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Nehemiah: Having Each Other’s Backs

Posted on January 29, 2023Leave a comment

Text: Nehemiah 4: 1-3, 6-9, 16-18; 5:1-7

Here at Immanuel, we have team of folks who have working together on a safety and emergency response plan.

One of the things that this group has discussed is that there are different kinds of potential threats to a community.

Those that are external, like a tornado… and those that are internal, like a fire.

And so you need to respond differently to each.

With an external threat, sometimes you need to hunker down and shelter in place.

But an internal threat might require you to exit the building and get to another location.

In all these plans however, our focus is on working together as a community to make sure people are safe and cared for.

Nehemiah shares his account of the call he receives from God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem… and in the process rebuild the community of the people of Judah.

Last week, we talked about how so many people responded and rolled up their sleeves and got to work on this effort.

Each took on their part of the project with enthusiasm!

And yet, it was not all smooth sailing.

The project immediately faced obstacles and threats that could have derailed the entire thing.

Some of these were external threats… from groups that opposed seeing Nehemiah succeed.

But some of them were internal threats and problems within the community itself.

First, let’s look at those external threats.

Nehemiah had been sent with authority from the king of Persia to rebuild this wall.

But the reach of the Persian Empire was vast and covered far more than this little corner of the world.

Regional governors had been appointed to oversee all of these different areas of what we now know as the Middle East and they didn’t all get along with one another.

Early on in chapter 2, we are introduced to Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab, who oppose the efforts of Nehemiah before he even gets started.

“They were very angry that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel” (Nehemiah 2:10, CEB)

But why were they so upset? Why did they care?

Well, they each represented groups that had been ancient enemies of the Israelites.

When God helped Moses lead the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, they forcibly displaced and battled with many other peoples and cultures.

Some of these groups would have rejoiced to see their neighbors brought to their knees and definitely didn’t want to see them rise in prestige or power again.

But there also may have been a sense that the Israelites were getting special treatment being allowed to restore their community.

Maybe they had a bit of jealousy about work of restoration that wasn’t happening in their own city-states.

So they begin to ridicule and attack the Jews and diminish the work that is being done.

One of my favorite taunts comes from Tobiah, who exclaims, “Why, if a fox climbed that wall, it would fall to pieces under his weight.” (4:3, MSG)

What a puny little wall, he is saying.

What shoddy work, done by miserably unqualified people.

At first, the people of Judah were kind of inspired and energized by these taunts… redoubling their efforts until the wall was nearly half of its intended height.

But, as often transpires – violent and hateful words began to become physical attacks.

Sanballat, Tobiah, and these enemies of the people began to plan an assault against the wall.

Living under constant attacks can be exhausting.

Before too long, the words got under their skin.

The people began to believe that they couldn’t be successful.

“The builders are pooped, the rubbish piles up; We’re in over our heads, we can’t build this wall.” (4:10, MSG)

Through it all, Nehemiah turns towards prayer and asks for God to hear their cries.

And then, he gathers up all of the people and gives one of those inspirational speeches that lifts their hearts.

“Put your minds on the Master, great and awesome, and then fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”

What is more… he puts into action a plan so that the people will be unstoppable.

He creates these partnerships so that half of the people stood guard with shields and lances and the other half would work at rebuilding with a tool in one hand and a spear in the other.

Each person had someone else who had their backs.

Because they were all spread so far out in different parts of the city, they used trumpets to rally folks together if an attack came from any direction.

And when they needed to, they took turns and switched places… which was vitally important, because they worked from dawn to dusk.

When evening came, no one returned to their own homes, but they camped out and slept in their clothes, guarding the wall.

Faced with an external threat, they hunkered down and sheltered-in-place… keeping their eyes focused on God and committed to having one another’s backs.

Friends, I think of all of the ways that our church did that throughout the pandemic.

We may have had to hunker down, but we didn’t give up the things that were important like worship or small groups… we just found a new way to connect with online and printed worship.

We formed care groups so that we would be responsible for checking up on one another.

Elder care ministry and teacher buddies were formed so that folks who might be more vulnerable had extra support and encouragement.

And as we are coming out of this pandemic season, I think about those external forces of competition that we might be facing.

