You’re listening to, “Nehemiah, building a city within the city,” a teaching series by Pastor Mark Driscoll.” The following is a presentation of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. For more audio and video content, visit marshillschurch.org.

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The hope of Mars Hill since the beginning is that Seattle is a great city and what it needs is a great city within that city, a city that loves Jesus, a city that believes Scripture, a city that lives for the good of the whole city, not just its own self‑interest. And so Mars Hill started off as an experiment to see if we could build a city within the city that would love the city and seek the transformation of the city as the city meets Jesus.

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Evening, Mars Hill. How you guys doing? Good to see you. My name’s Mark, if you’re new, one of the pastors here at the church. We had a great week last week. It was Easter. Between Good Friday and Easter, we had almost 10,000 people, right around 10,000 people. And you can continue to pray for our church as we expand to new campuses, services, locations. Seats are always an issue for us. We open our West Seattle campus. And first day, we outgrew it by about 400 seats. We actually couldn’t get everyone into the building for Easter, and we had to turn some people away. And so we’re gonna have to add services there as quickly as possible. So do be in prayer. We’re looking at many real estate options, many service options, many campus expansion opportunities. It’s a great time. Things are going really well.

If you’re new, one of the things we love to do at Mars Hill, is we love to go through books of the Bible and just study Scripture. We know that God speaks through Scripture, and we speak to God through prayer. Those are the primary means by which our relationship with God is cultivated. So if you’re new, I’m gonna pray in just a moment and speak to God on our behalf. And then we’re gonna open Scripture and God can speak to us through his Word. And if you wanna follow along, we’ll be in Nehemiah 5. We’re spending the better part of the year studying this book in the Old Testament. And we find ourselves in the first 13 versus of Chapter 5 tonight. So I’ll pray and we’ll get to work.

Father, we thank you that you are the living God. We thank you that we could speak to you in prayer and that you hear us and answer our prayers. And, God, we thank you that you also want to speak to us and you’ve chosen to do so through Scripture. And so, God, as we open your Word, we do so trusting that you will speak to us. We ask that you would send the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Scriptures which he has inspired to be written. And, Holy Spirit, we ask that you would reveal to us the person and work of Jesus, because we know that that is the central theme and message of Scripture is Jesus.

And so we ask that we’d see the life of Jesus and how our life can be very practically connected to his and our finances and the practical affairs of our day‑to‑day life can be used to glorify him, to honor him. And so, Jesus, we ask that you would meet us here this evening, and that you would give us the grace to see you and to respond to you because we ask this in your name, amen.

Let me get you up to speed on Nehemiah in case you’re new. Nehemiah’s a story about a great city, just like ours. And in it, there is a great need. That need is that the city has been in neglect for quite some time and the church in that city has been really in steep decline and neglect for many generations. God then burdens a man named Nehemiah to relocate to that city, to build the city, to serve the city, and to build a church, the Old Testament church, as the city within the city that lives according to the teaching of Scripture, demonstrating to other people what life can, should, and would be like if they would turn from sin to trust in the God of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Upon arrival, he’s immediately met with some sort of freakish bloggers, a few critics, wing nuts, weirdoes, a couple protestors, picketers, a couple various rights and activists groups. He deftly sort of navigates all of that conflict and controversy, and a lot of the external opposition to God’s work in that city dies down. You would expect then that God’s people would pull together and make good momentum and progress, but that doesn’t happen. We see this week, that the primary obstacle to their forward progress is now external, but it’s internal. It’s not those who aren’t Christians or worshipers of the God of the Bible. It is, in fact, those who claim to be worshipers of the God of the Bible, and are part of the Old Testament church.

In this, we see a very important principle, and that is that you and I who are Christians, we can’t blame everyone else for the sad state of Christianity. Can’t say, “Well, it’s the liberals or the conservatives, depending on what team you’re on. The Buddhists. It’s the Hindus. It’s the Muslim. It’s the feminists. It’s the chauvinists. It’s the left‑handed people, the right‑handed people.” You can’t blame some other group out there, because though we may have opposition or maybe some people that aren’t big on Christianity or make life more difficult for those of us who do love God and want to see others meet Jesus, the truth is that the greatest threat to the health and wellbeing of Christianity in general, our church in particular, is us. It’s you and me, those of us who participate in the life of our church.

This is true in Nehemiah 5. The problem is not external. It’s internal. It’s not strangers. It’s friends. It’s not those who don’t know God. It’s those who claim to, but don’t live like it. The same was true in the ministry of Jesus. Who was the biggest opponent of Jesus? Judas Iscariot. Not a stranger, a friend. Not someone who is external. Someone who is internal.

We see this as well in places like Acts 20. In Acts 20, in Paul’s farewell address the Ephesians elders, he says, “Now after I leave men will arise from your own number, distort the truth and lead many astray, so be on guard.” Paul says, “The real problem is gonna come from within the church. The people who are relationally connected that are involved in the church, they’re gonna create all the trouble.” And it’s always been that way, and it still is that way, and is the problem that we’re going to deal with in Nehemiah 5.

But the root cause of the issue in Nehemiah 5 ultimately is money. It comes down to greed and financial gain. In the New Testament, we are told that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils. Some of you may have heard that verse misquoted that money is the root of all evil. It’s not. It’s also the root of all meals. So it’s not altogether bad. You can use money for a good thing or a bad thing. You can use it to care for single moms and widows and you could care for orphans and those in need, or you could sin with your money and blow it at the casino or the strip club. You can do good or bad things with your money. It’s just an opportunity. So money is not evil. It’s an opportunity. But the love of money, which leads to greed, is the root of all kinds of evil, just like Scripture says.

And the problem in Nehemiah 5 is going to be not money, but the love of money. And a Bible has a whole lot to say about money and wealth, finances and such. If you haven’t figured it out, we’re talking about money tonight. So you’re saying, “I don’t wanna talk about money.” You probably really need to. You say, “I don’t have any money.” Well, then you need to learn about money. You say, “Man, don’t take my money.” Well, we’re not gonna turn you upside down and shake you and whatever comes out belongs to Jesus, but I do wanna talk about your money and your finances and your wealth and your possessions. Scripture speaks of wealth and finances on more than 800 occasions. Jesus, roughly 25 percent of the time in his own teaching, speaks about finances. So he talks about it very frequently.

