Misplaced Priorities

Introduction

Read Haggai 1:1-6

Haggai 1:1–6 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? 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.

Have you ever had something you knew you needed to do, but because you knew it was going to be difficult, you tried to do everything else instead?

As you all know, I am working on my PhD, and I am in the final stages. Church, your pastor is tired of writing. I am writing on Thomas Manton (a Puritan pastor).

I used to really like him a year and a half ago when I started. I can’t say that anymore.

No, he has been profitable for my soul and education, BUT we have a love/hate relationship for sure.

In the final stages of my dissertation, I find myself wanting to do anything but write. I love to read and write, but the work is difficult, and these final arguments take time and thought.

I have noticed a few times during this process that I have gotten so tired, that I have done everything else possible to keep from working on that dissertation.

a. So, I will wash the dishes, clean the house, fold the clothes, etc. ANYTHING to not have to work on that chapter. Running small errands become the thing I have to do in that moment.

b. Sometimes, we avoid the thing that we need to do the most with a lot of other things that make us feel productive, even though we really aren’t doing the main thing we are supposed.

I have to realign my priorities in these moments. My school is profitable to me, my family, my church, and my spiritual life. AND, most of all, it is something that I believe the Lord desires for me to do right now.

In the book of Haggai, God had given His people a task - the rebuilding of His temple. Yet, because of their misplaced priorities, they were building their own homes and neglecting the work of building the temple.

In the very same way, God has called you to something - to build His Kingdom. Like the Israelites, our priorities often become misaligned. Today, Haggai’s message can help us regain the priorities God has for it.

BIG IDEA: The call of the Christ followed is to prioritize God’s Kingdom above all in his/her life.

Explanation

Setting of Haggai:

Persian Rule: Babylon conquered Israel, and they dispersed the Israelites to all corners of the land they had conquered. The Persians eventually defeated the Babylonians, but decided that people were easier to rule if they were allowed to live as if everything was normal. So they allowed the Israelites (around 50,000) to come back to Israel and permitted them the opportunity to rebuild the temple.

Haggai is written around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.

However, due to obstacles that the people faced in rebuilding the temple, they stopped building it and focused on building back their homes and businesses.

Haggai’s first prophecy is to resume the rebuilding of God’s temple, and his subsequent prophecies offer consolation and encouragement along the way.

Misplaced Priority #1: When we care more about building our own lives and God’s kingdom. (Hagg. 1:1-10)

God’s people were building their house more fervently than the temple. Why?

They stopped building the temple because of they began to face obstacles.

Ezra tells us that when they returned to Jerusalem 16 years earlier, they were excited and started rebuilt the foundation quickly. They had a party, cried, and were ecstatic about the progress.

However, the Samaritans, who did not want a restored Israel, pressured them militarily and politically to abandon their efforts. The people of Israel stopped, and a perfect foundation for the temple laid bare for 16 years.

Instead of rebuilding the temple, the place where God’s presence resided and the center of their society, the people focused on rebuilding their homes

What was wrong with what they did? Two things.

They stopped doing God’s work when the work got difficult, they stopped (Ezra 4:4).

They forgot that God’s sovereignty, not their hands, would ultimately be responsible for the rebuilding of the temple.

As the moral majority in the US becomes decreasingly Christian, our work will become more difficult. I have already felt this reality as a pastor. Will you continue to serve, love, and evangelize as it becomes more and more difficult.

Will your service be predicated upon whether the work is easy or not?

Many people will simply find other pursuits which is exactly what the Israelites did.

The people assumed that their homes were of more importance to their lives than the presence of God among them.

They chose comfort over obedience.

Haggai mentions that they were living in “comfortable” homes. They had been to Homegood’s, Target, Miskelley’s, and IKEA.

They hadn’t just thrown up something quick. They were filling the house with all of the best items while the temple of God lay bare.

Tony Merida // While Haggai is not condemning their comfortable living, he is condemning this living at the expense of obedience to God’s commands.

They chose themselves over God’s Kingdom. (Application)

Have you prioritized yourself over God’s kingdom?

Do you make decisions more about whether they will impact you or impact the kingdom of God for His glory?

I often use the term, “Kingdom-minded Christian.” When I among others mean by that phrase comes from Matthew 6:33 (“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”)

The Kingdom matters the most. More than anything else.

4. Haggai’s Rebuke: Build what is God’s before you rebuild what is yours.

The best part of the book of Haggai is the people’s response.

They repented of their sin and disobedience and began to build the temple.

Misplaced Priority #2: When we believe that our service is more of our work than the Lord’s work.

Once they began to build the temple, they became discouraged because it was smaller than the temple that had been destroyed.

The Scriptures do not tell us the heart of the people in this instance.

They might have been upset, because of an earthly or worldly pride. “We are embarrassed of how small it is.” “What will other people think?”

They also might have been upset about the state of the temple and their desire to worship God. “God deserves better.”

Either way, the problem with their statement is they saw the work more as their work than the Lord’s work.

John Piper // Take joy, because you build more than you see when you build for God’s Kingdom.

Haggai’s Encouragement: Haggai 2:4-5 “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.”

God tells the Israelites in Jerusalem four things to encouragement them.

Be strong. (Take Heart)

Work, for I am with you. “I work alongside you.”

My spirit remains in your midst.

Fear not.

Missionary Joyce Baldwin made this observation about these four encouragements. They are the same encouragements that Jesus gave the disciples in Mark 6:50 when the disciples were caught in the storm on the sea and he walked to them on the water, “Take heart, it is I, do not fear.”

She continues, “The personal presence of the Lord gives courage, determination, and the conviction that He will not permit his cause to fail.”

God doesn’t waste anything you do in His name.

Misplaced Priority #3: When we attempt to do God’s work with unclean hands and hearts.

When we serve God, we forget that we must serve God with purity and sincerity of heart.

The Lord is not only concerned with busy hands but clean hearts.

Busy hands often conceal sinful hearts. Make sure that what you do for God is an overflow of your heart from what He has done in you.

Time and time again, we have seen pastors and ministers who have disqualified themselves from ministry, because while their hands were busy with the work of God, their hearts were far from the heart of God.

You cannot sustain Godly work from an unclean heart.

Invitation

How do we change our priorities? Jesus.

Jesus is the new temple, built by God’s hands, not ours.

Because of Christ’s death on the cross, God is with us in what he asks us to do. He brings about new peace and life.

Jesus purifies His people.