Monthly Archives: November 2016

Open Table, Opens Doors

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As we work through this “For Our City” series, we are talking about having new and different attitudes toward those around us who struggle or who have fallen into misfortune or poverty, even homelessness. We know that many in our city are generationally impoverished, often never having had the background to learn or experience life-skills that yield success. It can become a cycle.

How do we as God’s people do something specific and positive to break these cycles and move people beyond a current life status? We can meet their immediate needs for a few meals or a few nights of housing. We might even subsidize some bills for food, housing or medical care. But how can we help to move them toward categorical change and sustained, self-supporting success?

REACH Director Jodie Ostoich considered these sorts of questions and found a ministry called “Open Table” that seeks to do this very thing. It is not merely about getting a person through a short window of time of immediate crises, but is rather also resourcing an individual to a new and sustainable way of live … truly moving them out of poverty.

The common need for people who are impoverished and even homeless is that they lack a network of relationships and connections to make positive change. Many social service organizations provide a piece of the pie for meeting needs, but what is needed is something to bring it all together. In the business world, this would be called a business plan or strategic initiatives.

A Christian businessman put together such a model in a real-life experience, and this has been modified into a repeatable ministry model for others to use particularly to help a person move from homelessness to self-sustainable operation. The idea is to bring a “table” of 8-10 individuals together to do what is needed to help a person with connections, assisting them to get beyond the speed bumps that will invariably inhibit progress toward what is a very large goal and mountain to climb.

For those of us who have never been in an impoverished condition of this sort, it is difficult to imagine the complications. Most of us would have family, friends, business and other connections (including lifelong skills) to bail us out of a disastrous downfall in life. But that is not the situation for many in homelessness or deep poverty.

At a recent “Open Table” meeting we had at Tri-State Fellowship, those who have done “a table” to help a client met in a circle with others interested in perhaps joining such a venture. The client helped over the past year was also in attendance. Impacting me in this discussion was a description of the complications that arise in this grand scenario for an individual. For every two steps forward, there might be three steps backward. As an individual becomes more self-sustaining, they may lose other resources such as government assistance. And now, after being highly responsible with a couple of part-time jobs, they no longer qualify for assistance programs and are suddenly actually further behind. And then there is the challenge of finding affordable housing, riding public transportation, getting to a couple of jobs, yet also meeting for a variety of appointments in varied locations to wrestle through remaining issues.

In all of these matters the folks who have come to be the “table” participants can provide assistance to get things accomplished. The “table” meets once a week with the client, providing a variety of items of practical assistance (connections, transportation, etc.) and advice.

Many who entered this process a year ago said that they really did not know how to do this or by what means they might assist, but all said that God used them in wonderful ways as the process moved along. They also commented that once you get to know someone individually who is in poverty, it changes and challenges the prejudices you may have had about the poor collectively.

Between REACH and a couple of churches (including TSF this past year), a total of six “tables” have been successfully completed. This is a ministry that can grow, and in fact it could serve other than homeless individuals – for example, those aging out of foster care or those re-entering society after prison, etc.

For those from TSF reading this, we are going to enter this again in the new year with one or more individuals. For those from other churches seeing this in our devotional series, for more information you may contact Kelli Tencer at REACH by calling 301-733-2371 x107.  There is a training program of three sessions of two hours each, along with all sorts of resources to make this a success.

As churches and Christians, we can’t just relegate these situations to the government to fix them. True and lasting changes can be actually better delivered by a group of God’s people who will set their love upon a hurting individual, thereby changing their lives (including the gospel) and thus being #ForOurCity in a most practical way.

Better Together (Acts 2:42-47)

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We are made to be in community with others and to be people who are interdependent upon one another. Practically from DAY ONE, it was so … as God said it was not good for man to be alone, and thus Eve was created for Adam, toward the end also that they might multiply others who would be together, work together, and serve one another. So it is programmed inside us to be together and do together, finding joy and success in cooperative venture.

