Turning a Prince of Thieves Into Family

Suggested Reading: Nehemiah 5:1-8

In spite of the fact that he couldn't speak with an English accent, my favorite Robin Hood movie of all time is Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Price of Thieves. While many of the relationships change throughout the course of the movie, the relationship which changes most dramatically is the relationship between Robin and Will Scarlett. From the moment Will Scarlett is introduced, the viewer can tell that he hates Robin, that he loathes him. Seemingly before he has any reason, Will would just as soon slit Robin's throat as acknowledge him as leader of their band of merry men. But all of that changes when Will is released by the Sherriff of Nottingham to track down and kill Robin Hood.

When Will appears in the woods where Robin and Little John are burying their dead and trying to regroup, Robin is ready to let John kill Will as a traitor. But when Will reveals that he is Robin's half-brother, the son of the woman who comforted Robin's widowed father, everything changes. Robin grabs Will and hugs him closely and says, "I will stand with you. Side by side to the end." In that one moment, when Robin realizes that Will is family, a precious treasure he thought he had lost, everything changes.

Back in Nehemiah chapter 5, when Nehemiah was forced to confront the nobles and officials who had been exploiting the people, listen to the language he used, "You are exacting usury from your own countrymen! As far as possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold back to us!" (Nehemiah 5:7-8, ESV). "Your own countrymen." "Our Jewish brothers." "Your brothers." Nehemiah wanted to remind these nobles and officials that the people they were exploiting were their family. Not only were they members of the same ethnic group, but they were all descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They had all been adopted as God's chosen people. They were family. And family is supposed to treat each other right, even if they don't treat anybody else right.

Unfortunately, we often get that backwards. We treat everybody else right but treat the members of our own family badly. And it can get even worse when we talk about members of our church family. Too many of us rarely stop to think about the fact that the people we are supposed to worship, work, and witness with are family -- that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, adopted by the same Heavenly Father. We should treat our family well. We should cut them more slack than we do because they are our family. We should go out of our way to be understanding and forgiving, to be supportive and considerate.

We should treat our families, both physical and spiritual, well. We should be able to say to one another, like Robin said to Will Scarlett, "I will stand with you. Side by side to the end."

Listening to Beggars Like the Sheriff of Nottingham

Suggested Reading: Nehemiah 1:1-4, 2:1-5 (or read the full context Nehemiah 1:1-2:5)

In Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, I have always found the scene of Maid Merian and the Sheriff of Nottingham leaving church services to be a fascinating picture of the way we are versus the way we should be. When services are over, a crowd of beggars waits outside, hoping for handouts from some of the wealthy people attending church. The Sheriff of Nottingham, of course, barges through the crowd of beggars, pushing and shoving his way through without ever considering their cries. As Merian makes her way through the crowd, she turns to her lady in waiting who has a bag of money already set aside for this purpose  and begins handing out money until she has given it all away. I don't point to this scene as an indication that we should give to every beggar we see (although we might make a case for that), but to point out the difference in their reactions to the peoples' needs.

The scene, really, demonstrates the difference between people who refuse to acknowledge the need around them and the people who allow themselves to be affected by it. Another example of the latter is Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a royal official for King Artaxerxes who had stayed behind when the exiles returned to Judah and Jerusalem. When Nehemiah's brother arrived with news of how bad the people were faring, Nehemiah recorded his reaction: "When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven" (Nehemiah 1:4, NIV). Then he approached the king in order to make a difference.

When was the last time you were affected at the sight or knowledge of someone else's need? By the need of someone outside your own little bubble of acquaintances? Nehemiah was a trusted official of the king who didn't have to worry or be affected by the problems of people hundreds of miles away. But Nehemiah allowed himself to be affected by them. In fact, he allowed himself to be affected to the point of mourning and fasting for days and then coming up with a plan to resolve the situation.  But we, on the other hand, often get uncomfortable with  another person's needs. We see a homeless person and we look away because we are uncomfortable. Watching television, we see a commercial for an organization trying to raise money for children living in poverty across the world and we change the channel before we get the urge to pick up the phone and do something about it. We notice at a restaurant a person sitting alone and looking miserable and we sit with our backs to them so we don't see them and feel guilty for doing nothing.

Proverbs 13:21 reads, "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered" (NIV). This principle extends beyond simply helping the poor. When we ignore anyone in need, we earn the right to be ignored ourselves.

When you see someone in need, don't turn away to avoid being uncomfortable. Let the need affect you. You might even be able to do something about it.