Video of the service in which this sermon was preached can be watched here -
And here -
Whenever I teach about the history of Disciples churches, I like to point out a huge irony of the movement that led to our churches. A huge irony. Did I say a huge irony? If you are not familiar with the history of the Disciples churches, one of the central tenants of the movement that led to our churches was the desire to bring unity. As the leaders of that movement observed the large number of denominations in early America, they desired to bring churches together, in a spirit of unity, around the basic Christianity of the early church. How is it, then, that a movement dedicated to uniting churches, a movement committed to reducing the divisions among churches, managed to birth not just one, not just two, but three new groups of churches? Even with a slogan of in essentials unity, opinions liberty, and in all things love, it was impossible to live together in theological unity.
It is hard to live together. It is hard to find unity. It is hard to find agreement. It is hard to get along. In the past months, as many people have been home from work and school – and spending more time together than normal under one roof – many have discovered that even among a group of people who love each other deeply, it is hard to live together. I have officiated many weddings over the course of my ministry. Speaking with couples as they prepare for their marriages, and talking with them through the challenges of their marriages, it has struck me on more than one occasion that even when two people love each other so much that they pledge their lives to one another, as they pledge to sacrifice for one another, and even as they pledge to give up their lives for one another if necessary, getting along and living together is not always easy. So how easy is it going to be to get along with our neighbors, our coworkers, and with strangers?
Why is it so hard to live together? Why is it so hard to get along?
Because, simply put, it just is. People have a tendency to do what they want to do, even when it irritates or enrages others. When I was young, my mom said on more than one occasion that your rights end where my nose begins. If only it were that simple, but it’s not. There are many noses bumping into the rights of others, and vice versa.
It is difficult to get along and to live together, in part, because every person has a unique set of experiences, beliefs, points of view, and perspectives that shape not only how they see the world, but how they relate to the world, and to others. That lens, through which we see all things in life, is different for each person, and that difference brings about the conflict that makes it difficult to get along. But do we have to agree in order to live together in some level of harmony and unity? No, of course not. How do we, however, live together in some acceptable level of calm and peace while maintaining and respecting our differences, differences that can indeed be very great?
That’s what we will consider this morning. We are continuing to make our way through the book of Nehemiah, and this morning we come to a passage that I referenced last week.
Nehemiah 5:6-13 –
6 When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry.
7 I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them
8 and said: “As far as possible, we have bought back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.
9 So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?
10 I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest!
11 Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”
12 “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised.
13 I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied!” At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.
Let’s talk about some of what we find in this passage, as they teach us about how we can live together.
1. Understand How to Use Conflict In A Positive Manner.
According to one writer, conflict and the inability to get along might be a part of our biology. Claiming that we are 98 percent emotional and about two percent rational, this writer believes that conflict causes our emotional selves to override our rational selves. (https://www.mediate.com/articles/noll9.cfm).
Maybe, maybe not. While I’m not ready to fully agree with that assertion – and certainly not his percentages – I do agree that conflict generally does not make us more rational. When we become engaged in conflict, rationality does tend to be tossed aside. Most of us, though, dislike conflict to the point we will avoid it whenever possible. Although some people seem to thrive on conflict, most people do not like it and would be happy to see it disappear forever from their lives. Conflict, however, is not going away. Understanding that conflict is not going away, how do we learn to live together, in spite of the conflict?
First, understand that conflict is a natural part of being human. History is, basically, the story of human conflict. From Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-16) until today, the story of humanity is the story of the inability to live together in peace, justice, and fairness. In fact, it might surprise you to know that a good deal of the New Testament exists precisely because of conflict. Reading through the letters of Paul, particularly, it is obvious those letters were written in response to the conflicts occurring in some of the earliest churches and between some of the followers of Jesus. As Paul writes in I Corinthians 11:18, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you. The divisions in the church at Corinth prompted Paul to write about how the church is like a physical body, with church unity and health being defined as all the parts of the body working together for a common goal. The next passage he writes is one of the most famous and beloved of all the Bible – I Corinthians 13. Imagine, some of the greatest words about love ever written were born out of conflict!
