Title: Pass It On-Commitment
Place: BLCC
Date: 7/6/14
Text: Haggai 1:1-15
CT: May all who come behind us find us committed to God.
A. In October of 1781, General Cornwallis marched his British troops into Yorktown. The patriots to the south had wreaked havoc on his redcoat army, and he was hoping to rendezvous with the British Navy on Chesapeake Bay.
American and French troops, however, anticipating Cornwallis's plan, pounded them with cannon fire, while the French fleet cut off escape by sea. The British found themselves trapped.
Thomas Nelson, then governor of Virginia and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was fighting with the patriots firing the cannons in Yorktown. Gathering the men, he pointed to a beautiful brick home. "That is my home," he explained. "It is the best one in town. And, because of that, Lord Cornwallis has almost certainly set up the British headquarters inside."
And he told the American artillerymen to open fire on his own house.
They did. As the story goes, the very first cannonball shot at Mr. Nelson's house sailed right through the large dining room window and landed on the table where several British officers were eating.
It is one thing for a man to talk about freedom. It is quite another to destroy his own home to help make that freedom a reality. Nelson understood, however, that to hold on to his current life would mean forfeiting the life he was so desperately seeking. A life of true freedom would cost him the stuff of his present life. It was a small price to pay.
On October 19, as the British troops surrendered, the Redcoat band played the song, "The World Turned Upside Down." The song was apt. The world's greatest super-power had just been defeated by an army that couldn't afford to put shoes on its soldiers' feet.
But how can you thwart an army willing to sacrifice everything they currently have, for something infinitely better waiting on the other side?
LS. How could Satan thwart a church willing to sacrifice everything they currently have, for something infinitely better waiting on the other side.
This week we are dealing with our commitment to God and his mission.
Our job as Christian adults and leaders is to pass the baton of our faith to those who come behind us. If the baton is dropped the consequences can be eternal. I am going to the Old Testament this morning to find a story about people who had pushed God down on their priority list and neglected His mission and the change that occurs when they commit to follow God’s plan for their lives.
Body
Haggai 1.1-15. You’ll find this small book stuck right between Zephaniah and Zechariah near the end of the OT.
I.
The year was 520 B.C. Darius was king of the Persian Empire. He was a descendant of Cyrus who had defeated the Babylonians and had allowed the Jews to return to Palestine about 19 years before. When the Jewish people who left Babylon to return to Palestine first arrived they found nothing but ruin and destruction. They rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation for the temple, but then quit for some reason altogether. Times were getting tough for these people. The crops were failing and the dew that was so important to their livelihood was not happening .
II.
A. In the second year of Darius’ reign Haggai goes out among the people as a prophet of God. He has been called to rebuild the Lord’s temple. Let’s go along with him as he ventures out to recruit help and resources. The first house he goes to is near the center of town. A young craftsman owns it. His wife and two children live there as well. Haggai introduces himself and says, “I’m trying to get enough people together to rebuild the Lord’s temple. It’s been almost two decades since any work has been done. Could you help with your labor or donations?”
The man lets Haggai in and introduces him to his wife and kids. They are all well dressed and well fed. The man says, “I’m sorry, but times are really tough, with the drought and all. I just don’t have any extra funds or time. It takes all I can do working 24/7 to just make ends meet.”
Haggai tells the man’ “Well, if you can, we start the 24th with as many as we get.” Haggai turns to leave when he notices the new paneled walls the man was installing. Outside Haggai noticed the new roof the craftsman had just put on his house.
The next house Haggai comes to is the house of a potter. Haggai is invited in. The interior is beautiful with amazing woodwork and beautiful pottery all around. The potter has three sons, but they were off at practice for the local sports team that was going to compete with the next village the following week. The potter is in a rush because he helps with the team as a coach .
Haggai asks the man, “ I’m trying to get enough people together to rebuild the Lord’s temple. Could you contribute some time or funds to the effort?”
The potter says, “ I’d really like to, but I’m just so busy making pottery and I do help coach the sports team. I just don’t have any extra time or funds available.”
Haggai turns around and walks across the new, lavish Persian rug and out the ornate door back out into the street.
Haggai decides to try one more house. He goes to the edge of town where a farmer has a beautiful garden with fruits and vegetables. The farmer had developed an ingenious irrigation system using a well on his property to utilize the water very efficiently. The farmer greets Haggai and offers him some fresh fruit. The man has been doing well selling his produce to the people of the village. His house also has a new roof with beautiful doors and windows.
Haggai says to the farmer, “I am trying to get enough people together to rebuild the Lord’s temple. Could you help us with some time or donations?”
The farmer takes a bite of his fresh fruit, then says, “I’m sorry, but I can’t leave my garden. It has to be irrigated every day and I thought we were to wait for the messiah to come before we built the temple according to some of the priests. And by the way, won’t the Persians be against us if we get too ambitious about building the temple. I sure don’t want to make them mad”.
