Date: 06/08/08
Text: Nehemiah 10:28-39
Title: Total Obedience
Theme: Since God is the Lord over all, we must be obedient to him in all areas of life.

Introduction:
The word, Vegan, is a term used to describe individuals with a strong conviction to protect animals. This conviction affects their life-style including what they eat and wear. They will refrain from all kinds of meat and dairy products. They would not wear anything that has its origin from animals. This conviction affects all areas of their lives.
From time to time, I hear people saying, "Look at so and so. How can he do this and still claim to be a Christian? If this is how Christians behave, I want nothing to do with this Christianity.” So, what happened here? It is possible that this person may not have a right relationship with Jesus Christ. He may claim to be a Christian, but really is not. Or he may be a Christian, but the Christian faith, Christian values are only confined to his religious activities, and have not touched how he does business or relate to others. In other words, his Christian belief is very much compartmentalized. I am certain that this is something we may all have encountered in our own Christian growth. Many of us become believers in our late 20's and older. We had already developed a certain set of value system and way of doing things. Now, having come to know the Lord, we have difficulty letting our Christian values permeate and affect all areas of life. Our Christian faith only occupies one corner of our lives. When it comes to work, money, family and relationships, we still like to do things according to our own former and familiar ways. We want to use the scriptures to support our own ideas and life-styles. We have difficulty letting the scriptures, God's word, dictate how to live.
We have a similar situation in the passage before us. After 70 years of living in captivity, a group of Jews returned to their homeland. Having rebuilt the Jerusalem city walls under Nehemiah's leadership, they listened to God's word read and explained. In the light of God's word, they saw God's greatness and holiness, hence, their sinfulness. They knew that they and their ancestors had disobeyed God. Last Sunday, we learned that they confessed their sins and publicly decided to obey all of God's commandants.
Today, we saw a list of behaviors that they wanted to change. They knew that they had disobeyed God in these areas and now wanted to turn to God and be obedient to him once again. They understand that since God is the Lord of all, his people must follow him in all areas of life. If we are to follow him, we must obey him in all areas of life

I. We are to be obedient to God in our family life.
In vs.30, "We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.” They wanted to be obedient to God in their family life. There are two aspects:
1. Marriage. In those days, when two people married, it usually occurred in the presence of their gods and gave each others’ idols a prominent place in their new home. To the gentiles, the more gods the better. But to the Jewish people, God had a covenant with them that there is only one God, and they are not to worship any other gods. The issue was not inter-racial marriage, for there were examples of that in the OT. The one we are most familiar is Ruth, a gentile married to Boaz, an Israelite. The real issue is that by marrying people of the land, they also allow other gods to come into the community of God's people. The first commandment clearly stated that, (Exodus 20:3)“You shall have no other gods before me.” God told his people, I am the only love in your life and you cannot have any other gods. So by marrying the non-Jews, they were bringing other gods into their homes. This is wrong. There is this about King Solomon, 1King 11:1-4, “1Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these he loved. 3He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.” It was a rather sad comment on an otherwise great king.
And now the Israelites pledged that they would not let this happen again in their families. They wanted to obey God in the area of marriage. What does this mean to us? Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:17 explained that when we are rightly united with Christ, we become one with him. If we then marry a non-believer, it becomes an act of disloyalty to Christ and to his words. 2 Corinthians 6:14, “14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?” Yes, there are situations when a non-believing spouse was influenced by the believer and come to know Christ. But there are far more instances when the believing spouse is influenced by the non-believer. As we obey God, we are to accept his lordship over our marriage. Under his lordship, then we can discuss particular cases, such as what if there are more Christian women than men? This topic is beyond the scope of this message and will be addressed in a different time.
2. Parental responsibility.
This passage also suggested in that ancient society, parents had a very important say in their children’s marriage. We live in different times. Not too many parents have the power to say yes or no to our adult children’s marriage. We can express our disagreement, but in the end we are told that we need to be supportive and encouraging. It is hard to be supportive of a decision that you don’t agree, right?
So, what is the take home lesson on this? what does this mean to parents of the 21st century? I feel strongly that our responsibility is to teach our children when they are young about God’s expectation of marriage. We need to avoid making statements such as: it is wrong to marry a non-Christian, period. Instead, take time to learn the biblical principles about marriage and explain to our children why the bible teaches this way. When our children are at a marriageable age, they will have to make their own decisions and be responsible for the consequences of their decision. Our responsibility is when they are with us, that we do our best to instruct them with God’s words.
On the other hand, it is wise for us adult children, to seek opinions and input of our parents and other more mature believers. We need to recognize our own blind spots and our need for others to point out things that we don’t see clearly, especially when we are in love.
II. We are to be obedient to God in how we use our time.
Vs.31, “31And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day.” This is about what to do on the Sabbath day. In Genesis 1 we learn that after creating the heavens and the earth in 6 days, God rested on the 7th day. At Mount Sinai, in his covenant with his people, God told them to keep this Sabbath day, the 7th day of the week, holy. This Sabbath was a key symbol of God’s covenant with his people. This not only means rest on the 7th day of the week, it also symbolized the rest after their deliverance from Egypt and entry into the promised land. The NT further instructs us that the present day of rest is to point us to the future rest, when we see Christ face to face in his heavenly kingdom.
