Sermon – “Consider Your Ways”
Scripture Text: Haggai Chapter 1-15
Introduction: Let me share a story with you about some church people… It’s about 4 people in the church whose names were Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. The story goes as follows, “The church had some financial responsibilities, and Everybody was asked to help… Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it… Anybody could have done it… But you know who did it? Nobody… It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Then the church grounds needed some work, and Somebody was asked to help… But Somebody got mad, because Anybody could have done it, and after all, it was really Everybody’s job… In the end the work was given to Nobody, and Nobody did a fine job.
On & on it went… Whenever work was to be done, Nobody could always be counted on… Nobody visited the sick, Nobody gave his time, Nobody shared his faith… In short, Nobody was a very faithful member…
Finally, the day came when Somebody left the church and took Anybody and Everybody with him… Guess who was left. Nobody! Isn’t that a sad story?
Consider Your ways. The Message translation says, “Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over.” Have you looked around lately? What’s going on? The pop singer, Marvin Gaye in his hit song said, “Mother, mother, There's too many of you crying; Brother, brother, brother, There's far too many of you dying. You know we've got to find a way, To bring some loving here today, yea! Father, father, We don't need to escalate. You see, war is not the answer, For only love can conquer hate, You know we've got to find a way, To bring some loving here today.” The question is still relevant today, what’s going on?
Today, the church faces the same issue it did in Haggai’s time. Many believers have convinced themselves that it’s not the right time to return to the church house nor is it time to do the work of the ministry. The believers in Haggai’s day put off work on God’s House and turned their focus to their own homes. Today many believers have their priorities in life mixed up just like in Haggai’s day, which will rob them of personal satisfaction and hinder the flow of God’s blessings in their lives just like it did the Israelites in Haggai’s day.
Listen to our Scripture Text from Haggai Chapter One,
“On August 29 of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’” Then 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 of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!”
7-11 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to 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 of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops. I have called for a drought on your fields and hills—a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”
12-15 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!” So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, on September 21 of the second year of King Darius’s reign.
Introduction: The Israelites who had returned from captivity in other parts of the world came back to help rebuild Jerusalem and the temple but somewhere along the way of rebuilding their priority list got turned upside down. Whether it was the persecution from the surrounding people, the threats, the criticism or the business of life they put God’s House on the back burner and focused on their own personal wants first. They had forgotten to put first things first and that God should always have first place in our lives. Sometimes, I wonder if we have allow the pandemic to do the same thing in our lives.
Today we need to talk about our own personal priority lists – you know what I mean the unwritten list on which you order your lives around. Every one of us has one – we have all chosen to put certain things on the top of the list – these things get our time, our money, our resources and really our hearts. The book of Haggai deals with how we arrange priorities in our lives. The Temple was a sign of God’s blessing on Israel and was at one point considered one of the ancient 7 wonders of the world. God’s presence dwelled in the Temple and represented His dwelling with the nation of Israel. The Temple testified to God’s presence, existence, supremacy, holiness, mercy and authority. It was a marvelous site to have looked upon in its day.
The kingdom split after Solomon’s reign, and eventually both parts were taken captive because of their rebellion and idolatry. The Northern Kingdom (called Israel) was overtaken by the Assyrians and the Southern Kingdom (called Judah) by the Babylonians. In 586 B. C., the temple was destroyed and Judah was taken captive. But in 538 B.C., Cyrus, ruler of the Medo-Persian Empire, defeated Babylon and took charge. He allowed conquered nations, including the Jews, to return to their homelands. He even decided to finance the reconstruction of the Jewish temple. In 536 B.C., only about 50,000 returned to the land. This was a sign of their faithfulness to God. Many of the other Jews had become comfortable in Babylon and prospered; they were not interested in the difficult journey to the once-conquered homeland to undertake the difficult job of rebuilding. Their way of life was more important to them than re-instituting the public worship of God. Yet the faithful Jews made the journey and began the job. They laid the foundations of the temple in 536 B.C. But they encountered opposition. And they put the work on hold. They started to focus on building up their own homes and neglected the house of the LORD. In fact, the rebuilding of the temple was on hold for sixteen years, and that’s why God sent His Word by His prophet Haggai.
The people felt that they spoke for God – They convinced themselves that it was not time to build! Why would people not want to build the house of the Lord? Why would they not want to take care of the house of the Lord? The Prophet warns them to take careful thought about their priorities. He then reveals to them why the house of the Lord still lies in ruins after all these years. It was not because of the opposition, nor the absence of God’s blessings, it’s because they had misplaced priorities in their choices. They had abandoned their assignment and focused on their own homes, wants, and needs and not on what God wanted. Haggai challenged them to look in their hearts and take careful thought about their actions. The truth revealed through the prophet was that these believers were dishonoring God with their current priority lists! They put their selfish desires before the Lord and that is idolatry!
“A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck.
“Where’s Harry?” he was asked. “Harry had a stroke of some kind. He’s a couple of miles back up the trail.” “You left Harry laying there, and carried the deer back?” “Well,” said the hunter, “I figured no one was going to steal Harry.”
Many people today have their priorities upside down and they don’t see the danger. There focus in not on God and His House but it’s all on their homes, their ways, their wants their wills. The result is many in the kingdom of God are in danger of having God’s blessing in their lives removed! What happens to our life when our priorities get turned upside down with God and service to God? I see three things that happened in our text today.
First, They Became Self-Deceived - They deceive themselves into thinking that serving God and completing the House of the Lord can come later. They said, “We cannot afford to build a house for God or put money into His Kingdom because our own house takes up all the money. Timing is not right! When I have more money then I will give it to God’s House.”
The truth is, the time is always right to do the right thing. Yet, the timing will never be right when the heart is in the wrong place! The Scriptures are clear that if you withhold from God what is His. you then remove yourself from his blessings.
They became caught up in the “Pursuit of Happiness.” This mindset always rationalizes God out of the picture. I want to remind you that the people Haggai is speaking to where the ones who were faithful enough to leave their homes in Babylon and return to rebuild. These people were the ones committed to honoring God and placing Him first in their lives. They chose to follow the call of God to return and to rebuild the house of the Lord, but something happened, self-deception creped in and stopped their mission.
Second, They Became Misguided and Lost. Sheep get lost by nibbling away at the grass and never looking up. The same can be said for us. We can focus so much on what is immediately before us that we fail to see the big picture. I believe this is what happened to the Israelites here in our story. Greg Ebie notes the following about our arch enemy Satan: “Satan cannot destroy the church, nor can the devil stop the building of the church, BUT HE CAN SLOW IT DOWN. Satan can coerce or entice any of us to forget our role in the building of the church; the devil seeks to blur our perception and distort our priorities leading us away from Christ and His church”
The Devil is the master at deception, and he is relentless in trying to get us to buy into his deceiving ways and to take our focus off our purpose in life for God. When deception and misdirection take root in the mind and heart then it does not take long for selfishness to move in and take over the priorities of our lives.
Third, They Became Selfish in Their Motives. They became selfish, convincing themselves that they need to pursue their own personal goals first; God’s desires can come later (verses 1-4). Many are too busy with their own houses and pursuits of happiness and the American dream than for God’s house or service in His Kingdom. It may not look like much on the surface, but to God it was huge. They wrongly thought that the pursuit of happiness and well-being superseded the pursuit of God and His call. When your priorities are messed up and you are focused on yourself you can miss the lessons of life: “An elementary school teacher was lecturing to her class on the dangers of not bundling up properly to face the winter cold. She told them a dramatic story about a naughty little boy who disobeyed his mother and went sledding one afternoon without his mittens, cap, and snow suit. Because of it, he caught pneumonia and died. When she finished her story, one boy raised his hand. "Mrs. Johnson, may I ask two questions?" "Go ahead, Tommy," the teacher replied. "Who has his sled now and could I have it?"
The result of this self-centered mindset is their expectations in life have not come to pass because they are actually robbing God to meet their own selfish goals. Focus on self will never bring contentment or satisfaction to your life. Focusing on me-myself and I will only result in a self-centered lifestyle which is called sinful in the Bible. And remember “God will never bless sin!” When you rob from God you lose more than you gain – it’s as if the money blow’s out the window. When you steal from God you set yourself up for failure – because you will lose what you already have.
God speaks through the Prophet Haggai and he tells the Israelites that they will never get ahead as long as they put God on the back burner and focus on themselves. When you dishonor God you lose His help and His blessings! Famine, storms, and calamities were everywhere, Why? Because their selfish ways caused the Lord to take away His blessing on their life and they suffered as a result. Through the prophet Haggai the Lord helps the nation of Israel to assess their current situation.
