Okay, folks, with Haggai open in front of you, and if you're struggling to find it,
a wee inside tip is find the first book of the New Testament called Matthew,
and then skip back three wee ones, and you'll hit Haggai.
Let me tell you a conversation I had recently.
My oldest daughter came home from school and asked her that question,
that annoying question that parents always ask.
And if you're a parent here, you've probably done it.
And let me tell you from experience, I've subsequently realised there's better questions to ask
that provide better inroads into our conversation.
So I asked her on this occasion, I said, how was school today?
And walking back from her, it wasn't so much an answer, it was just a noise.
Okay, she just went, meh.
Here's what I want you to do, turn to your neighbour for ten seconds,
have a go at translating meh into English, okay, go for it.
Okay, ten seconds.
Here's what I took from meh.
I took from it, I'm really not all that fussed.
Say something like that.
Kind of happened, went through the motions,
and let's not pretend we don't do that as adults as well.
Some of you have heard you do it when you talk about work.
It was a bit meh.
A bit meh.
But here's the thing, as we get into Haggai this morning,
we're going to be in this for the month of January,
thinking about this big challenge that this book presents us.
It's maybe a book that you've never thought about before.
The generation of God's people that Haggai's addressing,
he's an Old Testament prophet,
could well be nicknamed the meh generation.
Because the problem in Haggai is not so much apostasy.
They've not abandoned the faith.
They've not thrown it out.
The problem's not apostasy.
The problem is just apathy.
They're just not really all that fussed about the Lord.
They've just grown a bit meh towards him and his ways.
Now let me ask you as you start this, as we start this,
if I was to ask you honestly in your heart of hearts
how you would describe your current view of the God of the Bible,
would it be meh?
The fire in your belly that maybe once was there for Jesus
has gone cold.
The zeal to serve him with your life,
to give it your all, isn't quite what it used to be.
Let me just say, if that's you here today,
then Haggai's the book for you.
And these are always big questions to ask about our lives, isn't it?
My biggest fear for my life, dear brothers and sisters,
is that I'm just going to go a bit meh, right?
In life, in ministry, just go a bit lukewarm
in my love for Jesus.
And this book prompts us to take in the panorama
of who he is.
Now, a great question to ask of this book
is how did this generation of God's people
get to this place?
And these are always wonderful opportunities
to grasp the fact that when it comes to the God of the Bible,
as we think about the background to this letter,
we're not dealing in mythology.
We're not dealing in mythology.
We are dealing and diving into history.
And maybe that's a new concept for you this morning.
You had the Bible up there with kind of Aesop's fables
and the little book of Chinese Proverbs.
Let me ask you lovingly, have you read it?
Have you read it?
Maybe you're watching this and you've never thought
about the claims of Christianity.
Have you read it?
Would you like to read it?
I'm game.
If you are, would you like to read it?
How do we get to know the God of the Bible?
We listen to his voice as he speaks to us.
If you're a Christian here today, let me ask you,
have you got plans to read the Bible this year?
It's always what they say, isn't it?
Fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Do we know the story?
There's French philosopher, Emile Calais,
who having asked some big questions
of his atheistic worldviews,
he sat in the trenches during World War I
and thought, what is life all about?
A friend gave him a Bible and has returned to France
and he said of it, this at last was a book
that would understand me.
And that's the claim that God would make in his word.
Why?
Because the God of the Bible, our creator,
is the God of history.
He is the God of history.
And the Babylonians are the world superpower in 600 BC.
It's kind of roughly where we are.
And as part of their territorial expansion program
in the year 586,
they conquer Jerusalem in the south.
And what happens is they gradually carry away
God's people to Babylon.
And just short of 50 years later,
I mean, this really is like a great big game of risk.
Another superpower emerges on the world stage
called Persia.
And the Persians defeat the Babylonians
and they take over everything that belongs to them,
including the exiles from Judah
who happen to find themselves away from their homeland
in Babylon.
And the Persians have a different tactic
to the Babylonians.
The Babylonians take and try and convert.
What the Persians do is they send back
so that the people that they send back
will think favorably of them.
And so what happens under the orders and support
of King Cyrus of Persia,
the exiles from Judah are allowed to return
to their homeland.