On very illuminating text of teacher on this from the Lord Jesus is Matthew Chapter 6 where he says that you can’t serve both God and money. Now for some of us, money is our functional God. It’s more important than the real God. You need to choose. Is Jesus my God or money, possessions, wealth?

Secondly, Jesus says that your treasure follows your heart, meaning if you wanna see what you really love, really value, really esteem, then just see where you spend your money. I’m a dad. I can’t say to my kids, “I love you. I just don’t provide food>” They’d say, “No, you don’t love us ’cause your money follows your heart.” Can’t tell to, I love you. I just don’t give anything to the cause of the gospel.” That’s not true. I can’t tell me wife I adore you, but I don’t provide and physical demonstration, no money, no bills paid, no food on the table.” That’s why Paul says, “If any man does not provide for the needs of his family, he’s denied the faith and he’s worse than an unbeliever.

None of the ways that we show love in our heart is through finances and provision and generosity and care. That’s how human beings – one of the ways that human beings demonstrate their priorities and their heart’s affection. And so all of this ultimately today is going to fall under there rubric of the doctrine of stewardship. Stewardship is the Christian way of perceiving wealth, finances, and possessions. It is inextricably different than any other worldview regarding these things. And it is the assumption that things don’t belong to me. Ultimately, they belong to God, and that God has given me possessions, wealth, has give me maybe a house, a job, and income, a car, a computer, furniture, whatever you’ve got. Those things belong to God. He’s given them to you to steward, to allocate appropriately, to dispense and disperse and to share and to use them in a way that honors the God of the Bible, in a way that helps other people.

Give you an insight in this. Some people have asked me, “Why should I give God any of my money?” As a steward, we don’t ask that question. We ask, “How much of God’s money should I keep?” If all the money belongs to God and he’s put some into my hands, the question is now, “Well, God. Why do I gotta give any of my money?” God speaks from Heaven and says, “It’s all mine. I’m willing to share if you’ll knock off that attitude.” (Laughs) Everything belongs to God.

So that means as Christians it would be helpful if on our pay stub if it included our name, and then slash, Jesus Christ. You’d be like, “Oh. He’s willing to share. How nice of him.” On our debit card, it should say our name/Jesus Christ. And then every time when go to spend, it should be “Alright Jesus. You and me we’re spending a little bit of your money right now.” It’s an understanding that it’s not mine, it’s his, and that he’s willing to share with me because he’s gracious and loving, but then he also asks me to be gracious and loving and share some of what he’s given to me as a steward to help others as well.

It all fits under this doctrine of stewardship. And the real problem in Nehemiah 5 is love of money. The heart is more devoted to money than God and people. There is very significant issues of stewardship sin that is going on. And it is putting at risk the health and wellbeing of the church because we don’t just do spiritual life together. We do financial life together as well. Some of you work together. Some of you work together. Some of you work for people in the church. Some of the people in the church work for you. You’ll barter goods/services. You’ll buy houses, cars, other such things from people in the church. As we do our financial life together, and we do, if we’re not good stewards, if we’re not good with money, if we’re taking advantage of one another, it’s going to just destroy the love and the unity of this church.

That’s exactly what’s happening in Nehemiah 5. It’s a crisis from God’s people regarding finances. It starts at Chapter 5, Verse 1. “Now there arose a great outcry of the people and their wives against the Jewish brothers.” People are freaking out and women, wives in particular, are freaking out. Okay, ladies. Let me say this to you. Don’t always freak out, please. Okay? Don’t always freak out. But sometimes you gotta freak out. So you gotta strategically choose when you will freak out, okay? All the husbands are like, “This is a good church right here. This is a good church. I like where this guy’s going. I see this coming.”

If you freak out all the time, then when there really is a crisis or an emergency, nobody pays attention. You get shot or something, they’re like, “She’s freaking out.” They’re like, “She’s always freaking out. She’ll be fine.” But if you’re a woman who’s pretty easy going, sleeps like a Calvinist, sort of low‑maintenance gal, and you freak out, then it’s usually ’cause there’s something that’s freak‑worthy and then people pay attention. My wife is kinda like a lake with no waves. She’s a pretty‑easy-going gal. Not a lotta drama. So when she freaks out, I pay attention because she doesn’t usually freak out. And I know that there’s something critical. There’s a crisis. There’s a need. It’s urgent. It’s a big deal, so I pay attention. These are women who in that culture they didn’t speak out. They didn’t freak out. They were pretty mellow gals. And when the wives are freaking out, planting their foot, raising their voice, “This is nonsense. We can’t tolerate it. It’s a sin. Things need to stop. Hank, get off the couch. Go do something right now,” it’s a good thing.

Some of you women freak out way too much. Some of you women don’t freak out enough. That’s my point, alright? Some of you women, you need to speak up. You may say, “But I’m a quiet and gentle spirit.” Okay, great, cool. But sometimes you still gotta freak out. You gotta say, “That’s a sin. That’s wrong. This needs to change.” If you’re married, “Honey, we need to work on this. This needs to be dealt with.” You gotta speak up. These are godly women who see sin going on, no one doing anything. It’s ruining everyone’s life, and they can’t tolerate it. And so in a very unusual moment, they speak out against the injustice, demanding justice, and they become the heroes of the story, vocal women who are vocal in a good godly righteous way. They’re the heroes and they’re complaining, rightly complaining about the sins of fellow church members.

“For there were those,” Verse 2, “who said, ‘With our sons and daughters, we are many. So let us get grain that we may eat and keep alive.’ There were also those who said, ‘We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, our houses, to get grain because of the famine.’ And there were those who said, ‘We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children, yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. And some of our daughters have already been enslaved. But it is not in our power to help, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.’”

