Other than maybe being familiar with the name, how many of us know anything about the prophet Haggai, or his message? I know I didn’t before it came up in my Bible reading plan, but I found a passage in Chapter 1 of Haggai something that really spoke to me when I read it and still does today. Haggai tells the people of Israel who have returned from exile in Babylon that they have it backward; that they're focusing on their own well-being first instead of making God first.
When I was thinking about putting together this message the phrase "putting the cart before the horse" came to mind. We've all heard this phrase before and I'm pretty sure we have the basic meaning: someone who is putting the cart before the horse is doing things out of order.
I wondered what that might look like. You know Google search is a great tool for things like that, you can type just about anything into the search box then click "Images" and you'll see some pretty creative things. I'll warn you that you are likely to see some things you’d rather not, but that's the price we pay to live in the modern world.
So when I did an image search on "the cart before the horse" here are a couple of pictures I came up with. The first one is funny, but I don't really think it captures the meaning.
The second one is pretty good though; it shows someone trying to drive a cart with the horse tethered behind, and the driver is saying he has to report that the setup isn't working as planned. I think this pretty much captures what Haggai is doing in the passage we're going to look at today.
Before I read the passage I want to put it in context. We don't really know anything about who Haggai was except that he was a prophet who gave the message recorded in the Book titled Haggai.
In this passage Haggai is addressing people who have returned from exile in Babylon. In the larger story, God had made a covenant with the people of Israel who he had delivered from slavery in Egypt. A covenant is a deal. In this case it was a reciprocal promise. God promised to give the land of Canaan, the Promised Land (meaning promised to Abraham and his descendants), to the people, and bless them, and in return the people promised to be a "holy" nation, signified by obeying the law given to Moses at Mt. Sinai. "Holy" means "set apart"; different from the people surrounding them. It meant rejecting the pagan customs of the land and adopting a life -- both as a nation and individually -- that reflected the nature of God. If you have ever tried to read the Law in the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) it seems confusing and senseless, but the basic thrust of it was that the people were to reflect God's concern for righteousness and justice. Jesus made it really clear to us that that the purpose of following the Law is to reflect God’s love. And why? The prophet Isaiah tells us that the people of Israel were to be a "light to the nations." (Is. 51:4) Because they reflected God's love, they were to draw all people to him. They were “set apart” to attract people to God.
Well, almost from the beginning the people failed to fulfill their part of the covenant. They abandoned the law and adopted the ways of the surrounding peoples. In the end the Bible tells us they forgot they even had the law, and they forgot about the covenant. God sent messenger after messenger -- the Old Testament prophets -- to warn the people to return to the right path, and even though there were sporadic attempts at reform, in the end they could not fulfill their covenant obligations, and the nation of Israel was conquered by the Babylonians, Jerusalem burned, the temple destroyed, and the people dragged into exile.
Later the people were set free from captivity and allowed to return to the Promised Land. Their first job was to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Almost from the beginning there was trouble. The people were opposed by hostile neighbors and their lives were disrupted by the political turmoil in the Persian Empire. God again sent prophets to motivate the people to continue the work, but 18 years later, the time of Haggai's prophecy, the work was still not completed. The people had abandoned the project and instead were pursuing their own interests. It seemed the most sensible course. This is when Haggai was called to deliver his message to the people. So let's read it now:
A Call to Build the House of the Lord
1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: 2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ” 3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” 7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.” (Haggai 1:1-9)
What's going on here? I don't think we can know the specifics of the way things were for the people during this time, but from what we read here we know that things were not good. The people were not experiencing the fullness of life they should have been. They were working hard but they were not reaping much benefit. They were unsatisfied. It doesn't really seem from this account that they were complaining about it. Some of them may have even felt relatively comfortable, living in "paneled houses." But they must have been discontent. And Haggai came to tell them the reason for it: God’s temple lay in ruins. The thing they should have devoted themselves to was abandoned, and because of that all of their labors, all of the efforts to “get ahead,” were in vain.
