Money Matters?

Introduction

Today we are looking at the 5th chapter of Nehemiah as our sermon series, “Helpful Hints for Higher Heights.” This is the third sermon in the series and will be looking at the idea that “Money Matters.” You may be surprised in ways it matters.

As you may remember, Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the king. After hearing about the horrible conditions of the city of Jerusalem and the people who lived there. His heart was broken but his faith was strong. With prayer and planning, Nehemiah was able to return to Jerusalem and implement a campaign of rebuilding.

Verses

Prelude

There are often threats to the faith community. Nehemiah was concerned about the threats from their enemies and the community was standing guard against these threats.

We all know, often the biggest threats are the ones that develop within our own community. Churches fail, sometimes, because of some external force or threat. But more often they fail because of internal strife or failures in the commitment of the faith community. How destructive these failures can be. How the stain of sin weakens the church!

According to a New York Times article in June of 2019:

Nearly 400 Southern Baptist leaders, from youth pastors to top ministers, have pleaded guilty or been convicted of sex crimes against more than 700 victims since 1998, according to a recent investigation by The Houston Chronicle and The San Antonio Express-News. Superstar pastors like Bill Hybels and Andy Savage have been forced to resign over allegations of misconduct.

A headline from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal on September 22, 2018 read:

“Elmbrook resignations are the latest to rock evangelical Christian churches.”

The article goes on to detail the scandal.

Lest we feel to arrogant, here is a headline from the BBC News on May 28, 2015:

“Methodist Church apologies for abuse spanning decades.”

These failures of faith and acts of evil matter. They matter at the individual level and the corporate level. Sin destroys.

Author and preacher Max Lucado at Oak Hills Church in Texas said that clergy and pastor scandals can make people question their faith.

"Even deeper, at risk is our faith in God; if not His existence, at least His goodness. How could God allow this to happen?"

In discussing her abuse, one survivor said:

"I was left to feel worthless and devalued, while the man was left to get on with his life and for all I know repeat the crime with someone else. I was emotionally and physically devastated."

Her faith was betrayed and destroyed.

Joshua

Struggling with sin in the camp is not a new struggle for the faithful. In the 7th chapter of Joshua we see the children of Isreal fresh from a victory over the fortified city of Jericho. They achieved a complete victory through God’s power by being faithful to his commands. But then came the small town of Ai. The town was small and unfortified. They sent a small force of 3,000 to conquer the town. But it went badly.

Joshua 7:4–5 NIV

So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.

What went wrong?

Joshua 7:1 NIV

But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.

The presence of sin breaks the power of the community.

Larry Thompson writes about a conversation he had with a missionary returning from service in Eastern Europe. The missionary described her work with children.

Thompson wrote:

"That must have been a wonderful experience," I said.

"Oh no," she replied, "it was awful!"

She explained that ministry with the children was great, but living on the mission compound was awful due to infighting between the missionary families.

Within two years the conflict had become so serious the mission center closed down.

The closing created a domino effect that closed other mission centers and, tragically, led to the folding of the mission.

Nehemiah

When we join Nehemiah he is in mid-campaign. It is a critical moment in the rebuilding effort. The wall is half-finished and they are under threat from attack. So much so that they hold a weapon in one hand while they work with the other. Many of the people are standing watch and working, so they are getting very little sleep. All the focus has been on the rebuilding and defending from outside threats.

But what stopped Nehemiah in his tracks was sin in the camp.

Nehemiah 5:1 LEB

Now there was a great cry of distress of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.

Keep in mind that the wall is only half-finished. The people are exhausted and there is danger lurking just out side the walls. But Nehemiah hears the desperation of the people. Just as he responded with compassion when he heard about the condition of Jerusalem, he responded with compassion when he realized how the poor and marginalized people were suffering in the community.

Nehemiah 5:6 LEB

I was very angry when I heard their shouts and these words.

What were the people’s complaints?

They are starving.

They are mortgaging their homes, land and belongings in order to survive.

They are forced to borrow money under unfair terms to pay their taxes and survive.

And who is it that is oppressing them?

In verse 7 Nehemiah clearly identifies the “nobles and officials” of taking advantage of the people most vulnerable in the community. There is sin in the camp. There is sin in the camp and it is destroying the community of God’s people. There is so much need and it is being met by so much greed. The “haves” are abusing the “have-nots.” The people in power are attacking the people without power. And Nehemiah is angry. God is angry. There is poverty and famine which creates an opportunity for those with power to demonstrate and reflect God’s grace and love by caring for those who were suffering. But they failed to do that. Instead, they took advantage of the situation to do harm. The people with money were making money off the people with no money. Money does matter, because it represents the will and interest of the people with it.

