WEEKEND Edition, 6/7 February, 2021 “The Problem”

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends, and welcome to the weekend! I hope you have some good things planned, including some wonderful time of worship of our great God!

Most of us who are on this “Walking with Jesus” journey are parents or grandparents. Many of you are teachers or leaders of other people in your vocations. Have you noticed how much of a healthy society is devoted to helping people learn how to live their lives honorably, in ways that benefit their society, that build good reputations and leave respected legacies?

That’s what parenting is about, and it should be seen in all levels of education, and all aspects of government, law and order, and isn’t that what business management is about, and even leadership in health care? That’s why we have umpires and referees and other types of athletic officials and coaches. It’s one of the main purposes of religions and even worship. So, if so many aspects of every society are focused on helping people live honorably, why is there so much dysfunction in every society in the world? What’s missing? What’s the problem?

Of course that’s a fairly easy question to answer isn’t it? The Problem is… me, and you, and every human being. Our problem is… us! Our inner self. We are naturally selfish, naturally greedy, naturally deceitful, naturally prideful, naturally we make life difficult for ourselves and others, by the way we think, speak, the choices we make, the actions we take. God calls it our natural sinful nature. (Romans 8:6; Galatians 5:19,20,21) We’re all born with it and no amount of punishment or discipline or education or training or self-help books can change the sin nature.

That change is a transformation of our soul and it requires a miracle of God! Jesus said to Nicodemus, ‘you must be born again‘! (John 3:3-7) The Bible describes it as ‘regeneration’, a total recreation of my soul by the Holy Spirit of God! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Have you experienced it my friends and found it to be really life changing? If you have any questions about that, I’d love to help you, just write to me.

The last few days in our “Walking with Jesus” journey together we’ve been in the city of Jerusalem in the year 445bc, with a man named Nehemiah who is leading a massive rebuild project of the city wall. There has been great opposition, because not everyone wants this city safe and healthy, just like today, in the city where you live, and I live! But in the middle of this great restoration project, Nehemiah discovers there’s a problem that may be even greater, more destructive, than those opposed to the wall rebuild project. It’s this evil, wicked, sinful nature of greed, dishonesty and pride that Nehemiah finds in so many of his fellow Jews in Jerusalem. Even some who were working hard to help him build the wall! It shocks him!

Nehemiah describes the problem he found in chapter 5 of the book that bears his name, and I think it’s important we look into this, even though it’s ugly, because the same problem exists in my town and probably in yours. Greedy, dishonest people were hurting other people and lots of people were being taken advantage of to the point they were in hopeless financial bondage to the greed of the dishonest but powerful officials among them. Look around your city, and I imagine you won’t have to look very far to see the same problem where you live! In fact, it had become a normal, widely accepted way of living in Jerusalem, just as it has become in your town and mine!

Nehemiah’s response to what he found was simple, straightforward and challenging: “What you are doing is NOT right! Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our enemies?” (Nehemiah 5:9) There it is my friends. In one short, concise statement, there’s the problem in every city, every province, every society and most every family in the world! People, lots of people, doing what is NOT RIGHT!

Why, you might ask, does that problem persist, why can’t we fix this with more discipline, more punishment, more training, more education, more laws, more police, more prisons, more judges? WHY does it seem unchangeably deeply rooted in every society? Because it’s sin and it’s a cancer we are all born with and we can’t change it, no matter how hard we try! Only God can rescue us from this bondage to sin! In fact, this problem gets worse with every generation, because each new generation discovers new ways to build on the evil of their parents and make things worse!

As Nehemiah pointed out, when a person refuses to “Walk in the fear of God” their thinking is wrong, their heart is deceitful and greedy, their choices are selfish, their attitudes are hurtful to others and prideful. Now maybe you are thinking that’s an extravagant statement that I just made. So, what do you think it means to “walk in the fear of God”? Nehemiah felt the people living in Jerusalem ought to know. They were Jews, after all. The Temple of God was right there, in the center of their city. Every year their great festivals brought the Jews together to celebrate their uniqueness as a people of God. Psalm 111:10 says “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, all who follow God’s precepts have good understanding. To HIM belongs eternal praise. Blessed are those who fear the LORD, who find great delight in His commands.”

It wasn’t difficult for Nehemiah to show the leaders in Jerusalem many examples of injustice, inequity, unfairness, greed, dishonesty. And Nehemiah called the people to not simply admit his accusations were true but to change their lives, by repenting, by turning back to God, and God’s instructions for living God honoring lives. I imagine Nehemiah reminded them of the prophet Ezekiel’s word from God: “Then the nations will know that I am God, says the Sovereign LORD, when I show Myself HOLY through you before their eyes.” (Ez. 36:23) Just as the rubble of the broken down wall had laid untouched for more than a century, so the rubble of their lives was untouched by their religious traditions. A deep heart change was needed, and Nehemiah called them out!

Nehemiah did more than talk, Nehemiah set an example by his own actions. Nehemiah claimed “Out of reverence for God, I did not act like that.” (Nehemiah 5:15) He had been pointing out specifically the evil behavior of his predecessors and other leaders in Jerusalem. He had determined that he would live humbly, honestly, honorably…always fully aware that he was in Jerusalem on a God given mission, to accomplish a God given vision for restoring the city security. Nehemiah understood God had given him a dual role… lead the construction project but also lead by example in how to live a God honoring life! Now what does leading by example look like all around the world, especially where you live my friends?

In closing today, I invite you to listen to the audio Bible version of Nehemiah chapter 5, you see the tab just below in my notes. As you listen, put yourself there, in the city of Jerusalem, and from there, look back at your city. Do you see much the same thing in your city that Nehemiah saw in Jerusalem? And listen closely to how Nehemiah didn’t just talk, he went to great lengths to model for them how to live honorably before God.

So let’s look closely at our own lives my friends. How are you and I living examples for the people around us? Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to show us… are there some things HE wants to change in our hearts, our thinking, our attitudes, our relationships, if our aim is really to let Jesus make a difference in our world through us!

Now… listen to that chapter 5 of Nehemiah, the tab is below. . .

Today’s Scripture is Nehemiah 5.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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