Why was the temple so important? The temple was supposed to be the center of life for the nation of Israel. The only true place for a Jew to worship was at the temple in Jerusalem. Why? Because God was actually present there. And this reflects one of the most astonishing things about our God, the Almighty and Everlasting Creator and Lord of All, and that is that he wants to dwell in our midst. He wants to live with us.
The very first class I took at Bethel was Dr. Strauss' Gospels class. I remember during one of the sessions he asked the class "what is the Kingdom of God?" There was quite a bit of discussion. I'm sure I weighed in on the subject but I'm also pretty sure I was missed the mark. But since then I have given the question some thought and I've come up with an answer. The Kingdom of God is where God rules as King. Duh! Where do we see this in the Bible? In a number of places, but I'm going to point out just a few.
We see God living among the people as they wandered in the desert after the Exodus when the Tabernacle is created and the nation of Israel is encamped around it. At the dedication of the Tabernacle God himself entered it to live in center of the nation. He was unapproachable, but he was present. (Exodus 40:34-35) Later, we see a reenactment of this scene when Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem and God's glory fills the Temple. (2 Chr. 7:1) God wants to live among his people. Immanuel. God with us. In the prophet Ezekiel we see God's glory leaving the temple before the destruction of Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 10:1-22) With the temple destroyed, God has no place to live among the people. The blessing of being God's covenant people cannot be realized if there is no place for God to live among them. God cannot be King the way he wants to be.
Now think about this. If we know that our blessing comes from making a place for God, and that without that we cannot experience blessing, don't you think our first order of business should be to make a place for God? That's what these people should have been doing, but they weren't. Instead they were trying to make a go of it without God. They were trying to do it the way everybody else did it. They were not "holy" because they were not "set apart." You couldn't tell the people of Israel from anyone else. And the result was toil and emptiness. "Give careful thought to your ways!" God tells the people through Haggai. "Build my house."
How does the whole thing come out? Well, interestingly, this is one of the few times in the Bible when the people actually heeded the call of a prophet. The people came together and completed the temple. In chapter 2 of Haggai God tells the people "‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace.” (Haggai 2:9) The people did complete the temple, although it was not as big or impressive as the original until the rebuilding effort of Herod the Great centuries later. But that temple too would be destroyed in 70 AD. So I don't think that when Haggai refers to the "present" house being greater he is really talking about the temple that was rebuilt in Jerusalem after the exile.
Well, what was he talking about then? Was he mistaken? Was God lying? When in the Bible do we see the glory of God enter the temple again? Interestingly, it’s not in the Old Testament, it is in Chapter 2 of Acts, when the Holy Spirit fills the fearful disciples with tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost. The atoning sacrifice and the resurrection of Jesus paved the way for God's glory to re-enter his temple, to live in the midst of his people. Only this time the temple is not a structure of bricks and mortar, it’s us! God lives in the midst of his people in his Church, which is the body of Christ, and in individual Christians. This is confirmed by the Apostle Paul when he tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. 6:19)
So why did this passage speak to me so powerfully when I read it last year? Because I can identify with the people of Israel Haggai was talking to. I spent a large part of my life working hard and in the end had little to show for it. I made good money. I was an engineer at Hewlett-Packard. I had a condo in La Costa. A family. I attended Church. I was a “Proclaimer of the Word of God” and a catechist. I had a minivan. I had all of the trappings of middle class suburban prosperity. But my life was empty. I gained no satisfaction from anything. I knew there was something profound missing from my life.
And then, I was touched by Jesus. I began a journey that would eventually lead me to stand before you tonight sharing the Word of God as it has applied to my life. What was missing was God’s Spirit. I was not distinguishable from anyone around me. Why should I be? I wasn't even a Christian, really, even though I went to Church. God was not the center of my life. I was like the people of Haggai's Jerusalem. I was putting my own concerns ahead of those of God. God wanted to come and live with me and be the Lord of my life, but I was not making any room for him. My priorities were backward. I was putting the cart before the horse.
