111030 Building on the Legacy 4: System Change

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.

111016 Building on the Legacy: Beauty

So far in the story of Nehemiah, amazing things have taken place.  Nehemiah heard of of the conditions in Jerusalem - his hometown - and his heart was broken.  He was so overcome by the news that he put his life on the line, asking the King for the moon - time off, papers giving him authority, resources to carry out the work.  The king gave him what he asked and more, supplying him with a cavalry unit to ensure safe travels and safe leadership once in Jerusalem.  In effect, Nehemiah became governor of Jerusalem and its surrounding region.

After resting and getting his bearings for three days, Nehemiah went out to inspect the wall himself.  At night.  He had not yet told the city of his plans to rebuild the wall.  Strategy must be employed to maximize the momentum for such an undertaking, and to minimize the inevitable impact of voices that would seek to discourage such work before it even got started.  Nehemiah knew surrounding regional leaders were not happy to see this newly appointed leader near their turf.  At this point, Nehemiah did not know who was on who's side - there could have been eyes and ears present ready to inform his enemies.  Under cover of darkness was the wisest choice available.

The conditions were as poor as he had heard.

When he cast the vision for rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, the people who called the city home stepped up and pitched in.  The third chapter of Nehemiah recounts which families tackled which projects.  To do the work required significant sacrifice on the part of the volunteers.  This wasn't showing up for a couple hours after work, this required making time to give to the project in order for it to be completed.  The projects weren't going to get completed with loose change found between their sofa cushions, either.  These folks contributed time (which was money then as now) and their own money to get the wall repaired.  Nehemiah cast a vision so compelling that they were willing to put other things on hold and move this project ahead of some of their own personal goals.

What was so compelling about the speech that people contributed at such a sacrificial level?  Was it that their own homes were vulnerable to attack due to lack of fortification?  Was it that the work of the Temple was put under stress because of people having to perform more work to make up for their constant loss?  Did it have anything to do with the fact that Humpty Dumpty recently had a great fall, after sitting on that wall, causing such severity of injuries that all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty back together again?  I think we're on to something here...

The people were moved not because of Nehemiah's logical conclusion about the features and benefits a repaired wall might bring.  Passion enough to generate such sacrifice isn't founded on logic alone.  Something else moved the hearts of the listeners, and that something was beauty.

What moved Nehemiah so emotionally when he first heard the news of Jerusalem?  He was informed that his hometown was a wreck, a disaster, a ruin.  What moved his friends to join him on such a great campaign requiring so much effort?  They saw through the eyes of an outsider that which they had become so familar: their home was adorned with rubble.  Not beauty.

The God they served, the faith they loved, the people they shared life with - all beautiful.  The condition of their space did not adequately reflect the beauty of their belief, and it certainly did not communicate anything beautiful to those who came near.  It's like the people were given permission to see the obvious within the context of really being able to do something about it.  They didn't have to wallow in hopelessness anymore - now a person with authority was present to help them restore to beauty the place they loved.

Beauty matters.  When God breathed everything into creation, beauty was a high value.  Beauty in design, beauty in color and contrast, beauty in scale.  Whether you are laying eyes on the majestic mountains of the Sierra at Tahoe, walking the beach at Dillon, Doran, or Bodega, strolling through a vineyard in our collective backyard, stopping to notice the detail of a flower or the personality of your pet, you must admit that beauty abounds.  We are created beautiful.  We are like God in that we appreciate beauty, and love to create beauty.  

When we want to communicate honor to someone, we send a beautiful card, beautiful flowers, throw a beautiful party, say beautiful words.  We communicate honor through beauty.  The people of God who lived in Jerusalem had their hearts broken for years because they were not able to create the beauty deserving of such a God in such a place.  But this day was different.  Now they had their chance to create something that would reflect their love of God by exercising their capacity to create beauty.

We serve the same beautiful God.  We have an opportunity now to build on the legacy of those who came before us, and some who are in our midst still.  When our church was built on this site, beauty was a serious consideration.  When our gym was built, beauty was a serious consideration.  When these pews replaced really uncomfortable metal folding chairs, beauty was a serious consideration.  When we renovate this campus, restoring the beauty it was intended to have, we honor those who invested themselves in this place.  When we repair and beautify this space, it not only inspires us, it attracts others who are drawn to beauty, and to the people and God who care enough to create such beauty.  But most of all, when we do our part to keep this place beautiful, we honor God.

We can do something about this space at this time.  Names are written in Nehemiah's book recording the beautiful sacrifices made by his contemporaries.  Names have been written here, too, recalling the same.  Their names were recorded because they dared to pray the same prayer you are being invited to pray: God, what do you want me to do?  It's time for us to write our names on this place, so that a future generation might continue the same beautiful legacy that has captured us today.

May you be overwhelmed by God's beauty as you pray.  May your life be a beautiful reflection of God's grace and generosity.

111019 Building on the Legacy: Broken Wall, Broken Heart, Broken Life

Nehemiah, a Hebrew, was cupbearer to Artaxerxes 1, King of Persia.  This was an incredibly high-trust position reserved only for those the King could trust with his life, since whatever the king put to his lips went before the cupbearer first.  This was a position of honor and intimacy.

One day, Nehemiah heard from fellow Hebrews that Jerusalem's wall was in shambles, and it broke his heart.  Why?

Jerusalem's Temple had been restored about 15 years earlier, which enabled these people of God to resume their centuries-old way of connecting people to God, which transformed lives, gave people direction and hope, and ultimately served to bless the world.  If the wall surrounding the city was broken, however, it meant that these people of God were not likely able to carry out the ministry, because they were too busy defending themselves from enemy attack, or rebuilding their homes from constant ransacking and theft.  

If the wall was down, it meant the Hebrew people could not carry out their ministry effectively, which meant a whole lot of "bad" for a whole bunch of people.  

Nehemiah was so distraught that it caught the attention of the king, who asked him what was wrong.

Nehemiah took a major risk in explaining his sorrow over Jerusalem (was under the king's rule).  He really had to trust that what he was going to share and eventually ask for was a God-thing.  No doubt, he was inspired by the memory of Esther, who a number of years before was in the very same place trusting God with her life as she stopped genocide from commencing.

The king empathized with Nehemiah and asked what he could do to help.  Nehemiah took a deep, prayerful breath and asked the king for the moon - money, resources, letters of authority, and protection.  The king agreed!  Nehemiah set out to restore the wall, which was really about restoring the ministry the Hebrew people felt called to provide for Jerusalem and ultimately the world.  He was making sure the legacy of the Hebrew people's approach to connecting to God was going to continue.

CrossWalk has a 151 year legacy behind her of changing lives.  Literally thousands of people have been reconnected to God through our ministries over the years, and thousands upon thousands more through the people who have called our church home.  More and more people are falling in love with this place every year.

In order to make sure our ministry legacy moves forward in strength, we have Nehemiah moment before us.  We have repairs that must be made to certain parts of our campus to maintain safety and provide for future use.  Parts of our facility are also seriously out of date, and in our culture act as a repellent to potential visitors who assume our ministry and message is as out of season as our facade.  We have an in-house mission that needs to be expanded, and a larger mission that needs to be more fully funded.  And we need to reduce our debt so that funds can go to ministry instead of interest.

I am asking you to ask God, what do you want me to do?

Over the next few weeks, we will be walking with Nehemiah as we ourselves walk toward our own restoration project.  I pray that you will be open to God's voice and presence as you listen and look for God's guidance.  We love this place.  Let's love this space.