Haggai lays down the rest of his fruit he was eating and heads back into town. He thinks to himself, “Is this all I’m going to get, excuses?”
B. [Illustration] Excuses. We can find excuses to get out of about anything, especially church. What if we used some of the excuses people use for missing church and apply them to say… ballgames.
Why I stopped going to ball games:
1. Whenever I go to a game, they ask for money.
2. The other fans don't care about me.
3. The seats are too hard.
4. Coach never visits me.
5. The referee makes calls I don't agree with.
6. Some of the games go into overtime and make me late for dinner.
7. The band plays songs I don't know.
8. I have other things to do at game time.
9. My parents took me to too many games when I was growing up.
10. I know more than the coaches do anyway.
11. I can be just as good a fan at the lake.
12. I won't take my kids to a game either. They must choose for themselves, which teams to follow.
C. [Application] Do we really think God doesn’t see through our excuses? Is there any excuse good enough to keep us from worshipping the one who gave his Son for our sins? The next time we start to come up with another excuse to put God off, just imagine telling this excuse to Jesus as he is hanging on the cross.
III. [Retell the Resolution]
A. Let’s get back to Haggai 1.4-15. He took the message of God to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Now all this name-dropping is to make it clear that everyone knew that Zerubbabel was from the line of David and Joshua was of the priestly family . Haggai reveals God’s word to them saying these people say, “The time has not yet come for the Lord’s house to be built.”
Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but 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.”
The people are never satisfied. They always want more. They waste their time on things other than God’s will. They put their wages as well as their spiritual well being in pockets with holes in them.
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 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. 9 “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 a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
So the craftsman, the potter and the farmer along with all their family and neighbors showed up.
13 Then Haggai, the Lord ’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. 14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty- fourth day of the sixth month.
B. There was nothing wrong with what the people Haggai visited were doing. Having a nice home, encouraging and helping your children and using your abilities God gave you to succeed in business are good and worthy endeavors. Where they fell short and why they faced unnecessary struggles was in their priorities and lack of true commitment to God. They placed their own wants and desires ahead of God. God wants his people satisfied, but to be truly satisfied his people must first answer the call of God to worship and glorify him. Put God first!
C. There are so many good things in our lives. The problem is we get so busy tending to the good things in our lives that we neglect the best. We neglect the eternal. We neglect what brings true joy and satisfaction into our lives.
IV.
Haggai has tied Judah’s tough times to the misplaced priorities in their lives. It’s not about the resources they had. It was about putting the comfort and extravagance of themselves ahead of the kingdom of God. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a nice home, but two decades of neglect had led God to act .
Are we in our churches today answering the call God is putting forth? Are we passing the sense of commitment to Christ’s church and mission to the next generation? This text is not about just constructing a building. It is about the church today putting God and his Son, Jesus Christ in the forefront of all we do. Where do we put our financial resources? Are we broadening our ministries to the youth and poor in our community and abroad? The book of Haggai, read in light of the redefinition of the temple as the Christian community,(WE ARE THE TEMPLE) challenges the church to work beyond just the structure of a building to the whole kingdom of God and his people.
This text speaks to us individually. Our priorities are vividly displayed in our finances, but are also seen in our time management, goal setting and family expectations.
John Piper once said, “The ultimate goal of God in all of history is to uphold his glory for the enjoyment of the redeemed from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. His goal is the gladness of his people because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
God renewed his covenant to the people of Haggai’s time when they committed to follow him. He will do the same for us today when we identify and commit ourselves to Christ.
V. May all who come behind us find us committed to Christ. A song from Hillsong United called Hosanna describes this well. One line says, break my heart for what breaks yours. Everything I am for your kingdom’s cause.
Are we as committed to Christ and the freedom from sin he offers as the Patriots who founded our nation were to the cause of freedom from the tyranny they suffered.
Conclusion
Luke 14.26, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. That’s commitment.
Who are you committed to? What do you put first? Remember as Christians we have a set of priorities God sets for us to follow. God-Spouse-Kids-Work-Play. Any shift in this moves us away from God’s ideal. Let’s commit as a church and as individuals to put God’s mission and his “house” first. Won’t you come this morning and submit to him through baptism and make the ultimate commitment to follow Christ with all you have.
Bibliography
Boda, Mark C. NIV Application commentary Haggai and Zechariah. Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, 2004. Print.
Kaiser, Walter C. Mastering The Old Testament Micah-Malachi. Dallas TX: Word Publishing, 1992. Print.
Mangaso, Mark C. The College Press Old Testament Introduction. Joplin, Missouri: College Press Publishing, 2005. Print.
NIV Bible
NIV Archaeological Bible