What changed? The biggest part of it was that I finally surrendered to God's persistent call; the call I had felt since I was a child. I became open to living the spiritual life. I realized that if I were ever to have any kind of fulfillment in my life I was going to have to surrender everything to Jesus. And so I embarked on a life of making room for the Spirit.
I have to say that the biggest change in my life has come about as a result of spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines include prayer and meditation, reading and studying scripture, participating in the Body of Christ by being an active member in a Church family. All of these activities are ways of making room for the Holy Spirit to live in and through me.
Can you identify with the situation of Haggai's people? Are you working hard and not getting any peace? Is your life, in the words of Henri Nouwen, “filled but unfulfilled?” If the answer is yes, then I would ask another question, more to the point: when people see you, who do they see? Do they see just a regular person trying to make it in the world like everyone else? Or do you stand out from the crowd? Can people tell by looking at your life that you are a follower of Christ? And if the answer is no, then I would suggest you might have the same problem as Haggai’s audience. If our lives are filled with worry and anxiety and empty activity, and if because of that people cannot distinguish us as Christians, I suggest that we are probably neglecting the temple. We are not making room for God in our lives. We are not focused on his Kingdom first.
We should not take this as a matter of condemnation but as a matter of comfort. I’m not suggesting that we should mentally beat ourselves up some more and say, “well there’s one more thing I’m not doing right.” Not at all. Because of the cross and the resurrection Jesus has made it possible for us to approach God directly and stand in his presence. The barrier between us and our Creator is removed. We no longer have to put God in an unapproachable room; we can invite him into the center of our lives. And because of the rich Christian heritage we are a part of, we have plenty of examples of how to do just that.
Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 6:33) to seek the Kingdom of God first, and all of the things we worry about will be taken care of by the Father. Where is the Kingdom of God? Where God reigns. Where does God reign? From his temple. Where is the temple? Our lives are the temple. Henri Nouwen, a Catholic write of the 20th century in his book Making All Things New, points to spiritual discipline as the means of making God’s Kingdom first and states that "Without discipline the spiritual life is impossible." He tells us that discipline can be practiced in two ways: in solitude and in community.
Discipline in solitude means prayer and meditation. If as Protestants we resist the idea of meditation or contemplation we can call it "quiet time." Christian meditation doesn't look like what is commonly practiced today among adepts of Eastern or “New Age” religions. It is not a means of self-fulfillment, a way of manipulating the universe to bring worldly success. If our work is successful it doesn’t mean we will be less busy or more prosperous, but that we will be more fully alive. The Apostle Paul reported from prison that he was able to be content under any circumstances. (Phil. 4:11-13) The discipline of solitude is an ancient Christian practice of making room in our lives for the Holy Spirit to do his work. There are a number of methods, most of them are not too difficult to start or even particularly time-consuming. The importance here is not how much we do it but that we do it faithfully and consistently. Make it a habit to spend some time with God every day. Put it in your calendar.
Discipline in community means acknowledging that I no longer live a separate life but that my life is now in the Body of Christ, which is his Church. I am a member of Christ’s body. I can't be “spiritual” all by myself. I can only be so as a part of the community of believers, and that means active participation in a Christian community continuing the work of Christ on earth.
Nouwen’s book offers an approachable way to get started on a life of spiritual discipline. My experience is that once you begin to experience the results of this discipline you will hunger for more. There are many other books by both Catholics and Protestants, ancient and modern, which might be more suitable to you individually. The important thing here is that if we're not experiencing the fullness of life it’s probably because we’re putting the cart before the horse. We are seeking our own kingdom instead of the God’s Kingdom. And if this is where we find ourselves, Jesus has prescribed for us the solution: seek his Kingdom first. Make room for God in our lives. Follow the warning of the ancient prophet Haggai and devote ourselves to building God’s temple, God’s house, which is our own lives.
What will that look like? If we live a Spirit filled life, the Apostle Paul tells us we can expect to experience “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23) That’s better than just OK. That is what our lives will look like, if we seek God’s Kingdom first. And it won’t have significance only for us individually, but for the world. I’d like to leave you with a quote by Francis Chan, “The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation. And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit. But when believers live in the power of the spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”
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