Talk by Pam on 2 August 2015
Intro: Gil
asked me to prepare the message for today. He has had Haggai on his
heart for some time, so that left me to bring us Haggai chp1.
“Haggai...Help!!”
I knew Haggai was hard hitting and would challenge and change me.
I
cried out to God for help...and this is the result....
Haggai...who
was he? Why
is his message, just 2 pages in our Bibles so important?
At
the time of speaking this word from God it is believed Haggai was a v
old man who had seen the Temple some 67 years previously before it
was destroyed by the Babylonians. So
the most important job God gave him to do was when he was already v
old, just before he died.
Everyone
knew him as a prophet. A
man passionate about God. Passionate about Who God is, the Almighty,
passionate about honour and respect and worship due to God. He must
be First in everyone's individual lives and in the life of the nation
as the chosen
people of God.
The
Temple for
Haggai was more than just a building . It represented all God stood
for, all that he required and all he could do for his people.
(JBTaylor)
Some
18 years previously the first party of Exiles returned from captivity
in Babylon.
They were called the
remnant,
the few who were left after the Babylonians had killed many and
devastated Jerusalem. Imagine
the joy, the hope, the high expectations as they returned to their
homeland. We read in Ezra,
Cyrus
of Persia had ordered the Temple to be rebuilt. With great rejoycing
the people began the work. They had Zerubbabel,
a
decendant of David as their governor, and Joshua
son
of the original high priest at the fall of Jerusalem, now high priest
himself. Everything back to normal, they would be great again!
Then
they met difficulties.
Fierce opposition to the Temple rebuilding. Not enough men had
returned to do the job. Sound familiar? Imagine it : fields gone to
wrack and ruin during exile needed a lot of work to plant crops.
Everything was destroyed. They needed to build homes for themselves.
They had to live!! So work on the Temple “stood still” (Ezra)
Stopped completely. People forgot about it. Imagine poor old Haggai
jumping up and down in frustration. How could people forget God and
neglect his Temple. But they did.
Apathy
set in. The people busied themselves with their own affairs. We have
not got time, energy or money to think about the Temple just now. We
have got to look after ourselves and our families. After all those
years in Exile we have a right to do what we want. Have a decent
house ( panelled could mean luxurious or simply a roof).
Me
mine now!! Sound
familiar? Used to describe the 2 year old. Now applies to all of us.
We have deified self... we are our new god. My needs, my fufilment,
my rights. A totally selfish spirit pervades our society.
Despite
all their hard work to better themselves what happened ? v. 6.
They never had enough.
God
tells them through Haggai “
Give careful though to your ways” x2.
Recognise the reality of your life now. You expected much, but see,
it turned out to be little..
WHY?
Not because we have few to do the work, much opposition, bad weather.
One
simple answer: your piorities are all wrong....God says “my house
is in ruins while each of you is busy with his own house...”
I
have withheld my blessings from you because you have not put me
first.
V10 speaks of dire
consequences for not putting God first
What
happened next?
Did the people say “ nice message proph” and continue doing
exactly what they had been doing before? Rather
like the ducks in the duck church. Have you heard that one? Well the
ducks all went to hear a fantastic duck preacher in their duck
church. He said “ducks you can fly? Yes you have wings. Stand up,
stretch them out! So they stood up, stretch out their wings. Yes, we
have wings . We can fly!!. “ Amen” said the preacher Amen echoed
the ducks What a great sermon! Then they all turned and waddled home.
No. we read from the govenor and the High priest to all the people who
had returned from exile “ they obeyed the voice of their God ….
They
recognised God was speaking through Haggai. Yes, they had not put God
first. They saw they had been busy with their own affairs and
neglected what God wanted them to do. We read "They feared God". They
honoured God and worshipped him with awe and respect. They
showed their repentance by obedience and action. They
didn't take months to ponder and decide what to do. It took just 3
weeks to get materials together and begin building the Temple. They
must have worked hard for they completed the building within 4 years.
How
was that possible?
