WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.960 Well, good morning to all of you again. 00:00:05.600 --> 00:00:07.060 As I said at the beginning, welcome. 00:00:07.259 --> 00:00:07.900 My name's Tommy. 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:12.359 I'm the rector here, so on behalf of our church, we're delighted to welcome you here, 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:14.359 especially if you're joining us for the first time. 00:00:15.060 --> 00:00:17.080 We are always so glad to be together. 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:21.039 This is a special Sunday, so if you're here for the first time, you're here on a special 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:21.900 week. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:29.640 We've been praying together and working together for some time to rebuild and restore our future 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:30.359 church home. 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:34.600 At the beginning of this calendar year, thanks to many years of prayer, God answered those 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:39.640 prayers by allowing us to close on a building at 5th and Q Northwest. 00:00:40.340 --> 00:00:41.859 It's a beautiful historic space. 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:42.880 We're very excited about it. 00:00:43.260 --> 00:00:45.900 This, for us, is a place that we've been looking for for years. 00:00:46.019 --> 00:00:51.240 We've been living this kind of nomadic life as a church for 17 years, and we have this 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:55.500 God-given opportunity to finally put down roots to make good on our commitment to love the 00:00:55.500 --> 00:00:59.840 city long term, to have a place where we can worship God, where we can grow in our faith, 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:05.780 where we can do ministry to the wider DMV area, not just for years to come, but God willing 00:01:05.780 --> 00:01:06.960 for generations to come. 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:08.219 So we're very excited about that. 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:13.680 And so we're taking time this Sunday to celebrate, just to reflect and give thanks on all that 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:18.799 God has done over the last 17 years, all that we hope God will do for generations to 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:19.099 come. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.140 There's going to be a big meal after the service in the Fellowship Hall across the street. 00:01:23.140 --> 00:01:24.980 If you're here, you're invited. 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:27.260 We'd love for you to come and join us. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.260 And a little bit later in the service, we're going to be getting, you've already actually 00:01:31.260 --> 00:01:33.799 received in the bulletins, commitment cards. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:37.859 For those of you who are a part of our church, members and regular attenders, you call Advent 00:01:37.859 --> 00:01:38.239 home. 00:01:38.659 --> 00:01:44.219 This is an opportunity for us to pray and ask God, as we've been doing, how is God calling 00:01:44.219 --> 00:01:47.260 me to be a part of this rebuilding, this work of rebuilding? 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:50.939 What does God want to do through me in and for this city? 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:54.780 So we're going to be talking a little bit more about that later in the service. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:59.759 But as a part of this campaign, we have been looking together at the book of Nehemiah, which 00:01:59.759 --> 00:02:05.819 is very appropriate because this is a story about God's people coming together to rebuild 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:10.460 their home, to build a place where they can worship God and grow in their faith and do 00:02:10.460 --> 00:02:11.919 ministry in the wider community. 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:19.280 So we're sort of sitting at the feet of this book and we're learning all we can about where 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:24.219 we are in our life together as a community and what we're called to be in the city of 00:02:24.219 --> 00:02:25.359 Washington, D.C. 00:02:25.739 --> 00:02:31.979 Last week, we focused on all of the opposition that God's people face from the outside, all 00:02:31.979 --> 00:02:37.039 of the challenges, all of the factions and people who do not want them to exist. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:39.739 And we talked about how to persevere in the face of that. 00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:45.780 This week, we come to chapter five and we see that the biggest threat to this whole endeavor 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:48.040 isn't on the outside of the community. 00:02:48.040 --> 00:02:50.920 It's actually on the inside of the community. 00:02:50.920 --> 00:02:52.540 It's within the community itself. 00:02:53.740 --> 00:02:56.420 You know, we've spent a lot of time over the years. 00:02:56.840 --> 00:02:57.840 I've spent a lot of time. 00:02:57.900 --> 00:02:58.680 I know you have too. 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:01.860 Wondering what kind of building does God have for us? 00:03:02.660 --> 00:03:03.520 Where will it be? 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:04.379 What will it be like? 00:03:04.379 --> 00:03:09.060 But this week, we're going to ask a far more important question, I would suggest. 00:03:10.019 --> 00:03:12.620 And that is not what kind of building does God have for us? 