“Better Together” – This has become an attractive political slogan used by many over the years, not just recently. And this idea has merit. Great movements and great accomplishments involve masses of people working together, compelled by the vision of a leader to go in one direction.

At the same time, there needs to be a common bond of truth and purpose that unites people together to accomplish great things. So there is merit in finding the common bonds that unite people, beyond the things that make folks different from one another, and to coalesce around that truth to get past small-mindedness toward accomplishment together.crowd-of-people

This idea of being better together and moving beyond small-mindedness is the major theme of week four of the #ForOurCity series. The entire concept of the body of Christ – with all of its varied parts and diversity – is that we need one another. None of alone have everything that we need; none of us is an island unto ourselves. We were made to be interdependent, and that is the way the early church functioned from the very beginning …

Acts 2:42 – They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

All of us who love the church of Jesus Christ and have given our lives to serving and leading it especially love this passage of Scripture. We long for our local congregations to have this sort of mutual affection and relationships. The word “together” is even included three times in these verses – being together, meeting together and fellowshipping together.

Often in sports we hear about the “locker room / clubhouse atmosphere.”  Some teams have it, other don’t. Just this past weekend a football team that lost a game they probably should have won had players calling out one another in the press. Not good. On the other hand, the team that pulled together to beat them is universally praised this year for the great atmosphere of older and younger players all pulling together and contributing to their success.

There is every reason for the church of Christ to have a great “locker room.”  It is the ultimate winning team with the greatest coach ever. There will be tough times, as Jesus said it would be so in this world. Like the legendary coach Vince Lombardi would say, “Sometimes the clock runs out, but we never lose in the end.”

In this Acts 2 passage, we often talk about the constituent elements we see listed here that comprise the well-rounded church: teaching, worship, fellowship, mutual service, public proclamation, etc.  But for today’s theme, notice the emphasis that all of these elements were being done together. And this is what was so attractive about it in the eyes of a watching world. The healthy church (and larger church community) that serves each other well in a genuine community of love by living out their faith is that family that outsiders often respect and may even want to know how you become a part of such a place.  #BetterTogether

“It is finished” (Nehemiah 6:10-19)

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Another great post from Curt Snyder:

Have you ever found yourself completing a project you were involved in, feeling pretty good about yourself, only to have someone else criticize or condemn your work? If so, you probably can identify with Nehemiah. He had been given a burden by God to rebuild the destroyed walls of Jerusalem. He had assessed the situation, rallied a divided people and in just fifty-two days accomplished a feat that should have taken several years to complete. I’m fairly sure he was feeling pretty good about what had just happened.

10 One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.” 11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.

14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophet Noadiah and how she and the rest of the prophets have been trying to intimidate me. 15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.

There will be times in your life when God will be asking you to take a bold step of faith, to do something that is far outside your normal routine. With every one of those bold steps there will be those who hold a differing opinion or viewpoint. There may be those who will tell you that you cannot accomplish it or even stand in stark opposition to what you are doing.  Sometimes they are even those who should be most for you, just like the people of Judah who would have benefited most from the completion of the wall.

17 Also, in those days the nobles of Judah were sending many letters to Tobiah, and replies from Tobiah kept coming to them. 18 For many in Judah were under oath to him, since he was son-in-law to Shekaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah. 19 Moreover, they kept reporting to me his good deeds and then telling him what I said. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.

The reality is there is an enemy out there, an enemy of God and of all those who follow Him, who does not want you to succeed or even attempt to take that step of faith. And he will do everything and use every trick to keep you from doing so.

Nehemiah could have thrown up his hands and said, “What’s the use? Even the people who live here don’t want this to happen.” But he knew what God had spoken to him and he was convinced and determined that he would see it through.

So let’s back up and see in verse 16 how the enemies of Nehemiah responded to the completion of the wall.

