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"When the Good Get Good and Mad!”
# 6 in Series: Building for Eternity
Text: Nehemiah 5
October 8, 2006I read on the internet this week, about a Connecticut Supreme Court case in which the court reluctantly ruled that Suzanne Benson was entitled to half the estate of her dead son. Why the reluctance? Because this mother abandoned her son when he was just a baby – and thirteen years later, when the boy was killed in an accident – and his father’s insurance company awarded $300,000 to the son's estate, well. . . Mrs. Benson showed up to claim half the money! Now, under Connecticut law, if Mrs. Benson had officially terminated her parental responsibility, she could not have profited her son’s estate. However, abandonment of a baby does not constitute formal parental termination . . . so Suzanne Benson collected $150,000.
Doesn’t that just make you good and mad? It’s true – if we are to be builders in our homes, our communities, our workplaces and in the wider world, sometimes God will prompt us to get angry. And while the Bible warns us of the dangers of unresolved or unchecked anger, God’s Word also reminds us that sometimes, being truly good means getting truly mad.
For instance, in First Samuel 11, we learn that when Nahash the Ammonite threatened the Isralites with unspeakable violence, King Saul got good and angry. The text says: “When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he burned with anger.” In other words, Saul’s anger was not in opposition to the Spirit of God, but as a result of the Spirit’s infilling. As Bishop Melvin Wheatley once remarked, “There are situations in life in which the absence of anger would be the essence of evil.”
In the midst of his campaign to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, God’s servant Nehemiah found himself enflamed in this way. A long-term drought had combined with some short-sighted economic policies to create a crisis of staggering proportions across the ancient world. Famine gripped the land. Inflation was spiraling out of control. Vast numbers of poor and landless citizens were starving.
In time, even those who held property, were forced to mortgage their lands to the wealthy few who controlled what was left of the food reserves. People were selling their children as slaves, just to keep them from starving. The poor became poorer and more despairing. The rich became richer and more comfortable.
Enter Nehemiah. Considering who he was, his response to the situation was remarkable. You see, Nehemiah was ones of the wealthy Jews. As a cabinet member of the Persian King, he had the necessary resources and connections to ride out the crisis. But Nehemiah loved God – and his heart was broken by the things that broke the heart of God. So he wrote, “When I heard the people’s outcry and these charges, I was very angry.”
Nehemiah couldn’t believe how shamelessly the wealthy Jews were taking advantage of their poorer neighbors. Under God’s law, they were allowed to lend money or food to others and ask for a modest rate of interest on their loans. But that was not what was happening here: the wealthy knew their poor neighbors had nowhere else to go, so they were gouging them – it was a practice known as “usury” – charging heavy interest on loans to the poor; profiting from their helplessness and keeping them in hock.
Well, God’s Word makes it clear that nothing makes God so angry as the greedy abuse of power, especially when it hurts the weak, the defenseless, or the poor. We hear of God’s anger through the prophets of Israel, who cried out against the excesses of the wealthy and their lack of concern for the widows and orphans. We see it again, as Jesus passionately challenged the money-changers in the Temple.
Sometimes the good MUST get good and mad! Why? Because righteous anger moves us to just and holy action. It was holy zeal that inspired the abolitionists of the 19th century to battle slavery; it was righteous anger that fueled 20th century progressives to attack child labor practices and extend the vote to women. It was the stirring of the hot Spirit of God that moved civil rights workers of the 1960’s to stand up against racism. And in Africa, holy anger fueled the fight to end apartheid. Righteous indignation can provoke us to just and holy action – to right what is wrong.
That said, we know that unbridled rage can be counterproductive and destructive, so we look to Nehemiah for guidance. He shows us how to harness our anger into positive change. First, I want us to notice that instead of flying off the handle in a blazing tirade, Nehemiah took time to prayerfully consider the circumstances. “I pondered them in my mind” he said. Friends, anyone can be a cranky critic of wrongdoers – but to be a creative builder requires reflection, self-control, and focus.
After prayerfully considering his course of action, Nehemiah spoke a word of prophetic truth to the wrongdoers; he awakened them to the implications of their greed. Verse 7 says, “. . . I accused the nobles and officials. I told them,’ You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!’ So I called together a large meeting to deal with them and said: ‘As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers [again]… 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?’” And the nobles “kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.”
There ARE people in this world who are just plain wicked. They could care less if their life is contrary to the ways of God as long as they get want they want. But there are also people who are simply unaware of the adverse effects of their actions. As Jesus said, “they know not what they do.” They’re moving too fast… caught up in the pressures and complexities of each day… trying to make a fast buck… running with the wrong crowd. They aren’t even thinking about the consequences of their lifestyle. They need someone who will help them see the moral reality of their choices.