No matter what these people did, God was working against it. You build it up and God tears it down. You plant it; God won’t water it. You water it; God won’t let it grow. No matter what it is, you name it and God was working against those people all because they had turned away from Him and the building of His house: from God and the things of God, and in so doing they communicated that they not only did not need Him, but they did not want Him.
They never had enough resources because it just blew in and out. Selfishness causes you to lose what you already have. Greed will cause you to be in need. The people in Israel at this time were facing a severe famine and it was the result of their own selfish ways. God will always send us wake up calls in our life to get us to examine our situation. Jesus said “Seek first the Kingdom of God then all these other things will be added to you.” (Matthews 6:33, 34). God has the ability to withhold His blessings to the disobedient. “Fear the Lord you His saints for to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but they who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing” (Psalms 37). These people were missing the blessings of God because their priorities were turned around. They were not serving the Lord – following his plan, his will, and his way instead they were following their plan, their will, and their own way!
Mother Teresa, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, decided that she would not travel to accept any more recognition, because the accolades were beginning to interfere with her work. She knew that she was not in the business of accepting prizes and making speeches; her calling was to serve the poor of Calcutta.
Fourth, They Needed a Turnaround. What happens when the spirit stirs up the misguided individual and reveals to them their misguided priorities in life? By the way God usually uses a Prophet to open our eyes and help our minds to start thinking clearer again. They became Obedient – when their eyes were opened to their downward cycle of their lives they repented and obeyed. Obedience to God brings a return on what you do. Obedience leads to revival. The Lord stirred up the Spirit to open their eyes. The Spirit’s stirring took the blinders off of their deception. We need this today in the Church. The Lord challenged the people “To pay careful attention to their ways.” I need to challenge you today to evaluate your ways, try obedience to God and see what happens. The Spirit’s stirring awakened the believers, and they honored the word of the Lord and went back to work.
They experienced a 3-month Turnaround! They reacquired a healthy fear of the Lord! They went to work to fulfill God’s call to His house they discovered His blessings again. The stirring of the spirit opened their blinded eyes to realized that they needed to work for God not for themselves because when the focus was on themselves, they never had enough; their purses seemed to have holes in the bottom. The Stirring of the Spirit helped them to reprioritize their lives. They put things in proper order. Their relationship with God became a priority. The nation did not only neglect God’s house, the neglected their relationship with God. They had put God on the back burner. Yes, their families were important; their creature comforts were important, it led them to everything except personal satisfaction. They had acquired luxury homes, delicate food and drink, and money in their pockets, but nothing satisfied them. Our generation is filled with full lives running on empty. The more they had, the more miserable they became. Anxiety, depression, addiction, and bondage is the order of the day. The one thing missing is the one thing needed. Hear the words from Luke 10:41-42, “And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Those words speak to a generation that is running everywhere for satisfaction, except to God. We have increased our entertainment, before one game ends another begins. We have increased gambling opportunities, invented new drinks, pills, added more counselors and mental health professions, and still, many are disillusioned and depressed. Our best efforts are failing. We, God’s church can be the difference needed. But we must choose to be different. We have the good news solution, God is with us.
Will you honor the Word of God today by hearing the message and being obedient to it? Will you recognize that God has been trying to get your attention and it’s time for you to make some adjustments? Will you fall today at His feet in healthy fear of Him and plead for forgiveness for your sin? Will you ask God to have mercy on you and repent for neglecting Him? Will you repent for splurging on yourselves while God’s work lies in need? Will you repent for refusing to use your talents for the Lord? Will you turn back to Him and let Him use you? Will you say to God today that you know He has created you for His pleasure and glory and that you’re going to go up into the mountains right now and demonstrate your love for Him?”
It’s time to rebuild your relationship with God. It’s time to return to your local church and commit to doing your work. No more excuses, God has given you 24 hours in a day. It’s time to put first things first in your life. Put God first, follow His call and get to work When you get back to work for God, the first thing you will receive is satisfaction. Then His blessings will come again on your efforts, and things will begin to work out. It is a violation to work hard and not prosper; it’s a violation, to eat and still be hungry or to drink and still be thirsty. God said in Psalms 103:5, God is a God, “who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Let’s consider our ways! Amen
