November 11, 2007 Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: “These Are The Good Old Days”
Series: None
Text: Haggai 1:15-29
Dr. Steve Jackson
Delivered on November 11, 2007
“From this day on I will bless you.” Haggai 2:19
These Are The Good Old Days
July 4, 1776….December 7, 1941…..November 22, 1963…September 11, 2001. These are just a few of the dates that most Americans can tell you what happened on. Today, November 11, 2007, I want to mention another date—a very special date—August 29, 520 B.C.. What’s so special about that date, you ask? That’s the day the relatively obscure prophet named Haggai first spoke to the tiny Jewish community that had settled again in the promised land after the Babylonian captivity and exile.
This is the first time I have ever preached from the book of Haggai and, to be honest with you, this is the first week I have ever spent much time studying the book. What I discovered as I prayed and meditated over the pages of this, the second shortest book in the whole Old Testament, is that Haggai not only had a message for the men and women of his day, way back in 520 B.C. – his message is also one of the most contemporary ones I’ve studied in a long time. He really speaks to the people and experiences of our time.
Three things set Haggai’s work apart. First, each message he gives is carefully dated, as I just mentioned above. We know the exact date in which he made each proclamation. Look how the book begins, “In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai…” That’s August 29, 520 B.C. Look at the first verses of the second chapter, “On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai…” That’s October 17, 520 B.C. And then look at verse 10 of chapter two, “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…” That’s December 18, 520 B.C. I find that amazing.
The second thing that sets Haggai apart is that he isn’t your typical “blood and thunder” kind of prophet. He doesn’t speak in mysteries like Ezekiel, or weep like Jeremiah, or construct eloquent poems like Isaiah. Instead he speaks gently and with a reasoned voice. He makes a sound argument with the people rather hurl hateful accusations against them. He’s more of a teacher than a prophet. He speaks softly, but has a huge impact. And that’s the third thing that sets Haggai apart.
For once, the people listened. In fact, the people respond to Haggai immediately. Those of you who have spent time reading the Old Testament prophets know how they all rant on and on and the people never act on what is said. Prophets like Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah spoke for decades before seeing any heartfelt reaction. Haggai’s messages span a mere four months – from August to December of 520 B.C. and yet he accomplished everything he set out to do. Look at chapter 1 verse 12 of Haggai. It says, “Then Zerubbabel, son of Shealtieel, 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…” Astounding!
This morning what we’re going to do is look at four very contemporary messages from Haggai—messages not only for “way back then,” but messages for today.
Before we do let
me give you a little background on the setting of Haggai’s prophecy. The heyday
of
Message #1 – Put God First
The first message from the Lord via Haggai is to PUT GOD FIRST. The soft-spoken prophet introduces this message by posing a question to the people, “Is it right for you to be living in fine, paneled houses, while God’s house remains a ruin?” He continues making his point with a challenge, “Give careful thought to your ways.” He’s saying in essence, “Look at your experience, have you noticed how the harder you work, the behinder you get?” Look at verses 5 and 6. He says have you noticed that you work all the time, but you harvest little. You eat, but you’re still hungry. You put on clothes, but you don’t get warm. He says, it’s like you’re putting your paycheck in your pocket every week, but your pocket is full of holes and it all just goes slipping away.
Is this a word to the contemporary world today, or what? He’s asking us to think about what we’re doing because if we do we’ll soon realize that without putting God first in our lives, we’re like a hamster on one of those little treadmills you see in their cages, running and running, and running and yet never going anywhere, never getting ahead, never experiencing the kind of life only God can give when we put him first.
And so God through the prophet issues a challenge there in verses 7-9: put God’s house in order first—put God first and he’ll bless you. He says go up into the hills and bring back some lumber and build my house and I will bless you, you’ll see. And, then, like I said, as amazing as it seems, the people respond (v. 12).
The first message of “put God first” ends in verses 13-15 where God confirms his pleasure with the people’s efforts to put him first and he promises that he, himself will help them. Verse 13, “I am with you, declares the Lord…”
It is the call of every believer to put God first in his or her life. Blessing follows full commitment—blessing cannot be found apart from it. I believe that with all my heart. That’s why we’re what you might call a “high commitment” church at NewSong. I am confident that some of our attenders and members are put off, or perhaps even angered by the fact that we have a membership covenant that calls for commitment to Christ and his cause through our church. We expect something of our members. We expect you to put God first in your life—to stop going through the motions of religion in your life—to stop running from pillar to post trying to earn a dollar while you have holes in your pockets. To stop wondering why your life is a shambles when you’ve put God on the back burner of your life or you don’t think of him at all.
Hear the good news of this first message—Put God first—build the house of the
Lord first—and he will bless you with his presence and his help. If we want
God’s blessings, there can be no half-measures in following him.
Message #2 - Look to the Future
The second message from Haggai is LOOK TO THE FUTURE. This message is found in chapter two and comes two months after the first message. This message is also introduced with a question, “Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory?” He goes on to ask, “How does it look now? Pretty sorry, huh?”
I mean, let’s face it, the first temple, Solomon’s temple was spectacular. The people had now been working on the new temple for two months, progress was slow, resources were scarce. I’m sure the feeling was, even if they get it rebuilt it’s not going to be half as nice as the first temple was back in the good old days, the days of glory. I picture in my mind a bunch of guys working on the pile of rubble and the discouragement gets thicker and thicker. Then one of the older guys leans on his shovel starts reminiscing how it was back then… Do you know what I’m talking about?
