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Sermon - August 18, 2024




Book of Haggai

Rev. David Ryan

We have been working our way

Through the minor prophets for a number of weeks now.

We are closing in on the end.

There is today’s text from Haggai, next week Zechariah

And then Malachi.

 

Last week you may remember that I said

There are 12 minor prophets.

9 of them were sharing their message pre-exile.

Zephaniah was the last of them.

That leaves 3 post-exile prophets.

The first of which is Haggai.

The book of Ezra, who was the Priest who lead

The exiled people back from Babylon,

Mentions Haggai 2 times.

It was a hard time for the people of Israel

They yearned to return to their homeland

But things were in Chaos there.

 

Now, I have to tell you in advance

That some of today’s message will sound a lot

Like last weeks message-

Because we are in the minor prophets

All of whom were addressing isreal

Through the same historic period.

Now that’s ok with me.

Because I know that sometimes

I don’t hear something the first time.

Sometimes God has to repeat his messages to me

Before they make into this brain and heart of mine.

Last week we talked about some of the hard times we face.

We don’t need to go into them again.

We know what they are.

 

There are times when we are feeling blessed

And we know it, and we are giving God thanks for it. –

But there are times when we feel like we are just

Living through a hard time.

how do you deal with life

when , at least – it does not feel like a time of blessing.

When it just feels hard

When you wonder – what is going on?

Someone said to me the other day –

I know we are not supposed to think this way

but sometimes you just feel like wondering

What did I do to deserve this?

Hard times happen.

It's a part of this life.

Yes...there are moments of blessing -

even in the worst of times

But man – sometimes its just hard.

 

One of the things we can do

in those hard times

is turn to the word of God

Because there are plenty of instances throughout history -

that there were hard times.

 

There can be personal hard times

and there can be national hard times -

and the folks in scripture had it the same way.

 

Again, Our scripture text for today is from Haggai -

it’s not a place we turn to very often -

I at least get to it once a year when I am reading

through scripture  – that's the truth with most of the prophets

for me – but there are gems to be found in them.

 

First a review of history.

Israel had been unfaithful to God for a long period of time.

We have gone through the time of the kings

there were good kings, but mostly bad kings.

Mostly they did things that were “evil in the eyes of the Lord”

and the people generally followed the example

of their  king

one of the ways God dealt with the unfaithfulness of isreal

was to allow other world powers to come in

and take over their land

God never stopped loving his people

but sometimes God allowed hard stuff to happen to them

in part, as a way of drawing them, eventually back to him -

at least that seems to be the lesson scripture is trying to teach.

 

Israel had been unfaithful

and so the Babylonians came in

took over the land

Destroyed the temple

and most of the population was sent into exile

a remnant remained

but most were sent to Babylon.

Babylon was in the area that is modern day Iraq

 

But that was only for a season.

Eventually the Persians took over the Babylonians -

the center of the Persian empire is today's Iran.

That area of the world has been in contention

a lot of times through history.

The Persian king Cyrus was for sending the Jews

who have been in exile back to their homeland.

And many of the Jews did return -

but when they got there -

that was not the end of their hard times.

 

Inflation was rampant.

Everything cost more money than people had.

The weather was bad

Crops were failing.

The temple was in ruins.

The wall was torn down in many places.

It was a hard time.

 

But God sent a message through a prophet named Haggai

Repeated time and time again are the words –

Give careful thought.

This is important.

How we respond to our hard times is important.

 

And scripture tells us that the people listened to Haggai

There was a governor – Zerubbabel -

and a high priest – Joshua ( not the same Joshua who took over

leadership after Moses).

There was a revival

people began to turn to the Lord again.

In chapter 1 of Haggai we are told that

the Lord stirred up the spirit

of Zerubbabel and Joshua -

and not only them but all the people.

And the spirit of God spoke a word of encouragement to them

even in the midst of their hard time.

Here's what happened.

God called them to make a good assessment of their problem.

He told them –  Give Careful thought.

take a good look at this place

it’s a mess.

The temple is in ruins.

Face it.

There is no use denying it.

Do you remember its former glory

how does it look now?

Does it not seem like...nothing?

 

Sometimes, folks, we can be in a hard place

but we don't want to admit it.

We don’t want to face the facts.

But you know, denial only lasts so long.

Eventually you got to tell it like it is.

Eventually you've got to say – yes...things are a mess.

In my family.

In my life

With my work.

Maybe even in my church.

 

When we face it, God can, in his time, begin to work with it.

Assess your situation.

Is it good? Then good!

Is it messed up? Well then...seek the Lord.

And here it what the Lord said through Haggai the prophet.

Be strong.

Be strong Zerubbabel – governor of the people

Be strong Joshua – high priest

Be strong all the people of the Land.