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:14.939 But what kind of us does God want for this building? 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:17.120 All right. 00:03:17.139 --> 00:03:18.099 Who are we called to be? 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:22.419 Not just in this building, not just in the neighborhood of Shaw, but in this city. 00:03:22.419 --> 00:03:26.059 Who are we called to be? 00:03:27.019 --> 00:03:28.239 That's our question this morning. 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:30.239 We're going to look at this in two parts. 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:34.019 Nehemiah chapter five, first the problem, and then Nehemiah's response. 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:34.619 Let's pray. 00:03:36.419 --> 00:03:39.899 Our Lord and Heavenly Father, we know we don't have to ask for you to be present with us because 00:03:39.899 --> 00:03:40.379 you are. 00:03:41.699 --> 00:03:47.739 It's more about our willingness to relax into your presence, to recognize it, to attune ourselves 00:03:47.739 --> 00:03:48.219 to you. 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:52.099 Lord, we pray that through your word, you would do what you've always promised to do, 00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:57.520 that you would speak to us, that you would take this ink and paper and that it would come 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.699 to life because of your spirit, and that through your written word, Lord, we would actually 00:04:01.699 --> 00:04:04.479 come face to face with your living word, Jesus Christ. 00:04:05.219 --> 00:04:06.340 It's in his name that we pray. 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:07.020 Amen. 00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:12.319 So first of all, I wanted to describe a bit about the problem that's happening here. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:16.240 We have to understand the context of what's going on at this point in the story. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.600 Essentially, there is a financial crisis. 00:04:19.840 --> 00:04:24.660 The economy has taken a major downturn, and that results from a couple of factors. 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:31.060 Number one, there are supply chain issues leading to widespread food insecurity among a lot of 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:31.379 people. 00:04:32.420 --> 00:04:34.699 A lot more people have moved to the area, right? 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:36.019 The population's going up. 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:41.040 Many of the farmers who would normally be working outside of the walls of the city to grow food 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:47.439 have come in to either help work and build or to defend, right, from the possible attack 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:48.800 that's coming from the outside. 00:04:49.420 --> 00:04:54.600 So food production can't keep up with the rising population, and people are starving. 00:04:55.180 --> 00:04:56.200 So that's the first factor. 00:04:57.080 --> 00:04:59.520 Second factor, overtaxation. 00:05:00.280 --> 00:05:01.600 The economy's in the toilet. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:04.040 The government says this is a good time to raise taxes. 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:05.879 So they raise the taxes. 00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:11.480 King Artaxerxes had agreed to give Nehemiah the financial resources necessary to go and 00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:15.860 rebuild Jerusalem, but he's not necessarily doing it out of the kindness of his own heart, 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:22.020 and he intends to get that money back, and he's doing it by taxing them through the nose. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:28.620 And so taxes go up, and it gets so bad that you have people who can't even afford to eat 00:05:28.620 --> 00:05:33.639 who are taking out loans just to pay their taxes, right? 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:39.379 So you have overpopulation, you have, or a higher population leads to starvation and famine 00:05:39.379 --> 00:05:42.160 and food insecurity, and then you have overtaxation. 00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:50.280 Whenever you have a growing population of people who are poor and therefore vulnerable, 00:05:51.740 --> 00:05:53.780 lots of bad things can happen. 00:05:54.379 --> 00:05:57.980 Now, one would think that since this is a community of God's people, 00:05:57.980 --> 00:05:59.160 that wouldn't be the case. 00:05:59.420 --> 00:06:03.960 Surely, you're going to have people step in to help and provide relief and support 00:06:03.960 --> 00:06:07.780 their brothers and sisters who are in need, but that's not what happens. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:15.560 Instead, this financial crisis lays the groundwork for widespread systemic exploitation of the 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:17.180 poor by some of the rich nobles. 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:22.439 They're engaging in essentially what we would call predatory lending practices. 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:24.860 They're what the Bible calls usury. 00:06:24.860 --> 00:06:29.840 They're taking advantage of people who are desperate by lending them money and then by 00:06:29.840 --> 00:06:33.780 charging them excessively high interest on those loans. 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:39.060 And so the poor are being forced to put up their homes and their fields and even their 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:40.319 children as collateral. 