CONSIDER YOUR WAYS: A CALL TO HOLINESS
“LOOK UPWARD”
Haggai 2:18-23
Supporting Scripture:
Psalm 65:1-8
Jeremiah 29:10-14
Philippians 1:3-10
INTRO
There was a couple who used to go England to shop in a beautiful antique store. This trip was to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups.
Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked, "May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them, the tea cup spoke. "You may not know," it said, "I have not always been a tea cup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Don't do that. I don't like it! Let me alone,'
My master only smiled, and gently said, 'Not yet!'
"Then, WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it!’ I screamed, ‘I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to be sick!'
But the master only nodded and said, quietly, 'Not yet.'
"He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then ... then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat! I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. 'Help! Get me out of here!' I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips.
He shook his head from side to side, 'Not yet.'
"When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'Oh, that felt so good! Ah, this is much better,' I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Oh, please; stop it, stop it!!' I cried.
He only shook his head and said. 'Not yet!'
"Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up.
"Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering, ‘What's he going to do to me next?’
An hour later he handed me a mirror and said 'Look at yourself.' And I did. "I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!'
"Quietly he spoke: 'I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'"
God knows what He's doing in each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will. So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink", remember this.
And this is the sentiment behind the final sermon from Haggai. As we seek to “tend to the temple within” we have a confidence that the task is not one we do alone. We can look upward and see our master who is methodically fashioning us into the image of Jesus.
HAGGAI 2:18-23 (ESV)
18 Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider: 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”
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It is not by accident that Haggai begins this message with “Consider from this day onward.” God is making some huge promises and assurances here. He is telling them to have faith in his long-term plans… to let today’s actions be based upon a vision of the future
I think it is also interesting to compare “this day” (v. 18) to “that day” (v. 23). The comparison shows a striking difference between what “today” looks like and what “tomorrow” promises.
Sometimes we need to pause. Maybe we are frustrated by the lack of development or the lack of advancement we see in others and ourselves. Maybe we ache with the desire for all things to be made right and we, like the Psalmist ask “How long O’ Lord?” Haggai’s final message to you is to take heart.
My first District Superintendent, Dr. Russell Human, used to have a saying he drilled into us … it has proven to be true and helpful through the years. He would say, “When nothin’s happenin’, somethin’s happenin’.”
The Bible says, "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" Philippians 1:6.
We have reason for hope. The Living and Loving God abides within and directs the course of our lives. This hope is not wishful thinking … it is a confident anticipation based upon the character of God.
Meditate on this as it is sung: “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (v. 1)
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!
Haggai reminds us that our hope is anchored on:
1. THE PROMISES OF GOD (V.19)
19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”
Haggai’s neighbors do not know, at the time of this parable, whether their seeds and vines and trees will bear or not. But their God, the Lord of nature and of their lives, promises that he will bless them.
The promises He makes are as staggering today as they were in yesteryear. And His track record has stood the test of time.
Meditate on this as it is sung: “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (v. 2)
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!
Haggai reminds us that our hope is anchored on:
1. The Promises of God (v.19)
2. THE POWER OF GOD (VV. 20-23)
Sometimes, when the pressure is intense, we forget that God can (and has) defeated the enemy of our soul. It is an “already but not yet” scenario that requires faith and endurance on our part. But the longer I serve Him the more confidence I have in His power and faithfulness.
As believers we recognize the clandestine efforts of the enemy to turn us aside from the call of God; to redirect our focus. We must be fixed on Christ and our relationship must never be traded for cheap or immediate substitutes.
Meditate on this as it is sung: “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (v. 3)
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!
WRAP-UP
The Spirit of God is still speaking through the prophet Haggai. He is still calling His people to tend to the temple within and to trust Him and His faithfulness.
He is still restoring hope in God and calling us to unflinching devotion … to holiness.
Our Hope challenges us to:
1. Hang on loosely to the perishable things of Life (2:20-21)
What is the sense of selling one’s soul for that which is going to perish? That is the basic principal Haggai wanted God’s people to learn.
We must take the long-look and refuse to react to the immediate perceptions that declare the value of the transient and mock us for living for something greater than the immediate and temporal.
The ancient Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. We want to run all the way with the flame of our torch still lit for Him.
2. Firmly grasp the unshakeable Kingdom of God … and its King (2:22-23)
When all the nations of the earth have been shaken of their hubris and reduced to reality, then the Lord himself will emerge as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
For Haggai’s neighbors, Zerubbabel emerged at the right time; as another sign that God had not forgotten His promises to Abraham and David.
God will emerge in our day too. God will bring the needed affirmation and victory we need too.
Do you know the name Ignace Jan Paderewski? He was the prime minister of Poland and died in 1941 but what he is most known for is being a composer and concert pianist. In 1922 Paderewski was scheduled to perform at a great Carnegie Hall. In the audience was a mother with her fidgety nine-year-old son. Weary of waiting, the boy slipped away from her side, strangely drawn to the Steinway on the stage. Without much notice from the audience, he sat down at the stool and began playing "chopsticks." The roar of the crowd turned to shouts as hundreds yelled, "Get that boy away from there!" When Paderewski heard the uproar backstage, he grabbed his coat and rushed over behind the boy. Reaching around him from behind, the master began to improvise a countermelody to "Chopsticks." As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy's ear, "Keep going. Don't quit, son...don't stop...don't stop."
Would you like to play a masterpiece with a master performer? You are. Your part might seem crude and flawed but the Master can use it … is using it … to get the world’s attention.
Let’s seize upon the abiding rule and reign of God. For in the end everything will be shaken except the coming King and His kingdom.
And whenever everything else is shaken … we want to be standing with Him don’t we? And we can with His help.
Let’s close with the words of Jesus this morning.
Mark 13:32-37
32 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' "
Those who have ears
Let them hear
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This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
First Church of the Nazarene
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
www.banazarene.org
