Get to Work

Introduction

I want to begin this message with a quote I have hanging in my office.

It is a quote from Theodore Roosevelt about what it means to get in the ring and get to it. It is about what it means to get to work because we are needed.

Before I read it though I want to say we are in a time where we must fight as hard as we have ever had to fight in our lives, maybe even the life of this country.

We are overwhelmed with all kinds of horrible and disgusting sins attacking all areas. It is unavoidable and it has crept into so many places of the Lord in ways that are reprehensible.

Men, we have failed to stand firm as we should. I know I have as I remember a time in my life where I said, “As long as what they do does not affect me, I don’t care what they do.”

What a pathetic statement. What an apathetic statement that I am ashamed I ever said.

We should care and we should engage. We should stand firm and fight the good fight because what people do is not against us but against God.

That is why I think this quote from Roosevelt is so fitting for this talk.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

But he also said:

“Courage, intellect, all the masterful qualities, serve but to make a man more evil if they are merely used for that man’s own advancement, with brutal indifference to the rights of others. It speaks ill for the community if the community worships these qualities and treats their possessors as heroes regardless of whether the qualities are used rightly or wrongly.”

Simply, it is time to get to work and seek to reach as many as possible because the world is criticizing us regardless, but they have no clue what it is like to have true victory. They scorn from a place of defeat while we tend to hide while we are in a place of victory even if it does not seem like we are in victory.

We also are like the second part from that speech of his. We do not seek our advancement but that of others because we know that the world wants to have all they want any way they can get it. We are a buffer between them and hell and they do not even know it.

We stand in the gap to hold that hole so they may not fall through so they may see Jesus and turn to Him.

We use the right for the right reasons and never for ill gain, or at least we should.

God is not a genie nor is He a grandfather figure. No, He is a Father who is love but with love comes wrath and punishment and we must strive to reach other people before they feel the wrath.

We have work to do. We have to get after it and fight the good fight because the Lord is worthy of our work and people dearly need us to do this.

But one thing I see in the world of the church are many people like the Israelites from the book of Haggai.

In Haggai 1:1-11 we read,

Haggai 1:1–11 ESV

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

We have many connections with the people then and we tend to be like they were now.

Historical Context

The connections we have with them fit within the historical context of this book.

The historical context is seen some in the chapter just read and some in historical documentation.

Political Turmoil

The Israelites were in captivity but not in captivity. They were under the rule of the Medes and Persians still.

But there had just been a change in leaders due to the mysterious death of the one emperor.

This political shake up sent earthquake style shock waves throughout the kingdom. The Israelites were shaken and fearful of doing anything.

Economic Turmoil

Next, we see economic turmoil. The people were struggling as we read in verse 6. They had harvested but got little. Their moneybags seemed to have holes.

There was some tough times for them and they were struggling.

They were not set on doing anything but staying in their paneled homes.

But within these tough times because of the political shakeup, there was taxation that led to inflation. The government was taking all they could plus some to keep itself afloat.

Personal Desires Overshadow God

But this led to the people tending to their personal desires over the work of the Lord.

I mean why serve and give to the Lord when we are barley making it with what we have.

That time is not quite right now.

We are suffering now and God is allowing it, meaning He must not want us to build for Him just yet.

So, we will just go gather wood from the forest for us to have warmth and maybe some fun around.

All this can be translated to, let us still go on our vacations because we deserve it because we worked hard to get this money during this difficult times.

Yes, we have not gave to the Lord or done the work we should for Him, but because of the political and economic turmoil, He is not wanting us to do this just yet.

All is coming down so the end must be near, why get after it with the end so close?

I mean the times are difficult.

Difficult Times Abound

This is the last contextual aspect.

In the last two verse we see that the times have become even harder with drought and difficult work.

The times were hard enough with the political and economic turmoil, now there is a drought.

Man, life is tough and the Lord seems to be against all people.

Or maybe calling for us to get to work despite the situation.

All of these aspects fit with what is going on in the world today.

I have never seen a more politically charged and politics in turmoil time in my life.

We have people hating one another because of a candidate they voted for.

People hating others because a candidate told them to because those people are evil.

We are in a tough spot because it seems only the crazy and deluded people want to be in politics.

They are all crooked and out for something other than the true good of America and the world.

World leaders are all insane.

We live in a highly turbulent political time.

Which has led to tough economic times.

We have horrible taxation and inflation.