So you imagine they make their way back.
Zerubbabel, you read about them in verse 1,
he leads the first wave of God's people
to come back home.
But what the Bible is explicitly clear on
is that these things didn't happen to God's people
because they were the unfortunate victims
of power politics.
These things happened because God made them happen, right?
The exile happened not because the Babylonians
are in control,
but because standing above it all
is a God who is punishing his people
for their disobedience and flagrant sin against him.
And just like Adam and Eve were,
they have to be banished from the promised land.
God would not be faithful.
He would not be holy if he allowed them to stay.
And the people returned to the land
not because Cyrus was a decent bloke,
but the people returned to the land
because this God is kind,
this God is gracious,
and this God has purposes to fulfill,
plans to bring blessing to the nations of the world,
and he's going to do it through this people.
And so God's people, to much fanfare and rejoicing,
they begin to build the temple again
in Jerusalem in 536 BC.
And you can read about that in Ezra chapter 4.
But the thing is,
16 years after that initial bit of enthusiasm,
Project Temple 2.0 has completely fizzled out.
The people have just lost the spark for the Lord.
They've lost the dream for the project.
And what God does,
because he's gracious,
because he is good,
because he is loving,
he raises up the prophet Haggai to be his messenger.
And God's purpose through Haggai
is to breathe new life into his people's hearts
through a mixture of challenge and encouragement
and get them building the temple again.
And so you want to tap into Haggai chapter 1 this morning.
Here's what God knows his people are saying.
Verse 2 of chapter 1.
This is what the Lord Almighty says.
These people say,
And you might ask,
why is God getting so animated about a building?
Why does he care so much about some bricks and mortar?
The answer is because of what the temple represents.
The temple is about God's presence.
This God, despite of who we are,
should have said to Israel,
he longs to dwell with us.
He lives slap bang in the middle of our presence.
It's an incredible thing.
The God who created all things,
he looked on us not because we were good.
He looked on us because he's gracious
and he lives with us.
All the gods of the world live up there.
They live out there.
Our God lives in the middle of us.
And the temple is about God's peace.
This is where the sacrifices happen.
This is the place where you would go
to know that your sins against a holy God
have been dealt with.
You want to be right with him?
You're an Old Testament.
Israelite, you've got to go to the temple.
You've been given of your sin
and the temple is about God's promises.
In other words,
this building points beyond itself
to a time when the peoples of the world
are going to come in
and see how good this God is
and the whole earth
will one day be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
This is about way more than a building.
That's why we call the series
More Than a Building.
And let me try and distill that
into one really simple,
accessible truth for us.
In Haggai, it's almost as if God
is laying his heart on the line
and saying to his people,
my heart's desire
is that you would come to a point
where the number one reason
that you exist,
the greatest longing in your heart
is to know me
and enjoy me forever.
And so that's the question
that God would ask us this morning.
This is all about priorities.
This is all about what you and I
most long for in our hearts.
And this is why it's such a brilliant book
to study at the outset of this year
when we sit down
and we think about the things
that our lives are going to be about this year.
Are they going to be about the Lord?
Are they going to be about serving him?
Are they going to be about knowing him?
Are they going to be about other things?
And so in the time remaining,
I just want us to focus on two things
in these first 11 verses
of Haggai chapter 1.
Right, two things.
What can we say about these people?
What we can say is that
they've lost the spring
in their spiritual step.
They've just gone a bit flat.
And there's two reasons
why they've gone a bit flat.
And just notice as we go through these
just how close to the bone
and relevant these things are for us.
The first reason is in the text.
And the reason is
it's just really simpler to settle down.
Right, you know that in your life?
Really just simpler to settle down.
Now any good estate agent will tell you
that a good investment strategy
is to find the most expensive street
and to buy on it the cheapest house.
Right, buy the doer upper.
That's what they say.
Well, in Jerusalem Main Street,
the cheapest house going
is the temple.
Have a look at what God says at verse 3.
Here's the challenge.
Is it a time for you yourselves
to be living in your panelled houses
while this house remains a ruin?
So it's not like these people aren't busy.
Right, they're really busy.
Really busy.
Verse 9, God knows that they're busy.
