September 21 & 22, 2002
2 Timothy 4: 9-22
“When the Car Pool Dies”
Mildred and Helen always rode in the front seat. Linda and Diane and Susie were always in the back seat and Jackie rode backwards or sideways in the fold out seat of my station wagon. That is because she was the only one who didn’t get sick riding backwards. For nearly three years these six ladies and I spent three hours a day together. We were inseparable, except by two seat backs. You see these ladies were my car pool. Helen, Mildred, Linda and Susie worked for the State of Indiana and Jackie, Diane and I worked for Blue Cross and Blue Shield. We became great friends, We knew everything that was happening to each others children and grandchildren. When one was sick, we all sent a card. We talked about the problems of the little town we all lived in, Rushville. We watched the season’s change, we stopped every week to buy eggs at a farmer friend of Jackie’s. On Friday’s our first stop before we headed for home was for sundaes and ice cream cones at the little dairy bar on State Road 44. That car pool had a great run. When I left the car pool to go to school and pastor the little church at Lancaster, Diane bought the station wagon and drove the car pool until she got a job in Rushville, then Jackie took over and drove for many years. I have a lot of fond memories of those many trips.
Now, twenty some years later it is sad to realize what the intervening years has wrought to the members of my car pool. Helen died from a heart attack. Mildred is dead from cancer. Diane was killed in a tragic car accident. Linda passed away in her sleep. I am not sure where Susie is and Jackie retired from Blue Cross and Blue Shield. They were there when April was born, they rejoiced with me when they found out that Gayle was pregnant with Jay. Helen counseled to buy our first house on 11th street. Mildred gave great motherly advice on how to make Gayle feel attractive when she was in maternity pants.
I think I understand a little bit of what Paul was experiencing as he gazed back over the years and dear friends who have left him alone and doubtless there were many other losses that contributed to the lonely last words he pens to Timothy. Demas had departed to Thessalonica, Crescens is in Galatia, Titus has gone to Dalmatia. Tychicus has been sent to Ephesus. Erastus stayed in Corinth and Trophimus is sick in Miletus. It had been a good run for Paul’s car pool, but “what do you do when the car pool dies?” What do you do when dear friends and old friends are gone, departed or turn away from the relationship? What do you do when you are cold and want a coat, bored and you want some books, lonely and you want Timothy to bring Mark?
This, to me is the most poignant section of all the scriptures. This man whom so many owe so much, is lonely, cold, and depressed. This man has been through imprisonment, persecution, stoning; has given up family, home and ease and yet must furtively ask, “Please come before winter!”
It is questionable whether Paul ever saw Timothy or Mark, the books or coat, for he was soon, after these last words, led away to be beheaded. Remember when Jesus asked, “What profit is it to a man to gain the world and lose his soul?” This dear man Paul has apparently, lost the world and gained his soul. What Paul is dealing with here as he closes the book on his life and ministry is disappointment. His conditions are a disappointment, many of his friends are a disappointment and those who oppose him are a disappointment. Sound familiar? We all know disappointment. However, God’s word can give us some wonderful encouragement as we struggle to deal with disappointment in our lives. Haggai is a very helpful book from the Old Testament, Paul’s bible, that can help us to understand and deal with disappointment. You will, I’m sure, recall briefly the circumstances that called forth this little book. After returning from exile in Babylon, the Jews commenced rebuilding the temple, then ceased the work not long thereafter, largely because of opposition from the Samaritans. Sixteen years later God raised up Haggai to call the people back to the task at hand. Upon his prodding, they began the work in September of 520 B.C. Barely a month had passed and the initial enthusiasm had waned once again. This time they were overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the project and by the memories of how great Solomon’s temple had been. Haggai now speaks to the willing but discouraged workers. Let’s look first at the causes for their disappointment and in so doing we will discover something about our own personal struggles.
I. The Causes of Disappointment
Our text suggests several reasons for their discouragement, most of which revolve around the problem of a bad memory. They were guilty both of dwelling upon the negative and forgetting the positive altogether. Memory can be a blessing or it can be a curse. For these Jews, it had become a heavy burden that hindered their progress.
