Satisfied smiles wreathed every face as they stood back to admire their work. Houses lined the street. Their houses. On their street. In their city. Finally. It had been a long time coming. Sometimes they thought it never would. Often, it seemed they were destined to live the rest of their lives in exile. They were grateful it hadn’t been that way. Grateful for a new regime allowing them to return home and rebuild their lives. It had been a journey, but they had done it. Through blood, sweat, and tears, they erected the best houses they had ever inhabited. The dwellings of their dreams. Beautiful homes with every convenience imaginable. And they were still building. Houses for themselves, their sons, their daughters. They weren’t sure they would ever stop. Yet even as they hauled logs and sawed boards, they couldn’t avoid the niggling truth. Not all of their efforts had been successful.
Although the building efforts had gone spectacularly, the same could not be said for their farming endeavors. The fields they had carefully plowed and planted weren’t producing with any great abundance. Rain wasn’t falling. At least not as much as they needed. Morning dew had become non-existent. The crops were struggling at best, often failing. Feeding their families was a struggle. Their homes were beautiful, but their pantries were empty. And they didn’t know why. They couldn’t figure it out. Why had God allowed them to finally return to Jerusalem, to build fabulous homes, only to strike them with famine and drought? It seemed the greatest conundrum of their day. Until Haggai came along.
Haggai knew exactly what was happening. And why. He had the inside line. God had spoken to him. Given him words for the people who were successfully building but failing at farming. It wasn’t a happenstance. It was a wake-up call. The people had gotten distracted. They had been so busy rebuilding their lives and building their homes that they had set aside the one thing that should have been more important than anything. They had forgotten their God.
Maybe not entirely. It seems unlikely they had quit worshipping completely. They hadn’t purposely abandoned God and chosen a different deity to worship. They had not quit God. They had simply relegated Him to a place of lesser importance. Probably not intentionally. At least not at first. At first, they legitimately believed they were doing the right thing in building homes for themselves and planting crops to feed their families. Those things were urgent. They were good and right and necessary. But now they were done. The houses were built. The crops were planted. But the people were still busy making excuses for not beginning the work of rebuilding the temple of the Lord.
Their houses needed winterized. Their crops, such as they were, needed harvested. The fields needed plowed in preparation for the next planting. There were animals to tend and children to raise. Water to be hauled from the local well. Their lives were busy. They had things to do. Good things. Real things. Necessary things. By the time they finished doing all their own things, there wasn’t time to think about or work on the things of God. Things like rebuilding the temple. With every excuse they made to procrastinate, the urgency they felt for the project became less. Finally, they were so busy keeping up with their newly developed lifestyle that they didn’t even notice the temple ruins. Didn’t mourn the loss. Didn’t miss attendance. Didn’t realize the disrespect they were giving to their God.
It was time to set the record straight. God wasn’t having this. He wasn’t interested in fancy houses and flourishing fields where His name was never mentioned and His house remained destroyed. They were reaping the results of His dissatisfaction. Their harvests were poor. The rain didn’t come. The grain and grapes, and olives weren’t getting the nutrients they needed to flourish. Starvation seemed possible, even probable. Yet none of the people seemed to see the correlation. Their current choices determined their future prosperity. And they had chosen to create the illusion of material wealth while neglecting spiritual fortune.
