How to Overhaul Your Priorities (Isaiah 55:1-9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9)
Listen.March 7th, 2010
Rev. Dr. Craig A. Wagner
Introduction
Have you ever purchased a house that was a “fixer-upper?” If you have, you realized pretty quickly that it was more work than you expected. In fact often a “fixer-upper” saps all of our energy, time and money. It becomes the number one priority in life; other things in life are neglected as the work progresses. This can take a toll on family, education, profession and other relationships. Even if you haven’t purchased a “fixer-upper” home, daily life can be hectic and can get us distracted so that priorities in life are turned upside down.
Someone remarked that if Jesus were walking the earth in our society, do we really think that he would serve on three church committees; drive in a car pool three days a week; attend two church services on Sunday; manage a boys organization; serve on the lunch committee; and participate in several other volunteer organizations; and of course keep up with his golf league that meets early on Wednesdays and Saturdays?
He went on to suggest that even Jesus might have trouble getting into the word or having time in his Father’s presence. If Jesus were here his schedule would look a lot different than ours. Decisions in Jesus’ life were made in light of his Father’s will. We need to prioritize our life in this regard. We need to submit to the Lordship of Jesus and allow him to give direction to our lives.
Do you have a nagging sense that life is out of control? Do you get to the end of the day and feel as though nothing of eternal significance was accomplished? If so, just think about the prophet Haggai and what he was up against in Jerusalem. Haggai lived in Jerusalem at a time when every house in the city was a “fixer-upper.” The Jews had returned from the Babylonian exile to a city in ruins. The walls had been rebuilt, but the houses were in disarray and the temple was neglected. The people were working on their own homes – not just making them livable but really decorating them with the finest wood paneling and all the best of materials that they could find. But the house of the Lord still lay unfinished.
For the people of Israel their faith journey required a series of choices and they often made the wrong choice. For us our faith journey requires a series of choices, are we making the right ones? If we are wondering, today we will look at the signals in life that warn us we are making the wrong choices.
Recognize misplaced priorities
The prophet Haggai received the word from the Lord that he was to approach the authorities in Jerusalem and tell them that they had misplaced priorities. They were to rebuild the temple immediately. Other construction projects had to wait because the house of the Lord was primary for the community.
Haggai goes to Zerubbabel the governor of all of Judah and then also to Joshua the high priest in Jerusalem. He was to announce that the people needed to get to the task of rebuilding the temple. Why should they continue to live in well-built and decorated homes when the temple had yet to be reconstructed? What does this day about their priorities? The response to God’s message that Haggai proclaimed to the governor and the high priest was one of acceptance. This was highly unusual since a prophet’s message is normally met with opposition. Here, however, the response is one of sure we will rebuild the temple, but NOT YET! Other things appear to be more important to the people than the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord!
Are there areas in our lives where God is prompting us to change our priorities and to grow in discipleship and in commitment to God? Are there areas where we need to change because we have the wrong priorities? Perhaps we even know that our priorities are wrong, not necessarily bad, but wrong. We know that, but we procrastinate. Wait, Lord, I’ll work on that later. I’ll do that later.
Do we say later when we need to be refocusing on a problem marriage or a problem in relationships? Do we say later to a consistent pattern of financial giving to the church and the mission of Christ Lutheran? Do we say later to addictive patterns in life when we know that they are harming our health? Do we say later when we’re asked to commit to prayer time, Bible reading time (90 days goes by quickly!).
Haggai realized that it was materialism that had people’s priorities misdirected. They were called to stop focusing on selfish materialistic pursuits, symbolized by the paneling in the homes and begin to place God first in life, again symbolized by the rebuilding of the temple. How are the priorities in your life? What do they reflect? We need to learn to recognize our misplaced and misdirected priorities.
