Preacher: Pastor Tim Redfield
Date: October 3/6, 2019
Text: Haggai 1:1-11
There are plenty of times when events don’t seem to make sense. A good kid from a good family gets hooked on heroin. A hardworking family man who has been married for 20 years decides to walk away from the marriage. An otherwise healthy woman with no family history discovers that she has cancer.
We like to think, especially when we are young, that life makes a lot of sense. We like to think that there are simple solutions to all of our problems. The older we get, the more we see that there are plenty of times when life refuses to make sense.
Part 1: God makes “Much” into “Little”
Some of the Old Testament Israelites probably thought that it didn’t make sense when they were dragged away into captivity in Babylon. Jerusalem was destroyed, their homes were torched, the Lord’s temple was burned down. Weren’t they supposed to be God’s chosen people? Perhaps they struggled with why their country was destroyed and they were deported.
70 years later when they returned to Jerusalem, they must have been thinking similar thoughts. The Holy City of Jerusalem was a ghost town, walls and gates were broken and crumbling, the temple courts were a heap of rubble and overgrown with weeds.
The Israelites of Haggai’s day decided to roll up their sleeves and put some sense back into their lives. Jerusalem’s walls were rebuilt. A new altar was installed on the Temple Mount. They dug down and laid the foundations for a brand-new temple.
But then, the people lost interest in rebuilding the temple and began to pay attention to building projects that made more sense to them. They focused on their own houses. Why should they prioritize their time and money building God a house when their own houses needed work? Perhaps they reasoned, “We’ll take care of ourselves right now so that we’ll be in a better position to take care of God’s house later.” But we know how it goes. The “later” never came. After laying the foundations, almost 15 years went by without any real progress being made on the temple.
Haggai proclaims a message that might not make a lot of sense from a human perspective. “Is it time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house (the temple) remains in ruin? Now this is what the LORD Almighty says, ‘Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.’ This is what the LORD Almighty says, ‘Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,’ says the Lord. ‘You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘Because of my house, which remains in ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth and its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.’”
The Israelites were preaching a sermon about personalized priorities with their paneled houses and their procrastination with God’s house. Self was first. God was second. They thought that giving to God first didn’t make any sense.
Do we ever think like those Israelites? Many Financial advisors would recommend paying yourself first by making wise investments. Some people think that prioritizing the work of the Lord with Firstfruits giving will result in other areas of our life suffering. If we give our time, talents and treasures away, won’t that mean less for ourselves and what we love? The American dream is to have more for ourselves.
Humanly speaking, giving to the Lord doesn’t make a bit of sense. The default mode of our sinful nature is to keep stuff for ourselves and to look out for our own interests. Our version of living the good life can easily lead to greed.
God’s Word said, “You plant much, and harvest little…Eat and drink, but aren’t satisfied…Clothed, but not warm…Money is placed into a purse with holes … Much, turns out to be little.” What was the problem. The people had little because they gave little. The God who once fed 5000 men with a boy’s picnic lunch, is the same God who can insure that a stockpile of stuff won’t be enough to make ends meet.
There are times that we rationalize that giving to God first doesn’t make a bit of sense. We need to fight temptation to put ourselves first. Motivated by God’s love we want to put the work of the Lord first.
Part 2: God Makes “Nothing” Into Everything
Do you think that the people who gave generously to the temple in Haggai’s day went home and God let them freeze to death? After Haggai’s rebuke, why could the Israelites give so confidently to the Lord and his work? Because they believed in a God who gave himself completely for us!
God’s giving makes no sense! The Holy One of Israel gave himself completely for the sinful people of this world. That makes no sense whatsoever. That’s why it’s called grace. God’s grace is simply amazing. Jesus didn’t give 10% of himself for you. He gave 100% of himself for you and your salvation! Jesus set aside the glory of heaven to come to earth for us. He endured the suffering of the cross for us. He shed his precious blood to redeem us and make us sons and daughters of God.
The One who willingly made himself nothing for us on the cross is our everything. In Christ, God graciously gives us ALL things! The one who cried out “Why have you forsaken me” is the one who will never leave us or forsake us. The one who prayed “Give us this day our daily bread” is the one who opens his hand and satisfies our desires.
Because of what Christ has done for us, our relationship with him is our top priority. Let’s think about that as we think about using our time, talents and treasures.
God’s blessings are right in front of us. We are extremely blessed in our country. We have many resources. Let’s use those resources to show that God is our Firstfruits priority.
Conclusion
May God open our hearts so that we make him our top priority. We worship the ultimate giver. God gave us Jesus. In Christ, God graciously gives us all things. Our God is faithful. Let’s fill his house with good things! Amen.