In his latest book, Insurrection, Peter Rollins tells a story about a man who rushed to the home of a local pastor, and banged on the door to speak to her. He explained to the pastor that one of the pastor's church members was in deep need.
"It's a single parent home, and he just lost his job. To make matters worse, the landlord of their apartment is unwilling to give them even the slightest break, and they will be out on the street in days unless someone provides the rent money," the man shared. The man begged the pastor to get funds from the church to help this poor family.
"Certainly! I'll go get some funds right now," the pastor said. "By the way, how do you happen to know the family?"
"I'm their landlord," he said.
While Nehemiah was rallying the people of Israel to rebuild the broken-down wall surrounding Jerusalem (450 BCE), enemies taunted the Jewish people from all sides. They were spreading rumors, in fact, that they would kill these laborers if they got the chance. Why? A strong Jerusalem meant these enemies would no longer be able to wield as much control over the region. Aside from the fact that the animosity between the Jews and their enemies was centuries old, to lose control of this city would certainly affect their bottom line. Jerusalem was a well situated city of commerce. Jerusalem's rise would likely mean a significant change in how business would be handled.
Unfortunately, Nehemiah discovered an enemy within the camp, too.
Families came to Nehemiah complaining that they were struggling to help with the wall because of their debt load (Nehemiah 5). Prior to Nehemiah's arrival, they had come on tough times, and had taken a loan from wealthy Jews among them. When they couldn't make a payment, their land was taken. Some even had to sell their children into slavery to work off the debt (at which point they would return home). Wealthy Jews were taking advantage of their less fortunate countrymen. Note: the wealthy had every legal right to conduct business in this way. But just because it's legal does not make it right.
This infuriated Nehemiah.
Nehemiah reprimanded those who were adding such incredible burden to their fellow Jews, and demanded that they stop charging interest, and that they give back the land, the vineyards, the olive groves, the grain, the oil, the wine, and the homes they legally acquired from the poor. What level of outcry would you expect from the wealthy at this point? Deafening! That's not fair! They signed a contract! We have the legal right! We know this because every time it has happened since that time (as well as before), people cried the same foul.
But legal doesn't make it right.
Then Nehemiah shared his personal approach to this dilemma of being a wealthy person surrounded by need. As the appointed governor, he was allowed (given the legal right) to a wide range of luxuries, all paid for by those he ruled. Food allowances, wine allowances - all sorts of perks - but neither he nor his officials claimed what was their legal right. More than simply refusing such things, Nehemiah went on to describe all that he was willing to do. He himself labored on the wall, he fed 150 people a day, and he provided the food and wine for all his officials and all foreign guests. In short, he limited what he was taking in, and he was generous with what he was expending. This was as uncommon then as it is today. What motivated Nehemiah?
Nehemiah feared God. Uh-oh... When I see the word fear, I cringe as I recall every awful sermon telling people to fear God's wrath and accept Jesus or suffer the consequences of everlasting damnation. In short, be afraid of the God who wants you to suffer continuously yet somehow loves you... I have never been comfortable with fear being a primary motivation for a relationship with God. What did Nehemiah think? Given his time in history, it is entirely possible that fear meant fear - fear of God's wrath being meted out on him and his people if you don't toe the line. Or, it could have meant more of a deep reverence of God. Both are possible. I think the latter makes more sense given his lifestyle, and it certainly resonates more with me.
With this idea of fear-as-reverence, then, we can see the beauty of Nehemiah's actions. He chose to give up what was legally his and give away what was his to save for something more important than himself. He was originally moved to tears and sacrifice by compassion when he first heard of the wall's condition and it's ramifications. It was Nehemiah's heartfelt passion that rallied people to the cause of rebuilding. It was his love of God and God's people that enabled him to give comfort when the threats mounted. And it was a deep reverence for God and what God wanted to do in history with this people that moved him to sacrifice so that the dream would come true.
The landlord in Peter Rollins' story is like a lot of people in our world. He recognized the need and was moved to sound the alarm, yet he was part of the very problem he was wanting the pastor to address. He was not going to give up what was legally his or personally give them what they needed when it really mattered. This is a way-of-thinking-about-life, a system problem. Rollins points out Batman as another example. Batman seeks out evil in the world by night, yet runs a company by day that is so wealthy that it funds a state-of-the-art, covert military operation without getting noticed on the books. What might happen if some of these Wayne Enterprise funds were diverted into programs that would alleviate the poverty and despair that leads so often to crime? Batman might be out of a job. Bruce Wayne, in this light, is a part of the very reason why crime continues and Batman exists. No wonder women don't stick with him for very long...
We desire a world free from systems that are oppressive. We all want world peace. But how many of us want it bad enough to choose to not operate by the system's way of life? How many of us are willing to forgo what is rightfully ours in order to do the right thing which will help change the system? This is what Nehemiah did, and his example beckons us to do the same.
CrossWalk is a place where we seek to recognize the systems that are oppressive and change them - personally, in our families, in our relationships, in our workplace, and in our world. Biblical salvation, really, is about system change - it's not simply about getting your soul to end up in heaven. Salvation is all about breaking free from broken systems and embracing an entirely different system spoken of by Jesus - the system which operates in what Jesus called the Kingdom of God. The incredible news and invitation is that we get to usher in this new way of being now. We don't have to wait until we die. New life now.
But in order to experience it, we have to let go of our landlord tendencies and our Batman arrogance. We need to join Nehemiah, and choose to build on the legacy which really does change the world for good.
May you take a new look at why you live your life the way you do. May you wonder about what you really want to be a part of with your life and resources. May you find yourself building on the legacy of all those who made the shift before us, providing us the opportunity to do the same for ourselves and those yet to come.
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