“We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us”
Nehemiah 5
Sermon Series: “Change Your World In 52 Days”
Introduction: The title of this message is a famous line from the comic strip, “Pogo.” It is so true within the church because we often create problems from within. Nehemiah and the people of God had just overcome external opposition in chapter 4 and were moving rapidly towards completion of the building project. However, chapter 5 details problems that were transpiring among the people of God that threatened to derail the mission. The basic essence of the problem was that some of the Jews were taking advantage of and mistreating their brothers and sisters (v. 1-5). The application to us is that we are the family of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, who are called to love and serve each other like a family. We are called to think about things in terms of others and not just ourselves (1 Corinthians 12:25-26). Here are some of the reasons why I think this is so difficult for us:
-All of us are sinful.
-Because we are sinful, we tend to be selfish and self-centered.
-We are different from each other.
-We are not good at resolving conflict in relationships.
-As Americans, we tend to be individualistic instead of communal in our mindset.
-Satan is very skilled at using this as a tool.
So, when we have problems, what do we do in order to fix those problems? This is the challenge that Nehemiah successfully undertook, and we can learn from his example.
When problems between God’s people threaten to derail the mission, we can fix them by:
1. Addressing them directly (v. 6-11). The people (including the wives) spoke out about the problem. Nehemiah was righteously angry, rebuked those who were in the wrong, and even called a public assembly to deal with the issue. Calling the assembly would have necessitated stopping the work. Problems cannot be swept under the rug. Believers who are wronging others must be confronted. If we fail to deal with problems, it will derail the mission so sometimes we have to pause briefly in pursuing the mission to deal with problems and then get right back to work. We have to talk to people and not about people in order to fix things.
2. Obeying Scripture (v. 9-10). Scripture is God’s Word that is completely authoritative. The root of the problem was disobeying Scripture and disregarding God’s authority (Ex. 22:25-27, Lev. 25:35-43, Dt. 23:19-20, Is. 56:9-12). Here are some Scriptural truths to obey in order to prevent or solve problems:
-Go and try to reconcile with someone who has something against you (Matthew 5:23-24).
-Go and talk to someone who sins against you about their sin (Matthew 18:15-17).
-Forgive (Matthew 18:21-35).
-Look after the needs of other believers (Acts 2:44-45).
-Restore those in sin (Galatians 6:1).
-Strive for unity (Ephesians 4:3).
3. Repenting (v. 12-13). Those who were in the wrong admitted they were wrong and took steps to make it right. That is how we make things right with God and people in situations like this.
4. Sacrificially and lovingly putting others ahead of ourselves (v. 14-19). The first five verses of the chapter picture people thinking of themselves and selfishly mistreating others while the last six verses picture Nehemiah unselfishly, sacrificially, and lovingly thinking of and serving others. Which verses describe us? John Maxwell correctly teaches that the higher we go in leadership that we have less rights and more responsibilities.
