3. Haggai 2:10-19

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Every winter in happens… at least once. Some winters we’ve gotten onto a horrible rolling cycle where its happened over and over.

What is it?

In a family of 7… it’s the SLIDE dreaded winter lurgy. Don’t get me wrong catching the cold or the flu or (perhaps worse) one of those awful winter vomiting bugs is rotten whoever you are. But in our house there’s an added fear… it’s not just ‘who’s got it now?’ It’s… ‘who’s getting it next?’ And is it going to tear through us all one by one and hang us out to dry over the next 4, 5, 6 weeks?

BREAK OFF

That’s how it works isn’t it - whether it’s in a family or (maybe even worse) in a school classroom full of the lovely little snotty nosed horrors. Disease spreads…. Coughs, colds, eye infections, projectile vomiting bugs - they all spread.

Do you know what never spreads? HEALTH.

One child (more’s the pity) never catches good health from another. One well child in a hospital ward won’t spread her ‘wellness’ to all the others…. But on the contrary one sick kid in amongst a classroom of healthy ones… well the whole thing will go off like a petri-dish growing viruses.

And that truth is important - remember it because Haggai is going to use a vey similar and very powerful illustration in just a moment.

For now though we need to pick up where we left off with Brian last week in this book of Haggai…. And we’re going to do that through our first point.

You’ll see the first heading on your sheet there….

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1. Complacency: The Danger

Remember where we are in the book of Haggai. The people have returned to the land after the exile… (remember, of course, the exile happens because they came to ignore, sideline and disobey the Lord).

But by God’s grace some make it back from the exile… and They’ve come back to rebuild…

SO MUCH needs rebuilt…. The city walls…. Their own homes…. And (crucially) the temple. The temple (after all) isn’t JUST ANOTHER BUILDING… i

It is the place of worship - where they honour God

It is the place of sacrifice - where (symbolically at least) sins are atoned for.

It is the place (again, symbolically at least) of God’s presence…

But here’s the thing… they’ve made a START on rebuilding the temple…. But then they’ve given up - they haven’t finished well. They’ve got distracted by feathering the nest their own homes and families…. And living by their own priorities - and they’ve abandoned God’s priorities. And so building on the temple has stalled….

And so week 1 we saw the Lord tells them to consider carefully their ways, to have Godly priorities, and to build the Lord’s house.

And then ast week came the great word of reassurance… despite the act that the temple they were building didn’t look like much - the Lord was with them… the Lord would fill the temple with his glory… the Lord was working out his plans in them and through them - remember chapter 2 verse 6?

MULTIPLE SLIDES

Haggai 2:6–9 NIV

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

What glorious news!

But there in lies the danger - not in what God says, but in how the people respond.

Picture the scene… God has said he’s going to bing his glory to the temple… God is going to work his plans through it all… God’s promised to bless us with peace…

Well if God’s promised all of that… let’s just sit back and wait to be blessed then. If he’s working out his plans, why does it matter how I live? - that’s the danger of complacency… and I think we can say with confidence that that’s what is going on because of what comes next (point 2 now, on your sheet)…

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2. Contagion: The Disease of Sin

Read on now into todays passage… SLIDE

Haggai 2:10 NIV

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai:

So four months have passed since the opening of the book, and two months since the words of promise we heard last week with Brian.

So what’s happening now? Red on v11 SLIDE

Haggai 2:11–12 NIV

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’ ” The priests answered, “No.”

Now, you’re thinking - What on earth is this all about?

Well Priests - who know their Old Testament are being given a quiz on the Old Testament law - from Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

If you have a bit of consecrated meat (so goes the question) - this would be meat which has been consecrated - set apart - made Holy for a SACRIFICE… and if you take this Holy Meat and (in order to carry it) you wrap it up in the fold of your cloak… Or to translate that into modern language - you put the consecrated meat inside your Tesco's shopping bag with all the other stuff you bought at the supermarket… does the consecrated, holy meat, make everything else it touches HOLY TOO? And the correct answer, which the Priests rightly give, is NO… that’s not how it works.

