Every week I write sermon reflection questions. But do I wrestle with them? I suppose I do while projecting the content throughout the week, and preaching the sermon on Sunday; but this week I have decided to wrestle through the questions a bit more thoroughly by blogging about them…

1. Considering the fact that Tobiah has friendships and family connections with high-ranking members of the Jerusalem community, do you think Nehemiah is being ‘self-righteous’ or ‘mean’ or ‘judgmental’ by telling Tobiah, “You have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”? That depends. If Tobiah was my kith and/or kinsman then I’d probably be upset with Nehemiah. However, if I imagine myself in Nehemiah’s shoes, I’m sympathetic to his rejection of Tobiah.
2. Do you honestly want to participate in God’s agenda – knowing that it involves hard work, lots of inconveniences, different people, difficult people, personal repentance and change, slippery slopes, mysteries, and wholehearted commitment? That depends… what kind of hard work and inconveniences are we talking about? If we’re talking about roaming around in the wilderness and sleeping in the cave of Adullam, then my answer is yes. But if we’re talking about the pesky politics of a visible empire, and the shenanigans of working with your mulish relatives (e.g. Joab) then count-me-out. And when it comes to personal repentance and change… well, you’re gonna have to be more specific. Are we talking about how I enable certain people instead of confronting them? Are we talking about my codependency issues? Are we talking about how I am anxious and troubled by many things? Are we talking about how I don’t actually put up much of a fight against self-indulgence? Are we talking about actually destroying my narcissism (Gal. 2:20). Let’s be honest, I’m pretty set in my ways.
3. What do you make of the tensions between Nehemiah and Eliashib? Or Moses and Miriam? Or David and Joab? YIKES! Honestly, I find it deeply disturbing and upsetting. And, I find it to be infuriating. I suppose, with a lot of hard work and resolve, perhaps I could get to a place of being merely irritated.
4. What do you make of the emphasis Jesus places on creating a radical society of slaves/servants (see Matthew 20:26-28)? I think it is otherworldly! I think L’Abri and The Manor at St. Anne’s are modern day manifestations of such societies, and proof that such curious communities can exist on this side of the New Heavens and the New Earth. I think that – like L’Abri and The Manor at St. Anne’s – such societies CANNOT become quantifiably large, or else they will inevitably become consumeristic and superficial, and the possibility for a qualitative community like this will be lost.