As you surely remember, last Tuesday was election day. Maybe you were happy with the results. Maybe you were not. And maybe you think Democrats are so different from Republicans, and Republicans so different from Democrats that there’s no way they could have things in common. But they do have things in common, and that commonality is something we see in the man Nehemiah. That commonality is also something we should have in our faith.
The things in common are: passion, commitment, and strategy.
It is easy to think that our political parties are driven by high and honorable ideals. Indeed, their platforms do talk about things that claim moral righteousness. But we all know that the parties are driven by a desire for power. We know that they spend lots of money on experts and studies to understand the voters. Then they put together a platform that will appeal to a strategic number of them; they hope will be enough to be a majority. Given that America is a large and diverse nation there is strategy as to what demographics to appeal to and where.
In a primary election a person seeking office knows that he or she must appeal to a majority of those in their party, and then in the general election appeal to a majority of their whole voting population.
If you’ve ever watched a congressional hearing you know that they are rarely interested in the truth or in creating good outcomes. They are really using it as a platform to make political statements and appeal to their voters.
It is all strategy, strategy, strategy. And maybe, in the midst of all that strategy something good comes out of it for the public. But that may be more accident than anything else.
We may think such tactics should not be used for our faith. We may think faith should always be pure and honest and straightforward. But let’s not be so naïve. There are ways to be absolutely truthful and very cunning. Let’s look at Nehemiah as an example.
The book of Nehemiah starts off by introducing the main character. Nehemiah is a Jew who serves as cup bearer for Artaxerxes, the King of Persia. Presumably Nehemiah, or his ancestors, were among those taken into exile by the Babylonians when they destroyed Jerusalem. But decades later when the Persians conquered the Babylonians the Jews were allowed to return. They didn’t all return at once, but returned in waves over a period of time. Last month when we were reading Ezra we had stories of the initial Jews returning and the temple being rebuilt. But the walls of Jerusalem were still in ruins.
We have to do a bit of guesswork here because the text is vague and there are no other historical sources. It appears that things are not going well in Jerusalem. Perhaps its lack of defenses renders it helpless to marauders. Perhaps there were military struggles among the provinces in the Persian Empire. After all, the Persian Empire did include a lot of cultures who were enemies of each other. Or perhaps a lack of defenses just made it have no distinct identity. We do not know. What we do know is that Nehemiah is deeply bothered by this.
Notice that despite being a cupbearer for the king, Nehemiah does not just go up to the king and as him to do something about Jerusalem. No, Nehemiah appears deeply sad before the king. This may have been authentic or strategic. Who knows. But it did get the king’s attention. And when he has the king’s attention notice what Nehemiah says. First he starts off with language of appropriate devotion, “May the king live forever!” Then he goes on, “Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my ancestors’ graves, lies waste, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
Notice that nowhere does Nehemiah mention the name Jerusalem. Jerusalem was notorious as a rebellious city. From the point of view of a far-off king, you don’t want a notoriously rebellious city to rebuild its defenses. It’ll just get harder to keep it under control!
So the king asks Nehemiah what he wants.
Nehemiah remains strategic. He prays first though, because this is truly an act of faith. Then he says, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves, so that I may rebuild it.” Notice again that he has not specifically named Jerusalem.
Don’t think of this request as simply a pious act in memory of his ancestors. It would, by ancient standards, imply rulership of the rebuilt city and, since it was the capital, governorship of the province as well.
The king is certainly not foolish. He knows Nehemiah is talking about Jerusalem, and he knows that Nehemiah’s request is to basically be appointed as the governor. But there is more going on here than we may realize at first. We’re given this little detail that the queen was sitting beside the king. What’s up with that? Well, we can get the picture without going into too much detail. Palace wives did not make public appearances. So, we shall note that this whole scene takes place in the king’s private chambers when Artaxerxes is enjoying some female company.
Biblical scholar Ralph Klein notes this, “Nehemiah carefully chose a favorable time to approach Artaxerxes with is concerns about Jerusalem, using all the tricks of body language and tact that he could muster. He may have known that the mention of Jerusalem would raise the king’s hackles, and so he referred to the city as the place of his ancestor’ graves,… He recognized the king has the right to make his own decision. But he also knew that timing was everything, and he may even have enlisted one of the king’s favorite women to help with his plan. He did not ask too much too soon, but instead seized the opportunities granted by the king’s open-ended questions. Nehemiah had gained the king’s confidence over the years and used that trust now to good effect.” (New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 3, Pg. 758)
We could spend a lot more time with the details of what Nehemiah does, but we get a hint of how Nehemiah works. We see later in the text that traveled to Jerusalem and stayed three days without telling anyone of his plans. He inspects the ruined walls under the cover of darkness. Nehemiah plans ahead, sets the stage, gathers information with stealth, and only when he deems the time is right, does he act.
Too many Christians think that doing God’s work is always going to be clear and straightforward; that doing God’s work should not require political savvy or strategy. But do not forget Jesus’ advice, “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Also, that no one builds a tower without first estimating the cost.
Nehemiah is cunning and shrewd, but notice that he is still a man of integrity. Ultimately, he is not vague with the king. He asks for travel approval and guards. He asks with specifics for approval for timber from the king’s forest, the approval to rebuild the walls, and to build a house for himself. In other words, Nehemiah still works within the structures and laws of the society to bring about that which is good.
And we read that when he did arrive with his resources and approvals, and when he announced his plans, he was still challenged and ridiculed by nearby leaders.
I want to say, “May we have the faith, commitment, and creativity of Nehemiah.” But as we read further into the book this month we are going to come across things that he does that we probably won’t like. We’ll see that Nehemiah does become the provincial governor and that he can be hard nosed and even harsh. But we’ll also see that he never uses his power or prestige to get himself special treatment. Instead, he always uses his power for what he discerns God’s will to be.
And so even where he does go too far, he has done it with genuine faith and commitment. I’d say it’s better to go a bit too far than to never do anything at all.
Our faith needs to have a passion and commitment that takes us outside of that which is easy and comfortable. If we always stay in comfort and convenience then evil wins. Effective and meaningful life is never attained through comfort and ease. Passion and commitment drive us to plan and strategize. We meet barriers, and we stay persistent until we overcome them. Life is always about growing and seeking betterment, even when we feel old, frail and weak. The gracious hand of God is with us. And God will bring to fulfillment that which God starts to do.
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