The Samaritans and Ammonites and Arabs in this story didn’t have to be their enemies, and yet as they battled for attention and resources, they believed lifting yourself up means putting someone else down.

Our “enemies” aren’t quite so obvious.

But we, too, are competing for people’s time and attention in the multitude of things that pull at them from different directions.

And sometimes, we can feel as if we are having very little impact and can get discouraged.

Maybe we start to cry out, like the Jews did:

We are pooped and burnt out and can’t possibly compete. We are never going to be able to get back to where we were.

And so we, too, need to encourage one another and have one another’s backs.

We need to give one another permission to take turns and share the load.

We need to celebrate the progress that we ARE making and all of the small ways that God is working in our midst.

One simple way, today, that you can do that… In the foyer we have a table with cards that say, “What I love about my church.”

Fill one of those out and add it to the wall…

and take some time to read all of the good and encouraging things that others are saying about who we are and what we are about.

Alright, we’ve talked about some external threats… but what about when the call is coming from inside the house?

All of this great work is happening in rebuilding the wall, but before too long, Nehemiah starts to hear some complaints from the people against one another.

You see, the everyday folks who lived in and around Jerusalem still had to feed their kids and tend their flocks.

And decades of first Babylonian and then Persian rule had nearly wiped them out with the taxes and levies that were enforced.

What is worse… governors and officials who had been appointed to oversee these collections in the past had lined their own pockets through excessive fees and charging interest.

The people had nothing left. They were burnt out and overextended.

Some of them were forced to sell their children into slavery or mortgage their land just to eat.

What good would it do to build the wall and bring Jerusalem back… if the people were gone and the land was no longer theirs?

So Nehemiah calls all of the leaders together and holds them accountable.

No longer would interest be collected.

Fields and vineyards and children would be returned.

The leaders are there not for their own personal self-interest, but for the good of the whole…

Centuries of prophets had called out this kind of selfish and oppressive behavior in the time before the exile… and Nehemiah made his leaders commit to walking in the ways of God.

In the life of our community, the internal threats we face are a bit different.

But I do wonder about the ways that we have burnt people out who are overextended…

How might we need to work to share our burdens of ministry more equitably?

What would it look like if we each worked to give of our time and talents to support the work of the whole ministry of this church… instead of relying upon those who are already carrying the load?

I also wonder about who we have forgotten and who has been pushed to the margins.

We have done really excellent work of reaching out to support some groups like our elders.

Are there neighbors whose voices and lives have we overlooked?

For many years when I first came to Immanuel, Imani was a completely separate church that shared part of our building.

For the last four years, we have created the same kind of space for Immanuel Gospel Fellowship, but now they have become part of our larger Immanuel community.

What does it really mean, however, to extend welcome to people of a different culture or ethnic background?

What does it really mean to claim them as a part of us and us as a part of them?

And what would that look like for welcome of homeless neighbors?

Or community members who rely upon food stamps?

Or our youth who are LGBTQ?

How can we partner and work together and make sure that people know that we have their backs?

Threats to community are abundant and can be internal or external.

But in all things, let us keep our eyes minds focused on God, who is great and awesome, and work together as a community to have one another’s backs.

Let’s fight for our children, our families, our neighbors, and our community.

Amen.

Thinking about running as a General Conference Delegate?

Posted on March 27, 2019Leave a comment

A number of people have reached out to ask about what my experience was, what they need to know, what all is involved. Here are some of my initial thoughts… and if there are comments/questions I’ll continue to expand and update this in response.

I am still praying and discerning whether I want to do this again, but even typing this all out has been helpful for that process to me!

Time Commitment

Reading/Studying of Legislation (see below) – take a few hours, every week, from November/December – May
Two or three retreats with the delegation (usually a Friday-Saturday) where we discuss legislation, hear from experts and interest groups about why they think particular legislation is important, and build relationships
General Conference itself – two full weeks – 24/7… it’s life-giving and exhausting all at the same time… like Annual Conference stretching on x5.
Jurisdictional Conference – far less of both a time and emotional/spiritual commitment… focused on electing Bishops, less on actual legislation
Things to consider:
Do I have the support of my family, work, etc. to give time to this commitment? This is a big stressful endeavor and what you don’t want is the additional stress of deadlines, resentments, etc.
Am I prepared to do the extra work of spiritual/emotional/physical self-care to keep myself healthy (in all aspects) for this process? You have to get enough sleep, drink lots of water, pray, have good resiliency.