Here’s what’s going on. It’s a financial crisis. That’s what’s going on. First of all, there’s a famine. There’s been a drought. People are starving to death. They’re hungry. Times are tough. A great recession. Maybe even a depression. Secondly, in an effort to borrow money to live through this hardship, they have leveraged everything, their fields, their vineyards – that’s their economic income. That’s their agricultural business. It’s how they make a living – and their homes.

This would be akin to things get so bad that you take out all of the equity out of your home, out of your business. You’re using your equity to pay your mortgage and to feed your family, and you’re hoping that things turn around before you lose everything and you’re bankrupt and you’re homeless and destitute poor.

Thirdly, taxation was super high by the government. They had this goofy failed monorail thing that happened in Jerusalem. They couldn’t figure out how to make the floating bridge work. The viaduct was falling down. They needed a stadium. It was just a nightmare, right? And so taxes were super high, and so in addition to this, they can’t meet their tax burden. So what they would do is they would put up as additional collateral their own children as potential slaves. This was called servitude, indentured servitude whereby in our day, if you can’t pay your bills, you declare bankruptcy or you just foreclose on your home, your loan, whatever it might be. You just rack up credit card debt and do the credit shuffle. Every time they send one in the mail, you sign it and just carry full balance on as many cards as you can juggle. None of that’s wise.

In that day, they didn’t have those opportunities. Instead what they would say is, “If I can’t pay off my debt, you can have my children. My children will work for you for free as a slave. And they will work until they’ve paid off my debt. And once they’ve paid off my debt, then I can get my children back.” In addition to all of this, they’re working to rebuild the city and the church. These people are volunteering hours to serve God’s mission and they’re in desperate financial straits.

And so what you have here is a fiscal conflict. But let me be careful to articulate this biblically because we’re in a very left‑leaning city and some of you are poor, like two of you are. Many of are idealistic and you’re probably more influenced by socialism than Scripture, and you see everything in terms of bourgeois, proletariat, rich versus poor, and you believe Robin Hood, right? Rich people are bad. Poor people are good. You think that ’cause you’re poor. When you become rich, you’ll go into prosperity theology and totally change your teams. But anyways, that’s what happens, right?

So you Indy rockers, right, you’re like, (Makes Noise) “I hate poor people.” No, you don’t. You hate rich people, right, ’cause you’re poor. Be careful when you come to Scripture that you don’t think in terms of socialism or left‑leaning politics, and you don’t think just in terms of rich versus poor, but think in terms, rather, of righteousness and unrighteousness.

Let me explain this to you. Every time I teach on finances, I have to clarify this. In the Bible, there are not two kinds of people, rich and poor, there’s actually four kinda people when it comes to finances, wealth, possessions. Two kinda rich, two kinda poor, two kinda righteous, two kinda unrighteous. There are righteous rich people. They earn their money in a righteous way. They worked hard, invested smart. God bless ’em. Two, they distribute their money in a righteous way. They tithe. They’re generous. They pay their bills, take care of their family. They help widows, orphans, those in need. They’re righteous. There are people like that in Scripture and in the world.

There are people who are rich and unrighteous. They get their money through crooked business, ripping people off, taking shortcuts, doing things they shouldn’t. Or when they get their money, they’re greedy. They’re stingy. They don’t pay their bills. They take advantage of their employees. They don’t pay their taxes. These are people who are unrighteous with their money.

There are people who are righteous and poor. They work hard, alright? There are widows, orphans, single moms, kids with no dad. They’re poor. They’re righteous. Maybe they love God. They’re working hard. They’re doing everything they can. They’re spending their money wisely. They’re not being frivolous. They’re not in sin. They’re just poor.

I grew up in a working‑class poor family. My dad hung drywall for 20 years till he broke his back. My mom stayed home with us five kids. My dad had worked side jobs and weekends. My dad was a very honest, very hardworking man. He earned his money in a righteous way. Furthermore, my dad spent his money in a righteous way. We didn’t have a lot. We had some really lean times, to be honest with you. My dad didn’t blow his money on hobbies. He wasn’t at the casino. He wasn’t at the strip club. He wasn’t drinking up his paycheck. He didn’t have a bunch of hobbies. He didn’t have a fat bass boat and the world’s biggest TV and rims on his car. He fed his kids. That’s what he did. He paid his mortgage and fed his kids. We were working class poor.

Jesus Christ was working class poor. Nothing wrong with that. There are also those, however, that are not just poor, they’re unrighteous. They’re lazy. They won’t work. Proverbs calls ’em sluggards. These are people who just don’t like to get outta bed in the morning, Proverbs says. These are people as well who are always looking for a get‑rich‑quick scheme, a scam, a shortcut. There is none. Furthermore, if and when they get their money, they just blow it in unrighteous ways.

I first saw this in the neighborhood I grew up in. The government check would come. Everybody’d go to the casino, the strip club, the bar. Gone. Next day they’re broke for 13 more days. That’s how it is. I saw this when I was working as a longshoreman in high school. I lied about my age. I wasn’t Christian. I’m not advocating it, but I lied about my age and I got a job working as a longshoreman. I’m down in a railroad car. This thing is down in Alki, throwing 100‑pound sacks of peas with a bunch of older guys. And I noticed one, two, three days after payday, they’re all broke. “Hey, buddy. Can I borrow $5.00 for gas? Can I borrow $10.00 for lunch? Can I borrow $5.00 for this?” I’m like, “Why don’t you guys have any money?”

I’m like, “You don’t have a house. You don’t have a wife. You don’t have kids. You push‑start your car. Those are the same pants I’ve seen you in every day of your life. I could tell you cut your own hair. You don’t seem to have a lotta overhead. It’s not going to grooming. You got one tooth and one eyebrow. Where does all your money go?” And the guys literally tell me, “Oh, I get paid and I go to the strip club. I get paid and I go to the casino. I get paid and I to the bar and then I blow all my money and then I’m broke till payday.” See, those people are poor, but not like Jesus, right?

Some people are like, “I’m poor like Jesus.” Well, not really, not if a lot of your money’s going funds some gal’s education who works on a pole. That’s not righteous poor. That’s ridiculous poor. But that’s not righteous poor. You’re like, “Well, I was gonna take Jesus’ money and go to the casino.” I’m like (Chuckles) – you notice the casino is bigger than your house. That means you’re gonna lose. That’s how it goes. That’s not righteous. So when you come to the Scripture, you can’t just say, “Rich versus poor. Rich bad, poor good,” ’cause that’s poverty theology, you can’t say, “Rich good, poor bad,” ’cause that’s prosperity theology.

You gotta say, “Well, some rich people are righteous. Some poor people are righteous. Some rich people are unrighteous. Some poor people are unrighteous. The situation in Chapter 5 is that the unrighteous rich are taking advantage of the righteous poor. Those who have power and money and influence are taking advantage of the working class poor who love the Lord are in hard circumstances.

God told ’em not to do this in Old Testament. He said, one, if you lend money to your brother in the faith, don’t charge them interest, alright? If you’re gonna lend money to a buddy, don’t charge interest. Do what the Old Testament said. If he can’t afford anything, interest isn’t gonna help. And so people were running kinda like the Payday loan scenarios we have in our city. You been to a Payday loan place? They’re like, “We’ll give you a loan.” You’re like, “Okay. Here’s my check.” They’ll say, “Okay. Well, we’ll hold it till payday. It’s $100.00 check. We’ll give you $27.00.” You’re like, “What’s the other $73.00?” “Fees and interest.” It’s like a billion‑percent interest at the Payday loan place. It’s a total shell game is what it is. And that kind of thing was going on.

The poor couldn’t pay their bills. There’s the equivalent of a payday loan scam going on, taking advantage of the poor. And the Bible said – I’ve got this in the notes that I gave ya – don’t do that. If you’re gonna love your brother and lend them some money, don’t give ’em exorbitant interest and take advantage of ’em. Secondly, God told his people not to take fellow Christian’s – and some of you say, “It’s the Old Testament. They’re not Christians.” Yes, they are. They were waiting for Jesus. We’re waiting for Jesus. They loved the God of the Bible. His name is Jesus. You could send me an e‑mail. I’ll delete. But they were Christians. Next point.

Now my next point is that because God made people and people belong to God, God said, “Don’t take your Christian brothers or sisters and make ’em slaves, because people belong to God, not to other people.” And God demonstrated this with a year of jubilee where every 50th year, God would hit Control/Alt/Delete and everybody’d get their land back. They’d get their freedom back. They’d get their debts cancelled, and they’d get a fresh clean start. God is the God of grace, and he’d give a fresh clean start.

And they were disobeying Scripture. They’re charging exorbitant interest. They’re enslaving their brothers and sister. They’re taking advantage of them. The question then begs to be answered: How will Nehemiah respond? How will he feel about this? Verse 6, since you asked. “I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words,” very angry – two of my favorite words in the whole Bible, very angry. Some of you are like, “What does angry mean in Hebrew?” Ticked, okay? He was ticked. Some of you say, “Is that a Christian thing?” Yes, it is.

Other religions don’t necessarily encourage anger, maybe Buddhism or Hinduism, for example. They’re like, “Oh, don’t get angry, grasshopper.” Now we believe in anger, okay? So we’re all gonna get in touch with our anger today. Now let me explain anger to you. Anger’s good. It’s not always good. But anger is good because we were made in the image and likeness of God, and one of the emotions and attributes of God is anger. The Bible says more than 800 times that God has wrath. That is God’s anger at work.

God is a God who gets angry at sin, injustice, oppression, and evil. He says this in Exodus 34. There God tells us who he is. The Lord, the Lord, slow to anger. God gets angry, but he gets there slowly, alright? He’s not like some moody high school kid just looking to scrap all the time. God’s not like that. If God gets mad, you had to really work on it. You had to be stubborn, hard‑hearted, rebellious. You had to get him there. He’s got a very long fuse. Okay? But God does get angry.

He goes on to say, “Slow to anger, abounding in love, mercy, compassion, patience.” God is a patient loving, gracious, merciful God. But if you keep pushing it, eventually there’s a place where he gets angry. He’s slow to anger, but he gets there. Some say, “Yeah, but that’s the God of the Old Testament. Those are like his junior high years. He was working it out. He was sort of emotional. Then he did yoga and became Jesus and now he’s centered. He’s good. They got his meds figured out. He’s just very happy now.”

Does Jesus ever get angry? Yes. The Bible says Jesus looked at them with indignance. He was angry. He goes to the temple. They’re ripping people off in the name of God. It’s financial scam, again. He rebukes the moneychangers. Throws over the temple. I mean he’s angry. Some of you’re here and you say, “But should a Christian ever get angry?” Yes. We could have an unrighteous anger where we’re angry for the wrong reason or we let our anger lead us into sin. Ephesians 4 says, “In your anger, do not sing.” It doesn’t say, “Don’t get angry.” It says, “As you get angry, don’t sin,” because anger is what God sometimes feel. And if you have God’s heart, sometimes you’ll feel angry. You have to.

Someone comes and says, “This child was molested,” you should feel angry. “This woman was raped.” You should feel angry. “This man who worked hard to provide for his family was ripped off by his company and his boss, and now he can’t feed his kids.” You should feel angry ’cause that’s wrong. It’s a sin. It’s an injustice. It’s an evil. It’s wrong. And when something wrong happens, we shouldn’t feel happy. We should feel angry, and that’s okay.

The question is: What are you gonna do with your anger? Ephesians 4 says, “You can let your anger lead you into sin.” Some of you have done that. You get furious, type the e‑mail, send it. Five minutes later, you’re like, “That was not a good idea. I should not have done that.” You leave the voicemail, You just yell, let ’em have it, leave the voicemail. Ten minutes later when sorta the mind returns to sanity, you think, “That was not a good idea.”

Your anger is a good, powerful, motivating, inspiring force. Don’t get rid of your anger if it’s righteous. If it’s unrighteous anger for the wrong reasons, wrong motivation, then repent of that. But if it’s righteous anger ’cause God feels angry and you have the heart of God, the question is now, “How do I suppress my anger?” but, “How do I direct my anger toward redemption, towards conflict, toward healing, toward wholeness, toward restoration, toward change?”

The women here say, “This is wrong. We’re not gonna put up with it.” Nehemiah says, “I agree. Something needs to be done.” But he doesn’t just rush off into anger. Here’s what he does. Verse 7, “I took counsel with myself.” What he says is, “I chilled out for a while.” Sometimes when you get angry, your first response is not good. How many of you men are prone to anger? To me, it’s a default. It’s that or sleep. Those are my defaults. I go to anger, and to sleep. My emotional spectrum.

How many of you guys, you get angry, but your first instinct in anger is not good? So what should you do? Calm down, right? Calm down. We don’t know how long he took, hours, days. I don’t know. He calmed down. He said, “My anger – first question, is it righteous or unrighteous? It’s righteous. Okay. Do I feel what God feels? Yes, I feel what God feels. Okay. Now what am I gonna do? I can’t just blow. Can’t just load the gun. Can’t just go pick a fight. I need to think about, ‘Okay. Now what am I gonna do with this emotion that I’m feeling which is very viable and justified?’ So I hung out, had a little meeting with myself, figure out what I’m gonna do.

“I took counsel with myself and then I brought charges against the nobles and officials.” He brought charges against important, influential, very affluent, prominent people. The moral of the story is here. Just ’cause you’re rich doesn’t mean you get to skate the laws of Scripture. Just because you’re powerful or influential doesn’t mean that somehow God’s Word doesn’t apply to you. The cool thing about God, he doesn’t care if you’re black white, rich, old, young, poor, male, female. His word is true, and it judges everyone. And there are no second‑ or first‑class citizens in his Kingdom. Everyone is held to the same truth.

And he brings charges. “And I said to them, ‘You are exacting each from his brother,’ and I held a great assembly against them.” This is a meeting. This is church discipline in the Old Testament. Church discipline is not just to rebuke somebody and flog them and put a dunce cap on them and mock them, though it would be pretty cool. It’s, instead, to compel them toward repentance to knock it off and to change their life and to get in accordance with God’s plan because if you’re a person that wants all the benefits of being part of the church but you’re taking advantage of people – you’re ripping them off in business, pretending to be a Christian. You’re taking advantage of women and men who are single ’cause you wanna use them for your own ends if you’re manipulating people. If you’re gossiping and creating division, the issue is you need to stop that. If you wanna enjoy the community, well, then you gotta act like a decent member of it. And the discipline it to compel you to stop the sin so that there could be harmony and peace and unity. And if you’re unwilling, then you’re extricated from the community. It’s like, “Well, you can’t be here any more you’re really not helping anything, and you are not willing to change, and that’s what we’re committed to.” This is church discipline in the Old Testament. Not many churches practice it any more. We do, just so you know.

“I held a great assembly against them. I said to them, ‘We, as far as we’re able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations. But you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us.’” What he’s saying in this. “If you guys will remember, our Christian brothers and sisters were taken in slavery to non‑Christians in other nations. We raised a lotta money to purchase their freedom, move them back, get them into town. They’re helping build the wall, plant the church. They’re serving the Lord. They’re trying to make ends meet. They’re getting a fresh clean start. Things have gotten hard. And you’ve taken the former slaves that we’ve liberated out of love for God, and you’ve re‑enslaved them. The only difference now, you’ve enslaved them to Christians, which his not progress.”

The equivalent today by way of analogy and Mars Hill Church is, there is a gal who’s in an abusive relationship with just a total jerk of a boyfriend. He’s living with her, sleeping with her. He’s physically, mentally, abusive. He is discouraging. He’s using her for sex. He’s freeloading. He’s blowing all of her money and he’s ruining her life and breaking her heart. She meets Jesus, and Christians in the church say, “You need to get away from that guy. He treats you like a slave. He’s abusing you. He’s taking advantage of you. You need to get free from him. You need to get a new life, get away from him.”

She says, “I can’t afford to move, and financially, I can’t afford to get my own place.” Be akin to our church, people in our church saying, “Well, we’ll help. We’ll pay your first, your last. We’ll move ya. We’re gonna some distance between you and this guy so you could be free not his slave any more.” And then she comes to church. And some guy who says he’s a Christian, maybe even the community group, then picks right up where the other guy left off. Starts bossing her around had having sex with her, taking advantaging of her, manipulating her so that she’s a new Christian who is right back to the situation that God delivered her from with somebody who says, “I love Jesus.” This is horrible. This is horrible.

He goes on to say, “They were silent and could not find a word to say.” You’re right. You’re right. This is wrong. “So I said, ‘The things that you were doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations of our enemies.’” It says two things. One, don’t you fear God? Don’t you know you’re gonna stand before Jesus and give an account. I mean he could punch you in the mouth and send you to Hell. Don’t you know who you’re dealing with?

Secondly, all the non‑Christians are watching and they wanna see if Jesus is real and the Bible is true and Christianity’s worthwhile. And we can’t say, “God loves you. Welcome. Come to church and be part of our loving family,” while we’re sleeping with each other, ripping one another off, taking advantage of one another, crooked business practices. “Oh, we don’t need a contract, wink, wink. We’re brothers,” so that I jack you. It’s wrong.

See, the city has within it a little city called the church. And the city is watching to see how we treat one another because Jesus said, “They will know you’re my disciples by how well you love one another.” Nehemiah says, “We’re building a city in a church, and we’re building the church to be a witness to the city. What good is all of our efforts if we don’t treat each other in a loving, gracious, and just way? What kinda witness do we have to the city? Nobody’s gonna wanna worship the God of the Bible if the people who claim to are just mistreating one another.”

