First Things First

Good morning folks! My name is Larry Selvy and I would like to start off by thanking Pastor Koon and Deacon Gunter for allowing me the opportunity to speak to you this morning about putting first things first.

A little about me so you know who is up here, I’m currently attending the Seminary at Liberty University. You may have noticed by my graying beard and advanced horizontal state that I am not coming to the Seminary directly from college, and it’s true, but we’ll get more into that later.

However, right now I’d like to start with prayer, this is a sermon on first things first after all.

Dearest Gracious Heavenly Father,

We come before you this morning in the name of Your son Jesus Christ and ask that you come and be with us here in Your house. As we read Your word and consider our ways, we ask that the Holy Spirit convict our hearts and guide us. Please apply what we learn today to our lives so that we may grow closer to You and so that we can walk humbly with our God. Bless us and strengthen us all to do Your will and to disciple after You, Oh Lord.

Amen.

Preamble

Before we get into Haggai this morning I am going to set the scene for what’s going on in the life of Israel.

At this point in history, the Israelites have been freed from their bondage in Babylon and told to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. They got back home and built up an alter and laid the foundation of the temple. They did this because the temple was the central point where God and His people communed together, and they wanted that back. It was more than just sacrifices, this is where people would go to be near God. It’s different today, we are the temple of God and He goes with us, but back then they sought God at the temple. However, the Israelites ran into trouble when rebuilding.

The neighboring countries and the returning remnant did not get along. At that time those neighbors and Israel were under the rule of Persia, and those neighbors were bothered enough by Israel and the temple being rebuilt that they went to the King of Persia to try and stop the construction.

The pressure was turned up on Israel, and construction stopped.

That was 18 years before this prophecy was given. 18 years have gone by and the temple was still only an altar and a foundation. At this point Israel had a ruined temple and rocky relationship with the Lord.

Now let’s dig in and see what God said through the prophet Haggai.

Please turn to Haggai, chapter 1. (By the way, if you don’t know, Haggai is the third to last book in the Old Testament).

A Ruined Temple distances you from God (v1-4)

Haggai 1:1–4 ESV

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: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

It’s hard not to read sarcasm or sass into that passage, but God was making a point. Let’s break this down a bit.

First, the date line is using the King of Persia, Darius, and not an Israelite king. This is the first time that happens in the Bible. Because of that date line, along with archeological evidence found in Babylon and lunar astronomy, we have pinned down this day to August 29th, 520 B.C. We believe we know that to within a day, and this speaks to the truth of the Bible!

Second we meet the key people in the passage, Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the High Priest. These are the leaders of the remnant that returned from Babylon.

Zerubbabel was of the line of David, and was given governorship of the area, but it’s important to understand that the region Jerusalem was in was surrounded by Samaria and Edom, outside of Zerubbabel’s authority. Israel had a lot of neighbors, neighbors they historically had bad blood with.

What we see next in the passage shows God’s heart toward Israel. “Thus says the Lord of hosts”, Yahweh Sabaoth. This is the name of God that was used when God wanted to make a point. This was God proclaiming He is the commander and chief of heaven’s armies, and had the power to do His will. It isn’t what we usually see when a prophet speaks, which is more like “thus says the Lord”.

It’s clear God is making a point.

Then God’s first words to the post-exile Israelites through a prophet… “These people”. Not “My people”, not “the descendants of my friend Abraham”, not “the children of Israel”, but “these people”.

It reminds me when I was in trouble in grade school and my mom would go through stages of anger. First just my name when the trouble was small, then my first and last when the trouble was a bit higher, but when all three parts (first, last, and middle) were used, I knew it was serious and it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

God has made the point that Israel was far from Him, and they were, but why were they far from Him? They had an altar, weren’t they sacrificing as instructed?

The answer to that lies in what the temple meant to God and to Israel. It’s true that the temple was the place where sacrifices were given for atonement and forgiveness, but it’s also the place where the Israelites came and thanked God and were in community with Him in the form of fellowship and thanksgiving offerings. This is where God put His presence, and where His people would come to be close to Him.

Without that, there was a massive gap between God and His people. It showed that the hearts of His people really didn’t miss God, and it showed where their priorities were.

Here we come to our first point, A Ruined Temple distances us from God.

God, through Haggai, is making it clear that even though the people faced political pressure and physical hardship, His house was important too. He wanted to walk among His people and for Him to be their God.

But Larry, you ask, wasn’t it a tough time in Jerusalem given that people were coming back to a ruined city?

It’s true, but God waited 18 years before bringing this up to the Israelites. For 18 years they had time to build their own homes, grow their farms, and raise their children. God was patient for the past 18 years, waiting for His people to seek Him out. However, the tipping point is that the Israelites were no longer building their homes, but they were decorating them!

It’s a real Chip and Joanna Gaines scenario, the entire nation was more worried about shiplap than the LORD’s house!

Think about if your friend just lost someone very important to them. Would you ring them up and say “Sorry, I know you lost someone and that sucks, but I really need to paint my bedroom today”? If you did, you probably wouldn’t be friends very long.

