It is Sunday, and we are going to the Table tonight, which meant that it his a quiet morning. Yesterday the issue of the kingdom of God, and the rewards for the righteous. There has been teaching on the fact evil people are in the church.
A question then has to be asked: what to do?
Today’s text shows two sides of this: confrontation of the leadership by the leadership: and how priorities and faith stop us worrying.

NEHEMIAH 5:1-9

¹Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin. ²For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay alive.” ³There were also those who said, “We are having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine.” ⁴And there were those who said, “We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax. ⁵Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others.”

⁶I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ⁷After thinking it over, I brought charges against the nobles and the officials; I said to them, “You are all taking interest from your own people.” And I called a great assembly to deal with them, ⁸and said to them, “As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations; but now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!” They were silent, and could not find a word to say. ⁹So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God, to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?

LUKE 12:22-31

²²He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? ²⁶If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? ²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.²⁸But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you — you of little faith! ²⁹And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. ³⁰For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

via Daily Lectionary Readings — Devotions and Readings — Mission and Ministry — GAMC.

For those who are in leadership, there is a duty to confront. The nobility were asking interest of those who were working for the common good. There was no debt forgiveness, instead they were being thrown into slavery. Although this was standard practice in the Babylonian empire, Nehemiah as the governer stopped it because it was unjust. This is the beginning of the reforms he made… that ended with the Isrealites divorcing their foreign wives and concubines to preserve the covenant.

You may want to second guess Nehemiah, but confrontation of those in power, when you are in the club, is difficult, Most of us avoid this. Nehemiah had Ezra the scribe and Haggai the prophet — who supported him and held him accountable. The first thing we can do is get the counsel and prayers of those who are around us and are accounted as righteous.

Most of the time, however, we are not leaders. We worry. The financial storms are coming. Winter is upon the North, and Spring is cold and slow in the South. Jesus tells us not to worry about this. If we are seeking the kingdom, we will have provision.  The kingdom of God (which is the people of God) will provide what we need. (It may be a bicycle,It is unlikely to be a Mercedes, in fact it is  unlikely to be anything bigger than the Fiat 500 I used in Canada).

So some of this is being content with what we have. Using what we have, Showing mercy for those who need help. And acting the way the LORD wants us to, so his kingdom grows, and his enemies cannot mock him.