00:06:41.379 --> 00:06:44.100 And they're getting buried in debt that they can't repay. 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:50.300 So the wealthy are coming in and seizing their property, and they're taking their children as slaves. 00:06:50.300 --> 00:06:58.540 So imagine going to church and seeing your daughter, and she's sitting with another family 00:06:58.540 --> 00:07:03.040 because that family gave you a loan and you couldn't repay that loan, 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:07.259 so they took your daughter as a slave and she lives with them now. 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:12.460 So imagine having to worship sitting in a pew next to that family. 00:07:12.459 --> 00:07:17.180 So when Nehemiah hears about this, he is furious. 00:07:18.339 --> 00:07:24.620 We might expect to see this kind of thing happening among other ancient Near Eastern people groups, 00:07:24.939 --> 00:07:28.779 but God's law expressly forbids these kind of practices. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:34.859 It expressly forbids charging interest when you loan money to one of your fellow Jews. 00:07:35.099 --> 00:07:39.679 It expressly forbids taking someone as a slave when they can't pay their debts. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:41.840 It expressly forbids these kinds of things. 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:46.699 God actually says, I took you out of slavery from the land in Egypt. 00:07:46.840 --> 00:07:51.960 You shall not make slaves out of one another, no matter what the circumstances are. 00:07:54.699 --> 00:07:57.480 This kind of thing infuriates Nehemiah. 00:07:57.620 --> 00:08:00.439 We have to ask, why is this happening among God's people? 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:04.019 And the diagnosis is essentially this. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:07.660 Because these nobles do not fear the Lord. 00:08:07.660 --> 00:08:10.600 There is no fear of the Lord. 00:08:12.140 --> 00:08:15.620 Nehemiah at one point when he confronts the nobles, he says, why are you doing this? 00:08:15.880 --> 00:08:17.080 Do you not fear the Lord? 00:08:18.780 --> 00:08:19.800 Do you not fear the Lord? 00:08:20.020 --> 00:08:25.160 He again and again throughout this book says that his desire for justice, this entire endeavor, 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:28.800 for Nehemiah is motivated by the fear of the Lord. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:32.800 Now the fear of the Lord is not a dread fear. 00:08:32.899 --> 00:08:35.300 It's not the same fear that you feel when you see a spider. 00:08:35.299 --> 00:08:40.839 The fear of the Lord means a profound reverence. 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:48.360 In the Bible, when you fear the Lord, it means that the Lord, the holiness of the Lord, 00:08:48.460 --> 00:08:53.840 the righteousness of the Lord, the heart of the Lord is the most important thing in your life. 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:59.540 It means that your heart is aligned with God's heart, that you care most about what God cares most about. 00:08:59.539 --> 00:09:02.299 That's what a fear of the Lord is. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:04.879 The principle is this. 00:09:04.959 --> 00:09:12.480 When your heart is right with God, you are then compelled to put right all of your human relationships. 00:09:13.539 --> 00:09:18.819 The horizontal, right, when that relationship is right, when you fear the Lord as you should, 00:09:18.939 --> 00:09:23.659 then you are compelled to put right all human relationships around you. 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:32.120 And the theologian John Murray in his work Principles of Conduct says that the fear of God is the foundation for a just society. 00:09:33.219 --> 00:09:39.120 Because when people fear the Lord, that flows out into their relationships with other people. 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:42.559 Their relationships are marked by the things that God cares about. 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:48.339 Respect, integrity, justice, compassion, mercy. 00:09:48.340 --> 00:09:58.379 Wherever, Murray says, there is a lack of the fear of God, wherever people do not fear the Lord, you see moral decay. 00:09:58.800 --> 00:09:59.960 You see injustice. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:01.580 You see exploitation. 00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:04.780 You see a devaluing of human life. 00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:07.840 You see people doing what these nobles are doing. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:10.600 Nehemiah says, do you not fear the Lord? 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:14.879 God's entire purpose for his people is to be holy. 00:10:15.019 --> 00:10:15.900 It's to be set apart. 00:10:15.899 --> 00:10:18.600 God's heart to put his heart on display. 00:10:19.199 --> 00:10:22.840 So that when people see the way God's people live, they say, that's what God cares about. 00:10:22.939 --> 00:10:24.799 That's the kind of God they worship. 00:10:25.579 --> 00:10:32.039 To show the world that God, the God of the Bible, is the kind of God who desires justice and righteousness. 00:10:33.539 --> 00:10:33.899 Right? 00:10:33.959 --> 00:10:36.439 To flow out into the world. 00:10:37.379 --> 00:10:42.519 The rest of the world may be a place where the strong trample the weak, but God's people are called to be different. 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:46.759 God's people are called to be people who use their power, when they have it, to lift up the weak. 