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Enjoying and Glorifying God
By Pastor Todd Baucum
Haggai 1:1-9
The Jews had returned from their 70 year exile in Babylon. They were in a period of rebuilding. Ever since Nehemiah and Ezra had inspired their hopes and fired their zeal for Jerusalem, they worked to restore Jerusalem – their homeland – their city was rising up from the ruins of a previous generation.
Perhaps late in his life, a prophet named Haggai appears on the scene – with a short ministry and a few brief messages he addresses a core problem with these people. They had their priorities all wrong. They were busy. They were working hard. They were making an investment in the future. But, with their priorities wrong, they were putting their own lives before God.
People will always get their priorities wrong, when there is a fundamental disconnect between the blessings of God and a corresponding gratitude.
(from this text, I will draw out 3 principles – truths)
- What we enjoy we worship.
- What we love we adore.
- What desire we pursue.
That which we pursue in life we invest in.
Worship is not something we do out of obligation. It is a description of what we value.
What did Haggai see, which caught the attention of God? For over 16 years construction on the temple was at as standstill. See Ezra 3:6-13 - tells us that preparation sere made - money was gathered – finest of imported cedar was purchased and brought to Jerusalem. The question is what happened?
One can only speculate, but here are some possible scenarios.
-they were having economic hard times - under control of Babylon - taxes were high.
- they still had trouble from their enemies.
-they instability of the international scene -
Vs. 2 – tells us what? God was tired of excuses. They kept saying it wasn’t time to build the temple.
1. Two Ways We Neglect Worship and the Glory of God.
Vs.4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?
Calvin – “The Jews were so taken up with their own domestic concerns, with their own ease, and with their own pleasures, that they made very little account of God’s worship.”
Two ways we neglect worship: (Calvin)
1) Ingratitude. God had restored them – good on his promise to bring them home - but they show their ingratitude by postponing that which would glorify God. Giving honor to God was being delayed.
2) Indifference.
The people in Jerusalem, had never known the glory of the Temple – they grew up in a strange land – Basically they were used to house church. It was convenient, warm, cozy and of course very practical.
(note – they were offering sacrifices – worship was happening – but in the open air - this probably to them seemed immensely practical and in a word sufficient).
But is sufficient a quality that should reflect what the honor and glory we owe to God, who saved us, by his Son, died for us and rose victoriously over hell and death?
Was God doing that which was just sufficient? Or did he not spare no expense in redeeming us?
Ephes. 1:7 (ESV)
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
2. How our Priorities Affect our Joy in Life.
Vs.5 - ..”consider your ways.”
A series of observations:
Money doesn’t go far
Harvest is profitable
Clothes wear out.
In other words - they are pursuing these things, but not gaining anything.
Pagans seek these things - Jesus said, but you should seek first his kingdom. (Matt. 6)
What happens when Christians have the wrong priorities:
Matthew 13:22 (ESV)
As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
It can be a symptom on the real problem - a heart issue.
What we enjoy we worship.
What we love we adore.
What desire we pursue.
God is looking for worshippers who pursue him with a heart of love. This is more important than externals.
But, it sets the stage for how we invest our lives.
“The respect accorded the physical structure was an index of the spiritual vitality of the people.” John Mackay
The people addressed by Haggai – were investing in themselves and their comfort. The expression “living in paneled” houses was a clear idiom describing luxury. It was not that God was not wanting them to have homes - to have their needs met or to enjoy life. God is not a cosmic killjoy.
They were ready to pursue luxuries at the expense of God’s honor.
It is one important reality we must consider when we see this sanctuary in need of repair – when 20 windows are broken - How many of us live in homes with broken windows?
Nor should we be content with second rate materials or volunteer unskilled labor to build not a cathedral – but a meeting place that honors God.
3. Seeking God’s Enjoyment in our Worship.
Vs. 8 -Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.
This is a key understanding of biblical worship that we must get right. If we understand this, then all the confusion and debates about worship today would be cleared up.
Worship is about what pleases God. It is not about us. It is what Gives God glory. God told the people of Judah, to buy the supplies for his house so that “I may take pleasure in it, and that I may be glorified.”
Now, some may ask (know their Bibles) - Did not Jesus build the perfect Temple - Did he not replace the sacrifices, the elaborate worship. Aren’t we building the spiritual temple – through the preaching of the Gospel?
Yes, Yes and Yes. Paul makes it clear that the glory of the church is Jesus himself.
Ephes. 2:20-22 (ESV)
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22] In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The Bible makes is clear also, that worship is not a private matter - it is communal. It happens when God’s people gather around the reality of the person and work of Jesus Christ – Where his Word is heard, proclaimed and cherished. Where grateful hearts explode with praise and giving God honor that is where worship happens.
- It is about Glorifying God because Worship is about giving God enjoyment in our giving our best.
- Benjamin Palmer Sanctuary Dedication
On Sunday morning, October 9, 1853, Dr. Benjamin Morgan Palmer (then the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, SC, later the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, New Orleans –said in his sermon dedicating the new church building for First Columbia –
"As for this building, beautiful as it may be in our eyes, let it please us to call it only a plain Presbyterian meeting house.
The glory we see in it,
let it not be the glory of its arches and its timbers;
not the glory of its lofty and graceful spire, pointing ever upwards to that home the pious shall find [with] God;
not the glory of this chaste pulpit, with its delicate tracery and marble whiteness;
not the glory found in the eloquence or learning of those who, through generations, shall here proclaim the gospel;
nor yet the glory traced in the wealth and fashion, refinement and social position of those who throng its courts.
But let its glory be The Glory of the Lord Risen Upon It!
Let its glory be the promises of the covenant engraved upon its walls, which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus.
Let its glory be found in the purity, soundness, and unction of its pastors; in the fidelity and watchfulness of its elders; in the piety and godliness of its members.
May that be said of this church. Amen!
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