nehemiah sermons

I have been preaching out of the Book of Nehemiah for the last several weeks, and it has been encouraging to me as well as the missionary community. We have learned about passion for God's glory, leadership, planning and defense of a vision and mission, social and economic fairness, as well as the ways in which Satan tries to ensnare us and get us disconnected from our calling. And we have only covered the first 6 chapters!

Wow! What an amazing section of scripture. I have been exceptionally influenced by the 5th chapter. I just can't ignore or push aside these scriptures anymore when it speaks so thoroughly to our responsibility to those who are struggling.
I think many of us want our financial decisions to be separate from our relationship with God....but they just are not.

God's glory is wrapped up in how we use our money.

There are over 800 scriptures that reference finances in the Bible. Over 25% of Jesus' teachings was dedicated to money. He taught more about money than he did about the Kingdom of God.

And the deal in Nehemiah 5 was that there were some larger families who didn't have enough money to feed themselves. They had to mortgage their homes, lands, even daughters to pay for food. Interest rates were so high they couldn't get out from under their debt.
(And this is what the people of God were doing to the people of God!)
So, Nehemiah steps in and reminds the people that it wasn't right. It wasn't right that the rich were getting richer and the poor, poorer. It wasn't right that some Jewish leaders were eating leg of lamb with asparagus and lemon sauce while others were starving to death.

And Nehemiah's passion was greater than just for the people who were poor. In fact, Jesus said the poor will always be with us. No, Nehemiah's passion was for God's glory, because the world outside the walls were looking inside the walls, and saying, "they are no different from us. They just care about financial gain and bigger homes, and better gadgets just like we do. Their religion is no different from ours. We care about those things as well."

And so, Nehemiah convinced his people to stop and care better for one another because the world was watching. It did make a difference and God hated it. God cared about this.

So, they stopped. They returned all the money made on interest. They returned the deeds to houses they had acquired through deals. They gave back lands to poor people.

And this wasn't socialism or communism. This wasn't about everybody having the same amount.
This was about taking care of the poor, and not blaming the poor. This was about calling rich people to never make a dime off the backs of a poor person.

A good message for all of us.

And how can any of us read Leviticus 25:35-40 and not be affected deeply about how we should treat those who are below us on the economic scale?

I was reading the other day a study about how the very rich spend their money. Interesting.
Hannah Shaw Grove and Russ Alan Prince did a paper about people who were rich enough to own a private jet. (John Travolta has 5)
Anyway, this is what they discovered these people spend money on YEARLY...on average.

1. $30,000 a year on alcohol
2. $98,000 a year on experiential guided tours
3. $107,000 at spas
4. $117,000 on clothes
5. $147,000 on watches (I don't get it???)
6. $157,000 on resorts
7. $168,000 on chalet rentals
8. $226,000 on cars (remember...per year)
9. $248,000 on jewelry
10. $404,000 on yachts
11. $542,00 on home improvements
12. $1.75 million a year on art

I know this is going to sound really snide and ugly.....

But I wonder if any of these people have ever seen a little baby die because of lack of food? A little boy with crooked and bloody feet because of not having shoes? A young father reeking of feces and alcohol because there is no work and there's nothing else to do with his time, and living has become hopeless?

We, the church should demand more of ourselves. The world is watching. The world has heard us defend these actions way too many times because of our political slant or on the grounds of stimulation of the economy.

And this isn't about Us vs. Them. Whoever We think They are.
This is about all of us looking at our financial decisions and asking the simple question: Is this what God would do with this money? Because it is His money to begin with. Isn't it?

And I want you to know that as we talked about this as a missionary community, we were (and are) asking the same questions of ourselves. Many, if not most of the people who give to us have very little in terms of worldly value. I'm not sure how some people continue to support us, and with such sacrifice.
And God is glorified. We are thankful. And we just happen to be your hands and feet here in Guatemala. We are here because of you getting this.

But we need to be consistent with this message in the workplace and among our friends. We need to stop being Republicans and Democrats and start being God's people, taking care of the people who are truly without...because the world is watching.

And so is our God.