Abandoning Your Rights As a Klingon

Suggested Reading: Nehemiah 5:14-19

Worf was one of the most memorable characters from Star Trek: the Next Generation. A Klingon with giant ridges on his skull, Worf was from a race of warriors who prized honor above all else. But Klingons also believed in punishing children for the sins of their fathers. When Worf discovered proof that his father had been falsely branded a traitor, he brought that proof to the Klingon High Council to clear his family name. As a result, the Council offered Worf the son of the man responsible for framing his father and a chance for his family to avenge the wrong done. Worf was given the right to kill the young boy but he refused to punish a boy who had not personally committed a crime against him.  As far as Worf was concerned, he had the right to kill the boy, but killing him would not have been right.

At the end of Nehemiah chapter 5, after Nehemiah had dealt with the nobles and officials who had been exploiting the poor, Nehemiah made an official notation that almost seems like he was tooting his own horn. Nehemiah wrote, "Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year-- twelve years-- neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor." (Nehemiah 5;14, NIV) Nehemiah went on to say that the previous governors collected a very hefty salary from the people he governed but that he  himself refused to take it, even though it meant feeding 150 officials on a daily basis as well as the occasional visiting dignitaries out of his own pocket. Nehemiah specifically stated that he refused to demand what he was due as governor because it would have hurt the people of the land. Nehemiah could have demanded a salary and reimbursement for all of his expenses because they were his right, but he chose to make the people more important than his rights.

There are many things that we believe are our rights, things that we think people owe us. Sometimes, we have a right to an apology, to an explanation, to compensation. People may owe us credit or thanks. And often, we would be well within our rights to demand those things. But sometimes, demanding our rights simply isn't right. Sometimes, we need to put people and relationships above our rights. That person who hurt you may owe you an apology, but is the apology worth more than the friendship? Jesus set aside his rights as creator of the universe and ruler of eternity in order to save the very people who had taken his gifts of life and freedom and thrown them back in his face.

Jesus refused to cling to the rights he was due as God because we were more important to him. Shouldn't we be willing to forgo some of our rights because people are more important to us?

New Languages and Royal Favors

Suggested Reading: Nehemiah 2:1-9

After Jerusalem was destroyed and its people taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Persian Empire conquered Babylon and the Jewish people were allowed to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding. But when the Persian King was informed of Jerusalem's rebellious history, revolting against Egypt, Assyria, and several times against Babylon, King Artaxerxes stopped the rebuilding of the wall. He didn't trust Jerusalem and didn't want to take a risk on it.

But then God laid the state of Jerusalem's wall on the heart of Nehemiah, Artaxerxes' trusted cupbearer and food taster. Nehemiah waited until the Persian New Year, when the kings were known for giving lavish feasts and being very generous in granting requests and then he approached the king and asked, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I may rebuild it" (Nehemiah 2:5, HCSB).

Now, Artaxerxes knew Nehemiah was from Jerusalem and was aware of what Nehemiah was asking for a city that Artaxerxes did not trust, but Nehemiah never used the word Jerusalem. He knew that the moment that word passed from his lips, the king would stiffen up. So Nehemiah presented his request in a different light, using a phrase to communicate clearly which city he was talking about but which would connect it to Nehemiah's grief and not the king's suspicion of a rebellious city. Nehemiah did not deceive and he did not change his request but he knew his audience and knew how to communicate with the king.

As we interact with our neighbors, friends and co-workers, as we witness to people who may have hang ups about the church or who have been hurt by religion, we need to get to know these people well enough to communicate with them on a level they will respond to. Rather than using church language or pushing a religion, we need to learn to communicate the pure Gospel of Christ in a language and in terms they will respond to. We need to be aware of their hangups and suspicions and do what we can to communicate the Gospel in a way that is completely true to the Gospel but that doesn't make them bristle up and shut down. Such an approach may require some effort and some patience on our part, but we will be much more effective in communicating the Gospel.