SERIES: Major Profit from the Minor Prophets
What’s Your Priority?
SCRIPTURE: Haggai
SPEAKER: Jeffrey P. Schultz
Note: This series, done in the summer of 1999, involved one sermon each on the Twelve Minor Prophets. Obviously, since these books are of varying lengths, from one chapter to fourteen chapters, these sermons are focused on the key message of each prophet, rather than a detailed examination of their words. This sermon was given by Associate Pastor Jeff Schultz at First Free in St. Louis.
Introduction: What’s your priority? What is it that really motivates you, that you spend your time and energy on? Things, people, responsibilities all compete for our attention. Well, God has something to say to us about all those things and what our true priorities should be. As you turn in your Bibles to the book of Haggai, I will give us all a little historical background so we understand what we’re reading.
Jerusalem has been invaded, captured and destroyed, and its citizens have been taken as slaves in a foreign land. Then, the very people who captured the Hebrews, the Babylonians, are themselves destroyed by the Persians. Cyrus, the Persian king orders all exiles to return home and rebuild their temples. But after Cyrus’ death, the new king is less interested in religion, and opposition arises to the rebuilding project in Jerusalem. This king, in turn, is replaced through civil war by Darius, who renews the order to rebuild the temple. It is at this point, 520 B. C., that the prophet Haggai enters the scene with a message to the Jewish remnant which has returned to the Holy Land.
You know, all of this sounds long ago and far away. But God has something to say to us today based on this old message. It is rather incredible that a man who lived 25 centuries before day planners, day care, and day trading would have something relevant to say about our busy lives, but the truth is, we still have the same temptations and weaknesses as the people to whom Haggai spoke. And God wants to talk to us about our priorities.
What is your priority?
How many of you have ever used the “I’ve been too busy” excuse? “You know, Grandma, I meant to write you a letter, but I just got too busy.” “I know I said I would be home at 6:00, but some last-minute things came up.” We’re all busy. Very few people are sitting around looking for things to do. But when we don’t respond to someone’s call for a week or more, or we don’t answer a letter for a month, we often try to excuse ourselves by saying, “Well, I’ve been busy.”
In reflecting on this from a pastoral and theological perspective, I’ve come to an important conclusion—that’s a load of bull. Everyone has the same hours in a day, and the same number of days in a week. If we don’t do something, it’s because we had other things to do we considered higher priorities. Try this next time: when you finally get around to answering your friend’s call, say, “I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, but I had more important things to do. You just didn’t rate very high on my priority list.” The truth of the matter is that we all make choices every day. We choose where and how to spend our time, our gifts, our energy, and our money. The problem is that the needs and opportunities are always greater than our resources, so we must choose. And sometimes we don’t choose well. This is what God wants to speak to us about today, because God himself wants to be our greatest priority.
Holes in the pockets: A rebuke and an answer
The first problem demonstrated by the people in Haggai’s day was that they were working harder and harder all the time, but they had less and less to show for it. Chapter one in Haggai, reading from the New Living Translation:
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: The people are saying,’The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house— the Temple.’ ” So the LORD sent this message through the prophet Haggai: “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! You have planted much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD Almighty, while you are all busy building your own fine houses. That is why the heavens have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its crops. I have called for a drought on your fields and hills— a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olives and all your other crops, a drought to starve both you and your cattle and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.” (Haggai 1:2 -11)
That’s a hard message. At this point, perhaps it’s appropriate to mention that both Haggai and Zechariah were preaching to the same people at the same time in Jerusalem in 520 B.C. We will hear from Zechariah next week when Pastor Gene will be preaching. But while these two prophets preached at the same time, their messages were very different. Haggai is more hard and challenging, while Zechariah is more comforting and gracious; sort of a good cop/bad cop routine. And I suppose being the new kid on the block, I get to be the bad cop.
At any rate, God says he puts holes in our pockets because we have messed up our priorities. We put the least important things at the top and the most important things at the bottom of our priority list. In Haggai’s time, the greatest priority was rebuilding the Temple, because it was the outward symbol of God’s glory and presence among his people. The people could not even worship God properly without it. But rather than being concerned about God’s honor and how their relationship with him was being damaged, they were living it up in fine houses, spending all they had on themselves.
