When We Lose Focus
Nehemiah 5: 1-19
Intro: News article taken from the archives of Landover Baptist church in Maryland.
100 years of Christian fellowship, spiritual love, Godly unity, and community growth ended last Tuesday in a fit of congregational discord not to be rivaled in this century. Holy Creek Baptist Church was split down the middle like the tabernacle cloth that tore at the point of our Lord's crucifixion. It is said that one could hear that rip a hundred miles away. Holy Creek Baptist was severed from the once stalwart cord of unity that bound them together. The fist of discord has pounded an army of Christian soldiers into two disheveled, unorganized factions of estranged members.
. The source of the dissention, a piano bench.
. This bench had been sitting beside a piano on the stage for years and years. Some wanted to get rid of it, some wanted to move it to a different place and some wanted to leave it right where it was.
. The church literally split over a piano bench.
. Here is the ending of the article.
. At present, Holy Creek Congregation will be having four services a day. There has been an unspoken agreement mediated by Pastor Deacon Fred of the Landover Baptist Church. Each faction will have it's own separate service with it's own separate pastor. Since the head pastor is not speaking to the associate pastor, each will have their own service, which will be attended by factioned members. We are told that the services are far enough apart that neither group will come into contact with the other. An outside party will be moving the piano bench to different locations and appropriate positions, between services, so as to please both sides, and avoid any further conflict that could result in violence.
. These folks are ready to literally fight here in this church.
. I would say that these folks have lost their focus, wouldn’t you?
. We hear stories like this all the time.
. People talk of unity but they can’t get the I out of the middle of the word.
. You see, we lose focus when, what’s in it for me, becomes the focus.
.Our scripture this morning addresses a conflict within the congregation of God.
. We are back in Nehemiah after a rather long interlude.
. Let’s review for just a minute.
. Remember in chapter one Nehemiah had to step out of his comfort zone.
. He had a great job as the kings cupbearer but God had called him to perform a great task.
. He left his cushy job and went back to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
. In chapter two Nehemiah gives us the great example of how to get things done.
. He modeled the attributes of action that a Christian should exhibit.
. In chapter three Nehemiah modeled teamwork for us.
. He showed how through teamwork, the people of God can accomplish any task that God has set before them.
. Then in chapter four, he showed us that no matter what happens, we can depend on God.
. God was and is our safety net.
. This morning we are in chapter five.
. The community is starting to self destruct.
. They have grievances and a church split is inevitable if they can’t get things straightened out.
. The workers now face a new enemy who is harder to conquer than the previous ones. The timing could not have been worse because the walls are almost done! Nehemiah has to put down his hard hat and turn his attention from the construction of the wall to the walls that were being put up between his workers. While their external enemies helped to rally the people, internal conflict threatened to divide and destroy them.
. They had been focused on the wall as a community but now they were losing focus and some were taking advantage of others.
. People tell me that when a group of horses face an enemy attack they stand in a circle and face each other. This way, with their back legs they can all kick at the attacker.
. They can stand united and defend themselves no matter which direction the attack comes from.
. I’m told that donkeys do just the opposite. They stand facing out and when they try to defend themselves they wind up kicking each other.
. Too many times, groups or organizations or churches act too much like Donkeys and wind up kicking and hurting each other.
. The community was starting to attack each other and Nehemiah had to address the issues.
. Instead of reading all our scripture and coming back to particular verses, this morning we will read and stop and examine Gods word as we go.
. Look at verse 1:
. About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews.
. Look at this word here in the first verse. Against.
. Tensions were mounting and the people were turning against each other. It says that the men and their wives were raising a great outcry
.
. This wasn’t a minor disagreement; they were ready to lock horns.
. In an old monastery in Germany, I’m told you can see two racks of ancient deer antlers permanently interlocked. Apparently the animals had been fighting fiercely, and their horns became so tangled that they could not be disengaged. As a result, both of them died of hunger
.
. Verse 2-5 tell us about the different groups that were entangled with each other.
.vs 2: 2They were saying, “We have such large families. We need more food to survive.”
. These folks were spending all their time working on the wall and they didn’t have enough to eat.
. Another group said this in vs 3:
. 3Others said, “We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine.”
. Others who had property were being forced to take out mortgages just to survive.
