At My Own Cost (Nehemiah 5:14-19)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
A. Preliminaries
A. Preliminaries
Good Morning.
We will continue our series in the Book of Nehemiah this morning, and we are still in Chapter 5. We will begin at verse 14.
So, please turn with me in your Bibles to the fifth chapter of Nehemiah. The text for the sermon this morning will begin at verse 14, and go to verse 19. You can find it on Page 472 of the Bibles in your pews.
B. Sermon Text
B. Sermon Text
Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve 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 for their daily ration forty 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 and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God!
C. Background
C. Background
So when we last left Nehemiah, he was calling nobles to repentance to deal with unlawful treatment of the poor.
And, believe it or not, the events here at the end of Chapter 5 are a few years after all that.
And he starts off talking about a food allowance of the governor. Nehemiah is the governor, which is probably a promotion that has happened. And Nehemiah is talking about the food allowance that is his due as governor, but how he does not take advantage of it.
Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor.
We tend to focus on Nehemiah as a Jew, leading his fellow Jews, and that certainly is true. But don’t forget he is also serving as the King of Persia’s political representative. He’s on orders from the Persian King.
And now, as the governor, he’s entitled to certain allowances including a residence and food. And he had the right—given to him by the King of Persia—to collect taxes.
Nehemiah tells us that previous governors had exacted hard tax burdens
The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God.
40 shekels of silver per person, per day. Which is so extravagant, it’s a wonder how people could pay it. In modern numbers, that’s something like $350 per day.
But Nehemiah refuses to levy this kind of tax to cover a Governor’s lifestyle. He seats 150 men (verse 17) “Jews and officials and some from the nations surrounding Jerusalem,” and all of it prepared at his expense.
And verse 19 is a prayer that God remember what he has done for his people.
D. Sermon Points
D. Sermon Points
So what we have before us this morning is an example of good leadership, of hearty generosity, and of care and compassion. Here we are taught "When the fear of God drives us, the love of others follows—and heaven remembers."
So, there are at least three things I want us to focus on this morning:
First, the Fear of the Lord
Second, the Goodness of Compassion
And third, the Remembrance of God
E. Sermon Prayer
E. Sermon Prayer
Let’s Pray
Blessed Lord, you have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning—grant us that we may in such a way hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
From The Book of Common Prayer (1552)
I. The Fear of the Lord
I. The Fear of the Lord
So Nehemiah is clear in verse 15 that he could have enjoyed taxing his people at his own expense. He had the lawful right to do so. But he chose not to. And the reason was the fear of the Lord.
Look again at verse 15:
The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God.
The Fear of the Lord is a hard thing for us to understand. It is something we are called to throughout the Bible. Nearly 300 different time across the testimony of Scripture, we are called to fear God or fear the Lord.
It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
And
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The closing words of Ecclesiastes
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Jesus tells us
But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
And we hear a similar call in Revelation
And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
So are we supposed to be scared of God? Are there any texts that would direct us away from so simply an understanding?
Well, there is at least one. And it’s at a moment when fear and terror of God would have been most appropriate.
Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”
So what shall we do with this?
We shall try to understand it.
Because understanding the fear of the Lord is actually a blessing of the New Covenant:
I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.
That is not a servile fear that flees from God in utter terror. Whatever this means, it is meant to be a blessing.
And that is usually where any work of defining “Fear of the Lord” starts. It start with what it is not. And the reality is that we have to start there because apart from the forgiveness of God, we would simply have a relationship of servile fear. Not as children come to their loving Father.
This is why the Psalmist sings
But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
A full exploration of the fear of the Lord could be its own sermon, but for now, here’s what I want you to understand about it: It is a right understanding of who you are dealing with that results in humility and deep reverence. The best way I can explain it to you is by way of this illustration:
Imagine a man who feels himself quite confident, spiritually. Maybe even puffed up. And he looks up at heaven and says “Lord, I believe I am ready for whatever you want to throw my way. Suffering? Affliction? Trouble? Well bring it on. I can handle it.”
That noise you just made. That knot that your heart just put itself in. That is the fear of the Lord.
We rejoice in a God who loves us. It’s a magnificent thing. It’s a mighty thing. But this is also the Almighty we are dealing with. And so we tread with glad and reverent footsteps, mindful of C.S. Lewis’s description of Aslan: He is not safe. But he is good.
And what I want you to notice for our purposes in Nehemiah is: The fear of the Lord provoked him to something. His fear of God changed how he lived. The fact that he was accountable before God changed how he treated his neighbors.
And the reality is "When the fear of God drives us, the love of others follows—and heaven remembers."
With that, let us move to our next point.
II. The Goodness of Compassion
II. The Goodness of Compassion
So we should be mindful with the earlier portion of Chapter 5, and the focus on some of the economic difficulties Israel had faced. And pair that now with the fact that Nehemiah read that the work on the wall continued, and that Nehemiah has a responsibility as a Governor to be a good host. That’s what we see in verses 16 and 17
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.
So here’s the point: He is not in this to make money for himself or a name for himself or an empire for himself.
Nehemiah is in this work to be a blessing to his people.
And this is what all godly leaders and rulers and elders and husbands and fathers should be about. You are given to be a godly blessing to those around you, and to those you are shepherding and leading.
You are to be an example, and to be a blessing. Your work is not meant mainly to benefit you. It is meant to be a blessing to your family, your wife, your children, your church, your community, your neighbors, and so on.
Because the shape that Nehemiah’s leadership takes here at the end of Chapter 5 is Generosity. Compassion.
And what I want you to see is that he had generosity and compassion for people because he had the fear of the Lord first. And we must not confuse the order.