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:50.079 To lift up and care for the vulnerable and the oppressed. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:57.419 So God desires that wherever his people go, justice and peace and freedom would follow. 00:10:57.419 --> 00:11:00.159 That's how you know God's people are theirs. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:07.599 Because wherever they are, you find justice and peace and freedom and people are flourishing and they're being lifted up and set free. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:16.540 So when we ask this question like we did at the beginning, what kind of us does God want for this building or this neighborhood or this city? 00:11:17.420 --> 00:11:18.700 Who are we called to be? 00:11:18.820 --> 00:11:20.100 Part of the answer is this. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:25.139 Part of the answer is that we are called to be people who care about and pursue biblical justice. 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:29.080 In the community where God has called us and placed us. 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:34.679 And we see a beautiful example of biblical justice in Nehemiah's response to the nobles. 00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:36.620 So that was the problem. 00:11:36.740 --> 00:11:37.819 Let's look at his response. 00:11:38.740 --> 00:11:43.939 There are essentially three levels at which biblical justice is enacted. 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:51.259 People who are poor or vulnerable or oppressed, they need multiple layers of support and aid. 00:11:51.259 --> 00:11:53.819 So there are sort of three levels if you want to read more about this. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:58.960 Tim Keller's Generous Justice is a great book that describes this in a lot more detail. 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:02.799 But we see all three here at work in Nehemiah. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:09.019 The first level at which biblical justice is pursued is the level of relief. 00:12:10.059 --> 00:12:11.500 Simply providing relief. 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:13.220 Relief is direct aid. 00:12:14.279 --> 00:12:17.279 It meets immediate physical, material, economic needs. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:20.659 So when Nehemiah hears about the injustice, he takes immediate action. 00:12:20.659 --> 00:12:21.799 He halts construction. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:25.659 He calls an assembly and he says, all of this stops today. 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:28.319 Right? 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:33.240 He's immediately calling a halt to the things that are causing suffering. 00:12:34.339 --> 00:12:37.899 So relief ministry in the church focuses on meeting immediate needs. 00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:39.319 Providing food. 00:12:39.500 --> 00:12:40.559 Providing temporary shelter. 00:12:40.779 --> 00:12:41.659 Providing clothes. 00:12:42.620 --> 00:12:44.699 Providing free or low-cost medical services. 00:12:44.919 --> 00:12:45.579 Legal aid. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:46.319 Foster care. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:47.279 Counseling services. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:48.679 Right? 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:55.279 For those of you who are involved in some of the relief work that is done in this city or want to get involved. 00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:55.539 Right? 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:57.240 We currently have a ministry to refugees. 00:12:57.579 --> 00:13:01.019 We participate in a foster care support ministry called DC 127. 00:13:02.220 --> 00:13:07.879 You may not know we're in the early stages of forming a mercy ministry team that will be in place when we move into the building. 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:13.200 Because there's a lot of immediate needs in the neighborhood where we're going to be moving. 00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:16.939 And we want to be equipped and ready and prepared to be able to meet some of those needs. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:18.299 To the best of our ability. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:18.559 Right? 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:19.639 This is relief work. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:23.580 And it's essential, especially where there are people who are actively suffering. 00:13:23.580 --> 00:13:32.680 The second layer of biblical justice work that is every bit as important is the work of development. 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:34.900 And some of you actually do this professionally. 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:39.220 You work in various kinds of development, either here or abroad. 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:42.379 Development goes beyond meeting immediate needs. 00:13:42.379 --> 00:13:50.559 And it focuses on giving individuals or families or entire communities what they need to move beyond dependency on relief. 00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:54.379 So that they can become more financially self-sufficient. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:03.120 So in Nehemiah chapter 5 verses 10 and 11, we see that Nehemiah demands that the nobles and officials return the fields. 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:05.200 Return the vineyards that you've claimed. 00:14:05.419 --> 00:14:06.480 Return the olive groves. 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.019 Return the houses that you've seized from the poor. 