Unselfishness Overcomes Greed: Neh. 5: 1-19; Matt. 6: 19-21
The other day I heard a phrase which made me stop and think. The speaker said that all too often Christians suffer from Disney Princess Theology. Well, okay, this was a new one. It’s not any type of theology I can remember in seminary classes thus far. Here’s what he said to describe it. This idea means that we always see ourselves as the princess or hero, and never as the one who might be the problem. We always see ourselves as Esther, never Haman or Xerxes; as Peter and never Judas; as the women who anointed Jesus and never the Pharisees; and as the Jewish people escaping slavery but never the Egyptians or pharaoh.
This idea asks us a tough question: what is the lens or the glasses through which we see ourselves in the scripture and in society? If we follow this idea that we’re always the hero, we become weak and never challenged. We never challenge ourselves to read the scripture and take account of how we live, or how well we follow God. Are we the hero, or are we the villain? The truth is that sometimes both are at work in us, and we play both roles—sometimes hero, sometimes villain; sometimes selfish and sometimes sacrificial. We see these same struggles in the people as they continued to labor for Jerusalem under Nehemiah’s wise governance.
The big struggle we see today is the sin of greed, and indeed, it was an ugly sin for the people of Israel. The scripture in Nehemiah is a little confusing to follow, so here is a quick breakdown of what deep sin was occurring. In order to return the enslaved Jewish people from Babylon, a payment was required to “redeem” them. This allowed them to be bought out of slavery and returned to Jerusalem. However, once back in Jerusalem, the people realized that times were hard, making vineyards, farms, and family land work was near-impossible, especially with the continued work at rebuilding the city.
Thus, people turned to their wealthier family members or kinfolk for loans to help them out. Their own family were charging heavy interest fees, and when their poorer family members could not pay the interest, their land was seized, and they were often sold back into slavery until they could pay of the loan and interest. Nehemiah was appalled at this practice. He told them in verse 7, “You are hurting your own relatives!” The people were spending all the money they had to redeem family members who were then sold back off into slavery by their rich relatives looking to make a profit at their own poorer family members’ expense.
It exposed both the hero and villain at work in people. They would pay to redeem then exploit the very people they had just redeemed. These kinds of sin reign on high in a world where greed is king. We see this at work all the time in our world. You can’t pay for a dental cleaning today, so you pay double for a root canal tomorrow. You can’t afford the tag/title fees on your car today, so you get arrested and pay thousands of dollars in fines and fees tomorrow. You can’t afford enough home health care when you get older, so you end up in a nursing home and lose your house and savings anyway simply because you happened to need some help in your old age. If you are poor today, you may very well end up poorer tomorrow.
When we (in the global sense) profit at the expense of others’ suffering, we are filled with the sin of greed. As the Bible so clearly tells us, in I Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” But it goes on to warn, that in craving (or coveting) money, people will wander from the faith. We must be wary and take care to be guarded from the selfishness we find in society in our modern era.
The remedy for this sin, according to Nehemiah, is unselfish sacrifice. When Nehemiah confronted the wealthy, sinful family members, he notes in verse 8 that they had nothing to say in their defense. Nehemiah then provides the example which others should follow. He and his family also loaned money to the newly redeemed and returned Israelites; however, they charged no interest. Nehemiah then orders the nobles to restore everything taken and to repay the interest, which they agree to do. The best way to summarize how Nehemiah approaches this is with the idea that no one should make themselves better off at the expense of another’s suffering. That is the very definition of exploitation.
Nehemiah gave himself as an example. He sacrificed so that the people could thrive in Jerusalem. As governor, he did not take all which was due unto him or to which he was entitled because he did not want to burden the people anymore. We see this example of sacrifice in Acts 2: 44-45. It says, “And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.”
The apostles lived in a community, they sold everything they had, and shared it with one another to provide and help for those in their midst. Sometimes we are the hero and sometimes the villain. Sometimes we live as the selfish, and sometimes as the sacrificial one. Sometimes we are in need, and sometimes we provide for others. Both sides of the same coin are at work within us.
So how do we know if we are living this the right way? Look to where a person’s treasure is. In the gospel lesson, we read that if we store treasures here on earth, they will be lost to us, corrupted, destroyed, and decayed. And, truth be told, we can’t take it with us anyway, so what good is earthly treasure? Instead, we should stock up treasures in heaven as we follow Christ each and every day. But there’s a warning or two still within these verses. First, we cannot let our treasures or our desire for treasures be our guide here on earth. Second, we cannot be a part of the scheme to help or allow others to be selfish and greedy.
It reminds me of the old movie, The Bishop’s Wife, not the newer Whitney Houston version, but the old 1947 version with Cary Grant. In that movie, wealthy and cantankerous church member uses her wealth and donations to control and exploit the church for what she wants out of it. Ultimately, an encounter with God’s angel shows her the error of her way and teaches her what generosity truly means—she stops valuing the control coming from her treasures over the good of Christ’s work through her. Remember that where our treasure is—that is one of the measures our heart and faith.
So, we must realize that sometimes we see ourselves too closely as the hero in all circumstances, the Disney Princess Theology, if you will. But in each of us there is hero and villain, selfish and sacrificial, faith and sinfulness all at work until the day when we are made perfect in Christ. The measure we must take of ourselves, then, is whether our hearts are turned more towards earthly treasure or more towards God’s call, even if that means sacrifice. As the old hymn says, “Would you do service for Jesus your King? There’s power in the blood!” And yes, for the hero in us, the is wonder-working power to encourage and strengthen. For the villain at work in us, there is power in the blood to redeem and save. Let us start saving up, then, our treasures in heaven, for I dare say, a crown of glory, a saintly robe, and maybe, just maybe, a hero’s cape awaits us.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/365916177861310