A. Good Memory of the Wrong Things
"Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory?" (3a). The temple was destroyed in 586 B.C. Haggai prophesied in 520 B.C.66 years later. It is not impossible that Haggai himself was a young boy when the temple was destroyed. Certainly there must have been many people over 75 who remembered the splendor of Solomon’s temple and mourned for what they had lost. When they spoke, they recalled the glory of the old days and remarked at how puny this new temple seemed by comparison. It hardly seemed like a temple at all. Where was the gold and silver that had marked Solomon’s temple? It almost embarrassed them to see such a shabby structure erected where once the old temple had been. Perhaps it just wasn’t worth the effort. Maybe it would be better to simply live with the happy memories of the "good old days."
Memory is a wonderful thing if you remember the right things. For the Jews of Haggai’s day it was a curse because they not only remembered the past, they lived there.
B. Bad Memory of the Right Things
Notice verse 5, "This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt." The Jews had forgotten what God had done for them at the Red Sea. Somehow that amazing miracle seemed like only a distant memory. They had forgotten how they were trapped with the Egyptian army behind them and the Red Sea before them. Moses struck the water, the sea parted, and they walked through on dry land. When the Egyptians followed them, the seas came together and swallowed Pharaoh’s entire army.
Why did God remind them of this stupendous miracle? Because he’s the same God today that he was back then. He still works miracles today. Look at the end of verse 5: "My Spirit remains among you. Do not fear." Think of the implications of that statement:
* Abraham is gone.
* Moses is gone.
* David is gone.
* Solomon is gone
But the Holy Spirit is still here! Fear not, be strong, pick up your hammer and your chisel, keep on working. Don’t look back to the past, don’t worry about who isn’t here. Focus on who is here, the Holy Spirit of God. He abides with his people forever. Therefore, be encouraged. Keep moving forward. Don’t be afraid to tackle an "impossible" project. Don’t be intimidated by daunting circumstances. God has promised to stay with us forever. His Spirit is the fulfillment of that unbreakable promise. We must keep on keeping on. For the Spirit remains with us.
C. Playing the Comparison Game
"Does it not seem to you like nothing?" (3b). The old people remembered the glory of the ancient temple and wept when they saw how puny this new temple was. To them it seemed to represent all the failure of the past. It was a living symbol of what they had lost 66 years earlier. They felt it wasn’t even worth the effort to rebuild because it would never be like the good old days.
The same thing happens to us whenever we play the comparison game. We compare our children and our wives and husbands. We compare what we used to have with what we have now. We remember the past as better than it really was so that the present seems worse than it really is.
The comparison game is foolish and dangerous because only God can make a proper comparison. I am reminded of that strange and touching story about Peter and Jesus conversing in John 21. Three times Jesus asked, "Do you love me?" Three times Peter answered yes, and three times Jesus told him to feed the flock of God. Then Peter saw John following them and asked, "What about him? "meaning, where does he fit in your plans? To which Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" (John 21:22).
God isn’t obligated to treat us in exactly the same way he treats anyone else nor is he required to treat us today exactly as he did yesterday. Because God is God and we are not, he has the absolute right to do what he pleases. If you think about that fact, it renders all comparisons useless and counterproductive.
D. Living in the Past, Downgrading the Present, and Forgetting the Future.
This is the inevitable result. Because you live in the past, you look down on the present and you forget about God’s promises for the future. In this case, it meant missing God’s promise to bring even greater glory to the rebuilt temple than it ever had during Solomon’s days (see verse 9). Spiritual disappointment drains all our energy because we focus toward the past instead of moving confidently into the future.
II. The Cure for Disappointment
I want to give you four specific steps we must take to free ourselves from the swamp of self-pity and disappointment.
The first step is the hardest, most basic, and in some ways the most important.
A. Let Go!
How often this lesson comes up in the spiritual life. We will never grow until we learn to let go of the past. It may mean choosing to forgive even though the other person won’t admit they did anything wrong. It often will mean deliberately choosing to let go of some dream you held onto for many years. No matter what it is whether good or bad if it’s holding you back, you’ve got to let go of it.