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:11.759 And he also orders them to repay the interest. 00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:14.759 That they had exacted from them. 00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:17.299 So he's going beyond the immediate felt needs. 00:14:18.299 --> 00:14:24.659 He's saying we need to create the conditions necessary for these people to regain their livelihoods. 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:26.059 To regain their property. 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:28.700 To have long-term financial stability. 00:14:29.820 --> 00:14:32.600 And that's only going to happen if we have some major changes. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:33.019 Right? 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:34.960 They need property. 00:14:35.259 --> 00:14:37.500 They need a means of building and holding on to wealth. 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:42.059 The Bible has a lot to say about development. 00:14:42.059 --> 00:14:42.419 Right? 00:14:42.539 --> 00:14:46.859 We could do a whole series on the Old Testament teaching around development. 00:14:47.179 --> 00:14:49.199 The Old Testament scholar Christopher Wright. 00:14:49.599 --> 00:14:51.699 You know, we quote Tom Wright a lot. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:52.579 The New Testament scholar. 00:14:52.719 --> 00:14:54.619 So you can think of it as O.T. Wright and N.T. Wright. 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:57.879 But O.T. Wright, his name's Christopher, says this. 00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:07.580 He says, God's law asks us to find means of ensuring that the weakest and poorest in the community are enabled to have access to the opportunities they need. 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:09.400 In order to provide for themselves. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:16.480 Opportunities may include financial resources but could also include access to education, legal assistance, job opportunities. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:17.560 Right? 00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:18.780 That's the work of development. 00:15:20.680 --> 00:15:21.639 Extremely important. 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:35.720 We have an opportunity actually coming up next Sunday on November 3rd, 5 p.m. on November 3rd, to learn from someone who's been doing development work in D.C. longer than many of us in this room have been alive. 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:37.960 His name's Jim Dickerson. 00:15:38.160 --> 00:15:40.060 He's a pastor based in the Shaw neighborhood. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:53.180 But he has been intimately involved in working on affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, ending generational poverty, and homelessness all throughout Washington, D.C. 00:15:53.180 --> 00:15:54.899 He's been doing this for over 45 years. 00:15:55.980 --> 00:15:59.360 And he's agreed to meet with us to make himself available. 00:15:59.620 --> 00:16:00.620 And so we're going to go. 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:08.060 So I want the whole church to come just to sit at the feet of a man and to learn from a man who's been doing this work for decades. 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:10.539 There's so much to learn from someone like that. 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:12.980 It's a great opportunity to learn, so I hope you'll all come. 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:14.740 November 3rd, 5 p.m. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:15.500 I'll see you there. 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:16.940 Maybe we can go out and grab dinner after. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:18.379 We can talk about what we've learned. 00:16:19.460 --> 00:16:20.519 That's the work of development. 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:24.320 Number three, there's the work of relief, the work of development. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:28.220 The third level at which this work needs to happen is the work of reform. 00:16:29.139 --> 00:16:30.379 Talk about social reform. 00:16:31.560 --> 00:16:34.919 Reform moves beyond the immediate relief of individual needs. 00:16:35.379 --> 00:16:37.539 It moves beyond even development efforts. 00:16:38.179 --> 00:16:43.259 And it actually seeks to change the conditions and social structures that lead to injustice. 00:16:44.060 --> 00:16:44.259 Right? 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:46.639 You may remember the famous quote from Desmond Tutu. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.879 There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:52.700 We need to go upstream and find out why they're falling in. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:56.299 That's what reform seeks to do. 00:16:56.299 --> 00:16:59.379 Nehemiah pushed for systemic reform. 00:16:59.379 --> 00:17:06.880 But in doing so, he shows us that one of the reasons why systemic reform is so hard. 00:17:08.339 --> 00:17:12.339 Nehemiah is calling for a total change where this kind of practice doesn't happen anymore. 00:17:12.339 --> 00:17:14.379 But here, it's easy to miss. 00:17:14.459 --> 00:17:14.939 Fascinating. 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:23.559 As a part of calling for reform in the area of loaning and charging interest among God's people, he says this in verse 10. 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:30.399 Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:33.819 Let us abandon this exacting of interest. 