From Sampler to Sower

“Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” (Nehemiah 1:11b, NIV)

As you’re probably aware, the Book of Nehemiah opens with a surprising revelation for Nehemiah.  Despite the return led by Zerubbabel and the decrees of Cyrus and Darius, the Jerusalem remains a city disgraced.  It’s wall lies in ruins, and it’s precincts are exposed and defenseless.

And as you’re probably also aware, when Nehemiah hears a report of this situation from his brother Hanani, his first response is one of prayer.  It’s a natural response for a man of faith, nothing surprising here.

But what is surprising is how, exactly, Nehemiah prays:

LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,  but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man. (Nehemiah 1:5-11, NIV)

Notice what Nehemiah says.

And notice what he doesn’t.

Nehemiah receives devastating news, yet when he prays, he’s far more interested in whom he prays to than what he is praying about.  His focus, first and foremost, is on God and his promises.  His problems aren’t even mentioned until the very last sentence of his prayer.

And when he finally does mention them, notice what he says: “Grant me favor in the presence of this man.”  You do remember who “this man” is, right?  This man is none other than Artaxerxes, self proclaimed king of kings, emperor of all Persia, hailed by his people as the god of heaven, the one who, at least according to his name, is the one true ruler.  He is the one who has the power to issue the incontrovertible decree.  He is the one who holds Nehemiah’s very life in his hands, who, with a word, can order him struck down for having the insolence to suggest he change his mind regarding Jerusalem.

Or at least, that’s how it looks to those who see with eyes of flesh.

Nehemiah, however, knows better.

YHWH, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and who through Nehemiah’s own name promises comfort, YHWH is the God of Heaven and Earth.  Despite claims to the contrary, YHWH is the King of Kings, and he alone holds life and death in his hands. No decree of man is ever incontrovertible when YHWH is involved.

And so in comparison to the greatness of his God, Nehemiah’s king is nothing but this man.

When Nehemiah prays, he keeps things in perspective.

How about you?

Is your focus on His power or your problems?

You know the feeling. Perhaps you just watched a coworker get all the credit for a project you worked together on. Perhaps the friend who always comes to you for help when finances are tight just went on an elaborate vacation while your financial situation kept you at home. Someone else just landed what you’ve been dreaming of, be it the dream job, the new home, the opportunity of a lifetime.  Whatever it is, you wanted it, they got it, and you’re left dealing with the disappointment and resentment that what you wanted just passed you by.

Welcome to envy.

So far in our series The Seven Deadly Sins of Youth Ministry we’ve looked at the ways gluttony and wrath can get in the way of our ministry.  By way of review, the traditional list of seven capital vices includes:

• superbia (pride)
• avaritia (greed)
• luxuria (lust)
• invidia (envy)
• gula (gluttony)
• ira (wrath)
• acedia (sloth?)

Today we’ll tackle invidia, also known as envy.
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If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3, KJV)

I was reminded of this verse recently while listening to a moving speech by a local educator, warning myself and several of my colleagues about the dangers that Nazism and Communism pose to area youth. His concern was that if we allow the foundations to be destroyed, we have no hope.

I was sorely tempted to include this verse in my post about the Top Six Verses that AREN’T in the Bible, as it seems like this verse is so often used in a Chicken-Littlesque warning that the foundations of Western Civilization are crumbling and if we don’t do something fast, the righteous won’t have a prayer (as if, somehow, the foundations of Western Civilization are the footing on which our faith is founded!).

As much as using it this way seems a bit of a misunderstanding at best and blatant proof-texting at worst, I have to admit there is some room for interpretation in this passage. Using the text the way my educator friend did is not as cut-and-dried out of context as the others on the list.

So I’m giving the verse a post all its own.

Before we go any farther, take a second to read all of Psalm 11, maybe even comparing a couple translations. (Don’t worry; it’s only seven verses long.) Then read the rest.
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June 6, 1884 a 28 year old Nikola Tesla arrived in New York City after a long journey from France.  The brilliant young physicist had spent the previous year working for the Continental Edison Company, where he came to know Charles Batchelor.  Batchelor, close friend of Edison and the manager of Edison’s power company in Paris had written a letter of recommendation, introducing Tesla to the great inventor.