The legislation preparation… I think to be a good delegate, you need to be prepared to know your legislation.

You will be assigned to a particular committee, and you are going to be the expert on that section so that you can teach/explain what is being discussed there to others on the delegation. I worked to prepare charts, summaries, etc for my fellow delegates.
There are 12 committees that correspond with different areas of our life together, like judicial administration, faith and order, local churches, etc.
Others on the delegation will become experts on the other areas, but you should also have read and how you want to vote on everything before you get to General Conference.
I used a lot of tabs, highlighters, different colored pens… whatever you need to do to mark-up your legislation so that you know what you’d like to support, where you have questions, any changes you’d like to see made, etc.
You also need to work to familiarize yourself with Roberts Rules of Order (at least the basics) and to have a good sense of what is in our Book of Discipline. Part of my prep included adding tabs to make it easier to navigate my BoD so I knew where different sections were. I worked to figure out what the BoD said in my section in particular, so I could see what the changes in legislation meant.

General Conference Itself

First week is legislative committees. The one you are assigned to will meet and your smaller group (75ish people) will work through every item in your section. You will make amendments, argue for and against, etc.

You will elect a chair, vice chair, and secretary – these are VERY important positions, and so if you don’t know folks, turn to people who might share your perspective to get some advice about who would be good in those positions and why. I think its important that they be fair and unbiased, rather than on your side. These positions, especially the chair, have a lot of power as to who gets to speak within that group.
Because this is a smaller group, you really do have the ability to be heard here. Raise your hand. Go to the mic. Ask questions. Make changes. This is the place to really shape the process.
Everything that has an affirmative vote of a certain percentage in legislative committee goes to a consent calendar to be voted on in a block.
Everything else, or things that have minority reports, will be addressed individually by the larger body.
If you aren’t happy with how something turns out in voting, you can create or sign on to a minority report. This will then bring your perspective back to the larger body.
I had an amazing experience in my legislative committee. We broke into two subgroups and so thirty of us had really good conversation, listened well, made friendships, worked to build consensus… it was the beauty of the process at work!

Consent Calendars

These are published on one day, and then the next day we vote on them.
You have to pay attention to them. Your homework each night is to look individually at the consent calendars and to go back to your notes of what you want to support or not. I usually then transfer my notes back to the consent calendar.
If there are things you don’t agree with that are on the consent calendar, they can be removed. This is done by filling out a form and getting 20 other signatures. Then it comes before the body later for a discussion.

Plenary Discussion

We will vote on whole consent calendars at once, or on individual pieces of legislation. You have the ability to speak for, against, amend, ask questions, etc.
Plenary is VERY different from legislative committees. It is much harder to get to speak. You register electronically to do so and then the presiding bishop calls on you. I like to talk and interact and engage… and to not be able to say something or to be waiting all day and never get the opportunity to do so is part of the process.
I have found these discussions to be brutal. Emotions/Spirits are high. People are polarized. Our process here is very unhealthy and doesn’t lend well to what we think of as Christian Conferencing.
This is the part of the process where you need the most emotional/spiritual/physical resiliency.

Worship – don’t skip it – it is often the most life-giving and replenishing part of what we do. These folks have worked hard to help support us and to keep us focused on God and I have always found it to be balm to my soul.

You can’t do it alone.

There are group chats/apps/discussions going from various caucus groups. Get connected with them. Things, particular in plenary, move so fast and sometimes it is hard to understand what is happening. These groups often have connected folks who understand polity well who help to explain why something is being said or what the process is. They also can provide quick updates as to the impact of amendments. You are absolutely free to still vote your conscience, but they provide some helpful suggestions.
These groups also provide emotional/social support. You get to know people and find out when meet-ups are and can build connectional relationships.
Take time to have meals with others… listen to people you disagree with to see where they are coming from. Explain your positions not to convince, but to help them understand, too.
Let others help you and support you.

