelites who had been driven into exile back to the promised land, and his job was to help them to reconstruct the walls around the city of Jerusalem. He was concerned not only to help them with that construction project, but also to work on their hearts, renewing their hearts before the Lord. As a church, we are currently in somewhat of a rebuilding project ourselves, with having to replace our bridge, and think that it's a good time not only to be focusing on having that construction project but also renewing ourselves before the Lord. Just like Nehemiah was used of God in Israel, we pray that the Spirit of God will be at work in us and enlarging our vision of who God is, renewing our hearts and God's grace, helping us to support our community of faith and fellowship and to strengthen our witness before the world. And so, up to this point in the book of Nehemiah we've talked about how God called Nehemiah to this task, how he went back, with the help of King Art Exerxes, to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and he got the people involved in the work. So that is the first three chapters of the book of Nehemiah. One chapters four, five and six all deal with opposition that the people of Israel were facing to rebuilding the walls and also rebuilding their hearts in God's ways, and what that demonstrates for us is that whenever God is on the move, the Spirit of God is at work. That work is going to be opposed. Last week, and next week will be a look at external opposition from outside the community. This week we're going to be taking a look at opposition that occurs within the community of faith, even to its own purposes, and this morning we're going to be taking a look particularly at how some of the people of Israel were exploiting the helpless and the needy among them.

Speaker 1: 2:28

When Connie and I were ministering in Philadelphia, we were in a community that was next door to the city in Pennsylvania with the highest crime rate in the state, and so there was a government organization that was involved, trying to get homeless folk off the street, helping them and putting them through a school that if they graduated from that they could work towards independence. And they were assigned a case manager and they were placed in an apartment complex across the street from the church. And so once this program started we began receiving dozens of people who were very poor, who had extraordinary needs, and we were overwhelmed. How do we handle such profound need with our limited resources and know-how in terms of helping people who have had years and years of addiction and mental illness and witch-fed witch and all those kind of things? Just to give you an example, we had one lady who we helped over a number of years, who had about a third fourth grade level which she was operating, and she lived with another woman who pretty much was taking care of her, and that woman ended up in a nursing home and this woman was left to herself and she was being exploited by people in her apartment complex and she had extraordinary needs For years.

Speaker 1: 4:03

When she would come to church on Sunday morning she would ask for a couple rolls of toilet paper and about half a dozen bus tokens. So we would give her toilet paper and bus tokens and when her companion ended up in the nursing home. She got sick, went into the hospital. The landlord was already in process to evict her because she wasn't paying her rent. And the landlord called us and said hey, I know you've been helping this lady. I don't wanna just throw her things away. I don't have to do this. I legally can just throw them away, but will you come and take her stuff so that she can get it when she's out of the hospital? So we went over and there was a closet from floor to ceiling packed with toilet paper. We found about $500 in bus tokens that we had been giving her over the years and we were left just wondering how was what we were doing all of these years even of any help to somebody in such need? Helping to address poverty is not an easy issue for anybody to tackle, but when it occurs within the church, at least in our case in Philadelphia, our challenge was not exploiting those that were helpless and in need, but it was ignoring them because we just didn't know what to do or how to help them.

Speaker 1: 5:30

Among the people of Israel, the situation was entirely different. Because of political things that were occurring at the time and also economic things, the wealthy among the people of Israel were exploiting and taking advantage of the poor among the people of Israel, and this came about as a result of several different things. There was a great need for food among the people, and so those that had lands were mortgaging their lands, with their brothers and sisters being the mortgage holders. When they were unable to meet the mortgage payments, they were losing their lands in their homes, and many of them were having to sell their children into indentured servitude or slavery altogether just in order to survive. It was an extreme situation that, unfortunately, was being made more difficult by the way in which they were being treated by the more wealthy members of their fellowship and their community, and so this is the issue that Nehemiah finds himself having to confront, where we pick up reading in Nehemiah, chapter five. This is God's word.

Speaker 1: 6:54

Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers, for there were those who said with our sons and our daughters, we are many, so let us get grain that we may eat and keep alive. There were also those who said we are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, our homes to get grain because of the famine. And there were those who said we have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children, our as of their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.