We live in a different set of circumstances. We don’t worship God in a temple or a tabernacle. In fact, no building at all is required to worship God. But we face the same temptations as these Hebrews to put God and his priorities at the bottom of our “to do” list. We are living in one of the greatest economic expansions any of us have ever known: unemployment and inflation are low, the stock market is booming, incomes and house values are rising. Where are we spending all this increased wealth? Do you ever feel like you spend and spend and you have no idea where all the money goes? You don’t have enough month left at the end of your paycheck? Why is that? God says one reason may be that we are spending his money on the wrong things. Yes, his money.
I used to watch the Simpsons regularly until I got fed up with the cynicism, the sarcasm, and the crudeness. But I do remember one scene in particular. The family is sitting down to dinner when Marge asks Bart to give thanks for the meal. There’s a mistake waiting to happen! Bart bows his head and says, “Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothing.” That’s crude, and that’s why I don’t watch the Simpsons anymore. But it’s also insightful. How often do we live with the attitude that says, “I go to work to earn my money to pay my bills and how I spend my money is my business.”?
God reminds us that everything belongs to him and although he rightfully could, God doesn’t ask for all of it. He simply asks that our giving reflect proportionally how he has blessed us: “to whom much is given, much is required.” We need to soberly remember that we will give an accounting to God for everything he has entrusted to us. There is nothing wrong with having a fine house. David lived in a palace while God’s glory still dwelled in a tent. But David’s heart and priorities were right before God. Where are our hearts, and where are our priorities?
The world tells us that we can have it all. That’s what every advertising message is telling us. But that’s a lie from the pit of hell! The enemy of your soul wants you to think that you can have it all so that you will put all your time and energy into running after things that will never satisfy you. You can’t have it all; nobody can. But we can have what we need, and we can have enough when we make God himself our priority.
But God may well take away from us what takes us away from him. Why? In order to wake us up and drive us back to him; because he loves us and knows that we will never be satisfied with anything less than him. When we seek him with all our hearts, we will find him. But God will not be a part-time deity or a god of our convenience. Who are we really worshiping in the day-to-day reality of our lives—ourselves, or God?
Notice how the people of Haggai’s day responded to God:
“Then Zerubbabel, Jeshua, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people obeyed the message from the LORD their God … the people worshiped the LORD in earnest. Then Haggai … gave the people this message from the LORD: ‘I am with you, says the LORD!’ So the LORD sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel … Jeshua … and the whole remnant of God’s people. They came and began their work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God.” (Haggai 1:12-14).
The people responded rightly to God. When we turn from pursuing our own selfish ends and put our efforts into seeking God and his glory, then God assures us that he is with us, and he renews our strength. But God’s first concern is that we recognize him as our highest priority and give him the praise and honor and worship that he deserves. When we do that, God gives us the gracious assurance of his presence with us and the power to do what is pleasing to him.
A promise and a question
The people begin rebuilding the temple. But some who saw Solomon’s glorious temple before it was destroyed (people 70 years old or more), now see the new temple and are discouraged, because it seems like nothing in comparison. But God comforts and encourages his people with the promise of his presence to empower and embolden them. Even more, God promises that the new temple will be even greater than the old, because he will fill it with glory and give peace through his presence in this new temple. But God also asks whether the people care more about God’s glory in the temple, or about having a glorious building. Haggai chapter two:
Then on October 17 of that same year, the LORD sent another message through the prophet Haggai. “Say this to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land: Is there anyone who can remember this house—the Temple—as it was before? In comparison, how does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD. Take courage, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Take courage, all you people still left in the land, says the LORD. Take courage and work, for I am with you, says the LORD Almighty. My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.
“For this is what the LORD Almighty says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth. I will shake the oceans and the dry land, too. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the LORD Almighty. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD Almighty. he future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD Almighty. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!” (Haggai 2:1-9).
Interestingly, there is no Old Testament record of this promise ever being fulfilled. Yet, the promise was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. This is what God means when he says he will shake all nations. This is a message about Jesus, God in the flesh who came to this same temple and filled it with the glory of his grace and truth. He has shaken all nations with his gospel, and he has granted true, lasting peace to us through his death for us, in our place, to make us right with God. Jesus alone is the source of the glory and peace which now flow out to all nations.
