STEWARDSHIP 1
January 11-13, 2020
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Haggai 1:1-11
“GIVING TO GOD JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!”
(OR DOES IT?)
Haggai 1:1-11 “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. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
“It just doesn’t make any sense.” We say that quite a bit, don’t we? Oh there are plenty of things in life that do makes sense. Like 1+1=2. When things follow a predictable pattern. When Lucy crouches to hold the football and pulls it again. What were you thinking Charlie Brown? But there are many others that do not. He was such a good kid, from a good family. How did he get hooked on heroin? It doesn’t make sense. She took such good care of herself, worked hard, ate right and she had a heart attack? It doesn’t make sense.
It seems that the Old Testament people of God at the time of the prophet Haggai had one of those going on. Giving to God, doing His work first. That didn’t make sense to them. At least the way they lived showed that was what they believed. Roughly around 535 BC, after 70 years of captivity in far off Babylon God brought some of the people back. The Holy City of Jerusalem looked like a ghost town, walls and gates broken down and crumbling, the Temple a heap of rubble overgrown with weeds. But God had brought them back for a purpose, to rebuild and they started with gusto. They rebuilt the walls of the city. They set up a new altar on the Temple Mount. Soon they would lay the foundation for a new temple.
But you know how people are. Soon they lost interest in the Temple project God gave them to do first. There were other things that it made more sense to do first. They needed their own homes to live in. They needed to be busy planting crops and gathering food to eat. That makes sense. You have to take care of yourself first. How could they be expected to do the work God wanted them to do if their own lives were a mess? How could they spend precious time and shekels building God’s house when their families were growing. I don’t think “Happy wife, happy life” is a new saying. Once everything was right at home, then they could turn their attention to God’s work and you know God is God. What does He need a house for and if He wants one, can’t He just build it Himself? Giving to God didn’t make much sense.
Well it was 15 years later that God stepped in to help them. “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. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
The problem was not with God’s abilities. He could most certainly rebuild the Temple Himself and a better one that human hands could make. The problem was with the hearts of the people. No human being can be complete unless their heart is at rest with God. And no heart can be at rest when it is putting God in second place. There is a reason the First Commandment is the first. No other gods. No other number ones. Not self. Not others. God did not give that commandment for His good but for the good of people. He knows how He made them. He knows their real need. So God helped them. He showed them that putting God second does not make sense. You worked so hard and you have nothing. The same God who can make five loaves of bread and two small fish feed thousands made thousand of bushels of grain feed no one. The same God who made clothes and shoes last 40 years while the children of Israel wandered in the desert made clothes wear out way too soon. As they worked hard to increase their income for themselves God worked harder to increase their expenses so in the end they had nothing. God is God. He knows what’s best for His people. He helps them. Even when He has to hurt them to do so. He could not let them go on putting their faith life with God last. This would eventually lead to unbelief and Hell. He loved them too much for that to happen. So He used Haggai to call them to repentance. It worked. Then, when their hearts were right, their priorities were too.
That’s why giving to God does make sense, great sense. And it’s all about what’s going on in our hearts. Let’s review why. At our Christmas Eve service we rejoiced to know that God so loved us. How did we know? Say this passage with me. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” How do we know God loves us? He gave. What did He give? What was most precious to Him. His one and only Son. Jesus. Giving to God makes sense because it is a meaningful way to show we love God. We have to be honest here. Money is precious to us. Not because we like copper, tin and zinc or special paper with green ink but because money allows us to live comfortably, eat well and have fun. Things we value. Now read the next passage. “We love because he first loved us.” Since the measure of love is giving what is precious to you, giving to God makes sense. It shows we love God.
It’s also a way to show trust. Read this passage with me. “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits from your entire harvest.” You notice that the manner in which we give to God demonstrates how we honor Him. He says give firstfruits. Now, talk about not making sense. Because we live in an urban and not rural community and a money based rather than agrarian economy we might miss something here. First fruits are exactly what they sound like. The first and best part of your harvest or your calves or your lambs. Now try to think like a farmer. Start in winter. You have been living off of last year’s harvest. It feeds your family. You barter with it to get other things you need. Spring comes. You plant some of last year’s harvest. You continue to eat down and spend down what’s left in your barn all spring and all summer until nothing is left. Now it is fall. The first part of the harvest is ready. What should you do with it? Store it up in the barn of course, just in case something happens to rest of the harvest. You pay yourself first. Just about every non Christian financial advisor will tell you that. Save for yourself first. That makes senses. You save the best of the calves and the lambs for yourself because when they breed they are likely to have better offspring. It makes sense to keep the first and best for yourself…if you are all about yourself. If you don’t trust God to be the one to give you a full and bountiful harvest. If you don’t trust that God will give you more and better lambs and calves. Giving to God first makes sense, if you trust Him. That’s what it’s all about. When God’s people who farmed gave the first part of the harvest they showed they trusted God would provide the rest. When God’s people who raised cattle gave their best animals they showed they trusted God would provide them even more healthy animals. When God’s people who work regular jobs and get regular checks give the honorable portion they have decided on as the first check written it shows they trust Him for the rest of the week or month. Firstfruit giving, not leftover giving, does make sense because it shows we trust God.
Let’s go to our next passage. Say it with me. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” God so loved He gave. We love Him so we give. If you are an average member and your weekly connection to St Jacobi is the weekly worship services and special worship services you might wonder why it costs 1.4 million dollars to operate this place and that does not count building expansion expenses. You do some quick math on your giving to God at St Jacobi and you could come off feeling you are getting ripped off. And you are, if you only care about yourself. But if you actually want to try to love others as yourself then you care that other people get visited even though you don’t need to. You care that others get Biblical counseling even though you don’t need it. You care that others are getting Bible class time even though you don’t want to. If you want to try to love others you care that children are carefully trained in God’s Word so they can continue to be the salt and light that America needs. You care whether they are your children or not. You actually consider all the children to be yours. And what about the additional $180,000 we plan to give to Missions? That shows love to people we will never even see until heaven. Giving to God does make sense because it shows we love others.
And finally if you are really money smart giving to God really makes sense. Those who are considered money smart in America will tell you to invest for your future. Put money away early and often so you will have plenty for later in life. I have a question for you. Let’s say you have $100,000 in investments right now. How much do you think it will be worth in 50,000 years? How much good will it do you? Let’s look at what God says. Read with me what Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21. “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Treasures in heaven. Eternal investments. What are they? People. Only people last to heaven. Brothers and sisters giving to God makes great financial sense when the money we give is used to spread the Gospel. Where the Gospel is proclaimed the Holy Spirit goes to work. Where the Spirit works there will be believers. Those are treasures in heaven. Giving to God does make sense because it helps us store up treasures in heaven.
Over the next couple of weeks God’s word will help us take a good hard look at how we give to God, what we give to God and why we give to God. We are all going to be challenged to try some serious firstfruit giving for 10 weeks. Let’s not close our ears to this because talking about money and how we choose to spend it makes us uncomfortable. God is interested in what we do with the money He gives us because it shows where are hearts are really at. He desires for us to show that we love Him above all else, that we trust Him above all else. Let’s not make Him treat us like He did the Israelites at the time of Haggai who learned to fear Him above all else. Instead let’s remember why we love God. Because He loved us first. God loved so much that He gave Jesus who forgives us all our sins and will welcome us into heaven whether we get good at giving or not. My prayer for us though is that we can grow find joy in this part of our Christian life that shows we love God, trust God, love others and value treasures in heaven so we can be an even bigger blessing to more and more people. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment