I was thinking this week about The Story Chapter 21. It reminds us of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. All of those Israelites that had returned to Jerusalem, they rebuilt their houses and rebuilt the temple – but they did not rebuild the wall. Why? It does not tell us in the texts, so using my imagination; I tried to think why I would not rebuild the wall. What did the wall represent? Safety? Security? Separation from the world around them?
I do not think they were having safety and security issues- from the reading in Chapter 20- they were interacting with the other people living in the area. I think they did not really want to be separated from the other people. They wanted God and the temple and all of the blessings that come from being a people with God on their side, but still wanted to be a part of the world and what it offered.
This reminds me of a story during the time that Jesus physically walked the earth. It is a strange story of healing that we find in Matthew, Luke and Mark. It is right after the Transfiguration story. It is the story of the boy with the evil spirit that the disciples could not drive out. Remember Jesus saying, after they brought the matter to his attention, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you”. Of course Jesus heals the boy, but there is something more in the story in Mark’s account. Read the story in Mark 9. Jesus has some interaction with the father of the boy. The boy goes into a “fit” and the father asks Jesus to help “if he can”. Jesus responds “everything is possible for him who believes”. The father says an interesting thing at this point. He exclaims “I believe, help me with my unbelief”. What interesting things to say- not just help me in my unbelief, but I believe. I think this man knew Jesus- and was a believer- but knew through this interaction with Jesus- that he did not believe enough- so he asked for help believing more. This poses an interesting question- can we believe, but not believe enough? I think so. This is the same as the people in Nehemiah’s time. They believed in God, but did not believe enough to separate themselves (as God had commanded them to do) by rebuilding the wall.
How does this apply to us today? I think there is a clear application to how we view and interact with the world (society) around us. We want to be followers of Jesus, but we also want the same things that the people around us want. We are not supposed to separate ourselves from the world, but to be a light toward God. To many around us, we do not seem to be any different from our neighbors and coworkers. Do we believe enough to be different from the world around us? If we lived that radical faith that Jesus preached what would it look like to the world? Something to think about….