Verse 9, you are busy with your own houses.
There's nothing wrong with being busy.
It's God's people were called to be productive.
But what's happened is that
they've confused primary and secondary things.
Right?
Primary things have become secondary things.
Secondary things have become primary things.
How true is that in the Christian life?
This is a challenge to keep the main thing
the main thing.
They are prioritising panelled houses.
They are prioritising their own little DIY projects.
Right?
The extension on the side,
going up to the attic,
out to the garden.
They're pursuing their own agendas
for bigger and better
over and above God's purposes.
Yeah, think about it, guys.
Think about my conversations
over the holiday there
and how much of them
centred around our home,
our next move,
the next project,
the next promotion at work.
Do you know these kind of things?
I was challenged over those conversations,
thinking to myself,
what would somebody listening in on that?
That, Shanks,
what would they conclude
is the thing that drives your life
from what you've said
in that conversation?
What gets you going?
What gets you up out of bed
in the morning?
What would they derive
from that conversation?
Is you going to work tomorrow?
Is you going to school?
What is it?
Is people looking at us
that they would deduce
to the things that make us tick?
It's easier to settle down
and reason two, I think,
is behind the text.
And it's just safer to blend in.
I heard it in Ezra chapter four
when the people started rebuilding.
There came a wave of opposition
from their neighbours.
Because for them to get back in the land,
and remember, it's not just them.
There's people from all over the nations
round about in there.
For them to start building the temple,
for them to erect a structure
right in the middle,
is to declare to the world
that our God is the true God
and all the other gods
that you worship are pretenders.
So you can imagine the people
of the world looking in at that
thinking, we're not having that.
Not for that.
We really don't like
what you guys stand for.
And that can be hugely discouraging.
Do you know that in your own life?
Discouraging when people say,
I don't want anything
to do with what you stand for.
You know, I was taking the kids yesterday
to the rope park at Craig Miller,
telling a lady I met there
what I did for a job,
and her face dropped.
Not interested.
It's discouraging, isn't it,
when people say that?
And after a while,
that discouragement can lead
to despondency.
And after a while,
it can just leave us
with the feeling
that it's just easier
to duck a conversation.
Yeah?
And I find it as a parent
not to try and constructively
try and speak to the school
lovingly about why
they're asking my children
to wear purple
to celebrate Pride Day.
Right?
It just becomes easier
to duck that conversation.
not because I want to do
anything other than love
and welcome and respect
every human being
who's made in God's image
and hear me right clear on that.
But because as a Christian,
I just cannot affirm
any, any lifestyle
that would run contrary
to what the Bible teaches.
I just can't do that
in good conscience.
But after a while,
it just becomes easier
to duck a conversation.
It becomes easier
to avoid a certain question.
When people ask you
what you did at the weekend,
how easy is it just to say
that you spent time
with friends?
And all of a sudden
you see how this becomes
really close to the bone.
It's just simpler
to settle down
and it's just safer
to blend in.
And you bring those
two things together.
Here's what happened.
Here's what's happened
in the background
here to these people.
The ideal of comfort.
We just want
a comfortable life.
Right?
You're not doing away with God.
We just want a comfortable life
has taken the throne
in these people's lives.
And they've just lost
a sense of the buzz
for who the Lord is.
But what we can say
secondly about this God
is that he won't settle
for second place.
For here's the question
God asks
verse 5 and 7.
He says,
give careful thought
to your ways.
He says,
stop and think
about how you're living
and stop and think
and consider
how it's going.
Right?
God knows
what these people
are throwing themselves
into.
You get a list there
from verse 5
and from verse 7.
Planting,
harvesting,
eating,
clothing,
earning.
These are busy people.
And particularly
if you consider Haggai
because of the dating
he begins to speak
at the harvest season
when the people
would begin
to think
that they might see
results from these things
but they're not.
God says,
consider your ways.
What's it telling you?
I love that image
you get there
of putting money
in a purse
with holes in it.
That constant cycle
of money coming in
and going out again
and it didn't even
hit your bank account.
You know that feeling?
It just comes
and it goes.
I've never seen it.
What's going on?
That's what he's saying.
These things
that you're plowing
yourselves into,
do you see
just how fragile
and unsteady
it all is?
