Category: Sermons

What Shall I Give God?

Micah 6:6-8

Pastor Barry Kerner

Everyone knew Albert was a hypocrite. He never went to see what he could do for his ailing mother, he never paid his bills, his language was deplorable, and his adultery broke up two homes. Yet, he worked for the church – He taught Bible classes, he served the Lord’s Supper, and he gave liberally of his means. Albert thought as long as he gave God good works, he could live however he wanted.

The Israelites really thought the same thing – They thought if they brought the right kind of sacrifices God wouldn’t care how they lived.

In Micah chapter 6 God brings a lawsuit against Israel. The imagery of God’s bringing a case against a nation and the mountains and hills being called upon to serve as judges is common in the Old Testament as well as the ancient world. The Lord first pleads his case before the mountains and hills, and he tells what good things he has done for Israel. He redeemed them from Egypt. He gave them spiritual leaders. He protected them against Balak.

God kept his part of the covenant, but the Israelites had not. God will always keep his end of the bargain, for he is faithful and true. If it seems as though God is far away, that he is not fulfilling his promises, it is because we are unfaithful, not because he is.

In our text this morning, the Israelites answer God. In verses 6 and 7, the nation attempts to placate God. In verse 8, Micah tells the nation what they really need to do.

In verses 6 and 7 the people ask God what they should bring him. The people are really bargaining with God. They basically say, “God, we do this or that, will that make you happy?”

Did God want sacrifices? They would give him burnt offerings – these offerings were totally consumed and no part was eaten. They would give yearlings. Although calves could be sacrifices from the eighth day, yearlings were considered the best calves. The Israelites were willing to give God the best sacrifices they could.

They would give thousands of rams. This sacrifice would take much wealth. In 1 Kings 3 verse 4 we find Solomon, a wealthy king, making this sacrifice. The Israelites were willing to spend much money to appease God’s wrath. They would give ten thousand rivers of oil. Oil was used in connection with many sacrifices. The amount of oil here is greatly exaggerated, but the point is that the Israelites were willing to give a great deal if God would just quit being so angry.

They would even give their firstborn. Although occasionally practiced in Israel, we find in Ezekiel 16:20-21 that child sacrifices received God’s condemnation. These Israelites were even willing to give their children if God would forgive. Imagine that! These Israelites will even kill their children if it will make God happy. They basically want God to quit being angry and bless them again and if that takes the death of their firstborn, so be it.

These Israelites wanted to earn God’s favor through their worship. They simply wanted to sacrifice to God and continue in sin.

Worship without the lifestyle to go with it is useless. In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel told Saul, “To obey is better than sacrifice.”  Although God had told Saul to destroy everything when he went against the Amalekites, Saul did not do so. Saul told Samuel that he had spared the best animals to sacrifice to God – Saul must have thought this would make God happy. But, Samuel says that Saul should have obeyed rather than sacrifice – Worship without obedience is meaningless. Amos 5;21-24 reminds usn that God does not want worship without pure lives.

We can do exactly the same thing as these Jews. We can go through the motions on Sunday and live the way we want the rest of the week. We can give liberally of our means, yet not love our neighbor. We can take the Lord’s Supper, but harbor bitterness against a neighbor.

Micah tells the people that true religion is nothing but the enjoyment of a personal relationship with God through faith and sincere prayer. This truth is emphasized over and over again in the Bible. It is taught in many different ways: It is taught by precept in the commandment, Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the LORD thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

True religion is taught by example in the life of Enoch who “walked with God” (Genesis 5:22), and in the life Abraham who was called the “Friend of God” (James 2:23), and also in the life of King David who was known as the “Man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). It is also taught through the recorded praises and prayers of people who had fellowshipped with God. As King David wrote in Psalm 27:4 “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.”

And yet, despite such an abundance of clear teaching from God about what true religion is all about, it is this point that always seems to be missed by many! Time and time again people miss this important truth completely in all their religious efforts and activities. They reduce religion to nothing more than the holding of certain beliefs, following a set of rules and regulations, or performing certain rituals, or observing certain days for fasting, or chanting certain prayers. Now, they may feel that they are being most spiritual when they devote their time in doing all these activities. But what they still lack is the very essence of all spirituality, which is to enjoy a personal relationship with God.

Often even Christians who may already know this truth and understand it well, will go astray from it after some time and begin to concentrate instead on the outward forms of their devotion, including church attendance, singing, praying and participation in church activities. They become content with a veneer or outer shell of godliness, without experiencing the real substance and power thereof.

Some may even become so fanatical about these outward forms, that the forms are more important to them than God Himself! In Romans 10:2, the apostle Paul testified that the Jews of his day were like that. They had a tremendous “zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.”

And we all need to be constantly reminded against committing this error, because anyone can easily fall into it. In all things that you do as a Christian, your primary focus must always be on this one thing: the building of your personal relationship or your walk with the Lord. That is where your spiritual life really is. Without it, your weekly attendance of worship services will be a waste of time. Without it, your singing of hymns will be lifeless. Without it, your tithes and offerings will be given out of duty rather than out of love. Without it, your listening to sermons, or your participation in Sunday school or in any Bible study will not profit your soul at all.