Speaker 1: 7:37

I was very angry when I heard their outcry in these words. I took counsel with myself and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them you're exacting interest, each from his brother. And I held a great assembly against them and said to them we, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us. They were silent and could not find a word to say. So I said the thing that you are doing is not good. Are you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations, our enemies? Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. Return to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, their houses and the percentage of money, grain, wine and oil that you have been extracting from them. And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. I also shook out the folds of my garment and said so may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied. And all the assembly said amen and praise God, and the people did as they had promised.

Speaker 1: 9:01

Now, years later, nehemiah is looking back on this time and he continues to write in verse 14, moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the 12th year, to the 32nd year of Art Exert Caesar, king, 12 years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them their daily ration 40 shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people, but I did not do so because of the fear of God. I also persevered in the work on this wall and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. Now, what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox, six-choice sheep and birds, and every 10 days, all kinds of wine and abundance. Yet for all this, I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on the people. Remember, for my good, o God, all that I have done for this people.

Speaker 1: 10:13

Now I mentioned somewhat of the biblical context that Nehemiah refers to here, and verses 2 through 5, just a few minutes ago. I'm not going to repeat that now, but in terms of some of the historical context that was also taking place at the time, there were several things that were happening. The Persian government was collecting taxes, like governments are prone to do, and their tax rate was not exorbitant. But what was happening was Persia was taking all of the tributes that they were receiving from all of their lands, and they were taking the coins and they were melting them down and making bullion out of them. And so when the Greeks, with Alexander the Great, conquered Persia, the Greeks found over 270 tons of bullion and 1400 tons of silver bullion, and what all of that meant was that the money was not going back to help the citizens or the inhabitants of their regions. Furthermore, they were taking the money out of circulation to melt it down, to make the bullion, causing inflation to skyrocket. I don't know if you saw a few months back how the Tampa was awarded the honor of having the highest inflation rate in the country. Woohoo, good for us, right? But in this case, food prices. Because they were not using the land to farm and produce crops, food prices had increased over 50%, and so the people were sore, oppressed by the needs that were taking place around them, and, unfortunately, the wealthy among the people of Israel were exploiting that need of their brothers.

Speaker 1: 12:11

Now, the Bible does not forbid charging interest. The Bible does not forbid owning private property or making a profit, but the problem was either that the Israelites were exacting usury, charging exorbitant interest among their brothers, and Nehemiah told them that they should be charging no interest whatsoever because the needs were so extraordinary. And so, from his leadership that Nehemiah gives to this situation, we learn a couple very important points as to how we should take care of problems that arise within the community of faith, and the first is that God's love compels us to respond righteously and courageously when oppression occurs within the church. So we see in verses 6 through 9, nehemiah doing certain things. He becomes very angry when he hears this outcry arising among the people and, unlike me, nehemiah takes time to think before he opens his mouth. So he talks about pondering or taking counsel with himself before he acts.

Speaker 1: 13:24

And then Nehemiah brings, calls a great assembly together and he accuses the officials in front of all of the people of their wrongdoing and he calls this assembly together. And the important thing to note here is you remember last week when Pastor Morgan was preaching about the attacks that were occurring from outside the people of Israel, as they were building the walls and they had to hold their tools for construction in one hand and their weapon to defend themselves in another hand, he would not let the work stop. By calling this great assembly, he either drastically reduced the work or brought it to a halt altogether, because a dealing with this issue within the body of Christ was far more important than the work on the wall. And then he admonishes them for the wrong and he appeals for them to do right. And then in verses 10 through 13, we see how he calls them to action and he holds them accountable. And, wonderfully, the officials in the wealthy respond appropriately, the way that they should, and they say that they're going to do exactly what Nehemiah encourages them to do. So Nehemiah awards them and he says okay, I'm shaking out the folds of my garments and anything that's in them is is going to fall out, and may God do that to you if you go back on your word. And so the people all agree and praise God. They helped address the problems and they're able to resume the work on the wall.

Speaker 1: 14:57

But what motivated Nehemiah to want to deal with this issue in a God-honoring way? What gave him the courage to be able to confront this issue? Now, remember when we looked at the list of people who were helping to rebuild the wall in chapter three. Many of them were nobles and officials. They were rulers and half rulers of various districts. These may be the same people that Nehemiah is now confronting. What would happen if they withdrew their support from building this wall? But again, the people were so important that Nehemiah had to address this issue.

Speaker 1: 15:38

First motive that we see from this is that we must oppose oppression out of a fear of God, in verses nine and 15. When Nehemiah confronts the nobles, he says to them what you're doing is not good. Are you not to walk in the fear of God to prevent the taunts of our enemies? And then in verse 15, he describes that he doesn't act like the former governors who oppress the people. He didn't even take his legitimate income from the job because he feared the Lord.

