Things aren’t the way they used to be. They just aren’t the same. And, if the opinion polls are to be believed, things are getting worse. So, this week, Sky News did some polling, and revealed that 63% of people in Britain think life is worse now than when they were growing up - and that was right across all age groups, particularly among the 18-34 age group! (69% of them).
Things used to be better. And while the survey focused on the whole of society, we might hear the same sort of comments about any group, organisation, or project. The question is - how do we deal with disappointments? Where do we find the strength to keep going, even when things may not be as good as they used to be?
That’s the question that faced the people of Jerusalem when Haggai brings a second message from God. Just in case you missed last week, here’s the story so far. After Jerusalem had been destroyed and the people taken into exile to Babylon in 587BC; some of the people have now returned. They’ve rebuilt their houses, but that was as far as they’d gone to rebuild the city. The temple, God’s house, still lay in ruins. So God sent the prophet Haggai to challenge the people to think carefully about their ways - how they’d built their own panelled houses, but abandoned God’s house. He gave them a plan of action, and a few weeks’ later, they began to build (1:15).
At the start of chapter 2, it’s just under a month later. And it might have been a frustrating month for their labours. You see, they’ve been hard at work, when they could. They don’t work on the Sabbath. They don’t work on the Feast of Trumpets; the Day of Atonement; or the Feast of Tabernacles (when they remember God’s provision for them in the wilderness when they lived in tents). Almost a month, but only 14 days of work. They’re feeling downhearted. Disappointed. They don’t really have much to show for all their hard work.
That’s what God taps into as he directs the prophet Haggai to speak: ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?’ (3)
It’s 67 years since the old temple was destroyed. But there are people who remember what it was like. Its former glory - the fancy cut stones; the internal walls inlaid with gold; the splendour and majesty and glory. But that was then. And now, it looks like, well, it looks like nothing. It just isn’t what it used to be. They’re disappointed. Discouraged.
Now if that’s how the builders of the temple felt back then, it’s how we can feel as well, as we build God’s temple here. Last week we saw how we are God’s temple - God lives inside us, his people. And so we are building God’s temple in this church family. But that can bring the same disappointments and discouragements.
You work up the courage to invite someone to come along, and they say no. Again. You’ve been praying for a family member or a friend to become a Christian, and they’re still hostile. You wonder if you’re actually making a difference, or would you be better off just staying at home, rather than being involved with Sunday School or youth group or Bible study or whatever it might be. Is all our labour just pointless? It’s not going to make a different? Compared to the good old days, all our efforts look like nothing?
If that’s how you’re feeling, please don’t give up. Instead, listen up. You see, God never puts his finger on something if he isn’t going to do something about it. So God taps in to the discouragement they were feeling, in order to provide some encouragement for the brow-beaten builders. So what is God’s answer? What’s the encouragement? We see it in verse 4.
‘But now be strong... be strong... be strong... and work.’ Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest, and all the people of the land are told to be strong and work. Don’t give up. Step up, Be strong and work. Keep going!
Now, that might just sound like a roll your sleeves up and get on with it type message. I’m not sure how effective that might be. but thankfully God doesn’t stop there. You see, he goes on to give the reason why they should be strong and work. And it isn’t ‘because I say so...’ It’s because I’m with you.
So, from verse 4: ‘Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD, and work. For I am with you, declares the LORD Almighty.’
Do you see how that changes things? We’re not to conjure up strength by ourselves. No, our strength comes because God is with us. And who is God? How does he describe himself? the LORD Almighty. The all-powerful one gives power for the work, because he is with us. The Almighty gives us his might for the work.
And, I’m sure by now you’ve heard me ask what the LORD in capital letters means? The promise-making, promise-keeping God. So, as the people celebrate the feast of Tabernacles, so God points back to the covenant, the promise he made when they came out of Egypt. God had promised to be their God, had promised to be with them. And he holds to that promise, even through the wilderness as they made it to the promised land; even as they captured and then lost the promised land. Even in exile and through exile, no matter what happened: God is with them.
And he still is - ‘And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’ To the discouraged builder, God says be strong and work, for I am with you. As the Liverpool fans sing ‘You’ll never walk alone.’ How would that knowledge change your work at building up this church body? Your efforts are not in vain. You’re never on your own, even if it feels that way. He gives us strength to work, because he is with us. So keep going!
In those verses, God gives them encouragement to keep going - he gives them something to do: be strong and work. In the last verses, though, God gives them even more encouragement to keep going - because of what God (and God alone) will do. They’re called to do their bit, but God will also do his bit.
‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD Almighty.’ (6-7)
God promises that in a little while, at some point in the future, he will give everything a good shake. It’s not so much an earthquake, as terrifying as that would be - it’s a universe shake. Heavens, earth, sea and dry land. All nations. Everything will be shaken. And what will happen then?
‘And the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD Almighty. The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the LORD Almighty.’ (7-8)
The desired of all nations will come. Some take this to refer to the Messiah, to Jesus, the desire of the nations, who came to the temple and filled it with his glory. And you can see how this fits. The whole universe was indeed shaken up by his arrival. But the context seems to be more the treasures of the nations - the silver and gold, all of which is God’s, even if it’s in someone else’s hands for now.
And so the image here is of God shaking the nations, to provide the finance for the building of his temple. Growing up, I had my Henry Hippo money box, and coming up to July, I would give it a good shake, to get everything out of it, ready to go on holiday. God is shaking the nations to provide the money for the work of building the temple, decorating it to God’s glory.
When reading Haggai, it’s an idea to also read the book of Ezra. It charts events at the same time. And shortly after this prophecy, word came from King Darius that the ruler of the region, their enemy (who was trying to stop the work) should pay for the building work and the sacrifices out of the royal taxes. (see Ezra 6).
God provided for the work of rebuilding the temple, because all the gold and silver is his. That means that whatever money you have in your purse, or your bank account, or under the bed - wherever you keep it, whatever you have - it isn’t yours. It’s all God’s. And he will provide it for his purposes. We can choose to partner in the work, or we can stand against it, but God will continue to build regardless.
Even when our efforts seem feeble; when we think everything was better in the good old days; when we’re tempted to give up and get out - God gives encouragement to the discouraged; he gives strength to the worker.
So be strong and work - for God is with you.
And then you’ll see God do what only God can do, as he shakes the universe to bring in the treasures. The glory will only increase. And in the new Jerusalem, John sees no temple, because God himself is the temple of the city. And the kings will bring their glory into the city.
Three workmen were asked what they were doing. The first said, I’m cutting stones. The second said, I’m cutting stones for £10 an hour. The third said, I’m cutting stones to build a cathedral for God’s glory. We’re engaged in building God’s temple, for God’s glory, so let’s keep at it, knowing that he is with us, and is working for us.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 3rd June 2018.
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