16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

God is for you! There is nothing that he speaks into your heart that He cannot and will not see through to completion if you will simply obey. He may not be asking you to physically rebuild a city, but maybe He is asking you to repair a broken relationship, or to reconnect with a neighbor. Maybe He is asking you to serve at your local school or to become a foster family. Maybe He is even asking you to become a missionary, to plant a church or to become a pastor. Regardless of what God is asking of you He can give you the strength to accomplish it; and when those who would oppose you attempt to do so, He will help you so that just like Nehemiah’s enemies: “When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God”

Dealing with False Accusations (Nehemiah 6:1-9)

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Have you ever done some genuinely good deed only to be accused of having a self-serving motivation? That is, at a minimum, annoying in the extreme!  It is enough to make you ponder if it is worth the effort of attempting to serve someone else or accomplish an honorable task.

Nehemiah was faced with such a problem as he neared the completion of the wall around Jerusalem. In chapter six the old enemies appear again, first of all with a false premise …

6:1 – When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates— 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”

But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.

Nehemiah was able to see through the pretext of this request as meaning to do harm, not to just have a nice peace-pipe conversation and reconciliation. The place they wanted him to come was about 25 miles to the northwest of Jerusalem. And there was no reason to meet with these men, as the wall was nearing completion with just the gates remaining to be completed. Clearly this was an 11th-hour attempt to stop the project by stopping the leader of the entire effort.

The deplorable trio next took on a different and more insidious approach and attack …

5 Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter 6 in which was written:

“It is reported among the nations—and Geshem says it is true—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king 7 and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us meet together.”

Have we not just lived through such a season of similar political maneuvering? The bag of dirty tricks is old and … well, dirty … because it is old! It is the way of the world that if you can’t beat your political rival by the truth, make up a host of lies that are at least marginally believable. Throw enough mud against the wall and some of it has to stick.

The accusation was that “rumor had it” that Nehemiah was building this wall for the purpose of announcing himself as king. This would have had repercussions miles away in Persia in the palace of Artaxerxes. The unholy trio of enemies reasoned that this innuendo might frighten Nehemiah into abandoning the work to save his own neck. He answered …

8 I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”

9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”

But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”

Nehemiah called out the ruse, simply denying it while turning to God to be strengthened for the work. He sought out the Lord on seven distinct occasions in this book of the written record of his work and life. And there is a lesson in that for all of us.

False accusation is simply a part of life when attempting to do great things for God. We need to remember that the ultimate enemy we have is not flesh and blood, but rather it involves principalities and powers in high places in the spiritual realm. Satan and his horde of demonic helpers are against our seeking to serve God by serving others, and we can expect that lies and false accusations will come against us. It is par for the course.

We would do well also to remember the words of Paul to the Galatians …

6:8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

As we work to be #ForOurCity, we can confidently remain steadfast and pray like Nehemiah, “Lord, strengthen our hands and remember our work.”

The Silliness of Worry (Matthew 6:25-34)

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On my recent trip to the West Coast to visit relatives, including attending at their church, the pastor preached on this sixth chapter of Matthew. And he told the story that he had earlier preached in a previous ministry on this topic of not over-valuing material possessions, and after church he went out to the parking lot to discover that his car had been stolen!

If you enjoy worrying, you are living at the right time. There is plenty to worry about right now in a world that is terribly damaged. If corporate worry could be measured, the nation right now would weigh in at a rather high number. New president, global terror, fragile world economics, ecological debates about natural resources … just to name a few.

But as a nation we have gone through even more difficult times. I think of my parents’ generation that lived through The Great Depression and the Second World War.  My father told me about the scant income that he had during those years, having a new and young family along with his in-laws to provide for. But he told me that even with nothing to spare, he determined he was going to be faithful to give to God and therefore chose to tithe faithfully. His summary statement about his life was that, “From the day I chose to be faithful to give to God, I have never failed to thrive and have always had even more than enough.”  He put the Kingdom of God as his top priority with his material assets and life skills, and he was totally taken care of as a result.