Hammers and Nails

Posted on August 24, 2008Leave a comment

This morning, I want to tell you a story about a carpenter who worked for his father’s construction company. One day his dad called Junior into the office and said, “Junior, I’m putting you in charge – total and complete charge – of the next house that we build. I want you to over see the whole job from ground up and order all the materials – nails, 2.4’x… everything.”

Well, Junior quickly got to work on building the house that his father had designed. For months before the groundbreaking he studied the blueprints and checked every specification. Then he pulled together a team of dedicated and hard-working people. While he knew that this was something that he could easily do on his own – that wasn’t the way that Jesus worked. And so he brought each individual to this team because of something special that they offered – because of some gift or talent that they had. Joe was the type of guy that made sure everyone else knew what they were supposed to be doing, so Jesus made him team leader. Julius had a special talent for putting up drywall. Sue knew how to pour a fantastically level foundation. Fred was married to the local lumberyard owner and so they would have access to the best materials.

Junior brought his team together and told them – I have given you everything that you need to build this house. You have been blessed with the skills you need to make it work – but you have to work together. I have specifically brought each of you here because together you can do more than any of you could do alone. You need one another to make this happen. So as I start to build this house – each of you have an integral role to play…”

The team eagerly got to work on this great project. They were so willing to follow the guidance of their leader Junior. But after a few weeks of great work, there began to be problems among the team. Steve, who was on the crew that brought food for everyone each day stopped showing up. Megan was a part of the team because of her precision hammer work, but she spent all of her time laying tile. The guy who was supposed to order all of the cabinetry tried to cut some corners and ordered much cheaper material and only half as much as was needed. Pretty soon, others on the team got busy with their families and the rest of their lives and started showing up only every other day. Some stopped showing up at all.

Junior looked around at the jobsite – half finished, and in desperate need of help – and thought… we can still do this.

The truth of the matter is this story about Junior and his construction project isn’t a story about a house at all. While Junior may have been brought up to be a carpenter, he has a much bigger calling that has taken over his life. You see, Junior has another name and another purpose for this thing that he is building… His other name is Jesus and his plan is to build a church.

This church that Jesus has in mind, this church that Jesus is building in reality has nothing to do with 2×4’s and levels and hammers and everything to do with the people that he has called together to build it. Not some hypothetical Steve and Megan – but you and me.

If we go back to our scriptures and look at the word which is used for the church in our bibles – the word is ecclesia – which literally means the “called out ones.” Each and every single one of us has been called out, called here to this place in order to BE the church that Christ is building. In essence, we are the 2×4’s, we are the nails, we are the foundation, the supporting structure, the insulation, the windows, the doors – we are the church.

In our gospel reading this morning there is a lot going on, and we will talk about Peter’s whole declaration that Jesus is the Messiah next week… but as a result of that, as a result of someone finally “getting it” – Jesus, in essence, begins his task of building the church – laying the foundation for the Kingdom of God that he has come to proclaim. He looks at Simon, whose nickname of Peter, or petra in Greek literally means rock and he says, “On this rock, I will build my church!”

It’s almost as if he is telling his friend, You are going to be part of the foundation of my church and nothing is going to stand against it.

Here is this guy Simon Peter, who countless times in the gospels makes mistakes and lets Jesus down and seems to fail in every way possible. And Jesus decides to make Peter the foundation of the church? Sounds a little like our carpenter was using shoddy materials, doesn’t it?

No, because Jesus is the one building this church and Jesus has the ability to take all of our mistakes and all of our weaknesses and all of our failings and when he puts us together with one another, when he strengthens us with the Holy Spirit, when his flesh and blood is poured into this project – nothing, not even death will overcome this church.

In the book of Isaiah we hear a glimmer of that promise. Isaiah speaks to us God’s word when he says, “look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham and to Sarah… for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many.” (Isaiah 51:1-2)

Who were Abraham and Sarah out of the multitude of people in the world? Nobody really. Nothing entirely special. They had their own faults and weaknesses. But they are the stuff from which our heritage has come and God took their lives and blessed them and made something great out of them. All of it is God’s work, not our own. This church that we sit in today is God’s church, not our own. All of us here may think we are a part of the First United Methodist Church – a church that some of your parents and grandparents and great-grandparents helped to build – but no, you are a part of God’s church, a church that Christ has built through all of them and now is continuing to build through all of you.

