The Time is Now
Robyn Black • May 19, 2021
Based on Craig Groeschel’s sermon series - Haggai
If you missed previous weeks we’re talked about what happened back in 587 BC, when the Babylonians under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Judah, crushing the incredible temple that Solomon had. For 70 years the Jewish people were held in captivity, and so when they were allowed to actually go back and start to rebuild you can only imagine the excitement of finally being able to rebuild God's temple, the house, the dwelling place for God.
If you remember in week number one they started strong. They built the foundation, they built the altar, and then when the Samaritans opposed them they panicked. Ahhh, we can't do this, and they quit. Well God raised up the prophet Haggai and said, "The time is now. The time is now to build my temple." They had to make the hard but right decision over the easy wrong decision to start building. Then last week, they started and got discouraged by comparing their temple to Solomon’s and by not seeing much progress. And God said, firstly, I AM with you. And second, be strong and do the work. Just put the next brick down, keep going, don’t quit.
As we pick up the story this week, if you look at their attitude you can find that many of them really battle the same battle that many of us feel when we think we're trying to do what you asked us to do God, but things just aren't going well. We're trying to obey you God and yet our life still is not working very well. "God we're obeying you and yet where are you? Where are the results?" "God I'm trying to do life your way. I went to church. I did the right things and yet my life is still not working the way I believe that it should."
It’s a bit like when all the WBH guys would go to Congress Hall, and at first it would seem odd and uncomfortable, but often they’d come to appreciate going there. And one week they’d think, this is it, it’s time to do a step 3, hand my will and my life over to God. So they’d go forward and kneel at the mercy seat. They’d pray and someone would pray with them, and sometimes it was quite an emotional experience. But the next week, they’d think well, my sisters still angry with me, and my debt is still there, and God hasn’t answered my prayer to move me from this room with a snorer who could be heard in Canberra! But the truth was…it had taken 20 or 30 years to get to the place they were, the addiction, the relationship difficulties, the debt, the shame. And really, God can do some things overnight, but generally it’s a life time of discipleship and following him that continues to sort things out. When God hadn’t sorted everything out on that week, when it wasn’t going how they thought it should, some guys were discouraged and like, it’s not worth it, God didn’t work.
The Jewish people were trying to build the temple. It wasn't going the way they thought it would be, and they're wondering, "Is it even worth it to obey God in this area?" This brings about the problem they battled with. It's a problem that many of us have battled with. It’s called conditional obedience to God. Conditional obedience to God is like, I'll do what you want me to do as long as I see the results I want to see. But if it makes me uncomfortable, is inconvenient, or you're not doing what I think you should do, at this point God, I’ll pull back. I'll obey as long as it’s not too hard.
It’s just like our selective hearing or how kids only hear what they want to hear. You could yell, "Hey kids, come on here and help me hang out the clothes.” And they don't hear anything. But if you say under your breath, "Ice cream," they’ll come running from every corner of the house. It's ‘I'm hearing what I want to hear’. For us, it can be I'll obey the commands that I want to hear. We can be like this with God. Like ‘I love that verse God "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I love that verse’. But ‘forgive my enemies? You don't know my enemies. I'm not forgiving my enemies. I hate my enemies. Oh, pray for my enemies? Sure God, I'll pray for them. I'll pray they’ll rot in hell, that's what I'll pray God’. It's ‘I'll obey as long as I'm comfortable’. It's conditional obedience, but we need to understand that God does not give us options to consider, but commands to obey.
So back to Haggai 2:12, and God through Haggai asks a very unusual question. "If one of you is carrying some meat from a holy sacrifice in his robes and his robe happens to brush against some
bread or stew, wine or olive oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy?’”
Now this is because when they’d sacrificed an animal, they’d carry some of the meat back for the priests to eat and this meat was considered holy. So Haggai asks ‘if this meat brushed against other foods like bread or stew…would they then become holy like the meat.’ And what did the priest say? The priests replied and say, "No." In other words, the holiness doesn't rub off.