Verse 10 then is I consider to be perhaps the most astounding and exemplary verse in all the book of Nehemiah. “The man was used of God in mighty ways.” But Verse 10 to me is incredibly insightful. Here’s what he goes on to say – and, again, this isn’t a public meeting. This in a church discipline quasi service. “Moreover, I” – speaks of himself, Nehemiah – “and my brothers and my servants are lending the money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. Return to them this very day” – it’s an urgent matter – “their fields, vineyards, all of orchards, houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.”

Question. Was Nehemiah guilty of the same sin that he was rebuking others of committing? Yes. Nehemiah had a little side business where he was lending money, exacting interest, taking advantage of vulnerable poor people, just like those he was rebuking. And what he does here is he publicly repents. This is a very key lesson in leadership, be you a parent with your children, be you a leader in your business, a leader in a ministry, a leader in this church.

People don’t expect their leaders to be perfect, but they need to be able to trust them. And the only way they could trust them is if they see humble repentance, meaning it’s not enough to just preach repentance, we have to practice it those of us who are leaders. We can’t just tell other people what’s wrong in their life. We need to confess our own sin. And we can’t tell people to do things that we’re unwilling to model and demonstrate for them.

Nehemiah is here risking a lot of money. He’s risking a lot of face. He’s risking a lot of criticism. He is publicly declaring that he, too, is guilty. How many of you have found that the people who most anger you are just like you, and what infuriates you about them is their doing what you do? How many of you have been like that? The kids are yelling at each other and the parent walks in, “Stop yelling,” and the parent’s like, “That was probably not the best way to go about that, scream at the children to stop screaming.” And the parent says something like, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Some of you grew up in that home.

It’s the person who gets on the phone and starts gossiping and then realizes that they’re rebuking someone for gossiping about them, but they’re the person who initiated gossip of another person and they’re guilty, too.

As Nehemiah begins to rebuke those who are in sin, he does an inventory of his own life and says, “I’m guilty. It’s not just these guys. It’s me. And we all need to repent and change.” I say this not in any boastful way, but I am a sinner. I get that. I submit to spiritual authority. I submit to the elders of the church. And I can, will, do repent when I sin. Now my critics love it ’cause it’s free rocks for the pot. There’s still people, “Mark said this.”

Yes, ten years ago Mark said whatever Mark said. Mark said something crazy at the 5:00, too. But anyways – but if and when I say or do something that is sinful, I will confess that. I will admit that because in the end, it’s not about us. It’s about Jesus. It’s not about our name being great. It’s about his name being great. It’s not about the city looking in and saying, “Well, there’s a bunch of self‑righteous hypocrites who tell us that we’re sinful, but they themselves don’t ever see their own sin.”

Among God’s people, there has to be humility and repentance, and it has to begin with God’s leaders. And sadly, those of us who are spiritual leaders are sometimes the first to proclaim repentance and the last to practice repentance. I love Nehemiah, not ’cause he’s perfect and sinless. He’s not Jesus. We don’t need Jesus. We’ve already got Jesus. That job’s filled. What we need is humble leaders who love and obey God and proceed boldly, and when they sin, repent humbly. That’s what we need. He repents. He acknowledges his own sin.

He then goes on, “Then they said,” Verse 12, “’We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” The people say, “You know what? You’re right. Let me say this, too. If someone’s in sin and you have sin in your life that they’re aware of, before you go rebuke them, you will have far more better results if you go to them and say, “First, let me confess my sin to you, ask your forgiveness. And then let me point some things in your life that I think are a problem as well.” There’s a great humility in that as opposed to a self‑righteous pride which says, “I’m perfect. You’re not. It’s a good thing I’m here for you.” That’s what religion does.

People hate religion. God hates religion. Humility and repentance tends to be very endearing. That’s why we are to be people who practice humility and repentance. He goes on, ”And I called the priest, got the pastors together, made them swear to do as they had promised. I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, ‘So may God shake out every man who from his house and from his labor who does not keep his promises so may he be shaken out and emptied. May you be cursed of God if you make a promise today and don’t fulfill it.

“All the assembly said, ‘Amen.’” All the blue‑collar guys are like, “Woo, hoo. Get my air compressor back. Thank you, Jesus.” They’re all happy. “I get my table saw back. Yes. Get to go back to work.” “The people said, ‘Amen.’ They praised the Lord and a worship session breaks out. And the people did as they promised.”

Here’s the process. Okay, let me explain it to you. Here’s how we deal with sin. First of all, we’re all sinners. Romans, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” 1 John, “If you say you’re not a sinner, you’re a liar.” You’re a sinner. I’m a sinner. We’re all sinners. The question is what will we do with it?

Well, God takes this great initiative with us sinners. First thing he does, like Jesus said, he sends the Holy Spirit to work on our conscience and convict us, convict us. Now, we feel convicted sometimes. I’ve seen lately new Christians – there’s a lot of you at this church – who mistake conviction for depression. We believe in depression. Depression is real. But some of you aren’t feeling depression. You’re feeling conviction.

I talked to a guy recently. He said, “Ever since I’ve become a Christian, I’m totally depressed.” I said, “Why is that?” He said, “I just – I’m depressed. I feel bad.” I said, “Okay.” I said, “Are you bad?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Have you been doing bad things?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “And you feel bad.” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Well, that’s good. That’s good. If you are bad, doing bad things, and feeling bad, that’s good. If you were bad, doing bad things, and feeling good, you’re a sociopath. That’s bad. If you do bad and feel good, that’s spooky.

If you do bad and feel bad, that’s good. And I said, “You’re not depressed. You’re convicted. You’re not depressed. You’re convicted.” So God convicts us. The question is what then are we going to do with that conviction? Well, I’ll tell you a couple things you can do. You could deny it. You can say, “I didn’t do it.” Say, “I heard you.” “Well, you got bad hearing, don’t ya?” “You said the F word to me.” “You took it the wrong way. That’s your fault, man. I said it in love.”