This should not be a surprise, for this is what Christ said would happen and would be the experience of those who rest in the Lord by prioritizing the eternal reality of God’s kingdom …

6:25 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?bird-and-flowers

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Worrying is easy to do. Remember the insurance company commercial a few years ago that featured the Ray LaMontagne song “Trouble” … that had a dog who had nightmare worries about his bone and all that could happen for him to lose it?  It was a great commercial. The original LaMontagne words say…

Trouble...

Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble

Trouble been doggin' my soul since the day I was born

Worry...

Worry, worry, worry, worry

Worry just will not seem to leave my mind alone

The song would have had a better theological ring if it did not go on to say, “We’ll I’ve been… saved by a woman …”  I think being saved by God would be better, but you get the idea.

Worry accomplishes little, and it is an action that is merely what people of the world do. Those who have no connection with God and eternal perspectives actually have nothing beyond this world. So worrying makes sense in many ways when there is no overarching authority of a God of provision. But to claim an alleged faith in God without actually trusting in it and in Him is to act as if there really is no faith at all.

So we can be generous and trust God, even if we don’t have guaranteed resources for more than the immediate future. We can do more than worry about self, we can think about how to be God’s agents to serve others #ForOurCity.

Counterintuitive Investing (Matthew 6:1-4, 19-24)

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Does anyone really know what to do these days with investments? There is trouble in any direction you look. Just a decade or two ago it was rather easy to manage resources. Interest rates on certificates of deposit were decent and you could even make some money on mere savings interest, now paying only a fraction of a percent. The stock market had not yet crashed and real estate was a guaranteed winner. What can you do now that rather surely promises a yield and reward?

Well, we can help you out. Here today is a plan with payouts that are, literally, out of this world! The challenge is that doing this is very counterintuitive.

When we make investments in an account, we expect to get a monthly statement to follow its progress. When investing in stocks and bonds, the brokerage agency sends a quarterly report of the performance of your positions. As well now in this modern era, you can check online 24/7 to see the status of your funds.

All of this is in the world of the visible – the intuitive. Your investments are fully in sight. That seems eminently wise. We might even call it astute management. And we are not going to slam prudent investment and management of God-given and God-blessed assets that are invested toward the end of meeting our basic needs. But there is a stewardship principle of using the abundance of resources in a way that is generous toward God and his kingdom work, along with blessing others who have insufficient assets for sustaining life.

Jesus spoke to this in Matthew 6, saying …

6:1 – “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

So there is a way to give that represents a genuine heart and motive. Jesus often encountered the religious element in Judaism who lived their “righteousness” in a very public way. It was all about making themselves feel good by showing others that they were clearly and obviously better and more advanced. They even did this with the way they gave their money.

God is a very good accountant. Credit is not necessary on earth, and giving merely to receive it now rather invalidates the reward. God can be counted upon to honor generosity in a place and time where it really matters most.

Christ picked up a similar theme just a few verses later …

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

So much of the Christian life is counterintuitive – just the opposite of the way it seems things should be. Like prayer – trusting an unseen hand, power and authority to help us rather than merely working harder to solve problem ourselves … that seems wrong. And likewise with material assets. Conventional wisdom is to accumulate and hang onto things for security, rather than to risk security by generously giving away what we might someday need for ourselves.rusty-shed

But the real world and true life is the eternal kingdom. What is given toward and invested in this endeavor can never be lost. Unlike the material world it will never fade and rust away or be stolen by someone else. Investments of this sort can never be lost, and these commitments demonstrate the nature of our hearts and what master has authority over our lives. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t horde riches on earth to the neglect of God’s Kingdom and the needs around us, while expecting also to see those riches be eternally a reward for the life beyond.