In a straightforward lecture through the prophet, Haggai, God told the people off. He was done with this. Why were they so invested in making their own homes fantastic, but wouldn’t lift a finger to repair His house? Not even a little bit. Did they not realize that in neglecting His house, they were neglecting Him? Had it never occurred to them that if they built His house and gave Him proper space in their hearts and lives, He would provide the rain and dew, increase the harvests, nourish the grapes and olives? Did they not yet understand that if they would devote themselves to God, He would be with them and bless them and care for them all the days of their lives? If they would build God’s house first, everything else would fall into place. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies had promised. (Haggai 1:1-11; I Samuel 2:30)
Suddenly, it all made sense. The drought. The famine. The struggle. It was their own fault. Their priorities were misaligned. Fear that their families would be left homeless and starving had forced them straight into taking care of themselves and putting off caring for God’s temple. They had let things slip. They had put their faith in their own abilities, trusted the work of their own hands more than the power of God’s promise. But not anymore. They were done with that. From this moment on they were throwing themselves fully under the protection of the promise that God was with them. Rebuilding the temple would take priority. Right now. Today. This very moment they would gather their tools and make the trek into the forest to harvest logs and begin resurrecting the temple of God to its rightful glory. (Haggai 1:12-15)
For nearly a month they worked. Felling trees. Hauling logs. Sawing boards. Building the walls and restoring the structure. Yet even as the work progressed, discouragement descended. In spite of all they were doing, the temple didn’t look anything like it had. Their rough-hewn boards, erected by untrained hands, didn’t lend the breathtaking quality the skilled laborers had been able to give. It broke their hearts. Nearly broke their spirits. It felt as if they were failing, as if their work wasn’t enough. And they were tired. Physically worn. Mentally exhausted. Haunted by the growing list of the things they needed to do for their own survival. Some started spending a little more time at home. The work began to flag. Until God spoke again.
Not in the same tone as before. Not with reprimand and rebuke. No. In words of love and encouragement to His people, God called them to get to work. Keep working. Don’t stop. Don’t be discouraged. The glory of the previous temple would come. In God’s time. In God’s way. He would do it. That was His job. Not theirs. Their task was to stay focused. Get to work. Keep faith in the promises of God. Don’t be distracted by earthly things. Prioritize the spiritual. Remembering this. You can build a breathtaking temple filled with intricate carvings, shining metals, and glistening gems, but if the spirit of God isn’t there, none of that matters. Honor God. Build His house according to the ability He has given you. Let Him fill it. He will. He is faithful that promised. (Haggai 2)
It would do us well to heed those same words. Not because we need to build a new church building. We don’t. There are plenty. God isn’t asking you to build another building. He is telling you to get to work repairing the one you have. Your personal temple. Your heart. His home. God is calling you to prioritize Him above everything else. All earthly endeavors. All efforts to establish prosperity and prominence. All attempts to stack up earthly goods, material treasures, and social accolades. God is calling you to shore up the edges of your sagging spiritual existence. Get right with Him. Put Him first. Allow Him to work for and in and through you. Just like He promised. Trust Him to take care of you. Be brave and get to work. Because if the necessary repairs to the church universal are going to happen, repairs to the church personal must first occur. (Exodus 20:3; Proverbs 3:6; Acts 3:19-20; Matthew 6:19-21,33)
There is no avoiding that the church of today is not what it was in the Book of Acts. Peter and Paul would have strong words for us. So would Haggai. Words we very much need to hear. We have become complacent. We have allowed our earthly lives to usurp the priority of our spiritual lives. We have lowered our standards, replaced our convictions, altered the ramifications of disobedience. Spiritual drought has set in. Fear of social pushback has silenced our voices. Yet it is into that silence God speaks. Calling us to wake up, step up, and get to work. On ourselves. Our own hearts. Our own sins. Tighten up the spaces in us that have fallen slack. Clean up the areas that have become cluttered with worldly things. Get right with God. Put Him first. Accept His authority over our lives. Then get to work on our churches. Turn the focus back to Him. Prioritize His presence, His power, His preeminence. Make God’s church a place for God’s people to worship God and hear Him speak. Only Him. Don’t let the world clutter the space or muddy His words. Don’t let anyone, preacher or deacon or well-meaning congregant, alter the truth of His Word. Focus on God. Alone. Put Him first. Allow Him to work for and in and through His church, spreading His love and grace throughout the surrounding community. Get to work, do your part, and watch God build a glorious church full of people who prioritize Him. (Matthew 5:19; Isaiah 1:16-17; Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Revelation 2-3; Ephesians 5:27)