Realize when God removes his blessing
The refusal of Zerrubbabel and Joshua to immediately start to rebuild the temple resulted in God removing his blessing from the people. You have sown, but harvest little. You drink and are never satisfied. You earn wages, but put your money into a bag with holes in it. Notice how the materialistic things that were so important to the people were never enough. They were always out of reach. They were to give careful thought to their ways because they were never satisfied with things.
The people expected much but they received little. Even the wealth that they tried to accumulate, the money they earned fell through the hole in the bag – it got away from them and they had nothing. Riches and wealth are so fleeting – the people had the wrong priorities and God removed his blessing from them.
What is interesting is that often people with the wrong priorities in our society seem to succeed while those with the right priorities seem to fail. Yet, this idea of succeeding and failing is often viewed from the perspective of the world and not from the perspective of God. We have heard the stories, perhaps even known people like the entrepreneur who has all the trappings of the world; the cars, the house, the private school for the children. He becomes lulled into thinking that God has blessed him. But on closer examination we find that he is putting his priorities on his career and his family and other relationships are suffering. God has removed his blessing in terms of family and friends but the person isn’t even aware. Ultimately, the possessions will fade, rust and disintegrate; priorities are important.
In 1 Peter we read that relationships are most important. He calls us to live in harmony, be compassionate, be humble, don’t retaliate, and speak the truth. Will we learn before it’s too late? Life appears to go well for many, but when we look at a person’s priorities and what is important we find that many people have not placed their first priority upon God and his people – therefore, God has taken his blessing from them – whether or not they know it understand it or believe it. Haggai’s call to us is to search our lives and determine our priorities and then reflect upon our relationship with God and others.
Respond in obedience to correction
In the passage, we discover that the people had heard the prophet Haggai and his call to rebuild the temple and to set their priorities on the things of God and move away from materialism. The surprising thing is that they obeyed! Actually, this is not simply surprising, it is staggering. Normally, the prophet was ignored, or mistreated; often they were beaten and even killed – even Jesus in our passage last week that a prophet must die in Jerusalem. Being a prophet was not for the fainthearted. Remember the story of Jonah who fled in the opposite direction from the city of Nineveh. Eventually, God brought him to that city and he proclaimed God’s word to repent.
The people recognized their misplaced priorities when Haggai confronted them. They responded in obedience and went right work. They responded positively to the correction that was given. How often when people are corrected by God’s word, they simply continue to claim that their action and attitude is right – even when blessing is taken from them. The folks in Jerusalem responded in a wonderful way and did what God commanded.
Saying yes to God can be a powerful thing; it unleashes God’s blessing and God’s movement in our lives. We are reminded of the words Haggai spoke when the people responded positively, God said, “I am with you.” The presence of the living Lord is with them. As we live faithfully in Christ and by his grace, God says to each one of us, “I am with you.” What a powerful statement! I am with you as you reprioritize your life. I am with you as you work on your marriage. I am with you as you pursue generosity. I am with you in the good times and the bad.
I am with you to bring you into true and whole life. I will be with you in your priority shift. I will be with you when the world counts you a failure for my sake. God’s power is with us. We need that presence; that love in Christ as we renew our priorities so that our lives focus on and reflect the presence of the living Lord Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Today we have discussed the rebuilding of the temple and the reaction by the people to the words of Haggai. Is there a part of our life that needs correction? Is there an area of neglect in relationship with God that needs correcting, changing and re-prioritizing? The challenge: Take the corrective step in 48 hours, a tangible step to God’s prodding; to that soft small voice within you. Don’t allow God’s presence and call to be drowned out by competing voices. There are so many voices that compete with God’s voice – they are often so subtle and sound so good and promising, but in the end, they are found to be shallow, hollow promises made by selfish people. Don’t fall for it. Listen to God’s call and act on it; do it now.
Remember that as we look to God and allow the spirit to touch our hearts and move us to be more faithful, the blessing of God will rest upon us and the words that will bring us encouragement, support, comfort and love are those wonderful words spoken by our Lord Jesus, Ï am with you till the end of the age.” Amen.