Accumulated material assets are a burden. One has to spend a great deal of time, energy and care to ensure that they are maintained and secure from theft. The safest thing to do is use them wisely and well to meet our genuine needs and beyond that to share them in a way that also secures them for eternal reward and productive investment.

Being a pastor and biblical instructor is sort of like being a certified financial planner or having a wealth management consulting business. Maybe a good name for this would be “Counterintuitive Wealth Management Consultants.”  Just helping you out.

A Generous God Remembers Generous People (Nehemiah 5:14-19)

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These are some very scary times in which we live. And I’m not talking about the results of the Presidential Election yesterday. The reason this is true is because I am writing this before Election Day and loading it online to post on Wednesday morning. That said, I suppose the opening statement may well be true either in spite of, or because of, however the results turn out.

Apart from political figures, there is plenty to worry about financially these days, given the record deficits and national debt, along with the overbought stock market and international economic instability. Does anyone TRULY know what to do in terms of investment for the future … for retirement, etc.?  The uncertainty is sufficient to make one believe he should hoard every penny possible.

But then along comes those preacher dudes who tell you that you should be rich toward God, talking about stuff like tithing, stewardship, and generously giving from the abundance given you by the Lord. And those same theological talking heads are now preaching (#ForOurCity) about generosity and supporting the poor and disadvantaged in multiple ways! All of that is very nice, but what about responsibility and wisdom. Hey, what would Dave Ramsey say about this?  (He’d probably say to “eat beans and rice, rice and beans.”)

But seriously, how does one be generous toward church, missions and the poor, while not becoming poor yourself by giving away all your resources?  The details of the answer to this question is more than we can write in this forum, but we can begin by making one overarching and timeless truth about God.

Let’s pick up our Nehemiah story of chapter 5, where it says …

5:14 – Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. 15 But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. 16 Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.

17 Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. 18 Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.

19 Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.

These verses today are a sort of summary about Nehemiah’s 12-year administration as governor in Judah, all under the auspices of the Persian king. His central focus was upon the construction of the wall, not upon the at-hand opportunity to be personally enriched and remunerated in the process. Previous governors placed a heavy tax upon the people, doing so with the authority of the government. Nehemiah recognized that his greater employer was God, and his reverence for God and love for his impoverished people caused him to act differently.

Being already a man of some material substance, Nehemiah shared of his abundance in the sustenance of many people. We might say that it is easy to be generous when one is already rich, and surely those with the most have the greatest obligation to share with others. But a complete reading of this passage would seem to indicate that Nehemiah risked pretty much all that he had to get that wall built and to promote the one true God and His people. He ends by praying, “Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.”money-in-hand

So can we, even today at this crazy time of our nation’s history, trust God to supply our needs after we have generously risked our resources for the Lord’s work and for the poor?  The answer is a very strong “yes.”  And no, I don’t have a prayer cloth or any such scheme to share that makes such a statement a truth to live by. Let me do better than that and quote some Scripture …

Hebrews 6:10 – God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

2 Corinthians 9:10 – Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

Romans 8:32 – He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

And here is another exercise for you. Take a moment to make a mental list of all the people you have known who were so generous in giving to the church and supporting missions and causes for the poor that they ended up impoverished themselves.  I’ll pause a moment while you assemble that in your mind…

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What’s the matter? You can’t name anyone? Didn’t think so!  The person is yet to be found who was generous toward God and ended up insufficiently resourced personally. And you won’t be the first. You can risk generosity as a steward of God’s resources. God will remember you.

A Crisis From Within (Nehemiah 5:9-13)

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Another great post from Curt Snyder, pastor of discipleship and outreach at Lifehouse:

The Israelites and Nehemiah had overcome the opposition of Sanballat and Tobiah and resolved to get the work of rebuilding the wall completed. Even in the face of physical harm and war they took the steps necessary to ensure the work would continue. But another threat to the work arose. However, this time it wasn’t an external threat but one from the inside.

