Justice and Planning
Nehemiah • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 38:27
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· 14 viewsEven as Nehemiah moved forward in faith and action, the needs of the people around him did not go ignored; Nehemiah shows us that communities of faithful obedience to God are also communities of justice and mercy.
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So far the story of Nehemiah has been mostly about a construction project to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Along the way we have noticed features such as the importance of prayer, and the way in which Nehemiah confronts and deals with opposition and doubt. But these things have always been directly related to the overall vision Nehemiah is pursuing to restore the people of God in the city of Jerusalem.
Today we take a look at chapter in Nehemiah which kind of sits apart as a side story. Nehemiah is confronted with another issue which seems to be getting in the way of completing the building project. But this time Nehemiah does not brush it aside as a distraction or treat it as opposition. This time Nehemiah diverts his attention away from the city-building project to address something else which is happening. What makes this issue worthy of his attention? And what can this teach us about issues in our own lives of faith which are worthy of attention? Let’s have a look at the story in chapter 5.
Nehemiah 5:1–19 (NIV)
1 Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. 2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.”
3 Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”
4 Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”
6 When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. 7 I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them 8 and said: “As far as possible, we have bought back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.
9 So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? 10 I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! 11 Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”
12 “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.”
Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised. 13 I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied!”
At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.
14 Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. 15 But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. 16 Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.
17 Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. 18 Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.
19 Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.
Let’s gain a little context around what is happening in this story. The people of Israel who are joining Nehemiah in rebuilding Jerusalem pretty much all live in the territories surrounding the city. We should remember too that this is an agrarian society, which means in some sense that all these people depend on growing their own food in order to survive. We can figure out from verse 3 that it must have been a tough growing season during this time when Nehemiah is bringing the people together to build the city walls.
the only way people can afford to buy the food they need to survive is to go into debt
What we can figure out from this story, then, is that there are Israelite people helping with the building who must not have enough harvest to meet their needs. These are people who have land and use that land to grow grain for making bread and grow grapes for making wine. But for those who perhaps had smaller fields, the sparse and diminished harvest of this season is not enough for them. This means that the people who have less are forced to buy grain from outside sources where the growing season was more abundant. Since these people already have so little, the only way they can afford to buy the food they need to survive is to go into debt using the fields and vineyards they have. For those who didn’t have resources of land, the economy of that time functioned in a way in which a person could work off their debt by becoming an indentured servant—often involving the indentured service of the entire family. Essentially they would sell themselves as slaves until hopefully someone else might be able to get enough money to buy their freedom by repaying the debt.
Nehemiah is upset because he is witnessing an unjust system which takes advantage of the poor
This is what is happening with some of the people of Israel who are helping Nehemiah with the building project. They are struggling to continue helping Nehemiah because they are not getting enough to eat, they are losing the land they depend on to grow their food, and they are losing their families as slaves in order to settle debts. And we read in chapter 5 that Nehemiah is upset when he hears about this. But we do not get the sense from the passage that Nehemiah is upset because this represents a setback in his own plans to rebuild Jerusalem. Rather, the passage suggests that Nehemiah is upset because he is witnessing an unjust system which takes advantage of the poor.
vs 13 — nobles agree to give back what the people owe, and they praise God doing it
This unjust system, then, is what Nehemiah addresses in his response. It would not be enough for him to simply find enough food for the people and tell them to get back to work. Rather, Nehemiah realizes that his mission and vision to see this city building project through must also necessarily address and fix unjust systems that exploit the poor for the benefit of the wealthy. Look at what Nehemiah does. He calls in and confronts the wealthy people who are doing the exploiting. He gathers the nobles and officials and tells them to share what they have without demanding interest back. Nehemiah must be a pretty persuasive guy, because not only do the people agree to comply with Nehemiah’s request, verse 13 tells us they do so praising God.