Haggai 2:13, Haggai asks, “If someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then touches any of these foods, will the food be defiled?” The priest answers, "Yes." Haggai is basically showing that sin is like a disease. It's like this, a modern example would be... If Bob has a cold, and I’m well, and I hang around him, will he catch wellness from me? No, I’m most likely to catch his cold. Sin spreads easier than holiness. It's the corruptive power of sin. Paul said it this way in the New Testament. He said, "Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Cor 15:33). He didn't say good company cleanses bad character. He said that there's the corruptive power of sin. You could say that sin is like a cold. Sin’s particles, sin’s “aerosol’s” are far reaching.
Haggai 2:14, So Haggai responded, “That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the Lord. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled by their sin.” There’s sin in their life and it contaminates everything. We could say it this way. When your heart isn't right with God, everything you do will be wrong. That sounds a bit extreme but Jesus said the same thing.
In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus said “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.” Because if your heart is not right, it doesn't matter what you do. Bringing a sacrifice is the right thing to do, but not if your heart is not right.
You know this is true with kids. One kid does something wrong to another kid, so what do you do? Kid one, apologize to kid two. Kid one walks up and says, "SORRY," walks away. Does that count or not? No. He’s technically done the right thing, but with the wrong heart and attitude. Right thing, wrong heart does not count. Go up and say it like you mean it. "Sorry." Almost, not quite. This time say you're sorry and give him a hug. "Sorry."
Attitude matters. If your heart isn't right, whatever you do is not right. So what sometime happens? "Ok God, I'll obey you, as long as you do what I want you to do." "God, I'll obey you as long as this is working out for me." "I'll obey you as long as it doesn't cost me too much, or isn't convenient to me."
This is a wrong approach to God. We need to understand that we do not obey God so that he will bless us. We obey God because we love him. It's all about the heart. We do not obey God for what he's going to do for us, so he'll make our lives better. We obey God because of who he is. We obey God because we want to honor him with everything in us. This is why getting our hearts right matters so much. God reminds his people, he's going to get down to the heart of the issue.
Above all else God says, "I want your heart," and to be honest, this is the biggest miracle God can do in our life. In Matthew 15:8, Jesus quoted Isaiah saying, "These people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me." They honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. This is a massive problem in Western Christianity, it's conditional obedience.
Like yeah, yeah, I'll do the God thing as long as it's going well for me. It's people who honor Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. In the New Testament Jesus said, ‘There is one command above all others, and that is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength’ (Mark 12:28-31). It's all about the heart. If your heart isn't right with God, even if you’re doing the ‘right’ thing, it’s not right. It's all about the heart. I want your heart, says God. We do not obey God so he will bless us. We obey God because we love him. With all of our hearts, minds, soul and strength.
Sermons For The Moment
New Year - Matthew 2:13-23
Do not be afraid - Matthew 1:18-21
Luke 2: 4- 15
Luke 1: 26-33
This is a subtitle for your new post
Ruth Chapter 4
Ruth 3
Ruth 2
Commitment from Love, Ruth 1: 1-18
This is an interesting Psalm – another psalm of ascent. We spoke about these Psalms of Ascent a few weeks ago. They were songs the Jewish people sang as they made their way to Jerusalem to go to the temple, through the forest, along the tracks, camping by the roads. And I believe songs like this kept them focussed and kept their spirits up. I can imagine days of walking together, tiring, boring, hot and dusty. And singing some of these Psalms keep them focussed on the faithfulness of God. Much better then eye spy for the kids. Journeys are not all their cracked up to be even if the destination is worth it. As you know, when I was growing up we always holidayed at Bawley Point past Ulladulla, and in those days it was about a 4 hour drive from Sydney. We always left later than we meant to…and the last 20 mins was on a dirt road. One year when I was probably about 4 years old it was dark by the time we got to the dirt road, and half way along the dirt road, was a dodgy wooden bridge over a river. I think part of the bridge had been damaged and we had to wait a bit in the pitch black darkness before we could proceed. Dad was out with a torch ensuring the bridge was safe to drive on and mum and us 4 kids were sitting in the darkness – no street lights, no moonlight. Of course, you might be able to guess what I said to mum in that car, with fearful crying…you’ve probably heard it from kids before. I said ‘I want to go home’. Mum said to me, ‘we can’t go home Robyn, we’re almost there’. In truth, after the bridge we had the last 10 minutes of a 4 hours journey left. We safely crossed the bridge and we were OK. But I remember it. I remember the feeling of being scarred in the darkness. I remember not liking this journey at all. Even though I always loved the destination. Well this psalm celebrates the end of the journey and the arrival at the destination. Psalm 126:1-3, “When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.” Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!” Before we can understand the laughter and joy of the Israelites, we have to understand their journey. This Psalm looks back to when they arrived back in Jerusalem after 70 long years in Babylon. The captives had experienced great sorrow and mourning in exile. We read these heartbreaking words in Psalm 137: “Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?” (Psalm 137:1-4). Their tormentors demanded they sing joyfully, but they were like – that’s impossible, it doesn’t come from our heart. So they just sat by the waters of Babylon and wept. But now by an amazing work of God they were suddenly back in Jerusalem. And so their joy came from their heart. The wait was over, the journey was complete. “We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.” The journey is the hard bit though isn’t it? I was reminded of this, this week. An Officer couple I was speaking to, said that their teenager said some very hurtful things to them. Stuff like, ‘you make my life worse’. As they spoke to me, I did very little but listen and pray with them. They do have other supports in their life as well, already seeing a psychologist. But what I was thinking in my head as they were speaking was ‘oh the teenage years, I’d forgotten them’. Though we have 2 wonderful young adults in P and K, they were times when it was more than tense. K wears her heart on her sleeve, and to this day apologises for some of the things she said to me. And P, you wouldn’t know what he was thinking, and then all of a sudden all his thoughts and feelings for the last 3 years would come out like molten lava everywhere. A few days later I checked in to see how the couple and their teenager were going. I mentioned in passing about teenage years and very briefly about our experiences. I didn’t want to make it all about me. But I said teenage years can be painful and those years can really hurt everyone in the family. Teenager included. They know that we have a good relationship with P and K and they said to me, you know, this is helpful. It gives us hope. I was like, yep, this too shall pass. Because when you’re in the midst of the journey of pain and sorrow, you sometimes wonder if there’s light at the end of the tunnel. If you’ll laugh again or experience joy again. You begin to wonder, “Is this all that God has for me? Will I ever be happy again?” And here’s the promise in Psalm 126:4-6, “Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert. Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” When you are going through a time of deep sorrow, Psalm 126 is strong medicine for your soul. It carries a powerful message of hope. It tells you that times of trouble and sorrow do not last. It tells you that God will turn your sorrow to joy and your tears to laughter. If you are going through a challenging time right now, I pray that this psalm will speak to your heart this morning. Let me tell you right up front, whatever you’re going through, it will get better. God will change your tears to joy. This week I found something I wrote about 10 years ago. I had written it on a piece of paper and there was a whole reflection about my life. At the time we had my mum living with us, she had dementia, and mostly I remember the good times and the fun times with her. I was also the Corps Officer at Glebe and Bob was the manager at William Booth House. After a page of writing I had written something like this “I’m often anxious, I’m usually stressed, I have eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth. I always feel pressed.” I went out to Bob in the lounge room and I’m like, ‘oh my goodness, eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth’, often anxious, usually stressed. The thing is, my life feels a long way from that now, and I’d forgotten what that part of my journey felt like. I’m sure when I was there I couldn’t look ahead and see a time of joy…but the truth is that “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” This too shall pass. ‘Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!’ says verse 3. God is faithful – he does the healing, the restoring, he brings the streams in the desert that renews and brings fruitfulness. I don’t need to tell you – it takes time. Today, I’m praying for a work of healing in your life, a gradual restoration of joy, of laughter. Like me as a kid, sometimes we don’t like parts of this journey at all. Even though we know our destination is good. And ultimately, we have a destination like no other and that’s the promise of God. A home in heaven made possible through Jesus. May God bless you this week as you look to Him, listen to Him, find your hope in Him and find courage and healing in your journey.