Speaker 1: 16:14

And now sometimes people say that terminology fearing the Lord is Old Testament, that's all the fire and brimstone stuff that happened back in the Old Testament and that's not for people of the New Testament today. And when you look at a passage of scripture like 1st John, chapter four, where it says that God is love and perfect love casts out fear because fear has to do with punishment, they say see, fear of God doesn't matter anymore today. Well, there's a sense where that's true that there is no longer a sense of terror or dread at being punished for our sins, righteously so, because Jesus Christ has paid the penalty of our sins on the cross and his perfect righteousness through his life is credited to us by God, so that we are received as members of God's family through faith in Christ and turning away from our sin, that we do not fear terror or dread of punishment, but there is a sense of reverence, there is a sense of respect that God is a holy and righteous God and even as his children, he will discipline us when we go astray, so that we will be brought back to him in our fellowship and we will bear a harvest of righteousness. So indeed, we should be concerned about holiness. In fact, in 2nd Corinthians, chapter seven, verse one, the apostle Paul says this to the people since we have these promises beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. Like Paul read in our call to worship this morning, the fear of the Lord is pure, it's the beginning of wisdom, it is the place. It has an appropriate place within the life of believers. So it's out of this desire to honor God within our holy conduct and experience the fullness of his fellowship that we would meet oppression.

Speaker 1: 18:28

But Nehemiah goes on and he mentions how we must oppose oppressors for their own good, in verse nine, when he warned them the thing that they are doing is not good and that they should walk in the fear of God. He goes on and he mentions how that Doing so will prevent the enemies of God from taunting the people of God. Now think about this If in the previous chapter, dealing with exterior opposition to the people of Israel, nehemiah worked very hard to repel their efforts and, in God's mercy, they were thwarted from discouraging the Israelites, now what would happen to God's witness in the world if the people of Israel oppressed their fellow citizens? The people of the world would say they're very foolish. What kind of God do they serve that they turn on each other? But rather, by upholding the righteousness of God and treating each other appropriately, they would maintain an honorable witness before the world.

Speaker 1: 19:44

You might remember in the Gospels when Jesus is talking to the rich young ruler and he comes to Jesus and he says what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus, knowing what's in his heart, says to him well, you know, keep the commandments. And he lists several the commandments. And the young man responds all of this I do. And Jesus responds to him in Mark 10, beginning at verse 21,. Jesus looked at him, loved him and said to him you lack one thing. Go so all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Now, the point was not give away all your money and you can buy your way into heaven, but Jesus was helping him to see what he truly worshipped in his heart, and the fact that he was unwilling to give up his wealth was a sign that he valued wealth more than a relationship with God.

Speaker 1: 20:46

But the point that we're making, and quoting that verse, is Jesus confronted that man where he was in his sin, spiritually, out of love. The Bible says Jesus looked at him, loved him and then challenged him. And so it is also within the community of faith that, as we seek the good of our brothers and sisters, that when they're failing, when they're in sin, that we approach them in kindness and humility and with the wisdom of God's Word, and we seek to reclaim them from their offense. How often the world looks at the church and says, oh, the church is just filled with a bunch of hypocrites. Well, maybe, if we help each other not be hypocritical so much, then our testimony before the world would improve. Which leads us to the next motive. We must stand up to sin in the church in order to maintain our witness to the world, as we just referenced in verse 9. And the New Testament.

Speaker 1: 21:52

There was a very bizarre occurrence happening at the church of Corinth. There was a man who was having relations with his stepmother, and so Paul writes to address this scandal in 1 Corinthians, chapter five. And he says to them it is actually reported that there is a sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not even tolerated among the pagans. Now can you imagine that the church is out-sinning the world and it's causing dishonor upon the name of God? And so Paul is telling the church that they have to take care of this issue or this problem, so as not to bring scandal upon the name of Christ. It is interesting that in the early church the Christians were so known for how well they took care of the poor in their midst and in the community around them that it got the attention of the last pagan Roman emperor, who became known later to church history as Justin the Apostate, and he complained about the Galileans, that is, the Christians and the way in which they took care of the poor. That brought discredit upon the Roman pantheon of God's, because their priests were not taking care of the poor like the Christians, and so he was challenging even the pagan priests to be more like the Christians, because they took care of the poor so well. So in addition to righteously and courageously responding to oppression out of a concern for the glory of God, nehemiah also shows us that God's love compels us to minister compassionately and sacrificially to the oppressed within the church.