. Another group said that the taxes were killing them and they had to take out mortgages just to pay their taxes.
. look at verse 4
. And others said, “We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes
.
. Finally
. As always, you have some who want to take advantage of another’s misfortune.
. look at verse 5:
. We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others.”
. The wealthy were getting richer from all of this.
. They were lending money and charging exorbitant rates of interest.
. They were the local loan shark
. They were taking the children of their fellow brothers in order to pay for the food they were giving them.
. Things were a mess.
. Nehemiah listened to all of this and took action.
. In verses 6-13 we se this.
. vs 6: When I heard their complaints, I was very angry.
. This really ticked Nehemiah off.
. Nehemiah had what we call righteous anger.
. He said that this was not right and he needed to do something about it.
. Verse 7 really gets down to the heart of the matter. Nehemiah models for us how to refocus. How to set things right again.
. 7After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, “You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!” Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem.
. Notice that Nehemiah didn’t go into a rage. The verse says that after thinking it over.
. After deliberating on what to do.
. The Hebrew literally say’s “My heart consulted within me.”
. Nehemiah paused and Gave God time to instruct him.
. He could have been thinking about the proverb from King Solomon that say’s; (16:32)
. It is better to patient than powerful: better to have self-control than to conquer a city.
. After this consultation with his heart, he decided to have a public confrontation with these people
.
. In verse 7 he appealed to their brotherly love:
.After thinking it over, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, “You are hurting your own relatives by charging interest when they borrow money!” Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem.
. In verse 8 he reminded them of Gods redemptive purpose:
. 8At the meeting I said to them, “We are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?” And they had nothing to say in their defense.
. This part of the story for me is humorous .Look at the end of the verse. They had nothing to say in their defense.
. How many of us have asked our children why they did something that they know is wrong and they have nothing to say.
. They realize their sin and have no excuse for their actions.
. Verse 9 speaks to them about their witness.
. 9Then I pressed further, “What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations?
. God chose the Jewish nation to be a light to the world. Their behavior was not what God had intended. They could not make a positive impact to the other nations when they were treating each other this way.
. In verses 10-11 Nehemiah gave them and example and a solution to their problem.
. 10I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of charging interest.11You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.”
. With everything out in the open and the wrongs highlighted, the people agreed to Nehemiah’s solution.
. Look at verse 12&13:
. 12They replied, “We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the nobles and officials swear to do what they had promised.
13I shook out the folds of my robe and said, “If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you like this from your homes and from your property!”
The whole assembly responded, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
. There were problems that had caused the people and Nehemiah to lose their focus.
. The wall was almost complete and they had to stop and make these corrections in order to do what God had wanted them to do.
. Now this is a good story but how does it apply to us.
. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 timothy 3:16 that all scripture is God breathed or comes from God and is useful for teaching.
. There are many lessons that we can learn from this story and I want to share a few of them with you as we close this morning.
Lessons to be learned:
1.There is a direct correlation between our effectiveness as a church and our ability to love each other
.
. When the people were at odds with each other, the mission stalled. They all had to stop what they were doing and come to an agreement on how to go forward.
. When churches and people spend all their time at odds with each other, the mission of the church suffers.
2.When a church allows strife to come in and control whats going on, the church loses it’s witness to the community.
. Nehemiah warned the people that they were being mocked by the other nations.
. They had lost their witness that their God was the only true God.
. Churches do much damage to themselves and their witness to the community when they lose their focus and allow internal strife to tear them apart.
. The church must be the church before they can build the church.
. Many times the problem within the churches are the church people themselves.
3.Conflicts will always come up. After all we are human and we can’t remove the I in unity.
. When they do, they must be addressed head on and immediately.
. It’s like a sore that gets infected, it must be addressed. If it is not there is no telling what the damage will be.
. I read a quote from a guy that said “the first price you pay in times of trouble and strife is always the cheapest.
4.Always remember that God’s reputation is at stake. Many times all people know about God is what they see in those who profess to be His followers.
. How we as Christians handle ourselves could have an eternal consequence on somebody else.
. As I close this morning, I have a question for you:
. Are you a follower of Jesus. Do you know Him this morning.
Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
How to stop strife, Brian Bill, sermon central