The difficult part is letting go enough for Christ to do his thing! And by letting go, I don’t mean sitting back and watching it all happen. I mean letting go of our ideas of what this church should look like, who it should include, and where it is headed. Letting go of all of the “good old days” talk and all of the “we shoulds” and “we shouldn’ts.”

Paul wrote to the church at Rome and sent them a beautiful systematic and theological account of what Christ has done. And he talked about God’s grace and God’s mercy and how we have an opportunity to respond to the grace that has been given to us and he writes in the passage we heard this morning (this from the Message translation): So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. (The Message, Romans 12:1-3)

More common translations of the bible ask us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God – or taking our whole lives, everything about them, our jobs, our families, our passions and hopes – all of it – and placing it before God so that God can bless our lives and transform them and use them to build his kingdom.

The amazing thing here is that God is not asking us to lie down and give up everything… This is not a sacrificial end, but a sacred beginning… Jesus tells the disciples “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Mt 16:24-25) A pastor friend of mine was also working on her sermon and wrote words so beautiful I just had to borrow some of them – because you see, we are supposed to be living sacrifices! Which means like Isaac and his father Abraham, we crawl off the altar, and start living, letting God’s hands shape our lives, pound us into shape, pour us out, fill us up. “You can live your life so that God can do something with you.” (http://faithinflipflops.blogspot.com/)

And the thing is, just like the workers who were called together by Junior – each of us has some part of our lives that God wants to use. Each and every single one of us has been graced with gifts and talents and personalities and passions that no body else has. And because together – all of us running around as living sacrifices- make up this living, breathing, moving Church – we need everyone to play their part.

Peter Gomes is a professor at Harvard Divinity School and he once said that “the church will never be any better than we are.”

I believe that is completely true. Because we are the 2×4’s and the nails and the drywall and the windows and doors and insulation – we are the church. And if we let ourselves wear out, if we put aside our best materials and only bring to the church second-rate lumber, if we cut corners and take the easy way out, then we are a weak house built on a poor foundation.

We are called to Be the church! And it takes all of us, living in partnership with one another to make this happen.

You see, the thing about the church is that it isn’t some country club that you belong to – a membership in an organization where you can pay your dues and show up for meetings once and a while. The church is a community of people who follow Christ with their whole lives! And that is a tough and challenging and beautiful and joyful and rewarding thing!

Because if you look around this morning- you will find all sorts of other people who are on this journey with you. Think of them as the other 2×4’s that support the church with you – think of them as the nails that hold us together – think of them as the windows that will fit perfectly into the holes cut for them that help us to see the world outside of us. We all have a place; we all have a purpose here.

Hear again these words from Paul in the book of Romans: So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face. (The Message, Romans 12: 5-8)

It takes all of us to be the church. And as living sacrifices, the church needs all of our prayers, presence, gifts and service. Yours and mine.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember what it means to be the body of Christ, to be the church in the world today. In many ways, the church, both ours and the church universal, have allowed themselves to be more conformed to the culture around us – the attitudes, the expectations, the focus on growth at all costs and on financial success – rather than to be transformed by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

The best way that I know how to start to strip away all of those things that get in the way, those things that look more like the world than like Christ, is to start back at the beginning – to go back to the basics and look at what it really means to be the church.

So in the next weeks and months, we are going to wipe our slates clean and start fresh. Now, this doesn’t mean that what we have accomplished in the past is worthless… think of it this way. I have a friend who used to run at least 3 miles every single morning. It took her a long time to build up to that, but she did it. At some point though, all of the other things in life began to take priority in her schedule, got in the way, and her running days ended. She still thought of herself as a runner, but she had stopped practicing the art. Like her, we need to shake off the dust, limber up our joints, and start practicing again. Unfortunately, if she went out there and tried to run 3 miles cold, she would have some problems – she wouldn’t make it and she just might give up. Just like she needs to start from scratch, with shorter jogs, building up her endurance, so we need to gradually open up our lives and let Christ in – let Christ transform us from the inside out.

As we do so, each week we will look at one way that Christ calls us to “be the church.” One simple way that we can start being the church again. One step at a time. Little by little, Christ will work on us, Christ will form us and shape us, little by little, Christ will build this church. Amen and Amen.