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:37.679 In other words, Nehemiah has to admit that he's a part of the system. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:39.799 Right? 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:42.619 He's saying, he's moving. 00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:49.319 It's so easy to be a slacktivist online calling other people out for all the things they need to do differently. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:52.419 It's much harder to say, you know what, I'm part of this. 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:56.599 I'm actually contributing to part of what's wrong with the world. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:59.279 And I realize that I've been doing this. 00:17:59.419 --> 00:18:00.259 My brothers have been doing this. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:01.339 My servants have been doing this. 00:18:01.339 --> 00:18:05.439 We've all been participating in this broken system, and it's exploiting people. 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:09.259 And we all need to stop, including me. 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:11.199 That's much harder to do. 00:18:12.879 --> 00:18:19.259 The thing is, we can't bring about systemic reform without recognizing that we're part of the system. 00:18:20.459 --> 00:18:24.019 Without recognizing that if the system's broken, it's partly because I'm broken. 00:18:25.459 --> 00:18:28.059 And then taking responsibility for the part we play in it. 00:18:28.059 --> 00:18:39.220 You know, as we move into the Shaw neighborhood, we have been and will continue to have to be conscious of the fact that we are moving into a historically black church in a historically black neighborhood. 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:44.799 This is a church that was originally built by newly freed enslaved people. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:49.480 It was a church started by people when they were still slaves. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:50.700 Right? 00:18:50.740 --> 00:18:54.559 And it's been continuously held by the same church up until now. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:58.539 The original deed, when I saw it at the closing, was handwritten in cursive. 00:19:00.139 --> 00:19:01.980 You don't see that very often, by the way. 00:19:01.980 --> 00:19:13.460 Praise God, the way this deal happened, we were able to work with a church that was actually excited to hand this to a church that will continue to do gospel ministry. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:19.960 We developed a deep relationship and friendship with Deacon Curtis, Pastor Harris, and some of the other leaders there. 00:19:20.579 --> 00:19:23.220 At the closing, we were all able to actually pray together. 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:26.200 We prayed for one another, and we prayed for our churches. 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:29.559 They're excited to see this go into the hands of a gospel-centered church. 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:30.440 They're very excited. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:32.159 They were excited to move into their new space. 00:19:33.159 --> 00:19:35.919 As we've stayed in touch, I hear nothing but great reports. 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:37.059 They're loving where they are. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:42.879 So praise God, I think this deal went better than any of us could have hoped or prayed for. 00:19:43.079 --> 00:19:49.579 And yet, nevertheless, when it comes to issues around race, gentrification in a city like Washington, D.C., 00:19:49.579 --> 00:19:54.220 we have to recognize what we represent and how it reflects larger trends in D.C. 00:19:54.379 --> 00:19:58.599 And our approach to biblical justice has to always take that into account. 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:00.039 Right? 00:20:00.159 --> 00:20:04.019 We have to use the language of us and we when we're talking about these issues, not them. 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:06.179 We're a part of it. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:09.759 So justice happens at multiple levels, right? 00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:10.980 It happens at the level of relief. 00:20:11.059 --> 00:20:12.179 It happens at the level of development. 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:14.059 It happens at the level of reform. 00:20:15.139 --> 00:20:17.940 The church is called to be a part of justice at all of these levels. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.279 We're called to do this kind of work at every level. 00:20:20.919 --> 00:20:23.500 And some of you do this kind of work at every level. 00:20:24.419 --> 00:20:24.779 Right? 00:20:24.779 --> 00:20:25.559 I know that you do. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:27.599 You care about this kind of thing. 00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:34.460 But there's something else that we see in Nehemiah that goes way beyond anything we've seen so far. 00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:41.099 This is not officially a part of justice work because up until now, what we're talking about is something anybody can do. 00:20:41.099 --> 00:20:50.879 And a lot of times to do the work of development or to do the work of reform, it requires partnerships between faith-based groups and churches and government institutions and other institutions. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:56.699 It requires a lot of collaboration across multiple sectors to get some of that bigger picture work done. 00:20:56.700 --> 00:21:03.539 The fourth thing is something that we see that goes beyond all of this. 00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:09.660 It's really what sets this incident apart and what shows us the heart of the issue. 