Nehemiah opens his home and shares the food that he has with hundreds of his fellow Jews
It doesn’t end there. In verses 14 and following Nehemiah does a little soul searching of his own. We should remember that Nehemiah himself is right up at the top of this ruling class of nobles. Nehemiah more than any of the others benefits from what the other people are made to pay. So, Nehemiah includes himself in those confessing their wrongdoing by exploiting the poor. From that time on, Nehemiah sets aside his demand for the people to provide for him. Instead, what we see in verses 17-18 is that Nehemiah opens his home and shares the food that he has with hundreds of his fellow Jews. Nehemiah says, not only am I going to stop exploiting the poor, I am going to throw a huge dinner party every night and you all get to come over.
provision of food plays an important role in scripture — manna, miracles of feeding
The provision of food plays an important role in scripture. Think back to the exodus in which God provides manna for his people in the desert. Or kick forward into the gospels and notice the miracles of Jesus which involve provision of food. The very first miracle of Jesus recorded in John’s gospel shows Jesus turning water into wine for the village guests attending a wedding banquet. On two separate occasions in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus feeds crowds of people numbering in the thousands using only a few loaves of bread and some fish. Jesus shows us that the gospel message is accompanied acts of mercy and compassion for those in need.
faithful obedience to the vision God had given Nehemiah to rebuild the city, and also actions of compassion and mercy to provide for the needs of the people
Nehemiah demonstrates something similar. The action of Nehemiah’s faith embraces not only faithful obedience to the vision God had given him to rebuild the city, but also actions of compassion and mercy to provide for the needs of the people in his community. Let me introduce a concept of what God’s mission and vision for his people looks like as it shows up in Nehemiah’s life.
Nehemiah makes room in his life for listening and responding to the Holy Spirit
Nehemiah makes room in his life for other people
Nehemiah makes room in his life to nurture the wellbeing of his community
Nehemiah makes room in his life for listening and responding to the Holy Spirit. Nehemiah makes room in his life for other people. And Nehemiah makes room in his life to nurture the wellbeing of his community.
constantly connecting to God in prayer
We have noted several times already the ways in which Nehemiah is committed to prayer. He prays to God for direction. He prays to God in confession for forgiveness. He prays to God for strength in his way forward. Nehemiah is constantly connecting to God in prayer. He is a person who intentionally sets aside a space in his life for listening to God and responding to God.
space to connect with other people
When the needs of the other people come before Nehemiah, he makes room for them. Nehemiah opens his own home and every day has an enormous meal prepared which he shares with hundreds of his fellow Jews in Jerusalem. He does not just send out meal vouchers or DoorDash. He sets up his own table and invites others in to join him. Nehemiah intentionally sets aside a space in his life for a connection with other people.
giving back so that the community may thrive
And when Nehemiah hears that families are losing their land and even losing their own loved ones to slavery, he uses his resources and gathers up the resources of other nobles and officials to give back the land and bring back the slaves. Nehemiah intentionally sets aside a space in his life to nurture and lift up the wellbeing of his community.
Nehemiah has no obligation whatsoever to do any of this
Nehemiah did not have to do any of this. Nehemiah had a pretty comfortable and cushy job in the lap of luxury among the most powerful and well-off people in the Persian Empire. It was Nehemiah who went out of his way to inquire about God’s people and the condition of Jerusalem. It was Nehemiah who took on and embraced the challenge of standing up against the opposition in order to see the city rebuilt. Nehemiah had every right and privilege to keep collecting the riches which the empire allowed to flow into the hands of its nobles and officials. Nehemiah chooses to make room in his life for all of these things even though he has no obligation whatsoever to do any of this.
he does these things because he loves God and he loves God’s people
Jesus chooses the cross because God loves the world he made
Why? That’s my question. Why does Nehemiah do any of this anyway? Nehemiah does these things because he loves God and he loves God’s people. The actions of Nehemiah’s faith do not come from a place of obligation or forced coercion. Nehemiah’s faith acts in love—love for God and love for God’s people. Nehemiah’s example in scripture is an example that points forward into the gospels. God has no obligation or forced coercion to act on our behalf. There is nothing that forces Jesus to go to the cross against his will. Jesus chooses the cross because God loves the world he made. God chooses to do what is necessary and to give what is necessary in order to provide for the world he loves.
how does the response of my faith echo the love of God?
The response of our faith is a response which echos the love of God. As you and I walk through the days and weeks and months and years of our lives, we do so in ways which embrace the journey of discipleship God has placed in front of us. And we do so in ways which always echo the love of God.