Some of the families that had come back to Jerusalem found themselves in a tough financial position, so tough that they were mortgaging their property to pay taxes, and even selling their children into slavery just to get enough money to live. All of a sudden the threat was no longer one from strangers but one from their own families and friends.

So often when we step out to do things for God we will face the initial ridicule of people who don’t agree with us, or who hold different values. The enemy will use these people to try to discourage us. They will criticize and threaten but often when they see our resolve they either give up or it just becomes old news and they move on. And quite frankly it is easy to come together and stand against an outside threat.

However, when the enemy can’t get to us this way he often shifts his focus into trying to raise up a conflict from within, because he knows at this point the most effective warfare strategy is divide and conquer. If he can get those who are working together to disagree he can effectively stop the work.

Fortunately for Jerusalem, Nehemiah saw the problem and addressed it quickly and because of his solid leadership he was able to get the rest of the people to do what was right so the work could continue. However, there was a process. First of all he had to recognize that it was a real problem.

“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?” Nehemiah 5:9

Then Nehemiah took responsibility for the problem himself. He realized that it was as much his problem as everyone else and took action to resolve it.

“ 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” Nehemiah 5:10 & 11

When the people saw that Nehemiah was willing to take responsibility too, they responded appropriately, corrected their errors and took action to do what was right so the work could go on.

“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.”  Nehemiah 5:12 & 13

As we, the Church, step out to be “For Our City” opposition will arise. It may come from other groups, other individuals and possibly even other churches that don’t agree with us. We may be criticized and even threatened but we must stand strong in our resolution to make a difference in the city we serve.  We must also not be naïve regarding the enemy’s strategies. If he can’t stop us with outside threats he will most definitely try to stop it through infighting, disagreement and even a competitive mindset.

As we go forward may we be like Nehemiah who was listening and looking for the problems that could arise and then was quick to resolve it. May we not point fingers and make accusations but truly come together, taking responsibility for the work. May we do everything we can to preserve the unity and harmony it will take for us to really make a lasting impact on Hagerstown for the Kingdom and Glory of God. May we be a true demonstration of the love of God to and for our community. May we truly be The Church that is For Our City.

Seeing is Step One (Nehemiah 5:1-8)

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Probably many of you on your Facebook feed have occasionally seen click-bait pop up for a website that is called “People of Walmart” or something of that nature. It features pictures of oddly-dressed and unusual people who are most often unsuspectingly photographed. Whereas a number of those pictured may be people sadly evidencing some sort of mental illness, the photos just as frequently are displays of gravely impoverished individuals.

For those who succeed sufficiently well in life, it is so simple as to be an almost natural reaction to look down upon people who are poor and struggling. The immediate suspicion is to assume that the condition is derivative from some measure of irresponsibility or laziness. “Just get a job” is an immediate thought, or, “The money you spent on that ugly tattoo on your neck might have bought a few more groceries for your family.”  Beyond this, some people of faith who have been blessed with abundance may even have, at the minimum, some measure of belief that their own success represents God’s blessing, whereas the deprecations of the poor represent His displeasure with them. lonely-people-in-poverty

But is poverty this simple to define? Is it always the natural outcome of bad life choices? And what is the background source of the lack of skills that led to whatever bad choices were made?

Is it not also a reality that many impoverished people are actually in that condition through a complicated series of misfortunes from which extrication is not immediately obvious? This was true in the situation described by Nehemiah in the passage that was primary to our Week 3 sermon within the #ForOurCity series.

Nehemiah 5:1 – Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. 2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.”

3 Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”

4 Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”

The arduous process of building the wall had taken people away from their regular lives and abilities to make ends meet. The situation was grave. They were borrowing money to pay taxes. Beyond that, some were having to subject their children to slavery. Their debts were becoming inexorable. And those who were being enriched were from their own Jewish flesh and blood – actually disobeying the Old Testament Law in charging interest …

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.