James 4:17 NIV

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

There is sin in the camp.

Nehemiah Responds

There were seven (7) key things Nehemiah did in response to this situation.

Carefully considered the situation

Confronted the sin

Extended grace

Made amends

Praised God

Ensured there was follow-through

Set the example

Careful consideration

“I pondered them in my mind...”

The bible clearly teaches us to move carefully - indeed prayerfully. God expects us to be carefully assess what is right and godly.

The prudent carefully consider their steps. (Proverbs 14:15b)

God expects us to be wise and to move with intentionality. We allow God the opportunity to guide us by exercising caution.

Confront the sin

“I held a great assembly against them...”

Church is about finding forgiveness. Unless we’re willing to confront sin, how can anyone change their ways? It’s not always easy, but you must learn to confront those who are heading down the wrong path. What would have happened if Nehemiah had simply been angry and had not called the people together to confront the sin? When we are aware of sin, but take no action then we condone it. We allow it to fester and resentments and anger build with no chance of healing.

Extend grace

Nehemiah 5:9 LEB

So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God to prevent the disgrace from the nations, our enemies?

Nehemiah offers them a second chance. He has confronted the sin and has clearly condemned it, but then he offers them an opportunity to change the direction they are going.

No matter where you are, God is offering you a second chance. No matter what you have done, no matter how many times you have done it, no matter where you have wandered, God is saying, “If you invite Me to, I’ll forgive and forget. If you let Me, I’ll make it as if it had never happened

Proverbs 28:13 says, “People who conceal their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy” (NLT). Another translation of this proverb concludes, “He gets another chance” (TLB).

Make Amends

Nehemiah 5:11 LEB

Please restore to them this day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, their houses, and the interest on the money, the grain, the grape juice, and the olive oil that you have been taking from them.”

Nehemiah 5:12 LEB

So they said, “We will restore it and will not request anything more. So we will do as you say.” Then I called the priests and made them take an oath to do this promise.

When Jesus showed up and starting talking about the good news about building His kingdom a guy named John the Baptist came around and kept saying, “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand”. In the gospel of Luke (Luke 2) some of the people listening to John preach the message, asked him for more clarity with the question, “John, what must we do to be saved?”

by reminding his listeners that forgiveness that displays the message of Jesus is forgiveness that empowers a changed life. The words “I believe” without the demonstration of a new life is something that John says is incongruent.

When you truly feel grief for the mistakes of the past you’re empowered to change. You treat others differently because you want to, not because you have to. You change your attitude, your values, your words, your actions and your whole disposition because you have learned that words without action only leads to more hurt and confusion.

Praised God

“And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord.”

We must always include God in our process. There had been a very difficult and emotionally difficult experience. The rich and powerful had been called out in front of everyone. They had been chastised and confronted with their sin. There had been both a reckoning and a reconciliation. None of that would have happened without the power and presence of God. They acknowledge this and celebrate this by praising God at the end.

Followed through

“And the people did as they had promised.”

Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll says:

“The goal of every Christian should be to live like a Christian…not just to think about it, not just to learn about it, but to do it—to carry it out. The Bible commands it, the Lord empowers it, the world expects it, the church needs it.”

If there is no follow-through then there is no meaning. If Christ had failed to make good on his promises, none of his words would have mattered. There is no gospel without the cross. Not only did the powerful people in Jerusalem promise to make changes, they actually made them. This allowed healing and hope. This allowed the community to return to the task of finishing the wall and restoring the community.

Set the Example

Nehemiah 5:18 NIV

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.

A good leader leads by example. We learn by observation. Our children learn how to act based on how we act, but on what we say to do.

1 Corinthians 11:1 NCV

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Nehemiah was willing to sacrifice to show the way. He was not asking anyone to do more than he was willing to do. His behavior was beyond reproach. This sustained and encouraged those who were working to make changed.

Conclusion

So - we find that money matters. Not because of what it is, but because it represents a means to achieve something. The money that was changing hands before Nehemiah intervened was the same money that was exchanging hands after he intervened. The money didn’t change, but what it was used to achieve did change. The means being achieved shifted from sin to godliness. Money matters as a means. Money was not the master. The money did not determine if it was used for sin or godliness. It mattered because of how it was used.

Nehemiah was compassionate enough to hear the people’s cries. Nehemiah was courageous enough and godly enough to confront the sin but offer grace and second chances. The powerful were prayerful enough to own their sin and change it. And it was all done with praise to God.

Is there sin in the camp? Are there humans in the camp? Then yes. Nehemiah has shown us how to manage that and how to shift the focus on money from what it can do for me to what can I do with it to further the kingdom of God.