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:13.960 We see extravagant generosity. 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:19.700 Nehemiah doesn't just address or correct the injustice. 00:21:21.180 --> 00:21:22.600 He goes above and beyond. 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:23.599 He goes above and beyond. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:28.259 And actually sets an example for everyone through his extravagant generosity. 00:21:29.619 --> 00:21:37.480 He refuses to take a food allowance like his predecessors did because he says this is exceedingly burdensome for people. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:38.439 We're not going to do this. 00:21:39.219 --> 00:21:41.599 Instead, he says, I want you to come and feast with me. 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:44.899 He's not just not taking a food allowance. 00:21:45.019 --> 00:21:47.319 He says, come to my house for dinner. 00:21:49.159 --> 00:21:50.299 I will host you. 00:21:50.299 --> 00:22:02.240 He hosts 150 people, feeds them as much food and wine as they can handle, and he does it all at his own expense, out of his own pocket. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:03.899 Right? 00:22:03.940 --> 00:22:12.279 We see this extravagant, generous hospitality where he welcomes people around his table, hosts them, feeds them, cares for them. 00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:16.220 And we get a sense from the way he writes it that they're not just eating, you know, oatmeal. 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:17.639 They're not just eating scraps. 00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:18.799 This is a feast. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:25.299 He says every 10th day we bring out the wine and it would be a big celebration. 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:35.819 I just want you to take a minute and imagine what would the world be like, what would the world be like if everybody had this kind of extravagant generosity? 00:22:37.480 --> 00:22:37.839 Right? 00:22:37.899 --> 00:22:39.980 At the center of how they approach their lives. 00:22:40.819 --> 00:22:41.000 Right? 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:43.720 What would the world be like if everyone had a heart like this? 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:46.380 Well, I can tell you right now, there would be no more injustice. 00:22:47.940 --> 00:22:49.480 Injustice would be wiped out. 00:22:50.980 --> 00:22:53.039 And so it raises this question for us. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:55.599 How do we get a heart like this? 00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:04.839 How do we become the kind of people who go beyond just fixing what's broken and we actually begin to enter into a new way of being human together? 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:09.699 Where the defining feature of our life together is extravagant generosity. 00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:18.759 Where we're going above and beyond to love and to serve and to bless and to show hospitality and to welcome people in and to care for them and to make sure they're loved and that their needs are met. 00:23:19.399 --> 00:23:20.859 How do we get a heart like this? 00:23:20.859 --> 00:23:22.019 How do we get a heart like this? 00:23:22.019 --> 00:23:23.019 How do we get a heart like this? 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:23.979 How do we get a heart like this? 00:23:23.979 --> 00:23:25.859 How do we get a heart like this? 00:23:25.859 --> 00:23:26.859 Be more like Nehemiah. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:28.799 Try harder. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:34.799 If you've tried to do that, you know it's easier said than done. 00:23:36.099 --> 00:23:37.579 The first step is this. 00:23:37.619 --> 00:23:50.839 It's to actually realize the truth about ourselves that spiritually speaking, as Jesus said, spiritually speaking, we are all dead. 00:23:50.859 --> 00:23:51.679 We are desperately poor. 00:23:53.419 --> 00:23:56.079 He said, blessed are those who are poor in spirit. 00:23:57.419 --> 00:24:01.399 Blessed are those who recognize we are spiritually destitute. 00:24:02.699 --> 00:24:08.099 When I say all I got to do is try harder and I'll be like this, I'll be like Nehemiah, I'm thinking like I think I'm spiritually rich. 00:24:08.219 --> 00:24:10.619 Like I've got most of what I need, I just need to get a little better. 00:24:11.819 --> 00:24:16.059 And Jesus says, no, the thing you need to realize is you're spiritually destitute. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:19.500 In the world's eyes, we may have a successful job. 00:24:19.579 --> 00:24:20.500 We may have a nice house. 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:21.900 We may have a big retirement account. 00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:25.619 But spiritually, we are buried under a mountain of debt. 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:28.500 And it is debt that we can't ever pay off. 00:24:29.460 --> 00:24:32.299 And it's not debt as a result of somebody victimizing us. 00:24:32.380 --> 00:24:33.680 It's debt that we earned. 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:36.480 Because of our sin. 00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:40.579 Because of our rebellion against God. 00:24:40.579 --> 00:24:48.980 And our only hope we have to realize lies in the one, not in Nehemiah, but in the one to whom Nehemiah points. 00:24:49.699 --> 00:24:49.899 Right? 