They had nothing to say. Why?  What was the nobles’ (the wealthy land owners class) disposition on this? Perhaps they had some of the same viewpoints we might have today toward impoverished people – that God has blessed our greater faithfulness … that they aren’t making wise choices … that their responsibility quotient in not as refined as our own, etc.

I would add to this that the nobles likely did not “see” the poor. Oh yes – they saw them with their eyes, but not with their hearts. Perhaps we too need to look beyond mere “seeing” that can be easily sloughed off and forgotten, to rather “deeply seeing” with hearts of compassion built upon a profound sense of God’s blessing.

Remember the story in Luke chapter 7 of Jesus dining in the home of Simon the Pharisee? A woman with a troubled history had come into the home and was making quite a scene of weeping, anointing the feet of Jesus and wiping them with her hair. EVERYONE in the room could see it (and smell it and hear it), though none chose to speak to it. And finally Jesus asks Simon, “Do you see this woman?”  Of course he could see her; you couldn’t NOT see her. But he was asking if he could SEE her.one-eye

Do you SEE the poor? Does your heart SEE the poor and needy in our community? There is quite a lot to see … I mean, to SEE. And before we can act upon it we have to do more than just see it, but to SEE it.  SEEING is step one.

Poverty Statistics

For those of you who heard the sermon yesterday either at Tri-State Fellowship or in one of the other 23 partnering churches, here in print are some of the statistics shared about the level of poverty in Hagerstown and Washington County …

  • Nearly 13% of Washington County’s residents live in poverty, according to a recent report from the Maryland Alliance for the Poor.
  • Washington County’s poverty rate was the eighth highest in Maryland for 2014, the report said. The poverty line was defined as annual income of $23,850 for a family of four.
  • [According to Lisa Klingenmaier, co-chairwoman of The Maryland Alliance for the Poor], “The cost of living is going up, but wages are not.”… She noted that this year’s report shows a worker in Washington County needs to earn $16.48 per hour to afford the fair market rent and utilities for a two-bedroom apartment without spending more than 30 percent of his income. Two years before, the wage required was $15.98.
  • Median income — Washington County ranked 17th in Maryland with a median annual income of $56,477. The median income is not an average; it means the same number of households bring in more than or less than that amount. Washington County also ranked 17th in the last report, but the median income has risen by $2,238 since then.
  • Child poverty rate — the county ranked eighth in the number of children living in poverty, 19.7 percent, the group found. This number was slightly better than the last report in which the county ranked seventh with 19.9 percent of its children living in poverty.
  • Senior poverty rate — Washington County ranked seventh with 7.8 percent of seniors living below the poverty line, defined as having an annual income of $11,670 or lower for an individual. This number has not changed in the past two years.
  • Unemployment — Washington County had the ninth highest unemployment rate in the state with an average rate of 6.5 percent in 2014. That’s an improvement from the last report, when the county ranked fifth highest with an average unemployment rate of 7.9 percent.
  • Food Supplement Program — Washington County had the seventh highest number of people participating in the Food Supplement Program with 17 percent of the population involved. The average benefit was $126.83 per person, per month. This number was nearly unchanged.
  • Free and reduced-price meals — 50.1 percent of the children in Washington County Public Schools were eligible for the program during the 2014-15 school year, the eighth-highest percentage in Maryland. This number rose from the last report, when Washington County ranked 10th with 47.77 percent eligible.
  • African American poverty — the county ranked fifth in number of African Americans living below the poverty line, 30.7 percent.
  • Latino poverty — at 22.2 percent, Washington County ranked 10th in the number of Hispanic or Latino Marylanders living below the poverty line.
  • Female-headed households — 36.7 percent of female-headed households were below the poverty line, ranking Washington County seventh in the state.
  • Deep poverty — nearly half (45.4 percent) of Washington County residents living in poverty had yearly incomes below 50 percent of the poverty line — or $5,835 for individuals — in 2014, ranking the county 17th in the state for deep poverty.
  • Income spent for childcare — Families with children paid an average of 19.9 percent of their income on childcare, the 12th highest in the state.
  • “Klingenmaier said poverty trends in Washington County actually mirror the state. Maryland’s deep poverty rate, which is 48.3 percent of those living below the poverty line, is the highest in the country.”