You can blame somebody else. “I wouldn’t a punched ’em if they didn’t make me.” “Really? They made – they made you.?” “I wouldn’t a cussed ’em out if they didn’t make cuss ’em out.” “They made you cuss them out. Like they put a knife to your throat like, ‘Okay, say the S word now. Say it, twice fast and then kick me.’ They didn’t make you.” You can excuse yourself, right? You could even excuse – we now have genetic excuses, like, “Well, I have a genetic glitch. It’s a Irish thing. We dance weird. We can’t find our pants, and we punch people in the throat. That’s just the way we are.” I’m Irish, so – I’m talking about my family reunion.

Anyways – (Laughs) You could blame. You could excuse, deny, or you can confess. Confession is where we agree with Scripture. We agree with God. We say, “You know what? God says it’s wrong. I agree. I was wrong.” That’s why John says, “If we confess our sins, he’s faithful and just to forgive us since, cleanse us of our righteous.” Confession is where we say, “God, I did or said wrong. You say it’s wrong. I agree with you. I’m not gonna blame anybody. I’m not gonna make excuses. Not gonna deny it. I’m just gonna agree with you.”

Most Christians think that that’s how you deal with sin all by itself. It’s not. You’re going the right direction, but you’re not there yet. You’re convicted. God does that. You confess. That’s how you respond. But then what you must do is repent. Repentance is where you stop. You knock it off. You go and sin no more. You can’t say, “Hey, sorry I cheated on you, ripped you off, told a lie, can’t find the cat. My bad.” You gotta stop. You gotta stop. You can’t say, “Oh, I got drunk and drove and wrecked the car again.” You gotta stop.

Can’t just say, “Well, we slept together. We’re not married. My bad. Oh, did it again. Oh, did again. Oh, did again. Oh, did it again.” No, stop. Knock it off. Stop. Knock it off. That’s repentance. You change by God’s empowering grace, you put to death your sins and you go live a different life. You go live a new way. You’re not gonna get this in at other mega church in America. It’s just not gonna happen.

So you repent. And then some of you say, “Well, I repented.” But the next thing is, the last one, you gotta make restitution. You can’t drive your buddy’s car, put a big dent in it, bring it back. He says, “There’s a big dent,” and you say, “Jesus died on the cross for all my sins. I’m free in Christ. I’m free in Christ, free in Christ.” “Well, great. Jesus forgives you. But unless he does body work, somebody’s gotta fix the big dent in my car.”

“I stole your money. My bad. Jesus forgives all my sins. You call him and see if he can pay you back. I don’t know.” You can’t do that. You need to make it up, right? You can’t go tell a lie about somebody or gossip, destroy their reputation and just say, “Well, I agree, that was bad. I’m sorry. My bad.” You gotta go to all the people and say, “I’m a liar. I told you sinful things.” See how quiet it gets? They’re like, “Is he serious? Is this one of the jokes?” No. This is not one of the jokes, right?

If you lie about somebody or gossip about somebody, or just maligning their character, you gotta go – you can’t just say, “I’m sorry.” You gotta go to the people and say, “Look. What I said about that person, that wasn’t true. I sinned. I need you to know the truth.” Otherwise what you’ve done is you’ve ripped somebody off and they’re broke. You’ve busted something they own, you’re not fixing it. You’ve destroyed their reputation and you’re not repairing it. And what you’re saying is, “Well, I’ve confessed and repented and I made a mess of things, and I leave a big mess.”

Jesus Christ died on the cross for all of our sins. True. You confess your sins. He’ll forgive you for all your sins, past, present, and future. True. Your relationship with God is restored. True. A part of that relationship includes then being an agent of transformation, reconciliation, redemption. If you made a mess, you gotta clean it up. If you’ve made a debt, you’ve gotta pay it off. If you’ve ruined somebody’s life, you gotta made amends as much as you can.

Now they could be gracious and say, “I forgive the debt. I let it go.” They have the freedom to do that, but they don’t have the obligation to do that. They may say, “You ripped me off. I want my money back. You did a terrible thing. I need you to fix it. You’ve made a complete mess.” And here’s what we’ve seen today. I’ve seen people come forward and say, “I ripped somebody off. Do I need to pay ’em back?” Yes. If you’re a Christian, yes. I’ve had dads come forward and say, “I was a jerk of a dad. I made my kid’s life a living Hell. Do I need to say I’m sorry and do something to fix it?” Yes. You need to meet with your kids say, “I’m evil. I was an idiot. I did terrible, horrible things. I need you to forgive me, and here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna pay for counseling. I’m gonna make it up to you. I’m gonna make new memories. I’m gonna love you. I’m gonna serve you. I’m gonna be Jesus to you. I’m gonna do all I can to try and make as much restitution as I possibly can.”

Nehemiah 5 includes all of these. Conviction. They say, “You know what? We feel God’s conviction.” Confession. “We agree, it’s wrong.” Repentance. “We’re gonna stop ripping people off. We’re gonna stop enslaving their kids. We’re gonna stop taking advantage of them.” And restitution. “Gave the houses back. Gave the vineyards back. Gave the real estate back. Gave the employees, as it were, back.” This is a multi‑million‑dollar day of transaction. That’s how it is.

People were living in homes, and they gave them back. For some of you, the restitution may be a pretty steep price to pay, but it’s the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to do.

I’m gonna close with some questions. These are no accusations. They’re questions. I want you to think about these this week. I give them to you not to be mean,. But I do believe that hard words produce soft people and that soft words produce hard people. These people got hard words from Nehemiah, and then they received soft hearts.

First question. You ready? Who are you to taking advantage of, physically, sexually, emotionally, financially? Who are you taking advantage of? They’re weak. They’re’ hurting. They don’t speak up. They we’re in a vulnerable place. You’re taking advantage of them. Who are you taking advantage of?

The second question. What is it costing them? What price are they paying for your sin financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually, sexually? See, you are making them pay for your sin. What price are they paying?