It was the start of a very ugly relationship.

It started with promise.  Edison quickly recognized Tesla’s brilliance. Tesla bent his mind to improving Edison’s motors and generators.  But a dispute about promised payment for the work soon had the two inventors at odds.  Tesla would resign when Edison did not only refuse to pay the bonus he had promised, but also declined to give him a raise.  And the relationship only went down hill from there.

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When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise. (Proverbs 10:19, NASB)

Our church is currently holding revival services with Rev. Larry and Tamla Leckrone.  That’s right, good old fashioned revival.  I count it a privilege to serve a church that still makes a priority out of revival. And it’s an honor to be a part of a theological tradition in which revival services have long had an important place.

Of course, sometimes being a part of the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition carries with it some baggage which proves less than helpful.  The Holiness tradition in general and the Church of the Nazarene in particular have a long reputation of being legalistic.  For many years the American Holiness Revivalism movement has defined holiness in terms of the things we don’t do.  We took seriously the call to “Come out from among them, and be ye separate” and frequently measured that separation in terms of the things we turned away from.

• We didn’t drink.
• We didn’t smoke.
• We didn’t dance.
• We didn’t cuss.
• We didn’t wear make-up.
• And we certainly didn’t stop the list with just five prohibitions.

Then something happened…

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This Lenten season has me thinking about the ways in which the attitudes long recognized as the seven capital vices can poison and sabotage our ministries.  We’re looking at each of the vices in a series we’re calling The Seven Deadly Sins of Youth Ministry.  By way of review, the traditional list of seven capital vices includes:

• superbia (pride)
• avaritia (greed)
• luxuria (lust)
• invidia (envy)
• gula (gluttony)
• ira (wrath)
• acedia (sloth?)

Today I’d like to consider the vice of ira known in English as wrath, rage or anger.
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Lent is a season of reflection and repentance, a time to do a hard reset on our priorities and fix our minds on things above, not on earthly things. But we’re youth workers, right? Of what do we have to repent?

(OK, at least some of us are youth workers. I realize I have plenty of readers who aren’t actively involved in youth ministry. If that’s you, you’re more than welcome here too.)

In light of that question, I’d like to take a closer look at how we do ministry, as well as how we live our daily lives, to see if there isn’t still room for repentance this Lenten season. To that end, I’m starting a new series on some of the attitudes and actions that threaten the effectiveness and Christlikeness of our ministry. I’ll be addressing them under the rubric of the seven deadly sins, starting with the sin of gluttony.  But first a word about the sins in general.

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“Brethren, while fasting bodily, let us also fast spiritually. Let us loosen every bond of injustice. Let us destroy the strong fetters of violence. Let us tear up every unjust writing. Let us give bread to the hungry and let us welcome the homeless poor into our houses, that from Christ our God we may receive the great mercy.” (Stichira, Wednesday of the First Week)

As I was reading Alexander Schmeman’s phamphet Great Lent: A School of Repentance yesterday, I came across this sticheron, written to be used as part of Orthodox worship on Clean Wednesday, the first Wednesday in the Great Lent.

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The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began,
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say

‘That sounds like a bit of old Bilbo’s rhyming, said Pippin. ‘Or is it one of your imitations? It does not sound altogether encouraging.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Frodo. ‘It came to me then, as if I was making it up, but I may have heard it long ago.  Certainly it reminds me very much of Bilbo in the last years before he went away.  He often used to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door,” he used to say. “You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is know knowing where you might be swept off to.”‘ (From J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Book One, Chapter 3)

Perhaps my favorite quote of my favorite book of all time (as long as like Tolkien, you view the Lord of the Rings as a single book).  This quote unlike any other captures the mystery of adventure and the thrill of travel.

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