However, in Nehemiah’s days, God people had not been faithfully keeping the Sabbath. The gentiles, the non-Jews, came on Sundays to sell their merchandise, so what did God’s people do? They ended up buying the merchandize. The Sabbath is almost like any other day, with buying and selling which was displeasing to God. So now, they pledged that they would not continue this practice on Sabbath. What does this mean to us today?
In the book of Acts we learned how the early Christians switched from Saturday, Sabbath to Sunday, the first day of the week, to worship God. Since then, it has become the Christian church tradition to come together to worship on Sunday. It is also the day to commemorate Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Before we become Christians, we treated Sunday just like any other holiday; doing whatever we wanted. But now, having come to know Christ, how are we to spend this day? You see, we are not here just for a meeting. If so, when I am busy with work or study, then I have to skip church. Or since my child has a sports event or musical recital on Sunday, then I can’t go to church. We’re to know that Worship is not just a meeting that I come to when I am not busy, but to be a priority in life. If Christ is my lord, then Sunday is to be dedicated to worship him and also a time for us to have fellowship with fellow believers.
I am not trying to give you a list of what to do on Sundays. I would like each one of us to carefully think this through. If you are married, talk this over with your spouse. If Christ is to be my lord over what we do on Sundays, what are some changes we need to make?
III. We are to be obedient in how we manage our possessions.
From vs.31b to 39, is about the people’s pledge on how they would use their land, money and crops. It is about God’s lordship over their possessions.
1. Take good care of land. Vs.31c, “And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.” They would take care of the land and gave the land a rest on the 7th year. This is about the material possessions. The Israelites promised to take care of the land. To us, it could mean that we are not to abuse what we have materially, instead learn to take good care of them. We are to use and not to abuse the material world.
2. Use money wisely. In vs.31c, “And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.” The people of God promised to forgive the debts on the 7th year. The rationale behind it was to ease others’ financial burdens. God wants his people to care for one another. One way of caring is to help others financially. In the OT context, it includes interest free loans and at appropriate times, forgiving those debts. It is love in action. I think the application to us is quite clear. Again and again, I see how you have stepped up to help those who are in financial difficulties. You silently take money out of your limited income and help those in need.
3. To take care of God’s house of worship. There was a time in their history when they had neglected God’'shouse of worship, the temple. In Haggai 1:9-11, “declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.” The Israelites were punished for neglecting the house of the Lord, while building their own houses. So in vs.39, “…We will not neglect the house of our God.” They had decided that they would no longer neglect God’s house, the place of worship. How?
To show their determination, they listed a series of action items. They would bring in 1/10 of what they had to the temple. The tithing, either in the form of money, crops, wine, and oil was used for the work of God’s house of. These would be used so they can properly worship God. They would bring to God the first born of their sons and animals. Their offerings were used to support the priests working in the temple. When we add all the different tithes they brought to the temple, it was much more than 10% of their possession. They did all this so that the house of God would not be neglected.
What does this mean to us? Are there any contemporary applications? I think there are several. First, it is our responsibility to take care of our house of worship. We all take good care of our houses, right? We keep it clean and in order. We teach our children not to dirty the place, and when its dirty, we ask them to help clean up. Isn’t this the same attitude we should have towards this place of worship? We’re to take care of God’s house just as we take care of our own house, and even better. Don’t neglect God’s house, the place of worship.
Secondly, it is our responsibility to support God’s house and its ministry with our financial resources. I am so glad that I don’t have to preach this because we are behind in our budget. Before we are believers, we can do whatever we want with our money. But now, having become Christians, followers of Christ, we are to use our money in a way that is pleasing to God. God wants us to give 1/10 of what we have to him. He wants us to bring this to his house of worship so that it will not be neglected. Every year, you probably received different letters from different Christian organizations asking for donations for their ministry. You may have also noticed that in most of such letters, they always stated that your first responsibility is to give to your home church. You see, we give not because the church needs money. We give 1/10 because this is pleasing to God. By doing so, we show the world that this place of worship is very important.
I think of a particular church in China. They had just completed the renovation of their meeting place, an apartment unit. The pastor thanked the different brothers and sister for bringing in new curtains, the sound system, the new double pane windows, the two LCD TVs in two other rooms for overflow purpose. Then there was the new carpet and the list went on and on. The believers in that church had not neglected the house of God, their place of worship.
Conclusion:
I admire the Vegans. They are very consistent with their convictions. Their core values affect what they eat and wear. Their conviction affects every aspect of their lives. They do not say, when I am on vacation, I'll eat some meat, but at home, I will not. No, no matter where they are, they are consistent in their diet.
Many of the believers in China come from non-Christian backgrounds. They find being Christians in a secular society very challenging. They have great struggles in dealing with unplanned pregnancies, honesty and integrity at work and school and other ethical issues. I asked some ministers how they dealt with such issues. One of them told me, “I explained to them that before they were believers, they can do whatever they want. But now, having become a follower of Christ, they have to listen to God’s word. They had to let their faith in God and obedience to him show in every area of their life. It is difficult, but it is the right thing to do. In China, under the one-child law, if you are found with a second pregnancy, there will be forced abortion, or fine and other consequences. So what do they do? During the early stage of pregnancy, the church community will bring this mother to another location. After the child is born, they will come up with the money to help pay the fine.” Because we are Christians, thus we are to be obedient to God. Because we are followers of Christ, therefore we are to let him be lord in our family life; in how we use time and in what to do with our possessions.
In other words, true obedience is to accept God’s Lordship in the entirety of life.