I read a fascinating quote
from Jim Carrey recently,
Hollywood actor.
He said,
I don't blow money.
I don't have tons of houses.
I know things can go away.
I've already had
that experience.
And it's true,
isn't it?
The things of our lives
that we so often pursue
are here today
and often gone tomorrow.
And God says,
where is this getting you?
What is it telling you?
But more than that,
God says,
and this is,
this is difficult
for us to hear,
but this is true
when you think about it.
God says,
I brought these things
to pass.
Right?
Verse nine,
what you brought home,
I blew away.
Verse 11,
I called for a drought
on the fields.
And if the people
were on the ball,
they'd remember
that these are
the covenant curses
that God said
he would bring in them
for their disobedience.
What does this signify?
It signifies that
things aren't good
between them
and the Lord.
Now we need to understand
that we live
at a different time
in history
from these people
when Jesus has taken
the covenant curses
that we deserve
on himself
on the cross.
Okay,
he has died
for the curses
and punishment
that I deserved.
So this is not
a straight line application
for us today.
But the heart of God
in this remains the same.
The love of God
in this remains the same.
What does he want?
He wants his people
to wake up
and remember
who he is.
Remember who he is.
Seven times
in these verses
God's covenant name
capital L
capital O
capital R
capital D
that was a mouthful.
The Lord is used.
Do you see it?
Seven times.
Thirty-four times
in these three
sorry,
these two chapters
God says
I am the Lord,
right?
I am the God
who has loved you
with an everlasting love.
Remember that.
I am a God
who has fully committed
myself to you
in love
and to my plans.
I am the Lord.
Don't forget that.
I am the Lord.
Not changed.
You've gone and come back.
I've not changed.
And he is the Lord Almighty.
He's the God of angel armies.
That's what that means.
God wants his people
to know
in a world
of scary opposition
that he's always
in control.
that he's always bigger.
That he's always better.
And why are they
to build the house?
See that magic word
beginning with P
at verse 8.
God says
that I may take pleasure
in it.
This God
is a jealous God.
He's not jealous
of his people,
right?
That's us.
We get jealous
of things
all the time
in my heart.
It's our twisted hearts.
I see someone
having a better time
than me in Facebook.
I want it.
That's my
jealous heart.
We get jealous
of things.
But this God
is jealous
for his people.
And there's a world
of difference
between being jealous
of something
and being jealous
for something.
There's a world
of difference
between him and us.
He wants
the sole affection
of his people's hearts.
He wants
the people,
his people
to find their
all satisfaction
in him.
And so this God
says,
I will not
settle
for second
place.
And fast
forward to
Mark's gospel
in the New Testament
and we see
Jesus saying
the exact
same
thing.
So in Mark
chapter 10,
this rich young man
comes to Jesus
with a burning
question.
He says,
what must I do
to inherit
eternal life?
For all
intents and purposes
as a reader,
you read it
and you think,
this guy has it
sorted.
This is the guy
that we would
look at and think,
we want to be
like him.
And Jesus gives
him the commandments,
do not steal,
do not murder,
honour your father
and mother.
And it's almost
as this guy goes,
tick, tick, tick,
tick, tick.
Done it all.
I've kept them.
And I love it,
you read Mark 10
and it comes
across as you read it,
Jesus could have
quite easily
left the conversation
there and said,
that's great mate,
off you go.
But no,
he didn't leave it
there.
Because Jesus
loves us too much
for us to make
him second place.
Mark lets us know
that Jesus,
and notice this word
in the text,
you've got to
notice it,
okay?
Jesus looked at him
and what did he do?
He loved him.
And that's why
the conversation
kept going.
And that's why
Jesus asked the
searching question
of this man's heart
because he loved him.
And that's why
God would ask
of us this morning
as he searches
our hearts
through his words,
doesn't do it
to out us,
he does it
because he loves us.
Jesus looked at him
and loved him.
Jesus isn't simply
after this man's
surface obedience,
he longs to have
first place
in this man's life
because true life
will only be found
in making Jesus king,
letting him have
the driving seat,
and allowing him
to reshape
and reform
our minds.
