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THE DANGER FROM WITHIN (NEHEMIAH 5:1-19) LENT DAY 23

REFLECTION
The theme for our reflection is “Danger from within” Danger means the possibility of something unpleasant, injurious or harmful happening. “Danger from with within” means a looming harm that may occur if a certain state of affairs is allowed to continue among a group of people, organisation or society. Apart from the danger that was posed by the enemies of Israel during the time of Nehemiah, there was also danger from within or among the people of Israel. This danger was the inability of the vulnerable to have the right to land or economic resources. It is often said, “The right to land is the right to life.” In other words, a person is in danger of being vulnerable or subjected to poverty if his or her right to own land or possess a landed economic resource is denied through injustice.

The concept “right to land is the right to life” means a person shall not be unjustly deprived of his or her right to use his or her land which is an economic asset and source of livelihood. There will be a danger of people remaining poor if their right to land is unjustly denied or curtailed. We shall focus on the fact that there will be a looming danger of injustice and harm if we unjustly deprive the poor or less privileged of their right to land. It will amount to depriving them of their right to live a meaningful life.

Dear friend, as people of God, we must help the poor and not take advantage of their already precarious situation by taking away their lands or economic assets thereby making them more vulnerable. During the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall, some of the people could not get enough time to do any other work because of their involvement in the wall project. They had to rely on the benevolence of others to support their family, especially during the famine season. Nonetheless, others were economically sound because of their political positions in Israel. They had access to power and resources. The nobles and rulers in Israel gave loans with burdensome interest to the poor and when they were unable to pay they took over their lands and subjected their children to servitude. The people complained to Nehemiah their leader, “….We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.” ⁴ Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.” (Nehemiah 5:3-5). Beloved in the Lord, as believers, we must be sensitive to the plight of the poor and vulnerable in our society lest we expose them to danger or poverty. Let us not take undue advantage of others and deprive them of living a dignified life because of our position of power. Our nation is filled with cases of some rich and affluent people in positions of power forcefully and unlawfully taking parcels of land belonging to the poor and less privileged. Sometimes the poor are inadequately compensated for the lands being taken from them hence they are further impoverished. There are many examples of family heads or stewards of family land mortgaging family property or land at the expense of the widows, orphans and the poor in the family who may want to farm on the said land. Some people are not poor because they are lazy, they are poor because their lands which are economic assets for farming and building have been forcefully taken away from them by some corrupt politicians, family heads, chiefs and elders of the community.

Beloved in the Lord, the right to land is the right to life therefore Christian leaders must speak up in protecting the poor and vulnerable when their right to land is being infringed upon by others. Nehemiah teaches us this example when he confronts the culprits in Jerusalem, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? ¹⁰ I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! ¹¹ Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.” ¹² “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” (Nehemiah 5:9-12). How many Christian leaders in our time can confront and speak truth to power? How many Church leaders can use their platforms and pulpit to promote pro-poor policies and interventions and to call out those in positions of power to be accountable? There are poor and vulnerable people in our churches and some of them are victims of oppression and injustice. Like Nehemiah, we need to listen to the plights of our members and use our influence and position as believers in leadership positions to speak out or confront the actions and inactions of the culprits against the rights and human dignity of others.

It is rather sad to find some churches and their leader in bed with the very people who oppress the poor. We shamelessly invite some of them to chair our functions and donate the very money they make out of their corrupt practices. We have had our mouths taped and our hands tied because we have reduced the church to a place where we condone and promote anyone who has power and money regardless of the source of their wealth. Nehemiah was bold enough to face the rot in his society or nation. How bold are our Church leaders to speak truth to power in Africa and for that matter Ghana? We have turned a blind eye to the corrupt and unjust practices of some government officials because, during our harvest and church celebrations, they are the same people we invite to come and support us financially. We must wake up as church leaders and Christians! It is for this reason that Peter and the other apostles have greatly admonished us, “…We must obey God rather than human beings! (Acts 5:29). Are we obeying God by speaking the truth and fighting the course of the poor and vulnerable or we are passively condoning injustice and oppression of the poor and vulnerable in exchange for financial favours and material support from the culprits?

We must follow the perfect example of Jesus who always spoke truth to power. For instance, He boldly admonished the leaders of the Jews, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:23-24) Where is the voice of the Church in the twenty-first century when the poor and vulnerable are being deprived of the basic necessities of life by the very people who are supposed to protect them? We must balance our sermons about salvation and eternal life with sermons about justice, respect for human dignity and the existential issues faced by the suffering masses. In other words, the pulpit must boldly and loudly speak against the injustice, immorality and abuse of power in our society even as it prepares the souls for the eternal.

In summary, we have reflected on the theme, “Danger from within” We have discovered that as believers and disciples of Christ, we must not deprive the poor or less privileged of their right to land thereby depriving them of their right to life. We must boldly defend them by speaking the truth to power and by obeying God rather than human beings!

PRAYER
Dear God, give us a generation of godly and fearless leaders who will stand for justice and human dignity so that the poor and vulnerable will also have the right to live a dignified life. Amen.