At least once a week I get an email espousing the glory of the “good old days.” Does anybody else get those kind of emails? The kind that talk about how much better it was back when a coke cost a dime and you could go to the movies for 25 cents? And if you didn’t have a quarter you could always just go outside and entertain yourself catching fireflies in a jar at dusk or while away the hours fishing down by the old mill stream. The emails usually have a pretty sappy midi file playing in the background. I think we can actually bring up one of these websites on our screens this morning, can’t we fellows? (http://www.mamarocks.com/good_old_days.htm). Ahhhh… that’s nice, we’ve even got lovely music to listen to while our mind drifts back to those blissful days of yore when everything was black or white, yes meant yes, people stayed married, and the guys in the white hats always won. These emails and websites have gotten so popular they’ve even got different ones for each categories of “olden times” – the thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies…whenever and wherever, they can take you back!
The truth is, we love to go back, don’t we? Most
of us can’t help taking an occasional trip down memory lane—and truth is,
remembering is fun and good for us, isn’t it? But what happens when when
“remember when” becomes all a person, or institution, or nation ever does? What
happens is we miss out on where God is leading and what God is doing in the
present—and we miss out on God’s great future ahead of us. What happens is we
can get bound by the past.
And so God asks in chapter 2:3, “What do you see when you look to the past?”
But before the people could begin waxing nostalgic or even answer, God says in
verses 4 and 5, “Be strong and work!”
And he goes on to give them three reasons why they should: First, He’s with
them and his Spirit remains among them so they’ve got all the power they need.
Second, all the silver and gold is his so resources aren’t a problem. And
third, the best is yet to come. Verse 9 says, “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the
former house…” How true those words proved to be. In the person of Jesus,
God himself would come to this temple of the exiles to preach His good news of
salvation. The glory of the second temple was that the very son of God stood on
its porches and beautified it with his presence.
Message #3 – Obey
God and Be Blessed
The third message from God through Haggai is OBEY
GOD AND BE BLESSED. This message also begins with a question this one to the
priests concerning a point of law: “If a
person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold
touches some bread or stew, some wine, or other food, bodes it become
consecrated?” (2:11). The answer was no. Then he asks a second question: “If a person defiled by contact with a dead
body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?” (v. 13). The
answer this time was yes.
Haggai’s point? Simply this, the presence of
God’s holy temple in the midst of their city couldn’t make the people holy. In
fact, according to the law, the presence of sinful, indifferent, defiled people
at the temple could make the it unholy!
Haggai was urging the people to not put their
hope in their own supposed holiness, or in the supposed holiness of the house
of God. The rebuilt temple would not make
Again, we hear an amazingly relevant word to
the contemporary world and contemporary church. So many of include a small dose
of religion in their lives—they attend services once a month, or say occasional
prayers. They “build temples” in their lives and then stand looking at them as
if they will make us holy or protect us from whatever may come. But building
temples—which I’m defining as “going through the motions—” don’t have the power
to make us holy. True holiness is based on obedience to God, to putting him
first in our lives—to loving him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Not on building religious edifices in our lives.
Message # 4 – You Matter To God
The fourth and final message unlike the first three, is directed to an individual, Zerubbabel. The message to Zerubabbel is also God’s message to you and me: YOU MATTER TO GOD. God promises Zerubbabel that even though nations are going to be turned upside down, he will be safe and raised to a position of authority and usefulness in God’s kingdom. God says he’s going to make Zerubbabel his “signet ring.” A signet ring was used by a king in place of his signature. It was the king’s mark stamped in ink or in wax and wherever the signet of the king was placed, it meant that all that he stood for, all his power and might behind that document or proclamation. In time God’s promise to Zerubabbel that he would be his signet ring came true because it was a descendent of Zerubbabel, Jesus, who would fully imprint God’s image on all humanity.
Even though God controls all things—the entire cosmos—in all of God’s concern for the affairs of the worlds he has created He still never forgets the individual. You matter to God. God has a purpose for your life.
Here’s how I look at it—this is a great way to remember it, too. Look at verse 23, which is all about God’s love and purpose. Here’s what God says…
“On
that day… I will take you…and I will
make you…for I have chosen you.’”
Do you understand that this morning? Can you grasp that thought? God has plans to take you, and make you all that he intends for you to be, because he chose you to be His own before time even began.
Four messages: Put God first, Look to the Future, Obey God to be Blessed, and You matter to God. Those are truths for all generations—especially to our own.
Let me close with this. I mentioned earlier about waxing nostalgic about “the old days.” As I worked on this sermon and considered all the great promises the book of Haggai contains I couldn’t help but go back myself to the “good old days.” The good old days for me were the seventies. Can you believe that? Did anything good come out of the seventies? Well that is when I met Donna, and that was when I got my first car, and graduated from high school. Besides in the seventies I turned eighteen and was invincible and about to conquer the world. Those were heady days.
As I was thinking about those “good old days” for me a song from that era crept into my mind and then I couldn’t get it out. Don’t you hate it when that happens? The song is called “Anticipation” and it was written and sung by Carly Simon. I never could remember all the lyrics but I do remember it begins quietly with the words, “We can never know about the days to come but we think about them anyway….” I also remember it ends much louder with her saying she would “Stay right here, cause these are the good old days.” And then she says over and over again, “These are the good old days.”
I think God brought that song to my mind this week to remind me that these are the good old days. We can’t worry about the past, the good or bad that we’ve done. Or we can look ahead to the future with great anticipation based upon the promises we heard this morning from God’s word. But look with me, one more time at Haggai 2:19. there the Lord says, “From this day on I will bless you.” I think that’s the best news of all.
These are the
good old days—the
Do you believe that this morning? I hope you do, in Jesus’ name, Amen.