So I was thinking
about this
over the holidays,
remember driving out
and I'm driving
behind somebody
with L plates on.
Do you remember
doing that?
Maybe some of you
are doing it,
maybe some of you
will do it.
Remember doing it.
What is it they
made us do?
Remember before
we sat our test,
just put the L plates
on, saying to the
world, I'm still
learning.
Let me just say
the Christians
that have made
the biggest impact
on me over my
Christian life
are the people
I could look at
and I could say
at whatever age
they are,
they've never
stopped learning.
They've never
stopped learning
Jesus.
And it's almost
as if Jesus
at this point
is this man
comes to him
and says,
what will it take
for me to follow
you?
He is saying
that you need
to put an L plate
on your life
and you need
as a disciple
to be all about
learning me
for life.
To be a disciple
is to learn
Jesus.
Learn Jesus.
And the thing
is when you
come to Jesus,
and I love
this in the
Gospels,
people flock
to him.
Why?
Because in him
they don't find
someone with
arms folded.
They find
somebody with
arms open wide
who welcomes
them in and
says,
come to me
all you who
are weary
and heavy
burdened
and I will
give you
rest.
And that's
the Jesus
who we meet
in the Gospels.
And that's
why Jesus
goes after
the idol
in this
man's
heart
and he
says,
go and sell
everything
that you
have and
come follow
me.
Because that's
the idol
in this
man's
heart.
And Jesus
loves him
too much
to let
him settle
for that.
But the
decision's
in his
core.
And it
turns out
he loves
money more
than Jesus.
And Mark
tells us
that he
goes away
with his
face sad.
heart.
But let
let's
he
see him
what would
define success
for you this
year?
If you're
thinking about
what's on the
throne of
your life,
what if it
didn't happen
this year would
leave you
feeling gutted?
the grades at school you need to get into that college or uni getting into that friendship
group you've been trying to tap into get your foot in the door for years what about that holiday
that it might happen or might not happen that time off what about that partnership promotion
at work whatever it is Jesus would say because he loves us he would say is following me your
greatest priority is following me your greatest priority the thing is we don't go to a temple
anymore we go to Jesus as new testament believers the true meeting place between God and man
and so the question becomes are we prioritizing knowing him are we investing what we have
in the spread of the gospel do we love and serve and care for the people that are so dear to Jesus
his heart have we got a heart for the peoples of this world who do not know this Jesus because life
is to be found in him you know as we close I had something to close with and I just from the drive
up I thought I'd change it in light of this morning let me just tell you about a man who had his priority
is right so three years ago I remember speaking to Archie at an evening service and he sat right there
and I asked him Archie how can I pray for you this week
and let me just say if we want to change the spiritual temperature amongst us that's a great
question to ask how can I pray for you this week so I asked him the question and he sat there for
but 10 seconds just in silence and I could see that he was staring just thinking about it and the guy at
that point in his life was not sure of physical ailments could have said anything could have said hip
could have said all sorts of things physical stuff he could have also said pray for my family
pray for my family pray for their interest pray for what's going on in their lives because you know
the Naismith family is big right could have said family but you know what he said he said would you pray
for my walk with Jesus
and to my dying day that will stay with me as a man who had his priorities right
so the question that comes from Haggai chapter one and the question that's going to come at us through
this book Jesus says am I number one am I number one do you see that I love you to ask you enough
am I your greatest priority
let's just pause for a moment just before I pray and let's just allow God to do his work by his spirit
through his words in our lives as we respond to this challenge this morning let's pause for a moment
and then we'll pray so heavenly father we ask that by your spirit you would show us this morning the areas where we need to change
thank you that you love us so incredibly much
that you would take the time to send your son Jesus in pursuit of us
to search us out to save us to rescue us to reconcile us to yourself and you are committed to forming us
more than to the likeness of him
and so Lord I pray that you would help us this year to prioritize above all the other things that are important
and that we need to think about would they all fall into place
under the number one priority of seeking first the kingdom of God
and your righteousness
and we thank you that you are a God who is committed
to lovingly
meeting all of our needs
in Jesus
prone to wander Lord I feel it
prone to leave
the God I love
here is my heart oh take and seal it
seal it for thy
courts above
Amen