What do we do with the “boring” parts of the Bible? (Nehemiah 3:13-32)

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“All Scripture is breathed out by God,” Paul wrote to Timothy, “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

If you grew up in church, you may have been asked at some point to commit this verse to memory.  You might even have a coffee mug or a t-shirt or a wristband with the verse printed on it.

But let’s be real for a second.  God inspired every word in the Bible, yet he communicated his truth through a collection of human authors, whose diverse writings spanned diverse cultures over a period of over 1500 years.  Naturally, we might find some parts of the Bible far more beautiful or far more useful than others.  But Paul says that all Scripture is profitable.  It’s easy to find “profit” in the beauty of the psalms or the clarity of Paul’s letters, but what do we do with the “boring” parts?

Today’s reading comes from Nehemiah 3.  And yes, it’s one of those “boring” parts.  You have my permission to skim it—but afterwards let’s talk about why we should rejoice that such passages are every bit as useful and significant as any other passage in the Bible:

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.

14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.

15 And Shallum the son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And he built the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David.16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur, repaired to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool, and as far as the house of the mighty men. 17 After him the Levites repaired: Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, repaired for his district. 18 After him their brothers repaired: Bavvai the son of Henadad, ruler of half the district of Keilah. 19 Next to him Ezer the son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the buttress. 20 After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. 21 After him Meremoth the son of Uriah, son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 22 After him the priests, the men of the surrounding area, repaired. 23 After them Benjamin and Hasshub repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house. 24 After him Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress and to the corner. 25 Palal the son of Uzai repaired opposite the buttress and the tower projecting from the upper house of the king at the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh 26 and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower. 27 After him the Tekoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.

28 Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own house. 29 After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, repaired. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah repaired opposite his chamber. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, opposite the Muster Gate, and to the upper chamber of the corner. 32 And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired. (Nehemiah 3:13-32)

Why are passages like these “useful?”  Let’s examine four reasons:

  • They anchor us to history. These are real people, with real names.  The Bible is more than a history book, but it is not   We can take comfort in knowing that for the ancient people, this was a part of recording actual history.  And if God has been active in his people’s past, surely he can be active in his people’s present—and future.
  • They anchor us to community. Because these are real people, we can rejoice with the “great cloud of witnesses” that experienced God’s blessings and saw him at work in their midst.  We can find confidence knowing that our faith is not merely ours, but we are brought into a family far larger than we might have otherwise realized.
  • They anchor us to Jesus. Every passage in the Bible points us to Jesus; the only question is “how.”  Where do we see Jesus in today’s text?  Simple, really.  God used Nehemiah to strengthen God’s community, Israel.  In the New Testament, God used Jesus to bring God’s people into Christian community—the body of Christ.
  • They anchor us to God’s bigger story. Finally, there is a larger story into which every piece of Scripture fits into.  God is ferociously committed to establishing his kingdom on earth.  Here, we catch a glimpse—maybe even a foretaste—of that kingdom.  Here the people were dedicated toward the building of God’s community.  We, too, might find life in joyful anticipation of the day that God’s eternal city descends from heaven “like a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).

So, yes, the Bible is useful, it is profitable, it is beautiful.  Even the “boring” parts.

Are you a person of the Word?  Does God’s Word shape your heart?  Your life?  Your story?  If you’ve been reading our devotionals page, we’re thankful to be a part of your spiritual journey.  But if this is your first encounter with us, or if you’ve simply been lax in your commitment to the Word in general, then we’d love for you to prayerfully consider how you might invest yourself in God’s Word, and make his truth a greater part of your walk.