Tuesday: Courage and Empowerment
Read Nehemiah 4:7-23. In what ways did Nehemiah show courage? What gave him this courage?
Nehemiah stood up against their enemies, who tried to intimidate the Jews. Nehemiah responded by taking the initiative to get the people ready to fight. Nehemiah did not just say “All right, God, You do it all”.
Image © Providence Collection at GoodSalt.com
Instead, he had the people do their part. They picked up swords and other weapons while at the same time working to build the wall. The Jews, under the leadership of Nehemiah, did not cower in fear but rather boldly picked up arms to defend themselves. Nehemiah encouraged the people, believed in them, worked with them, and gave them the responsibility to act. He empowered them to do the work as he delegated and assigned responsibilities. However, Nehemiah didn’t just tell the people what to do and then go to hide in his room. He stood alongside them and did the hard work that needed to be done.
There are times in the Bible when God told people to stand still and watch Him fight, and then there are many other instances when God said, “Prepare to act, and I will give you victory”. We must do our part if we want to see God’s deliverance and blessings.
“In Nehemiah’s firm devotion to the work of God, and his equally firm reliance on God, lay the reason of the failure of his enemies to draw him into their power. The soul that is indolent falls an easy prey to temptation; but in the life that has a noble aim, an absorbing purpose, evil finds little foothold. The faith of him who is constantly advancing does not weaken; for above, beneath, beyond, he recognizes Infinite Love, working out all things to accomplish His good purpose. God’s true servants work with a determination that will not fail because the throne of grace is their constant dependence” – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 660.
In the end, Nehemiah drew his courage from his understanding of the reality and power of God. And yet, as we have seen, his knowledge of God caused him to act in accordance with his faith.
| Though the context is different, how does what we have seen in Nehemiah reflect this text: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works’. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18, NKJV)? |
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Most people who have studied computer science have heard of the idea of multi-tasking. Essentially it is the ability of a single processor to perform more than one task at the same time. It would take too long to explain the concepts of schedulers, interrupt-handlers, semaphores and all the other details built into the hardware and computer operating systems to make this happen. But, from a user’s point of view it is important that multitasking works seamlessly and without affecting the user experience too much. So, for example, as I type this comment into my word processor, it is being formatted, spell checked (for Australian spelling!) and automatically saved from time to time so that I do not lose anything, all at the same time as it is interpreting the keystrokes I am typing. The computer is doing all of those tasks, apparently to us, at the same time.
The big deal for the post-exilic Hebrews was that they had to multitask. They had to use their stone-mason tools to shape and position their bricks and stones, and at the same time have their swords and amour ready to fight. The schedulers and first-level interrupt handlers were the watchmen and leaders who watched from the towers and blew the trumpets to give the warning to change tasks at the first sign of provocation by the enemy.
Christians today are called to multi-task. On the one hand we must maintain our relationship with God by prayer and Bible-study. On the other hand, we should be ready to fight the enemy by sharing God’s love with others. As I have mentioned before, Christianity is a very practical religion. It is a good thing to study and learn, but we must also apply what we have learned to those around us. Knowledge without application is like a fence without wires. Good leadership should ensure that both happen seamlessly.
Nehemiah chapter 2 - Nehemiah is willing to face the challenge to make the change.
When the king asked the question Nehemiah could have simply made an excuse but he was willing to take the risk to talk to the king.
Before he spoke to the king, he spoke to the God of heaven.
Our friends, families can discourage us and make us change our mind.
When Nehemiah got to Jerusalem, he did not start sharing everything he had in his heart to do in the land.
He first assessed the situation by going alone at night examining the wall.
When he came to the people, he knew how he was going to accomplish rebuilding the wall.
This passion and purpose gave him the title the man behind the wall.
At our vespers meeting, the person challenged us not to say anything grumbling for eight hours do you know how hard that is.
When you are a leader at least one person will oppose you from what you had plan to do.
Leaders job is to rise above the obstacles.
Nehemiah knew how to delegate responsibility in building the wall.
He also equipped them with weapons prepared to defend the wall.
Above all he knew to call out sin among the people.
Ordinary men became extraordinary because they were willing to step out in faith and trust in the promises of the Lord.
From our studies this quarter we have learned how important it is for the LORD's work to go forward to have a good leader as well as good followers.
Without the people who were prepared to do the work as well as fight, if necessary, the wall would not have been built. Whatever task the LORD asks me to do I will do it with all my might and trust Him and His appointed leaders to achieve His aim for our group.
So what is the difference between what James says in James 2:18 and what Paul says in Ephesians 2:8,9 regarding "Boasting?" To me, what James says seems like he is boasting in his challenge of his "works" of faith as opposed to those who claim to depend on their faith and not their works. It is no wonder to me that Martin Luther rejected the book of James. However, I do not reject everything James says in his book but what he says in James 2:18 seems to contradict Ephesians 2:8,9
Pete, James is not boasting. He is simply saying the works are evidence of his faith. If we have faith we obey. If we don't have faith in God to take care of us we will not obey. there is no boasting.
We need to go beyond the terms themselves and consider what they actually mean and represent.
Some of the key foundational starting questions are:
* What is salvation? Is it a legal process or an actual restoration process?
* Is it an active or passive process?
If salvation is merely a legal process, then it can be passive on my part because all I have to do is accept Jesus paying my debt for me.
However, if salvation is an actual restoration process, then it involves the restoration of my character which is something that cannot be done without my active involvement. No-one else can develop a character for me - but I also cannot do it on my own.
Outlined below is a brief overview of how I have come to understand salvation with respect to the topic of the original post:
The opportunity to access and participate in salvation/restoration is extended to me on the basis of God's grace. Unless God offers me salvation, I have no option but to perish due to my inheritance under the first Adam (Rom 5:14).
My acceptance of God's grace-based process of my salvation/restoration is by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). God tells me that He is offering to restore me back to abundant life (Jn 10:10) and He tells me how I can take up this offer via embracing and putting into practice all that Jesus taught regarding how to be united with/to Him and how to, in that unitedness, learn to become more and more like Him (John 17:22,23). This is how I participate in the adoption-based inheritance of the Second Adam (Ephesians 1:4,5).
God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit teaches me what is needed in order for me to participate in salvation/restoration. The Holy Spirit works to create a desire in me to want to be restored and empowers me to participate in the restoration process (Phil 2:13). But I must put that empowering to work (Phil 2:12) as to make Christlike choices throughout my day and then follow through putting those choices into action so that my character is redeveloped (and others are benefited and the Kingdom of God manifest).
If salvation is an actual restoration process, it is by nature a collaborative process involving God and me inseparably together. This does not mean I take the credit/glory and it is not a process I can do anything to merit. It is 100% grace-based, 100% reliant upon God and the Holy Spirit's empowering, and my being 100% involved in co-operating with and participating in God's plan to actually restore me.
Rightly understood, Paul and James are in complete harmony. Paul was trying to correct an imbalance of understanding with one audience group, James was trying to correct another imbalance of understanding with another audience group.
We need to go beyond words and terms to unpack what they actually mean and how they functionally work-out. When we do so, we can see more clearly what terms mean and how they operate.
Well, WIlliam, James may not be boasting but the way he words his statement sure comes across like a "challenging" that comes across like a precursor to a boast! And there are other things that James says that are contradictory to what Paul says about "faith" and "works." I mean how can the words, "Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works." not be a precursor to "a boasting?" Paul says that we are saved by "Grace throught faith...not by works, lest any man should boast." So why even challenge anyone here? To challenge here would lead to a boast!