Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Nehemiah's Occupation

  I've struggled with knowing what to make of the Occupy movement.  I've written about it in the past, and I'm still not sure entirely how to think about it.  In many ways, I hope their call to accountability and the hope of corporations thinking not purely in terms of profits are heeded and help transform the way businesses view their responsibilities.  If corporations are going to be viewed as individuals with the right to free speech and affect elections in such powerful ways, I hope they begin to think like individuals in the way they love and care for their neighbors.  Obviously, corporations have no ability to think, but if the individuals that run them begin to wonder about how they might help transform society for the better, some amazing things might happen.

  As I was preparing my Bible study on Nehemiah, I couldn't help but linger over Nehemiah 5.  To set the scene a little, Nehemiah has left his position as cup-bearer to the king, a position of importance that would have  granted him considerable influence over the Persian king.  This is no easy position to give up, but Nehemiah felt called to lead the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, and so he has gone to Jerusalem, organized the work and thwarted plans to derail the effort.

  Then, in Nehemiah 5, there is an outcry of the people against their own kin.  A food shortage has caused many of the people to enter into overwhelming debt.  They have pledged their houses in order to get grain, giving up their fields and their vineyards in order to survive.  They mortgaged the future out of pressure to survive today.  They borrowed money to pay their taxes, and they have sold their children into slavery in the hopes of raising the money needed to survive.  The mood in the nation is fear, anger, distrust.

  Does any of this sound familiar?  How many people have mortgaged the future in the hopes of surviving the present?  Aren't many individuals angry with those to whom they are in debt, feeling like they are being taken advantage of?  How many don't believe that the system works, that the rich get richer while those at the bottom hope to merely eke out an existence?  How many children have had their hopes and dreams dashed because parents cannot get by?

  What did Nehemiah do?

  He got angry.

  He went to the nobles and officials and said, "The thing that you are doing is not good.  Should you not 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 stop this taking of interest.  Restore to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them." (Neh. 5:9-11)

  Nehemiah was angry because he felt like people were taking advantage of others.  It was against the law to charge interest, but it was not illegal to take pledges.  Nehemiah isn't charging the people with breaking the law--he's telling that it is not good.  It is not good for the individuals, and it is not good for the nation.  Change is needed.

  Remember, too, that Israel is called to be a model to the world, to demonstrate how God's people should live.  How they live, how they interact, should show the Lordship of God to the rest of the world.  Nehemiah believes that their enemies, other nations, will look upon these practices and not see a people worshiping God and, as a result, not have much respect for God.

  The people in this case respond.  They see the wisdom of Nehemiah's argument and promise to "restore everything and demand nothing more from them."  And then they do as they promised.

  So what does this mean for today's world?  What does it mean for the church?

  I think the first step is to discover our voices as Christians.  How do we find the structures in our society that are destroying hope, that are crushing dreams, that are leaving the people lost, broken and afraid, and how do we say "This is not good"?  What does that look like for the church?  How do we go out and meet our neighbors, discovering what the ills of society are and paying attention to the ways they are contributing to the breakdown of our society?  What does it look like for the church to focus more on serving those who are crushed under the wheels of 'progress' than it does on enriching itself?

  And then how do we model the type of love we want all of society to show?

  Nehemiah was a generous man.  He wasn't all talk.  Nehemiah 5:14-19 illustrates how Nehemiah lived his own message with integrity.  He stopped taking an allowance and refused any benefit that might hurt the people.  He didn't want to enrich himself while others suffered.  He didn't want the poor to pay for his lavish lifestyle.  He rolled up his sleeves and worked.

  Let each of us do the same, with humility and integrity.  May we lead a life in which we look for the places in society where unfair practices are exploiting others, and may we step in with our own lifestyles and offer help.  May we roll up our sleeves and get to work, restoring hope in society, pointing to God's love in all we do.  May we follow Nehemiah's example and call attention to the places in society that are not good, and may we do so with integrity, engaging our hearts and minds in God's mission in the world.

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