But what is God’s point here? God is telling his people that the building does not ultimately matter. Structures and institutions are secondary to the presence of God among his people. God doesn’t need a glorious temple to dwell among his people. We believe that since God has brought so many people to First Free, he is calling us to commit our physical resources to expand our ministry even further. But no matter what the ministry expansion behind that wall looks like—even if it is glorious and beautiful—the important thing will be whether God is there and whether he is worshiped there.
But are we being faithful to the challenge to complete the work on this building? Even this expansion will barely meet our existing needs. From day one every child’s classroom will be filled. Are we committed to using the resources God has loaned to us to support the expansion of his work? And are our priorities in the right place in the construction of this new building? There’s nothing wrong with a structure that seeks to glorify God in its design and decoration. But the physical beauty and comfort of the building are not our first or even second priority. The reason for having a church building is notour own comfort or satisfaction or pride in accomplishment. We need to see this building as a tool, as a resource that God has entrusted to us to use for his work and worship. It is to be used to minister to others, to reach the lost for Christ, to build the gospel into people’s lives.
And those priorities hold true no matter kind of ministry we are talking about. The true glory of ministry comes not from the outward form of our service at all. We sometimes tend to think that the most important ministry is the kind that is very visible and recognizable, like preaching, teaching, leadership. And the other stuff, like caring for the needy, showing mercy, giving sacrificially, praying faithfully, encouraging others, is what you do when you can’t do the “important” kinds of service.
But God says the glory is not dependent on the outward form. What makes our ministry glorious and pleasing to God is when we serve graciously, thankfully, faithfully, lovingly, when we do it the power of his Spirit, not seeking rewards and comfort, but persevering through difficulty for the sake of serving others. In fact, it’s not service at all if it’s done only at our convenience. The servant doesn’t get to choose where or how he serves; rather he does what the master tells him to do. Everybody wants to be a child of God, but nobody wants to be a servant. Everybody wants to harvest, but nobody wants to plow stumps and plant seed.
As we anticipate finishing our expansion, it would be very easy for us to look on this existing building as nothing compared to the glory of our new worship center. But God says what really matters is whether he is there and whether the people’s hearts are seeking him in the temple. We will have a beautiful new sanctuary, and a tremendous amount of space for education. But will we have the ministry volunteers needed to teach God’s truth, not just to adults, but to kids and youth? The people who volunteer in Kids Ministry do a fantastic job week in and week out. But they get little recognition and few thanks, and I think that may be why there are 18 kids’ classes with no teachers at all right now.
Everybody wants to be a mouth or a brain in the body of Christ. Who wants to be a spleen or a kidney? I don’t even know what a spleen does, but I know that it’s necessary for the health of the body. Will God’s people respond to the challenge to give financially because of what God has already done for them? Are we willing to demonstrate the reality of the gospel in our lives by following Jesus’ pattern of self-sacrifice and thinking of others more highly than ourselves? We will almost certainly have hundreds of new visitors to this building, but will we have people who are willing to extend themselves and open their hearts, and even their homes, to show those visitors the love of Christ? We will have a very lovely building, but will we have a building filled with love?
Clean and dirty: A reminder and a choice
The third problem is that the people are unclean, defiled before God. And not only are the people unaware of their dirtiness, but they fail to see that they are polluting everything they touch because they are filthy on the inside. God reminds his people of this by way of an object lesson. He has Haggai ask the priests questions to which they already know the answers, and then he provides a pointed application:
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’” The priests answered, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?” “Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.” Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the LORD. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.’”(Haggai 2:11-14).
Our young children love to go outside to play in the backyard. But as parents one thing we’ve noticed about our backyard that we never realized when we were kids—it’s really dirty! Now, kids usually don’t even notice when they’re dirty. They walk in the house covered in filth from head to toe and walk right across the floor you’ve just cleaned. “What are doing? I just cleaned that floor! You’re filthy!” And they stand there and look at you like “What? Oh, yeah. I guess so.” The kids are simply thinking about enjoying themselves and having a good time in the backyard. But from our perspective as parents, we’re thinking about the clean floor, the furniture we just had recovered, and the new carpet in the family room. We love our kids; but we don’t want them ruining our living room or coming to the dinner table with gunk all over them.