Second, it is important to remember that conflict often points to an unresolved problem. As a fever tells us there is a problem in the body, conflict tells us there is a problem in a relationship, an organization, a church, or a society. That conflict could be something as simple as a difference of opinion, which can be worked out in short order, or a much deeper issue that threatens the well-being and even the future of a relationship, organization, church, or society.
Third, how we approach conflict will dictate how successful we are at working out a solution. If the parties involved in the conflict see the others as nothing more than adversaries to be defeated, it is certain the conflict will not be resolved and will end in bitterness and hurt. There are those who use conflict to their advantage, almost as a weapon against others. Knowing most people do not like conflict and would rather shy away from it, they manipulate and use conflict to accomplish their own goals.
Fourth, to ignore or to avoid conflict is to acquiesce to what needs to change. It is very rare that change – particularly needed change – ever takes place without conflict. Social change, in particular, involves a great deal of conflict, because some people will always benefit from the way things are – the status quo – and will resist change. Confronting what needs to change means there will be conflict. If we fear conflict to the point that we will not speak against or act against what needs to change in the world, we are failing in one of our most basic callings as followers of Jesus.
Speaking of Jesus, have you ever noticed how conflict swirled around him? That is because Jesus was never afraid to confront what needed to be changed. In fact, Jesus often instigated conflict, and did so in order to bring about change. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus spoke in the synagogue in Nazareth. He first read from the book of Isaiah, sayingthe Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor(Luke 4:18-18). In sharing those words, Jesus received a very favorable reaction – all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips 4:23). That’s a reaction every preacher would love to have! But then it changes quite dramatically. After Jesus levels criticism at his listeners, their reaction changed from one of praise to all the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw him down the cliff(4:18-19). Thankfully, I only have to worry about people sleeping through my sermons; Jesus had people who wanted to kill him after he was finished preaching! When he cleansed the temple, Jesus instigated a very large and intense conflict, and once again had people who wanted to kill him, as Matthew tells us, the chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him (Matthew 11:18).
Nehemiah, as we see in today’s Scripture reading, took the conflict straight to those who were creating difficulty for people. In verse 6 Nehemiah says that he was very angry(verse 6). His anger at the injustices that were taking place drove him to confrontthe nobles and the officials(verse 7). Nehemiah did not mince words as he laid his accusations of perpetuating injustices and hurtful policies at the feet of those individuals, plainly telling them, what you are doing is not right(verse 9). In very plain, direct language, Nehemiah told those in power what they had done wrong and that their practices needed to cease immediately. Not only did Nehemiah tell them they had acted wrongfully and needed to stop, but also told them to make amends, which was done. Had Nehemiah remained quiet, seeking to avoid conflict, the injustices and wrongful policies would have remained in place. Nehemiah used conflict in a positive way, as he advocated for much-needed changes.
2. The Importance of Trust.
I have been fortunate over the years to receive a lot of great advice from people. Some of the best advice was from a person who once told me, when you are new in a church, it is very important to find out who the real leaders are. Sometimes the leaders are the ones listed on a sheet of paper, but sometimes those are not the real leaders of the congregation. To discover who the real leaders are, you must find out who it is that, when the church is about to make an important decision, the people want to hear speak. Those are the real leaders, and they are the real leaders because they have the trust of the people.
Trust is one of the most important components of leadership. Without the trust of people, a person can never be a true leader. John Maxwell says that if you think you’re leading, but no one is following, then you are only taking a walk. If no one is following, it is most likely because they do not trust the person who is attempting to lead.
People trusted Nehemiah. One of the reasons they trusted him is because he kept his word, even when it meant standing up against powerful people and powerful systems. That is not easy to do, and standing up against powerful people and powerful systems, is when we learn which leaders are willing not only to talk the talk, but to walk the walk of leadership.