You know it is interesting, at Pentecost, in Acts 2, we read the the believers practiced generosity
And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
Right now on Wednesday nights we are taking what we learned from the Rosaria Butterfield book about hospitality and pursuing a lot of our questions about what welcome and hospitality and generosity look like for Christians in various seasons of life.
And this passage here from Acts is a beautiful picture of the Shape of Christian welcome. Believers selling what they don’t need so that those who are in need can flourish. Worshipping together day by day. Breaking bread in their homes, and exercising generosity toward each other.
But do you know what happened just before this? That passage starts in verse 44. What’s verse 43?
Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
Fear of the Lord came first. Generosity of heart came second. Not only did it come second, it flowed naturally. Because When the fear of God drives us, the love of others follows—and heaven remembers.
This is something we must get right in our heads and our hearts as we pursue all that God would have us do. And that is that loving people begins with the fear of the Lord. And that fearing the Lord drives us to love people well.
We sometimes are tempted to get this backwards. We sometimes want to put our love of people before our fear of the Lord. We don’t want to make people uncomfortable, so we don’t talk about the things of God around them. Or we don’t want to seem culturally regressive or behind the times, so we don’t speak plainly about how God has called us to live.
But the reality is that true Christian love for others is loving them according to what God has said, and doing it from the heart.
Repeat: True Christian love is not giving into people’s demands. Rather it is loving them according to what God has said and doing it from the heart.
So this brings me to my last point:
III. The Remembrance of God
III. The Remembrance of God
In verse 18, Nehemiah explains that he prepared these feasts at his own expense. He didn’t put it on the backs of his people.
Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.
And then the chapter closes with these words
Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.
What’s going on here?
Read a certain way, this prayer sounds really strange. What is Nehemiah saying? Is he demanding God’s favor because he deserves it, after all? So much for fear of the Lord, right?
A passage like this can be hard for us because we don’t pray this way. It seems weird. It sort of gives us the spiritual willies.
But this sort of prayer reflects not the absence of humility, but the presence of understanding the God we love and serve. The God we fear and follow.
You see when we read a prayer like this, all our little Reformation alarm bells go off. We start thinking “It sorta smells like works-righteousness in here.”
But the fact is that Scripture talks this way a lot. And we forget it because we stopped singing the Psalms.
Many times in the Psalter, the palmist sings that God would vindicate him.
Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them [my enemies] not rejoice over me!
Or Psalm 94:2
Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Now look, here’s the difference. If we are to pray this way (and to be clear, I am saying we should!) we must understand what we are saying, and what we are not saying “God, deal with me according to my own righteousness that I have earned.” In fact, we are praying for the opposite. We are saying “God, our good works are good, so let them bear good fruit.”
Because I dare say, if we are ever to get anything right in the Christian life, we must understand the difference between root and fruit. Because as all of you have heard me say before,
We are saved by faith alone, but faith is never alone. True faith always bears the fruit of godliness. It always does.
And we are called to humility, dear saints. But we are not called to lie. Here’s what I mean: When God, by his Holy Spirit, sanctifies you, and does a good work in you, and that good work is a blessing to others, it is not humility to say “Oh, that wasn’t a good work.”
Of course it was. The Gospel produces fruit. Fruit can be seen. It looks like love. And joy. And peace. And patience. You know the rest. Because when the fear of God drives us, the love of others follows—and heaven sees and remembers.
Should a Father not be pleased with his children when they obey him and do good? Should he not be pleased? That is what Nehemiah is praying here. He is not claiming merit. He is professing sincerity.
So if I were to expand on Nehemiah’s prayer here, I think it would sound something like this, and I offer it to you to consider in the shaping of your own prayers:
“Father, I have attempted to live in obedience to you. I have not done that perfectly. Where I have sinned, I claim the forgiveness that you promise to those who confess and repent of their sins, who trust in the promise of salvation offered in the blood of Jesus, given to sinners like me. But I also know that you have promised never to leave or forsake me. You have promised to guide and direct my steps. And as best I know how, I have believed those promises and acted in faith. Lord, please see it. Please remember it. Please bless it.”
There is no sin in praying this way. It does not require pride to pray this way. It requires boldness. Faith works by love, after all. So let us love, and be bold to ask God to bless what he has promised to bless.
Closing
Closing
So we have learned today that when the fear of God drives us, the love of others follows—and heaven sees and remembers.
Nehemiah had the rights of a governor. But he did not demand that they be given to him. Sometimes rights can be demanded. Paul at various times insisted that his rights as a Roman Citizen be honored. It protected him from a lot of misery, and it kept the Roman authorities from sinning against him. There are also times where it is wisdom and courage to let go of our rights for the sake of others.
So what is that distinction? How do we know when to claim our rights and when to release them? Well, in short, we should ask the question: “Does this put the fear of the Lord on display? Is this compassion to needy people? Even if it is costly to me? Does my exercise of this right bless my neighbor (by God’s definition) and honor God’s truth, or does it only advance my comfort at the expense of others?”
Fear of the Lord must come first
Concern for others must manifest from that.
And we must ever be mindful of our Lord Jesus the one who has recused us at every cost to him. The one who did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped. That is clutched. Kept close. Exploited. Used to keep me safe at the expense of everyone. But rather he took on the form of a servant. So that we might be saved.
And in this way, Nehemiah points us to Christ who saved us at his own cost. Who died that by his blood we might live and be forgiven. Who welcomed us in, so that we might welcome others, even at great expense to us.
For this is the way of our Lord, and when the fear of God drives us, the love of others follows—and heaven sees and remembers.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