We are all struggling to pay for groceries and fuel.

Which has led to us not giving to the church or going to church like we should.

We have drawn back due to the toughness of money and expenses.

And on top of that we have had difficult times due to weather patterns.

It seems we are living right in this same time as these people of Israel were.

So what should we do?

Get to Work Because the World Needs Us.

Yes, we are to get in the ring and get to it because that is the only way to make a change at all.

Sitting back and complaining has not fixed anything ever in the history of the world, so it will not do it now.

No, it is working for the Lord that will make change.

Which leads to what we must do and can do because we have the Spirit of the Lord in us.

We must build because...

It Is Always Time to Build

It is always time to build.

We were left on this planet by Jesus after our salvation to do work not sit around and complain.

We were left to glorify Him and not glorify ourselves.

We were left to show the world that Jesus is the all-in-all and the end all our ultimate hope and our true treasure.

But too often and for many years now we have had the mantra, “It is not time to build.” Or we have said, “we can’t do that because we don’t have the money, skills, or place to.”

God tells the Israelites in Haggai the same thing He says to us today, “Consider your ways.”

We say to Him no all the time but He says to us “yet you live this way and that way and do all these things, but don’t set out to help build my kingdom.”

You do all these things for yourselves yet not for me then complain when times get hard.

Why is that?

Because we have tried to live like the world while claiming the name of Christ.

God has told us to go and build disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20).

He has told us to be like Paul when Paul told us to imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).

Paul spread the news and worked hard to fund himself.

He was not restrained with worry or fear of doing without because he knew he could do all those things through Christ who strengthened him (Phil. 4:13).

Paul knew the command was to build now while you still can.

He knew we have limited time and all time is the proper time.

We must build when God says build, and He has said build.

So, don’t tell God no. Don’t say the time is wrong.

Don’t be afraid of offending people.

Don’t sit back and complain how awful the world is getting when we are not taking hold of the reins and making the horse beneath us go where we want.

The Lord had given the Israelites then everything they needed and He has given us everything we need.

Think of it like this,

Jesus has mounted you on the best horse that makes everything Matlock Rose rode look like a dink. You have the best made saddle that can be made. The best set of bits and spurs that surpass anything Klapper could make. The best made handmade boots that no maker can imitate. The best fitting and hanging pair of chaps that make the best pair you have ever had look like junk. The best rope that does not miss like all these other ropes we have here. The best hat that never fits bad or blows off.

But if all that is out in the pasture, in the saddle house, in the closet, on the hat rack, they are nothing more than just ornaments that do nothing.

All of that stuff must be put to use if you are to get the work done.

God has blessed you and given you the Spirit inside you that gives you power to do the work of the Lord.

We must get to work and build now because now is the time to build.

Which means we must engage and not withdraw.

Engage! Don’t Withdraw!

The Israelites because of the hardships and struggles took care of themselves like a bunch of end of the world preppers.

They had their place and was staying there because building the kingdom is too hard in these times.

The times are tough and they just can’t make it happen.

Well, we have a saying that I am sure many here know.

It goes like this,

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

This is what we must do in difficult times.

We get back up and get back in the arena.

We get back up and get back on that dirty rank bronc we call the World.

We stand tall in the saddle and continue riding hard.

We never surrender or give up because we know who it is we stand for and with and we know no matter what happens we are in victory.

That is where we are. We fight from a place of victory.

So if you are knocked down by inflation, God has you.

If the economic turmoil has you strained, God has you.

If you have struggled with personal desires over the Lord, God has you.

I won’t deny that we have been hit hard by the world.

It has reeled us and almost KO’d us.

But we do not weaken and stop just because it has got hard.

I love movies because they give me many quotes and illustrations.

Who all has seen the movie Rocky Balboa?

I don’t mean the original Rocky movies of the 70s and 80s, but this one was in 2006.

In this movie there is a quote that I have almost tattooed on myself because of what it says and how much it describes the Christian walk.

“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows…I don’t care how tough you are–it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

Satan is the world and the more the church withdraws instead of engaging, we are not winning.

We win by engaging and we can engage because we have the Holy Spirit in us to get us back up.

We don’t need to be like the Israelites in Haggai and withdraw to our homes and never engage because that is easier.

No, we engage even after being knocked down again and again because we have the spirit to fight in us because we have the Spirit of the Lord working in us.

We stop thinking we are defeated because we live under tyranny or in a bad spot.