Ray Stedman has a helpful word at this point:
Do not stop the work because it does not compare with something that was there in the past. This is one of the problems of God’s people. We are always looking back to the past. We say, "Oh, for the days of D. L. Moody. Oh, for the days of the church where we came from. Oh, what we did then." And we are wistful and long to have it just that way. But the great lesson that God wants to impress upon us is that God always does a new and different work. The thing that is coming in the future is always better for our present situation than the past. We do not need to hang on to these things of tradition. God is saying, "Keep on working, I am with you. And when I am in your midst you don’t need to worry about how it is going to turn out. It may be different but it will always be better" (Haggai: Some Words to Discouraged Carpenters).
As hard as it may be, you have to let go. Until you do, you can never move forward with God.
B. Look Up!
To look up means to get a new view of who God is. Haggai used one particular name for God six times in nine verses. It’s the name translated as "The Lord Almighty." If you look closely at the text, you’ll discover the word "Lord" is capitalized because it refers to the Hebrew word yahweh, which is God’s personal name. The word "Almighty" translates the Hebrew word sabaoth, which means "the armies of earth and heaven." The King James translated that as "the Lord of hosts," meaning "He who is sovereign over all the powers of earth and heaven." It’s an extremely strong name for God. You might even call it a "military" name because it means that he is the God who is greater than all the forces of earth and heaven.
No one can stand against him. No one can defeat his purposes. No one can hinder him in the least. When the Lord Almighty goes out to do battle on your behalf, you’re going to win because he’s never lost a battle yet. When David stood in the Valley of Elah facing that mighty giant Goliath, what name of God do you think he used? Listen to his words:
You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the L ORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the L ORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the L ORD saves; for the battle is the L ORD ’s, and he will give all of you into our hands (1 Samuel 17:45-47).
When your God is big, the task before you will be small. David’s God was so big that Goliath didn’t seem so big to him. In the same way, your view of God radically effects the way you approach life. Take a good look at the God you worship. Is he big enough to handle your problems? If not, then you need to look up and get a new view of God the Lord of Hosts, the Lord Almighty.
C. Look Ahead!
God only sends his people in one direction: Forward! He never sends them back to the past, and he never lets them stay in one place too long. The people of Haggai’s day had romanticized the past and completely forgotten about the future
Here is a wonderful antidote to discouragement. Be faithful because you never know who is watching and listening. And you never know the lives you can impact through your faithful service for Christ.
D. Get Moving!
Here is the final step in overcoming disappointment. Get up and get moving for God. Too many of us sit around stewing in our juices when the Lord says, "Get up, my child, and do the work I have called you to do." That’s what the Lord said to the Jews. Three times in that chapter of Haggai God says, "Be strong." Rise up and do the work of God. Be strong in the face of difficulty and do the work of God. Don’t let anything stop you. Be strong and work!
Sometimes the best therapy is simply rising from your seat of despair and tackling the job in front of you. Yesterday I talked with a friend in a distant state who is battling through a hard time. She traveled to a large city to take a course that will enable her to get an advanced degree. For months now she has been attending classes 12 hours a day, six days a week. In three weeks the course will be finished. She can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Victory is within her grasp. But on the phone she sounded so weary, so tired, so worn out, so discouraged. "You’re out of gas, aren’t you?" "Yes, I am," was her reply. I reminded her that nothing can ever happen to the children of God without his express permission. Everything that happens fits into his plan for us somehow, somewhere, some way or other. When I asked if she believed that, she replied that she did. "If you believe that, just ask God to give you strength to take just one more step. You don’t have to go for three more weeks or even three more days. God is only asking you to take the next step. And in the taking of that step, he will give you the strength to take the next one."
So many people live in defeat because they can’t climb the steep mountain before them. Just remember this: You don’t have to climb the mountain. You just have to take the next step with God. He’ll take care of the rest.
That is what Paul was asked to do, take one more step. As he took those last steps, many who lined the roads may have assumed that Paul was trudging toward his death but in reality he was marching toward eternity. Let go, look up, look ahead and get moving you will find yourself “Built strong for the off-road times of life.” You will be “Built Lord Tough.”