So let me leave at this point. Roman says that we have this proclivity to suppress the truth in unrighteous, meaning, “I don’t like to be convicted.” If God, the Holy Spirit has brought someone to mind, a name, a face a person, don’t resist that. Don’t fight that. Don’t allow all the litigation in your mind to come to your defense. “Oh, it wasn’t your fault. You were young. You didn’t mean to. They kinda deserved it. It was a 50/50 –” Don’t do that. Just confess it. “I’m taking advantage of this person, and it is costing them and I am doing damage and evil and injustice. I don’t want you to just read the story and identify with all the victims, though we can because we’ve all been victims of sin. But I also want you to identify with the perpetrators of sin because we likewise are all perpetrators of injustice.

Third question. How are you going to repay them? How are you going to repay them? How are you going to try and make up for the years that you’ve taken, the dollars that you’ve taken, the damage that you’ve done, the joy that you’ve taken? How are you going to repay?

Fourth question. Who is taking advantage of you? Who are you allowing to take advantage of you physically, emotionally, spiritually, sexually?

My fifth question. Have you spoken up yet? Have you done like the righteous women in Nehemiah 5, put your foot in the ground and raised your voice and just said, “No more. This is sin. This is evil. This is injustice. This has to stop. This must come to an end. I will not accept this.” If they’ve broken the law, have you called the police? Have you got an attorney? Have you dealt with it legally? If it’s a sin and they’re a Christian, have you talked to their church if you’ve not made any progress after meeting with them? If they’re in this church, have you brought them up for the process of beginning church discipline if you’ve had no progress with them?

Sixth question. Do you worship Jesus or money? Very simple. Jesus or money? At the end of the day, would you give up time with God, prayer, holiness, Scripture, church to make more money? Would you compromise your integrity, your ethics, your conscience to make more money? Do you worship Jesus or money?

Seventh question. Are you a thief? Are you stealing anything? How ’bout a cheapskate? Do you know being a cheapskate’s a sin? Being a cheapskate is being a greedy person. It’s being greedy. I know one guy just drives me nuts. He’s got plenty of money. He’s got a great wife. He has her on such a tight budget – he controls the finances – that she can’t even go out to lunch with her friends because he doesn’t think that she’s worth $10.00. That’s a sin.

When you guys go out to dinner with your friends and there’s the one guy who when the bill comes to the table, is trying to do all the math. That guy? I mean put a fork in that guy’s neck. There’s something wrong with that guy. “Who got the extra teriyaki?” I mean the guy’s got demon in him. There’s something wrong with that guy. It’s teriyaki sauce. For the love of God, let it go. It’s a buck. Ante up. I mean go for broke. Pick up the pop, too. I mean just go nuts. I mean, do not be such a cheapskate.

And for you men, this includes at Mars Hill, we don’t go Dutch. We do not go Dutch. If you take a woman out, you pay.

[Applause]

Look at all the ladies. If you take a woman out and you don’t pick up the tab, she sees no future. None. You’re like, “We’re going Dutch.” She’s like, “You’re going to Hell. We’re not going Dutch.” That’s how it’s gonna go. You’re cheap. How many women are just at home, “God, please send me a cheap man who doesn’t think I’m worth onion rings so I could give my life and my children to him. Amen”? No.

Couple last questions. Do you love money and use people, or do you love people and use money? See, money is one of the ways we can love people, help with their bills, give ’em a gift, pay for their meal, buy their groceries. If you love money, you’ll use people. If you love people, you’ll use money.

Do you worship your money – ninth question – or do you worship with your money? Do you worship your money, or do you worship with your money? Use your money as an opportunity to show the love and grace and mercy of God.

And that least to my tenth and final question. Are you a good steward of what God has put into your care? Jesus says, “If you’re faith with a little, I’ll give you a lot.” The context there is finances. Jesus looks for good stewards to trust with resources knowing, “If I put resources in the good steward’s hand, they’re gonna do good things.” Are you a good steward with your money, your budget, your possessions? Some of you are convicted ’cause you’re not. Well, confess, agree, repent, stop, and make restitution. Get things in order and do what’s right.

So here’s what I’m gonna give you a chance to do. First of all, ask yourself, “What has the Holy Spirit convicted me of today?” Secondly, “Will I confess that as sin to Jesus now in prayer?” Jesus went to the cross, died for all sin, past, present, and future. He will forgive you, and he will give you the grace and empower you to live a new life, a life of repentance where you stop sin and you start obeying the truth of the God of the Bible.

And then lastly, what restitution does God have you to make? Are there people you need to call and make apology to? Are there checks you need to write? Are there things you need to do to make restitution? If so, make that an urgent matter as was done in Nehemiah 5.

For those of you who are Christian or become Christian tonight by giving your sin and trust and love and life to, you’re welcome to respond after some time in prayer. We do that with singing of songs, worship of Jesus ’cause we love him. We do that in communion where we remember his body and blood shed for our sin. Scripture says, “Though he was rich, he became poor for our sakes. And he paid the price of our redemption and he gives salvation as a gift. He’s a gracious God.”

And when you’re ready, you can give of your tithes and offerings, which is one of the ways that we worship God and demonstrate that Jesus is the owner of all and are stewards that he has entrusted with resources.

I’ll pray.

Father God, we confess that we are sinners. We thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who through Scripture works on our conscience to bring us to conviction. God, I pray for the grace to confess that we would not suppress the truth, blame others, excuse ourselves, or deny, that would simply humbly confess. God, I pray that you would honor that by giving us the grace to repent well, to live a new life with a new attitude, a new heart, a new mind, a new future, and new habits.

And, God, it’s my prayer that you would give us the grace to practice restitution. If we owe somebody, help us to pay off our debts. If we’ve done damage to their life, help us to make amends. Lord God, if we have taken joy, if we have taken hope, if we’ve taken holiness, God, thank you for forgiving us, and thank you for allowing us to be agents of redemption in the life of others.

God, I pray that this would be not just a one‑day consideration, but a lifelong habitual practice of humility, of confession, of repentance, of res‑ –