We do not just live the stoic life and say oh well.

We do not live fatalistically and say that this is just how it is and nothing can be done.

No, we get up each time we get knocked down and march forward.

We continue engaging in the battle until the battle is done or we are done.

But to do this we must stop being so busy with life and our personal desires and...

Become Busy With God

Here in the text we see God calling out the Israelites for becoming so busy with their own houses that they have failed to become busy with His house.

He tells them His house lies in ruins while all they care about is their own homes. (VV. 7-9).

What this tells us is that these people were living for their needs alone.

They were going and getting wood from the hills for themselves and not the Lord.

Remember the temple and the altar required much wood for the sacrifices.

The nation of Israel had been without their temple since 586 BC and this is now around 522 BC.

This is over 60 years they had not had their place for sacrifice and worship.

And instead of busying themselves with the house of God they had busied themselves with their problems and desires.

We are not much different in America.

The American church used to be something that the majority of people attended.

From around 1936, when pew research began research, 70% of the people in America attended church regularly. Meaning twice or more a month.

This trend ran from then until the nineties where it dropped a little into the sixties percentile. Then around the 2000’s it jumped back up over 70%, due to 9/11.

But it then began a steady and sharp decline where we are now at only 47% of Americans attending once or more a month.

The new large church size as of a study from 2023 is around 130 people, where just 10 years ago it was around 300. We are losing people steadily because they have become busy to the world and not God.

We are like the Israelites here because we are not tending to the house of God as we should and have allowed it to go into ruins.

We as the church have become too busy with other things just like the Israelites had.

We worry too much about our stuff and sports, and hunting, and hobbies, and many other things over the Lord.

We are busier now in this day and age and we accomplish so much less than years before.

This generation of people are more biblically illiterate than ever before.

Most people can’t find Job in the New Testament. I have had people ask that.

It is because we have become so busy and stepped out of the Arena and stopped being busy for the Lord.

We have stopped seeing God as priority number one.

We have allowed our houses to make us busier and busier and we have collected the wood for ourselves but failed to for the Lord.

But we can change this.

We can by allowing the Spirit in us to lead us and run our lives.

We stop being so busy so we can study the Word of God more.

We stop being so busy with other things so we can fellowship with fellow believers at church more.

We stop being so busy so we can serve the church inside the walls and outside in the world.

We stop being so caught up in worldly affairs so we stop missing what the world is doing around us and how it is corrupting so many.

We 1 Corinthians 7:29–31 “29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.”

We also 1 John 2:15–17 “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

This world is passing away and it is of not much value to us who have the unfading crown of glory with Christ our Lord.

If we are so busy with the world Satan has already deceived us and devoured us.

He has tricked us that the good things we do with our family are the most important things so much so that missing church has become acceptable and normal rather than irregular and not often.

We do this and find this as the acceptable work of the Lord just as the Israelites did with their homes and families over the temple of God.

But our work is that of an evangelist, preacher , teacher, leader, discipler, and one who just shines the light of Christ to all around us.

May we always be at work so we do not have to be told to Get to Work.

Conclusion

God has called us to work and fight while we are here.

We are His representatives on this planet.

Us men have a larger burden to stand firm because weak men are the problem with the world.

If we fail or falter, Satan grabs as much as he can. He gets a grip and we start losing.

We have been saved by the Grace of God through the powerful work of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ who now sits by the Father mediating for us. Let us always be diligent to serve and work for Him and His glory.

Like this story,

Years ago Walt Kelly, the originator of the lovable comic-strip character Pogo, pictured his little friend fishing in a swamp. By and by a duck comes along and sits down beside Pogo. The duck opens the conversation, “Has you seen my cousin?” Pogo answers, “Your cousin?” “Yes, my cousin. He’s migrating north by kiddy car.” Pogo asks, “By kiddy car?” “Yep. He’s afraid to fly. He’s afraid he’s gonna fall off.” “Then why don’t he swim?” Pogo responds. “Well, he don’t like to swim ’cause he gets seasick.” With a measure of insight, Pogo states, “When your cousin decided to be a duck, he chose the wrong business.”

That little comic strip is a “beatitude of life.” “Blessed is the duck who, when he decides to be a duck, does what a duck is supposed to do!”

(Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 320).

We may not be ducks but we are Christian men for the Lord and since we are, let us be about the work of a Christian over and against the work of the world.