God was aching for Israel to return to Him, but Israel kept making excuses.

A Ruined Temple hurts (v5-11)

However, what the Israelites didn’t understand was that the covenant relationship they had with God meant that God would not bless them if they didn’t hold up their end of the covenant, and it hurt. It hurt them and God.

This brings us to our second point, A Ruined Temple hurts.

We read on in verses 5 through 11:

Haggai 1:5–11 ESV

Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 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. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 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. 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. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 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.”

That ruined temple, that broken relationship with God, hurt the Israelites deeply. In verse 6 we get a excellent rundown:

Haggai 1:6 ESV

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.

That last one I know I can identify with. When my priorities are wrong, when I’m not focused on God first, I tend to spend my paycheck haphazardly. When that happens and the end of the money comes around there is always more month to go!

Our fallen nature impacts our judgement, and when we are out of communion with God, and relying on our own mind, we get distracted and wrapped up in this world, and are snared by it.

So, how does God get our attention back to the right priorities?

Verse 9 spells it out. God will often use the hardships of our lives to speak to us. When we only go to God when the world drives us to our knees, what do you think happens when God needs to talk to us?

I would venture to guess most of us have experienced this. We have worked hard, even thinking it may be aligned to God’s will, but little comes from it. Maybe our personal walk with Christ falters because we aren’t spending the time, or maybe an organization starts to go off course because they are off mission, maybe the effort is given but impact is lacking.

Now, to be clear, not every hardship or suffering is because God is wanting your attention, and not every good thing is a reward for faithful living. Christ makes this clear when He says that the sun rises on the evil and the good in Matthew 5:43.

That being said, we know in this case that these hardships were because God wanted the Israelites to come back into a close relationship with Him. How do we know? God said so Himself!

This reminds me of a quote that encapsulates Haggai 1 fairly well. C.S. Lewis, a theologian, philosopher, and the author of the Narnia series. He once said in his book, The Problem of Pain (p. 604 in my copy):

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

When we place our faith and hope on this world, on our own bank accounts, our own strength or wisdom, our own families and friends instead of the One True God, we invite God to remind us of who He is. If we stay stiff-necked long enough, that reminder is bound to hurt.

Ok Larry, you’ve convinced me that a ruined temple distances us from God, and sometimes God will withhold blessings and allow strife to get our attention. But what should we do about that?

A Ruined Temple can be rebuilt (v12-15)

Glad you asked! This brings us to our third point, Ruined Temples can be rebuilt!

So far in the passage God has given us the answer. He even gave it not once, but twice!

In verses 5 and 7 we see God use the phrase “Consider your ways”. Depending on your translation, you may be seeing something like “Think Carefully about your ways”. But, what is really interesting about this phrase is that the literal translation from Hebrew is “Turn your heart to your ways”. It’s important to know that the Israelites thought that the heart was where all thought and emotion came from, it would be the combination of what we consider to be our heart and minds. Here, God is saying “Turn your whole self to your ways”.

This doesn’t mean only use emotion to “feel out” what God wants, and it also means not merely use the brain God has blessed you with to analyze the right path. No, this phrase means turn everything to this and consider what you’re doing. To me, I think this means actually giving yourself time to think about what you’re doing and why, being intentional about what you’re not doing and why.

When you’re pushing as hard as you can, and little comes from it, it may mean it’s time to sit down with God and think through your relationship with Him.

Now let’s turn back to the text and see how the remnant responded. Continuing in verse 12 through 15:

Haggai 1:12–15 ESV

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.” And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

It is pretty rare when prophets speak that you actually see a repentance and within a month! It’s also important to note here what happens when their wrong priorities were corrected. Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the High Priest, along with the remnant of the people, obeyed. They feared God and went about rebuilding His house.

When the people decided in their hearts to obey, and started to take obedient actions, we see God doing two things:

God declared through Haggai that He was with them, that’s a major promise! This brings to mind Romans 8:31 “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” That’s a pretty cool thing.

God “stirs” up their sprits, God refreshed them and renewed their vitality. Life had been hard to these Israelites, and God knew it, and caused it, to help them come back to Him. When they did, He renewed their strength!

I don’t know if you have ever experienced something like this, but my wife Megan and I have. We were out working at a mission down in Florida, painting lines on some tarmac for Missionary Flights International. You can probably tell I’m not the most physically fit person on earth, and our zeal for God quickly was tested by the Florida heat and humidity. We prayed for relief, but went back to work regardless of God’s decision, we had a job to do. I kid you not, the rest of that day, when the heat was the worst, a cool breeze came out of nowhere to revitalize us. If God is for us, who can be against us! Even the elements bend to our God’s will!

It’s important to note, both in my example and in the passage the order of events.

You do what God has told you to do

God is with you, and will be with you while you do what you’re doing.

We act, showing the posture of our hearts, then God will bless that.

Illustration

I can personally attest to this in my own life. God has blessed the rocky road I have walked to get to this pulpit this morning. I’m going to share some of it with you.