In the midst of our hard times

I think the Spirit of the Lord calls out to us

Be strong.

 

How can we be strong we wonder -

Sometimes in the midst of our hard times

We feel anything but strong.

In fact, we can't be strong on our own.

We are weak-

But guess what ...if we are weak – that's OK

maybe that is just where God wants us!

Ever think of that?

 

God is OK with us being weak –

because then we can be strong in him!

A long time from when Haggai was preaching

there would be another preacher by the name of Paul

you've heard of him?

Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 12 and look for verse 9.

Paul knew a lot about hardship.

Before he was Paul, he was Saul -

and as Saul, he caused a whole lot of hardship for Christians

But then, when God turned his life around,

He had his own shares of hardships.

He was shipwrecked

beaten

had times when he was starving

had times when he was bitten by a snake

he also had something he called the thorn in his flesh -

we don't know exactly what that was -

but it was something that was hard for him to deal with.

And he asked God to relive him of it.

But God never did.

Why?

Well – Paul came to understand

that it was to keep him from becoming conceited.

He pleaded for God to take it away -

But do you remember what God said to him?

You probably will when you read it.

 

God said these wonderful words to him

My grace is sufficient for you

for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

So you know what Paul said to that?

He said -

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me

That is why, he writes -

for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses -

in insults  in hardships, in persecutions,

in difficulties

For when I am weak – then I am strong

Oh – can I get a hallelujah or a praise you Jesus on that?

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Not because of me

but because of God's grace working in me.

Come on holy spirit!

Rest on me!

Breath on me!

Melt me!

Mold me!

Fill me – use me!

Spirit of the Living God – fall afresh on me!

When I am weak then I am strong

When I am in hardship... it's OK.

God calls me to be strong.

Just like Zerubbabel

Just like Joshua

Just like the people who came back from exile

Be strong – for I am with you – said God.

We heard it last week from Zephaniah –

We hear it again in Haggai.

I know you are in a hard time

But be strong – because I am with you.

God is with us folks.

Yes, we got problems

But God is with us!

 

Now, there is something I skipped over.

It's right there in verse 5 -

that's why it's important that as I preach

you be looking at the scriptures!

Don't let me get away with skipping over something!

God says – be strong – but he also says – and work!

You have something to do!

You have stuff to put in order!

Grace is there.

God is there-

But grace has work for us to do!

If stuff is messed up in your family -

there is stuff for you to do

If stuff is messed up in your work

there is stuff for you to do

If stuff is messed up in our church

there is stuff for us to do.

 

Yes, it's guided by grace

yes, its empowered by grace

but God still wants to use our hands and feet -

our minds – our voices.

If we are sick,

there is grace and there is healing -

but there is also our part

to do our therapy, say –

we see our doctors

we follow a treatment plan.

We have surgery if we need.

Or maybe it is more basic –

We eat well

or rest

or exercise

or do what we can do on our part -

in our families – there is counseling maybe to go to

There are truths to be voiced

There is forgiveness to give

There is love and care to be shown.

 

If it's in our work

there is work to put in

We've got to do our part as God enables us.

In verse 6 God starts saying the things he will do

in a little while....

not yet

but in a little while.

He will shake the heavens and the earth.

the sea and the land

he will shake up the nations.

he will have the gold he needs.

he will have the silver he needs -

what is that to God?

God can do whatever God wants to do.

But in the meantime, he calls the people to have faith.

Believe in what is yet to be.

 

Oh – and I know that is hard for us to do in hard times

to believe that things will one day be different.

But with God anything is possible.

Do you believe that?

I sure do!

With God anything is possible.

Believe that.

A broken family?

It can be made right again someday.

A Bad time at work?

It can be made right too

A low time in the church?

A better day can be in the future.

How we gonna get there?

By faith

By believing in what is not yet.

 

The temple was rebuilt

but never to its former glory – as a building

but that is because God had something even better in mind.

A temple not made of stone

but the hearts of the people

God had in mind to build the church

through Jesus.

Jesus would say – this temple will be destroyed

but God will raise it up in three days –

he was not talking about the temple in Jerusalem

like the disciples though – but about himself –

and later, we would be called the priests and the temple.

God is at work

and he has work for us to do.

And as we do it, we are called to believe

in what is yet to be.

 

And it will be better than anything we ever dreamed of

Even if all that does not happen here in our time

or even here in our earth –

A future time is coming....

a place called heaven

Where there will be no more tears

no more pain, no more suffering

no need for hard times

for we will finally be what God has called us to be.

 

So friend  if you are going through a hard time

be encouraged.

Be strong...work...for the Lord is with you.

The Lord is with us.

Amen.

 

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