In the same way, God is the one who must often remind us that even though he loves us, we can pollute ourselves in all kinds of ways. All those Old Testament rules regarding ceremonial cleanliness are no longer relevant for us who have been made clean by faith in Christ, but the principle of being clean before God still stands. Jesus said that what comes out of a man makes him unclean: “evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19). God is still very concerned that his people’s lives reflect his holiness and purity.
Is your conscience clean before God right now? I’m not asking who is living a life of sinless perfection, because nobody does. But do you share God’s concern that your life reflects the reality of already having been made clean? We don’t live lives of purity to get right with God; but if we are already right with God, we should be as passionate as our Father is about keeping ourselves clean.
But there’s another part of this object lesson. God also reminds us of the truth that when we are dirty, there’s only one way to get clean, and that while we are dirty, everything we touch gets dirty, too. You know, sometimes when the two older kids go outside to play, little Daniel is inside. So, when Jacqueline and Ben come inside all dirty, Daniel is clean. But Daniel can’t make his brother and sister clean just because he’s clean. His cleanliness doesn’t “rub off” on them. And they can’t make themselves clean by just thinking about being clean or by trying to do the things clean people do, or even by being sorry about being dirty.
No, it takes something outside of themselves to make them clean—soap and water. But even if the kids wash themselves, they aren’t making themselves clean. It’s the soap and water that clean them. But let’s assume, hypothetically, that when they come in, they go clean up their room, and pick up their toys and help Amelia set the table (I said this was hypothetical, now!). The problem with all that is they are leaving dirty footprints on the floor and handprints on the plates we’re supposed to eat from. All the good they think they are doing is polluted because they’re dirty. They need first to be clean.
This is exactly what God wants to remind us of—that when we are unclean before him, all the good we think we are doing is actually defiled because our hearts aren’t right. Sometimes we are selfish and sinful and proud and self-centered, and that corrupts our relationship with God. This is not a question of losing one’s salvation or being abandoned by God; God is speaking to his people here and telling them they are dirty. The prodigal was still his father’s son when he was wallowing in a pig sty, but he had no effective relationship with his father in that far country. He needed to come to his senses and repent.
We think that we are doing good by coming to church, being involved in some worthy cause or ministry, or that everything is okay because we were born in a Christian home or call ourselves “Christian.” But God says that whatever the people do and whatever they offer is defiled when they are not right with him in the first place. There is only one way to be right with God. We can’t clean ourselves by pretending everything is okay, or by hanging around with clean people. What matters is that you personally are right with God, and the only way that happens is by turning your heart towards God in humility and repentance and accepting the free gift of salvation God offers in Jesus Christ. This is not even so much about a one-time decision for Jesus, but about making a choice daily either for humility, cleanliness and purity, or pride, pollution, and filthiness. God calls us to choose life and health and joy and cleanliness by surrendering our lives to him.
In the Gospels we read of John calling people to repent and baptizing them for the forgiveness of sins. In Oswald Chamber’s devotional reading for today, he remarks on John’s ministry of preparing people for the coming of Jesus:
“Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way…. When He comes to me, am I prepared for Him to drag every wrong thing I have ever done into the light? That is exactly where He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean is where He will put His feet and stand, and wherever I think I am clean is where He will remove His feet and walk away.
Repentance does not cause a sense of sin—it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete repentance …. Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.”
Conclusion: “Have I repented like that?”, Chambers asks. Have we repented like that? Have we come to the end of ourselves and our plans and priorities so that God can come in and cleanse us and use us and fill us? God demands to be first in our priorities, not only because he is a great and glorious God and deserves to be first in everything, but also because he loves us and wants to give us every good thing. Jesus calls us to seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness. Then all the things we need will be given to us by our loving heavenly father. Make God your highest priority today and every day. Let us pray.
Father, we confess that we are tempted to put other things ahead of you. We glorify the wrong things, we worship the blessings instead of you. Would you forgive us as we forgive others, and clean us, turn our hearts to you, and rekindle our love for you? Help us to rejoice in you always, so that your peace, which transcends all understanding, would guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen.
DATE: August 22, 1999
Tags:
Priorities
Stewardship
Spiritual pollution