The writer of Hebrews counsels us to “Admonish one another… and spur one another on to love and good deeds.” And I am thankful for those hold me accountable – hold the mirror before me, so I can see the contradictions between who I am and who I want to be and become. Aren’t you thankful for those people in your life? Within the Christian community, we need to DARE to speak a loving word of warning or truth to one another, as Nehemiah did.
But Nehemiah wasn’t satisfied with merely pointing out the problem – he took pains to help the wrongdoers envision a better way – and asked them to make specific changes. He helped the nobles understand that lending wasn’t the problem – the problem was they were taking advantage of the poor with back-breaking interest – and THAT behavior angered God.
Then Nehemiah suggested a more just way to care for the poor. His listeners responded saying, “We will give [the money] back, and we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say." And to help them LIVE UP to their good intentions, Nehemiah summoned the priests and made the nobles take an oath to DO what they promised to do.
The King James Version of Proverbs 29:18 wisely says: “Without a vision, the people will perish.” To effect positive change, we must first envision an alternate way of living and be challenged to work towards its fulfillment. That’s what Jesus did. Through his parables and practical example, he pictured the possibilities of loving more deeply, of living more gracefully, of learning more purposefully the way of God’s kingdom. But he didn’t stop there. Jesus challenged people to live into the reality of God’s Kingdom, saying, “Come, follow me!”
Friends, is there a broken place, or pattern, or person in your home or workplace or sphere of influence? How might God use you to picture an alternative vision and challenge others to seek it with you?
Notice, I say, “seek it with you.” I’m convinced that one of the most counter-productive phrases we hear in the church is, “Somebody ought to.” Somebody ought to clean up our membership rolls. Somebody ought to follow up with our visitors. Somebody ought to visit our shut-ins. Somebody ought to give more money to support the ministry of this church.
Brothers and sisters, I’ve been in a lot of churches all over the world – and I have YET to meet anybody named “SOMEBODY!” There is no such person here at Metropolitan – there is only YOU and ME – and God has called US to do His work here!
The same is true for our world: we don’t need any more folks pointing out problems and saying, “SOMEBODY ought to do something.” What the world needs is people who say, “I’m going to do something – and I invite you to join me.” And that is the final element of leadership evident in Nehemiah’s example: he modeled the behavior he was seeking.
Nehemiah didn’t simply preach sacrificial concern for struggling people, he offered it. In his time, provincial governors normally assessed their constituents for support – either by taking food and wine from them or by levying a tax. And when the person couldn’t pay, the Governor seized the debtors’ land. But Nehemiah said, “Out of reverence for God I [do] not act like that.” Not only did Nehemiah voluntarily give up many of the privileges and comforts he was entitled to as the Persian governor of Judea, he actually spent his resources lavishly, offered precisely the kind of practical compassion toward the poor that he was asking from the other nobles and officials. He modeled the behavior he was seeking.
Jesus did the same thing: he started a revolution by his example! He didn’t just TELL us to love our enemies; he washed his betrayer’s feet. He didn’t just advise us to forgive our opponents; he asked for their pardon from the cross! He didn’t just instruct us to be generous; he poured out his whole life for our sake. And Jesus calls us to do the same – to walk the walk, not just talk the talk; to lead and invite others to follow; to model the life of Christ – to introduce others to him by our example.
People of Metropolitan: the time has come for us to get “good and mad” about the injustice we see in our world! It’s time for us to stand up and say… we’ve had enough of seeing our youth and families destroyed by drugs and alcohol and addiction to gambling; enough of unborn children discarded in casual abortions. We’re sick of violence in our homes; of innocent children being shot in their schools. We’ve lost enough young people to prostitution and pornography. It’s got to STOP!
We won’t stand for differing races and religions living in fear and suspicion of one another, dividing our communities and our world. No more! We’ve had enough of war and the escalation of nuclear arms. It must END before we destroy ourselves and all of God’s creation. And we’re sick of seeing people starve to death in Africa, while so many Americans die from illnesses related to obesity. We through with remaining strangers to our neighbors and seeing precious people languish in nursing homes with no one to visit them.
But we’re not just going to sit back and complain that somebody ought to do something. We’re going to prayerfully consider how to effect positive change, so that our efforts will exhibit self-control and focus. We will speak out and we will vote. We will write letters and advocate for change. We will work and organize and defend those who cannot defend themselves. We will give of our time and talents and financial resources. We will make sacrifices and lead by example. And by the grace of almighty God, our holy anger will give rise to positive change in our lifetime! And all of God’s people said. . .AMEN! and AMEN!
** I am indebted to Daniel Meyers for some thoughts in this exegesis of Nehemiah 5
Rev. Tonya M. Arnesen
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