Who do we trust today as leaders? I find that to be a difficult question to answer. Someone asked me not long ago to name a few individuals who had the trust of the people of our country. Who came to my mind? I’ll confess, I had to think for a while, and then it was still difficult to come up with one or two names. We have grown untrusting. We have so much cynicism towards our leaders. Perhaps it is a reflection of our age of division, but I think it is almost impossible to find a level of trust in our country that would apply even to one or two people.
Leadership is tough, and it is tough on every level. There are books about leadership, but there is no real manual for how to be a leader. In recent weeks, I have read many Op-Eds and heard many commentators offer their opinions about “how to fix things.” I do not doubt the genuineness of their beliefs, but I find myself reading and listening with a sense of amusement, as though leadership and “fixing things” were that easy. It is not easy to lead and it is not easy to “fix things.” There are so many competing agendas, mixed motives, clashing points of view, and many other factors that make it very difficult to “fix things.”
I wish we had more trust in our leaders, but I do not sense that it is there. I believe we would all feel better, and be better off, if there was a greater level of trust toward our nation’s leaders, but trust is lacking. Where are the Nehemiah’s of our age? Who are the leaders to speak to the injustices of our time? I believe that out of this difficult time will come a few leaders who will help to shape and mold our society into the kind of just and fair nation God would have us to be. When they do rise up, it will be as a result of several things – vision, the ability to communicate, and, very importantly, the ability to earn the trust of people.
3. The Need to Create Unity.
Listen again to what Nehemiah said, and the reaction of the people –
10 I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest!
11 Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”
12 “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” Then I summoned the priests and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had promised.
13 I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “In this way may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. So may such a person be shaken out and emptied!” At this the whole assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.
Wow. Wouldn’t it be great if a sense of unity in ending injustice and unfairness was that easy and accepted all the time! But sadly, it is not.
One of the reasons is because unity is a tricky word. Unity can mean, when used by some people, keep quiet. Don’t rock the boat. Everything is fine the way it is. For some, perhaps, but not for others. Unity is important, but there can never be a true or just unity if it comes at the expense of equality and justice for all people.
I was invited to take part some years ago in a unity rally. When an organizer of the rally called to invite me, I had a number of questions – what are you talking about when you use the word unity? What is the purpose of the rally? Is the purpose of the rally to work for unity, regardless of the difficulties involved, and regardless of how much it might cause resistance? Or is unity a word being used to maintain order and the status quo? Unity is not a generic word with no implications for how we live. No, unity is a powerful word, and when we use it, we must be serious about what it asks of us.
Often, when a terrible event of violence, bigotry, and hatred takes place in our society, our leaders often say this is not who we are. I think that statement is made to bring a sense of unity, and I understand that impulse. I disagree, however, with that statement, because it iswho we are. I wish it were not who we are, but it is. There are people in our community, in our state, in our nation, and in our world, who are willing to take advantage of others, who are willing to do violence to others, who are willing to make bigotry a part of everyday life, and to commit other hurtful actions. Nehemiah saw this in his day as well. He appealed to the better instincts of people, pushing them to be better and to do better.
When we speak of living together, we must understand that living together means we have to take a hard look at what is happening in our community, our state, our nation, and our world. We must be willing to look at what is happening, and then to change what is happening. When Nehemiah spoke to the people of his day, he called out to the better part of people. To create unity among the exiles who had returned to rebuild their land and their lives, Nehemiah asked some of the people to undo what had benefitted them, and he did so because those benefits came at the expense of others.
I am grateful that we are open once again for worship. It is not, of course, what we would like, but it is a start. The discomforts of today, and the past three and a half months, have some important lessons for us. We have felt a sense of displacement from our church for the past 12 weeks. Imagine what it is like for those who feel a sense of displacement in their own country. The metal chairs are not comfortable, but let them remind us of the discomfort so many have experienced for so long. The distance between those chairs is something we grieve, but let us grieve the distance that has grown between the people of our community, our state, our nation, and our world.
It is not easy to live together, but with God’s help, and with open and loving hearts, we can do so.
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