But then comes the second question - the opposite question, if you like. V13 SLIDE

Haggai 2:13 NIV

Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?” “Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”

If you touch something unholy… and then touch the other stuff, does it become unholy too - defiled too?

And again - knowing their OT well the Priests give the correct answer… YES he unholy news does ‘spread’ (if I can put it that way).

SLIDE - SICK KID

Remember that illustration from the beginning… picture the classroom full of snotty 6 years olds… is ‘WELLNESS’ or ‘HEALTH’ contagious - NO that’s not how it works.

Is SICKNESS and DISEASE contagious…. YES, absolutely.

Now the point here is not about sickness… the point is about the Godliness (o perhaps we should say) the ungodliness of the nation…

Do you stat to see the point…?

The people have started work on the temple…. But they’ve been told (graciously) by the Lord hat he is going to bless them and work through them…

Which they have taken as an invitation just to give up caring about how they live - and to fall back into ungodliness all over again.

And here’s the deep problem with that… ungodliness spreads like a disease. Like a contagion.

Holiness is hard…. It doesn’t tend to spread so easy… but if you let ungodliness into the church… into our orbit… into our lives - what happens? It tends to spread, it tends to grow, it tends to catch.

That is what’s happened here - look at v14… SLIDE

Haggai 2:14 NIV

Then Haggai said, “ ‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.

Don’t think (by the way) that they have given up building the temple - I don’t think they have… don’t think that they have stopped offering sacrifices (clearly they still are) they’re obviously still going through the religious motions.

But all they offer to God is defiled… because they are not living in obedience.

This of course puts these people in a place of deep danger… their forefathers were (of course) exiled from the land, cast out from the presence of God not so very long ago for just the same thing - and that consequence would be bad enough…. But actually there’s more and worse (that’s our third ‘C’ our third heading).

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3. Consequences: Derailed Building

We read on now v15… MULTIPLE SLIDES

Haggai 2:15–17 NIV

“ ‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on—consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,’ declares the Lord.

Do you see what’s happened? From the very beginning of this building project… the work has been hit by setbacks and frustrations… when they thought they had materials, it turned out not to be enough… When they needed refreshment - a cup of wine for their thirst - there was never enough… and the work they did manage to do was frequently hit by crops being blighted… mildew getting in…. And back weather to damage the construction.

SLIDE - ERIC LIDEL - THOSE WHO HONOUR…

PAUSE - LET HANG - BREAK OFF

RIFF - Chariots of Fire - Eric Liddel “Those who honour me I will honour” (words from 1 Sam 2.30)

This passage is showing us that the opposite is ALSO TRUE.

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God will not bless them… God will not honour their work in building for his kingdom, if their hearts are far from him - if they are casual about Godliness - if they don’t honour him in life.

And there is a serious word for US in all of this too.

We have seen that - just as the temple lay in ruins in ancient Jerusalem, so the cause of Christ lies (frankly) in ruins in modern Scotland.

Church attendance has hefted in 20 years, congregations a closing and dying ALL around us. Will our own congregation here have a future? We pray so… but we don’t know so.

So QUESTION - what will make the difference? What will be the deciding factors if all that we build for the Lord here is to prevail… well there are a number of course (not just one). We’ve already seen in this book of Haggai that one key is that we MUST be willing to BUILD - to work - to put out collective shoulders to the wheel.

But here’s a second key… individual and corporate holiness.

Your Godliness…. our Godliness…. has a deep impact on our mission together as a church.

PAUSE - BREAK OFF….

Again, think of our situation. We, of course, are not building the temple… but we do have a mission from the Lord - we are actually to build the TRUE temple - that is (as the NT makes clear) a building made up of LIVING STONES - PEOPLE…

We are (as Jesus commanded) to be making disciples of all nations.