My calling to be a pastor started a year after I was saved, when I was about 9 years old. It was at a church camp in Arizona. I gave an impromptu sermon, and for the first time in my life I was under the direct control of the Holy Spirit. I could tell you the topic of that sermon, but not the words I said, for the words were not mine. I was a mouthpiece of God, and it was great!

Yet, even though I had that great experience, due to circumstances in life, I wondered off.

Two pastors who sought themselves over their flock disrupted my walk in Middle and High school. Feeling deep pain, instead of going to my heavenly Father I turned my back on Him like many people do. Even though I quickly came back, balls were set in motion, and I kept God at arms length.

Instead of the seminary, I went to school for math and physics, then went into software engineering. As I worked secular jobs, I continued to attend church, but as my career took off, and my family grew, I wondered off the path, focusing on the here and now and not on the eternal. I paid more attention to paneling my house than building my temple.

Not to toot my own horn, but I was a good engineer too! Wherever I worked things got better, I made a difference in people’s live and the company’s bottom line. After I while, I was hungry for a new challenge and tried management.

I eventually found myself where I’m employed today. God brought me to that place to show me my strength was not sufficient. In the first year I worked there things got dark. I felt like I failed at everything I tried. My team was struggling. My projects were floundering. My direct boss was not entirely sure I would make it. Then a RIF, where I miraculously survived, and a new boss where it got bleaker still. I started to be unkind to those I loved.

My Haggai was a friend named Matt. He was in customer support and I was in engineering so we chatted, but not regularly. While I was wandering away from God I still prayed and still used Christian terms, he picked up on this in a meeting, and messaged me asking if I was a believer.

To be clear, that took faith and courage to ask that in a company headquartered in Denver that bought heavily into the modern worldview.

He connected me with a group of believers at the company, and the small smoldering coals of my love of God were blown again into a great and bright flame, like it should have been all along.

After that, God kept putting scripture on my heart. I was hungry for the Word again, and eventually found a church home where my family and I could flourish under the blessed light of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

With God, I rebuilt my temple, but I needed a Haggai.

You see the Israelites and I:

Were once with God.

Let this world and it’s cares snare us.

Needed someone to tap us on the shoulder and remind us that God loves us and we needed to come back to Him.

Repented, and took action. I started reading and praying regularly again building my spiritual temple, just the like Israelites rebuilt the physical temple.

I now enjoy a temple under construction, where more and more of my life is given to God for that grand house in my heart.

What I’m trying to say is I got Haggai’d!

Ending/Call

In the days of Haggai, a real relationship with God needed the temple. The Holy Spirit was there in the Holy of holies, and that’s where people went to meet God.

For us Christians today, Paul and Peter both make it clear that the physical temple building is no longer the residence of the Lord, but we are. We are the living stones that compose this new home for God.

So when Jesus told us in Matthew 6:33 to “… seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” It means building that temple, that relationship, to trust more and deeper.

So… how is your temple this morning?

Are you a mature believer who has been leaning on the everlasting arms for decades and your temple is being built larger and better?

Are you a believer who, like me, may be off wandering a bit, leaving your temple in ruins and experiencing God’s attempts to get your attention?

Or, are you a new believer, with nothing but an altar and foundation, waiting for the right time to invest and build your temple?

The good news is that the Lord we serve is alive and well and with us, even until the end of the age. He’s there, ready with His own power to stir your souls! You just need to take that step. I encourage you this week that if your temple’s prayer room isn’t quite done to pray at least once a day. If you’re temple library is needing to be finished, read a few verses everyday. If everyday is too tough, start with a few times this week. Take the step, and let God stir your spirit. The Israelites give us a good model here, step out in faith and God will bless it.

But maybe there are some here today who feel like their wages are being put into a bag with holes in it, who drink and eat but aren’t satisfied, who seek warmth but never find it, and who don’t know Jesus.

Today is the day that can change! Today is the day you can accept that you’re a sinner, to accept you need Jesus! Perhaps today is the day to break ground on your own temple in your heart!

If you are seeking Christ to find that peace and joy, I invite you to come down for prayer and to talk. I also invite all those here to come, and pray at the altar for whatever you need to talk to God about. Today, friends, check in on that temple, and rededicate it if necessary. Take that first step…

Close

As we head out into the mission field this week I urge all of us, myself included, to be diligent about working on your temple. Make your heart the home the Holy Spirit would enjoy to live in. Spend time in His word and talking to Him in prayer. Build your temple, keep your priorities straight. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness brothers and sisters.

May the God who dwelled with the Israelites in the tabernacle and then the temple and who resides in us now as living temples stir up your spirits. To Him be all praise, honor, and glory now and forever.

Let’s pray:

Dear heavenly Father,

Speak to us this week, tell us what you think about our temple, about our priorities. Lord, we invite you to change our priorities, so that we focus on what is good and right and to avoid the snares of this age. Let us keep our eyes fixed solely upon you, Oh Lord. Bless us as we go out, and help us to accomplish your mission.

In Jesus Christ’s name, Amen!