Quote from Forum Archives on August 12, 2002, 9:36 am

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

THE GOD TREATMENT
August 11, 2002
Text: Nehemiah 5:1-13

One of the differences between the Old and New Testaments is how the
environments of faith in God are portrayed. Throughout the Old Testament,
faith in God is described through the community or nation. Once Israel
began following kings, the faith of the entire nation is defined by the
faith of their king. The notable exceptions are to be found in the
prophets that God would send to confront the disobedient kings. But
pretty much the pattern given from the Old Testament is that if the king
humbled himself before God, the entire nation was blessed; if the king
rebelled against God, the entire nation was cursed.

In the New Testament, there is a break with this practice of faith. By
the time of Christ, Israel is an occupied nation. It is one of the many
districts conquered by the Roman Empire. When Jesus began his teaching
ministry, his emphasis was not on reuniting Israel as an independent
nation in order to restore faith in God. His emphasis was upon the
individual’s responsibility to accept a personal relationship with God.

While it is true that our salvation is dependent upon our individual
response to and relationship with God, there have been periods in the
history of the Christian Church where this truth has been incorrectly
applied as justification for the mistreatment of community. One example
can be found in the beginnings of the social gospel movement around the
turn of the twentieth century. At that time, is was not unusual for some
of the most powerful leaders of the industrial movement to be members of
a church. Even though they attended church, prayed, often gave
generously, and conducted themselves in a manner befitting an upstanding
Christian citizen of their day, some of them continued to mistreat their
employees through poor wages, dangerous working conditions, and the
creation of public laws and policies that made it difficult for poor
people to get ahead. Some pastors and laity began speaking and acting
against such inconsistencies of the Christian faith. They began
establishing missions in the urban areas to bring relief to the poor in
the name of Christ. They began working against policies and laws that
treated the poor unfairly. They began reminding Christians that while the
Christian faith was a personal response to the salvation message, it
required a Christian response in the community as well. In other words,
we cannot live privately as if we are in a right relationship with God
and then turn around and treat one another unfairly and unjustly in the
public arena.

Although it is from an Old Testament perspective, Nehemiah’s experience
teaches us a great deal today about how to live faithfully in all areas
of our lives. Nehemiah served in the court of King Artaxerxes. At the
request of some of his fellow Jews, he requested from his king permission
to return to Jerusalem. His request was granted, and Nehemiah returned to
Jerusalem around 445 B.C. as a civil governor. Ezra had been there for
about thirteen years. Ezra was a priest and had been teaching the people
the Word of God. After surveying the ruins of the city, Nehemiah began a
building project to reconstruct the walls of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah was a visionary and a reformer. He had a real burden for
restoring the place of proper worship to God. But such reform was not
without opposition and danger. Some groups outside Jerusalem feared what
would happen if the Jewish people regained their national strength. They
began threatening the work, but Nehemiah responded by dividing the people
into groups that continued to rebuild and groups that kept watch for an
attack. (Henrietta C. Mears, What the Bible Is All About, Ventura, CA:
Regal Books, 1966, p. 150)

Unfortunately, external threats were not all Nehemiah had to worry about.
Charles W. Gilkey writes, “In every generation gifted leaders like
Nehemiah, facing crises in front and on each flank, have had to turn
their attention and energies from the battle to deal with the readiness
of some of their own followers to exploit the crisis for personal or
partisan profit, even though they risk thereby the common and far greater
cause.” (Charles W. Glikey, exposition of “The Book of Ezra and the Book
of Nehemiah,” The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 3, Nashville: Abingdon Press,
1954, p. 706) “now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against
their Jewish brothers.” And thus we launch into the account of some who
were being taken advantage of by their own people.

In short order, Nehemiah addressed and corrected the situation
confronting him and his people. There is no argument that this should
have never been going on in the first place. After all, the people’s
energy and focus was upon the rebuilding and restoration of Jerusalem.
They could not devote their whole time and energy to the personal
production of crops and livestock. Yet, some of their own people took
advantage of them and their vulnerability. Yes, Nehemiah put a quick stop
to this practice: “Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and
officials take an oath to do what they had promised. I also shook out the
folds of my robes and said, ‘In this way may God shake out of his house
and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. So may such a
man be shaken out and emptied!’” Nehemiah was fortunate. The hearts of
the nobles and officials were touched and they repented of their sinful
actions. “At this the whole assembly said, ‘Amen,’ and praised the Lord.
And the people did as they promised.”

The lesson from Nehemiah applies to our day as well. Speaking to his
disciples throughout all ages, Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you
will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and
remain in his love… My command is this: Love each other as I have loved
you.” The command of Jesus is to love each other. It is hard to convince
another you love them if you are, at the same time, taking advantage of
them.

A story is told of a traveler crossing a border. Upon passing the
custom-house, the officers said to him, "Have you any contraband goods?"
He replied, "I do not think I have." "That may be all true," said the
officers; "but we cannot permit you to pass without examination. Permit
us to search." "If you please," said the traveler. The examination over,
the traveler addressed the officers, saying, “Gentlemen, will you allow
me to tell you what thoughts this examination has awakened in my mind? We
are all travelers to an eternal kingdom, into which we cannot take any
contraband goods. By these forbidden things, I mean deceitfulness, anger,
pride, lying, covetousness, and similar offenses; which are hateful in
the sight of God. For all these, every man who passes the boundary of the
grave is searched far more strictly than you have searched me. God is the
Great Searcher of hearts: from him nothing is hid; and in that kingdom,
as in this, every forbidden article subjects a man to punishment." (Bible
Illustrator, Parsons Technology)

James teaches us this important lesson in chapter 2 of the book of James:
“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show
favoritism.” The he goes on to relate to the readers about showing more
honor to the well dressed man than to the poor man. Picking up at verse
8, we read, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show
favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers… [12]
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives
freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has
not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” Isn’t it amazing how
many places in the New Testament this “love your neighbor” theme keeps
popping up? You would think God is trying to tell us something.

Ultimately, the Christian faith is much more than a private faith. Yes,
it is true that salvation becomes real in our individual lives only by
our personal belief in Jesus. Our parents cannot save us, our preacher
cannot save us, our children cannot save us, the deacons cannot save us.
Only our belief that Jesus died for our sins and restores us to the
heavenly Father can save us. But our practice of the Christian faith does
not end there. We are called by God to treat others as God has treated
us. We are called by God to serve others as God served us. In Micah 6:8
we are instructed what God wants: “He has showed you, O man, what is
good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love
mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

It has always been a sad affair in the history of the world whenever the
powerful of a nation mistreat their own fellow citizens. It always offers
an opportunity for external enemies of the state to gain a foothold with
the mistreated. It was a sad affair in the account of Nehemiah, and he
recognized the injustice of it all. He recognized how it threatened the
internal security of his people and the very work on which they were
embarked. He recognized how displeasing it was to God when God’s people
mistreated God’s people.

So it is in our day among Christians. We cannot stand for injustice and
favoritism any more than Nehemiah could. We must always be on guard
against the temptation to use our personal salvation as an excuse to
treat another person unfairly. We must not forget that, like Israel, we
were once strangers and aliens until God sacrificed His precious Son and
thus bought our return to Him. In a like manner, we must then treat
others with the mercy and compassion that God has done for us. That’s
what I call “the God treatment.”

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his
master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything
that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not
choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last.
Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my
command: Love each other.”

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hil

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