The particular way we capture that mission here is in our vision as a church… the way we’re seeking to be faithful to that command HERE is that, God willing, we’re working towards

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growing to become three, vibrant, all-age churches each of 100 disciples.

Some of you have heard that many times… for others of you that might be new. But that is our vision as a church.

We want to grow to become three, vibrant, all-age churches, each of 100 disciples.

We are praying, and working, and giving our way towards the ongoing revitalisation of Burghead Free Church…. the revitalisation of Elgin Free Church. And then…. if God gives the increase… we have been asked by our denomination to PLANT (that is to START) a third, brand new congregation, here in Moray.

If we are to see that vision become a reality it will take much work, yes…. it will take much prayer, yes…. it will take growing financial giving (and that is a key priority for us just now as we seek to get back to the stage when we are able to have a dedicated minister for our Elgin congregation).

But Haggai makes it plain there’s something else it will take as well - a commitment to Godliness from each of us…. from all of us.

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According to Haggai chapter 2… it’s possible to have great plans (even God-given plans)…. it’s possible to have hard work in ministry… and YET to have God against us… for our work to be thwarted and to fail, because we lack a commitment to personal holiness… a commitment to following Jesus wholeheartedly not merely as our saviour, but as our LORD.

See the shocking thing the LORD says to the people of Haggai’s day - v7 SLIDE

Haggai 2:17 NIV

17 I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,’ declares the Lord.

It was I (!) says the Lord who hampered your work, and diminished your satisfaction, and limited your progress.

Paul sums up this very same principle in his letter to the Galatians. SLIDE

Galatians 6:7 NIV

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

So where in my life…. and where in your life…. and where in OUR corporate life is repentance needed?

PAUSE - LET HANG

Does this mean the Lord only works through perfect people - of course not… there are no perfect people. But it does mean we cannot mock God, expecting his blessing whilst remaining unconcerned about our purity and obedience.

So what is the CALL? What should we do? That’s No. 4…

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4. Call: Discernment

The words that come next will sound very familiar - they are a virtual repeat from chapter 1. See them there? - read on to v15 SLIDE

Haggai 2:15 NIV

15 “ ‘Now give careful thought to this…

And there again in the middle of v18 SLIDE

Haggai 2:18 NIV

18 ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought:

A right response to this passage from any of us… from you, from me… is to THINK. To discern. To give careful thought.

We dont want unsatisfied living do we? We don’t want to dishonour the Lord, do we? We don’t want the project of building for his kingdom to be hampered, do we?

If we don’t it falls to us to think carefully. And, where necessary to come back to Jesus in repentance. Real repentance leading to changed hearts and lives.

PAUSE - LET HANG… (apply specifics?)

For those who are repentant… for the churches who are repentant… we end can end with a glorious climax - of divine blessing.

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5. Climax: Divine Blessing

We read finally now… v19 SLIDE

Haggai 2:19 NIV

19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. “ ‘From this day on I will bless you.’ ”

This might seem an unexpected end to this section…. but really its the big message of the book.

For those who do return to the Lord in repentance…. for those who are changed by his grace, and get on with the project of building for the Lord - there is great blessing to come.

When v19 says ‘is there seed left in the barn’… I think the implication is NO… you have planted the seed…. you have been laying the stones for the temple - sowing and building for God and so, in due time, there will be a harvest of blessing.

This is true, of course, in our own lives. As we walk with Jesus as our saviour and Lord - as we continue in this life of repentance and faith and repentance and faith… we know God’s blessing now (of course in some measure)… but we are on track to be with him in glory, knowing his blessing in all his fullness.

Likewise for our church… and this building project we are engaged in - amid a sea of desperation, decline and death in the Scottish church we are longing and praying and working and building and LIVING (I trust) living faithful Holy Lives…. and we are looking for the Lord’s blessing on the work of our hands.

But in all of that - message of this chapter is that how we live matters.

Lets pray