Because as soon as they obeyed and began, God said “I am with you”
He sent His Holy Spirit to help, to fan into flame the spirit of God
they each had within them.
v. 13, 14
Ok that was then. This is now. What does the message of Haggai mean for us today in RBC?
Give
careful thought to your ways...you expected much, but see it turned
out to be little...
This
spoke to me
Gil
and I started our ministry in RBC just over 6 years ago. I expected
much. had high expectations that the church would grow in numbers
rapidly. I had even worked out how. God's timing isn't mine!!!
You
must have had expectations of the new minister as well.
We
expect much...but it turns out to be little..
Why
is it that we have all these empty pews,
Only 3 baptisms in the last
6 years.
Struggling to keep the institution going.
There
may be lots of other reasons, but God
says quite clearly through Haggai you
have got your priotities wrong. My
house remains a ruin while each of you are busy with his own house..
We
say, "But Lord, your house isn't a ruin. Its one of our priorites. We
repair it.. look at the new roof and ceiling.. we decorate it and
clean it."
But
as for Haggai, the Temple was much more than a building. So RBC is
much more than this building where we worship. In fact, real church
is not a building at all. It is the body of Christ.
So,
why is the Body of Christ a ruin?
Haggai:
Simply
we have got our priorities
all wrong. God must be first. Not
our personal lives, not even our church activities or even our
families...
Jesus
said Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness...
What
is God requiring of us? Seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with
your God.
Seeking
God, his will for such a time as this.
Putting
God first..How does this work out in actual life?
Spending
time with God, reading his word, praying daily, on our own and with
others.
Getting
to know God: (1John
2v 3-6)
Walking
the walk... allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us so we become
more like Jesus.
We
honour God by living as he wants us to be as a church. I
believe we are beginning to do this. Lets be encouraged to continue
and grow deeper in love and unity.
We
are called to live in unity (John
17: 21, 22, 23)
Real
love and respect for each other. Real unity of heart and mind. Does
not mean that we all are going to like the same things, we need our
individuality. But we are called to honour and respect each other.
we are called to to find out what God wants us to do as individuals
and as a church for such a time as this.
I'm
seeking God for what that means for me.
When
I came to Rosyth I had expectations to get to know our neighbours and
show them the love of Jesus. 6 years on I'm still at the stage of
passing time of day over the fence. When I was beating myself up
about this in the house group, Roy reminded me that our neighbours
had come round to join in the BBQ we'd had when we had had a summer!
Getting to know people takes time. I want everything done
yesterday!!!But unless we intentionally do something about it, it
will never happen.
God
will reveal himself to each individually and to us as a church as we
seek him together united in heart and mind as the early church. God
is calling us out to share his love with those who don’t know him
When
I was preparing this I saw a jewel. A large flashing crystal, so
beautiful It was held in on material in a hand. Suddenly the jewel
was wrapped up and put away. God said “I am that jewel . You
treasure me. You take me out and look at me every so often then you
cover me up, so noone else can see me and put me away. STOP IT! The
jewel is not just for you. Take me out and share me with others.”
1
Peter 3:15 We
are called upon to
always
give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the
hope that we have. BUT do this with gentleness and respect. I'm sure
it begins with asking the Lord to help us love the people in our
streets, to allow Him to bring them to us then trust him to show us
what to say, or do .
God
is the creator, he makes all things new. We have to make the effort
to seek him, to allow him to show us how to build his kingdom today
and use the tools we have at our disposal.
We need to cry
out to LORD for help.. he will give us openings.. etc As
a church We need to cry out to God together.
When
we put God first, we obey.
What
happens when we obey? Lets look what happened in HAGGAI
God
says I
am with you.
He
is there with us. We take his presence into every situation. He is
there with us every moment of the day.
And
he sends his HOLY SPIRIT.
As we obey and go out of our comfort zones he empowers us by his Holy
Spirit and we find ourselves doing what we thought would have been
impossible for us.
So
lets be a church that obeys God.
Which
means: A church who puts God first, who allows the holy spirit to
make us more like Jesus, A church who loves and respects each other
and walks forward in unity.
© Pam Lilly August 2015
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