Speaker 1: 23:46

Now we're going to put some verses on the screen here. I'm not going to reread them again, but I'm just going to highlight a couple of things about them. Nehemiah did not place heavy burdens on the people. He did not accept what would have been considered even a reasonable salary for his work as governor. In fact, he bore the cost of his work for the people on his own. And, as we read in the last part of Nehemiah, chapter five, he did so at his own expense for years and years and years. He not only gave generously, he not only gave out of an abundance, he gave to his own hurt, so great was his sacrifice and concern for the people. And verse 15, he mentions how the previous governors had laid heavy burdens on the people, how they lorded their rule over the people. And Nehemiah mentions in verse 18, the reason that he didn't even take the food allowance was because the service was too heavy on the people. So concerned was he for them that he responded compassionately and sacrificially.

Speaker 1: 25:05

Now I don't know if you, the names of Matt and Noah Colvin ring a bell with you, but I'm sure their account will be familiar to you. They were the brothers in Hickson, tennessee, who, at the very beginning of the pandemic, after the first person died from COVID, they went through all of their region of Tennessee and neighboring Kentucky and they bought like 20,000 containers of hand sanitizer. And then they tried selling it on Amazon at a profit, sometimes charging $70 a bottle for a bottle of hand sanitizer. They were exploiting a pandemic in order to enrich themselves. And of course Amazon shut them down. The next day they said look, you know, we're sorry. They donated all the hand sanitizer that they had left to a local church to distribute people in need.

Speaker 1: 25:57

And before we get too critical of the Colvin brothers, we need to remember what society did when so many people went to the grocery stores and bought all the toilet paper and bought all the other staples of life, so that the stores had a limit you to how much toilet paper you could buy on a visit and order that more people might be served. You see, there is an impulse in the human heart to save our own skin, and absolutely we should provide for our families. We're not talking about that. But there does come a point where we may be called upon to share generously and even sacrificially in order to help others. And you might wonder well, how can there be problems of exploitation of the poor within the church? And sadly it has happened.

Speaker 1: 26:56

Too often, as you look through church history, people use the Bible to justify things like the oppression of blacks, the oppression of women, to excer, exploit immigrants coming into the land and the country, and so on and so forth. The challenges that we see in our culture also visit the church. And how is the church going to respond? Are we going to respond based upon our political parties ideology? Are we going to respond based upon some economic theory of how all of these things should be taken into consideration, or are we going to view the word of God and open our hearts humbly before it and say Lord, what is the way in which we should address these issues Now? Certainly there may be help that we get from other disciplines as we try to deal with these things.

Speaker 1: 27:53

The Bible isn't an economics book, after all, but too many Christians base their impression of how we should take care of the poor, how we should deal social ills, based upon politics and economics, and they give very little regard to the word of God itself. And so how do we respond to that then? Well, if you're the kind of person who emphasizes personal responsibility and why stewardship, then maybe you ought to admit that perhaps you have some blind spots in the area of compassion and mercy and helping people who can't help themselves. And if you're somebody who is all in on helping the poor and the immigrants and people who are oppressed by racism, regardless of the cost, maybe you need to be challenged at some of your blind spots and looking at what the scriptures say in terms of personal responsibility. But as we face the issues of the society, the church should not be attaching its hope, and whoever in the next elected political official is going to be, we need to be placing our hope in the word of God and following his will and leading the way and being able to address many of the needs and concerns of our day, so that we would be like the Christians of the early church that even a pagan emperor would be angry at how good of a job we're doing and helping the less fortunate.

Speaker 1: 29:30

As we look at Nehemiah, we remember his role. He was the governor, he was a royal officer, and even though he wasn't somebody in the line of Judah, from which the Messiah was promised to come, who Jesus Christ descended from, nevertheless, nehemiah points us to Christ. He is Jesus. Like Nehemiah, functioned in the help of the poor and the oppressed in his day. Jesus Christ looks upon us and our helplessness that we cannot rescue us from our sin, and with great compassion and personal sacrifice and cost, jesus laid down his life for us that we might have life in him, and scripture tells us that if we have been the recipients of such extraordinary mercy at the hand of God, then we too should be people who show mercy to others. Let us pray.