30 October 2011

Psalm 24, 29; Neh. 5:1-19; Acts 20:7-12; Luke 12:22-31

In the midst of the rebuilding project an economic problem either arises or becomes more acute as the people focus their attention on the work of rebuilding. It seems most likely that this second explanation is the real one since the rebuilding of the wall took only 52 days. As the people spent their energy and resources on rebuilding rather than on economically productive labor, a bad situation became worse. There were issues of social injustice within the community that had to be addressed. Nehemiah may have signed up only for a construction project, he also had to deal with issues in the community that had probably been long-simmering. That the wives joined the protest in verse 1 tells us that the problem was particularly great. Some wealthier members of the community seem to have been taking advantage of the poorer members in violation of God’s law not to lend with interest to the poor. Some Israelites had been sold as slaves, again contrary to the law. The wealthy complained that the tax burden was great and they had no other choice. Nehemiah personally led the way by not asking for any support and providing for others from his own table. Leaders always need to show the way and uphold God’s way for the people. If the community was not formed according to God’s will from Scripture, the wall was ultimately an immaterial reality from His perspective. The “new” Jerusalem must be based on the Word, otherwise its civil existence was unimportant.

Jesus teaches an alternative way of life. God’s people should not be consumed with anxiety over the things of earth. Jesus promises that the Father will provide for our needs, we can move beyond the physical to the spiritual. Does that mean that physical things are immaterial? No, it means that we can trust the Father in those things and fix our minds, hearts and lives on higher things. We can love God and love our neighbor because the Lord loves us and will provide for our needs. We can then turn ourselves outward from self-obsession and begin to share what we have with others, the love of God. Have we reached that point in our walk with the Lord?

The first thing to notice in what we see as a humorous story about a preacher going on so long that someone falls asleep in a window and then falls out is in the first verse of the reading, “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread…” This is the earliest evidence that the new community had made a change in the pattern of worship from Judaism. They were meeting on the first day of the week, the day of the Resurrection, rather than the seventh day. The remainder of the story is straightforward but Paul seems to have spent the entire night in talking with the church. A new community had been formed, however, distinct from the old community and it would be formed around the breaking of bread in remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. That action breaks down social distinctions and says we are sinners saved by grace alone, every one of us. The community of the redeemed is one not of walls but of grace and love.