00:24:49.939 --> 00:24:53.000 Because this story is a part of a much bigger, larger story. 00:24:53.179 --> 00:24:54.559 It doesn't end with Nehemiah. 00:24:54.679 --> 00:24:55.799 Nehemiah is a shadow. 00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:56.699 He's a prefiguring. 00:24:56.819 --> 00:25:00.639 He's a figure of the greater Nehemiah who is to come. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:02.040 Right? 00:25:02.040 --> 00:25:06.860 Nehemiah was a rich man who used his wealth to bless and to serve those who were poor. 00:25:07.020 --> 00:25:11.259 And he invited them to come and to feast at his table at his own expense. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:15.000 But this story points to someone far greater. 00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:19.600 Jesus Christ owns everything that exists. 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:20.880 It's all his. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:23.180 In terms of wealth, no one compares. 00:25:24.540 --> 00:25:35.060 And yet when Jesus looks at us and he sees our spiritual poverty, he sees that we are hopelessly lost, his heart is broken for us. 00:25:36.060 --> 00:25:41.800 And so we see in the gospel that Jesus is willing to give up everything for us. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:43.700 He's willing to become human. 00:25:44.180 --> 00:25:45.540 He's willing to become homeless. 00:25:46.040 --> 00:25:47.580 He's willing to become destitute. 00:25:47.579 --> 00:25:52.839 He's willing to take on our debt as his own. 00:25:53.859 --> 00:25:56.099 Here's how the apostle Paul phrases it. 00:25:57.539 --> 00:25:57.939 He says, 00:25:58.099 --> 00:26:11.000 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by you, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:14.899 That's how he phrases the gospel in a nutshell. 00:26:14.900 --> 00:26:20.920 And in the context there, he's talking about the Macedonian Christians who are just like Nehemiah. 00:26:21.460 --> 00:26:22.480 They see a need. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:23.160 It's a famine. 00:26:23.300 --> 00:26:24.300 And they go above and beyond. 00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:26.600 They can't even afford to pay their own bills. 00:26:26.900 --> 00:26:28.220 But they go above and beyond. 00:26:28.280 --> 00:26:32.680 And they give money that they can't afford to give to relieve famine in another part of the world. 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:36.920 And Paul's saying, do you want to understand where that kind of generosity comes from? 00:26:37.060 --> 00:26:37.960 Here's where it comes from. 00:26:38.080 --> 00:26:41.080 It's because they've experienced the generosity of Jesus Christ. 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:46.559 For you know that by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor. 00:26:46.639 --> 00:26:51.779 That had sunk into their hearts so that you by his poverty might become rich. 00:26:51.859 --> 00:26:54.599 They're like, in Christ we are so rich, we are so blessed. 00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:56.539 How can we not give? 00:26:57.599 --> 00:26:58.720 They recognize this. 00:26:58.819 --> 00:27:02.539 There are many religions that say God cares about the poor. 00:27:02.539 --> 00:27:10.220 Only Christianity says that God became poor for us. 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:18.019 So the more we understand the extravagant generosity of God toward us, the more generous we become. 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:20.379 It's the heart's natural response. 00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:22.539 Generosity begets generosity. 00:27:22.539 --> 00:27:22.659 Generosity. 00:27:24.599 --> 00:27:31.099 So every week, friends, we have an opportunity to experience the generosity of Jesus. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:35.960 Just like Nehemiah, we are invited to feast at Jesus' table. 00:27:36.859 --> 00:27:41.599 Where here he doesn't just feed us at his own expense, he offers us himself. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:46.940 His body, his blood to remind us how much he loves us. 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:48.559 Right? 00:27:48.980 --> 00:27:52.379 Christian generosity isn't just about giving your stuff away. 00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:59.680 It's about giving yourself away to the God who gave himself away for us. 00:28:00.639 --> 00:28:01.319 Let's pray. 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:10.619 Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for Nehemiah and the example that he gives us of justice. 00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:16.819 Lord, we thank you most for the one to whom he points, for Jesus Christ. 00:28:16.819 --> 00:28:26.259 Jesus Christ who, desiring to put the world right, desiring to eradicate injustice, went above and beyond. 00:28:27.079 --> 00:28:28.240 Did the unimaginable. 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:29.179 Did the unthinkable. 00:28:29.939 --> 00:28:32.359 Lord, gave everything up for us to lift us up. 00:28:32.919 --> 00:28:35.740 Lord, may we be people who are marked by that love and generosity. 00:28:35.740 --> 00:28:40.759 May we be people who live that out in our life together. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:47.980 Lord, may that be a defining feature of our ministry in this city as we seek to be what you've called us to be. 00:28:48.059 --> 00:28:49.240 May this be for your glory. 00:28:50.900 --> 00:28:52.460 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:53.000 Amen. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:54.019 Amen. 00:28:54.039 --> 00:28:54.539 Amen. 00:28:58.360 --> 00:29:00.519 Amen.