If you are already experiencing any of these things now, it may be time for you to regain your focus on building your personal relationship with God. I’ll ask you, “Have you somehow been neglecting your walk with the Lord? Have you become so busy with church activities and the outward forms of devotion that you have lost your primary focus on building your relationship with God?” If you have, then listen carefully once again to what the Lord has to say to you now through His Word in Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

In order to understand these words well, let us first consider the historical background behind them. The words of this scripture text were given by God through a prophet of Judah by the name of Micah, who lived around the year 735 BC. It was a time of great material prosperity in Judah. Unfortunately it was also a time of great moral and spiritual decline. No class of people was free from the corrupting influences of sin. The princes, the priests and the people – all alike were deeply affected by it. And so Micah was appointed by God to speak out against these sins. He spoke against the rich who oppressed the poor. He also spoke against false prophets who were making empty promises of sure deliverance from foreign invasion. At that time the Assyrians were about to launch a series of military campaigns into Palestine. Through Micah, God warned the people that if they did not repent of their sins, He would bring the Assyrian forces to destroy Jerusalem and reduce it to rubble.

But the people could not understand why God would ever allow His people to experience the horrors of foreign invasion and occupation. They could not comprehend what wrong they had done that God would take such drastic action against them.At the beginning of Micah chapter 6 God is pictured as one who brings a lawsuit against His people for the sin of ignoring Him. In verses 1 and 2 He calls on the mountains and hills to witness His charges against the people. Then, in verses 3 and 4, He reminds them of the ways He had helped them: “O my people, what have I done to you? and how have I wearied you? Testify against me. For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of servants; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.” The Exodus of Israel from Egypt represents the first great act of God in which He showed His love for the people. In verse 5 the inability of Balaam to curse God’s people is mentioned as an evidence of God’s protection for them.

Then in verses 6 and 7 God’s people are pictured as a man who realizes all his sins against God and he is now so conscience-stricken that he wants to know what he could do to remedy the situation. But as you read these verses you will see that what he thinks God requires from him are merely outward acts of devotion. “How shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
We often have mistaken ideas of what God really wants.

First we’re often mistaken as to how we should come before the Lord. The two questions of verse 6 speak about what man thinks he must do in order to come before God. He wants to know, “With what shall I come before the Lord?” He thinks that as long as he comes before God with the right gift to offer Him, God will surely accept him. Now, there is nothing wrong with the bringing of gifts and offerings to the Lord’s house when we come for the worship service each week. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us that, “God loves a cheerful giver.” The problem is not with the act of giving itself but with the motive for giving. We ought to do it because we believe that all that we have is rightfully His, and that the Lord deserves to receive the best from us. We should bring offerings and gifts to Him out of love and gratitude.

But gifts must never be used as an attempt to gain favor or approval from God. And this was exactly what the man in verse 6 was attempting to do when he said, “How shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?” He thought that the gift he brings along will enable him to gain God’s favor. Perhaps some of us too may have done this at times. You thought that you can purchase God’s favor and love with your gifts, and that the Lord will then be obligated to grant you whatever you request from Him. This mistaken idea actually comes from using our own human wisdom on how to gain favors from the people we know.

God’s love and favor cannot be purchased whether with money or with acts of faithful service and devotion. Don’t ever think that the Lord will certainly bless you with good health and wealth just because you have given Him so much and served Him well. No matter how well you have served Him and how much you have given to Him, always remember that Luke 17:10 says, “We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do.” It is only by undeserved grace alone that we can receive any favor from God. And that grace is shown to us only because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us.

Second, we’re often mistaken as to what pleases our Lord.

Another mistaken idea of what God really wants can be found in the things that the man proposed to bring before God. In verse  he asks whether the Lord would be pleased with them. The first thing he mentioned was burnt offerings. Burnt offerings were prescribed in the book of Leviticus. They are meant to be an act of consecration. In all other kinds of offerings only part of the animal was burnt on the altar while the rest could be consumed by the priest or the person who made the offering. In the burnt offering the whole animal was burnt on the altar leaving nothing behind for human consumption. It was completely devoted to God, and in that manner, it honored God. Now, different kinds of animals could be used for burnt offerings, but the offering of calves that were a year old was considered by the Jews to be the most costly because of their economic value. And so the man in our text was proposing to offer the most costly offerings he could give to God.

That’s not all. In the next verse he proposed to multiply his offerings lavishly, by giving thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of oil to God. I think we can recognize what he was trying to do. He was essentially saying ‘I will give you whatever it takes to please you. Just name your price!’ And he even goes to the extent of offering to God his most precious possession, his own firstborn child. We remember how Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah when God commanded him to do so. But this man is willing to do that even without being asked!

From our own human perspective, all that the man proposed may seem to be commendable acts of devotion. Surely God would surely be pleased with them, would He not? Who will not appreciate such generous gifts? But what God sees is not the gifts but the heart. Beyond the multitude of costly offerings God sees a heart that is not right with Him – a heart that is far from Him and that is still tolerant toward sin. And this makes all the offerings worthless in His sight.

You must understand that the very best offerings and service that you can render to God are useless as long as you are not right with Him because of your sin. They are merely an empty form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Man is always trying to get back to the good graces of God with some outward religious service or some material gifts. But the Word of God, in Psalm 51:17, tells us that “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart.” This is what God really wants from us.

In order to be right with God your attitude toward sin must change. You cannot love God and love sin at the same time. You must hate your sins the same way that God hates them. The biblical word that is used to describe this change is repentance. Repentance is a change of attitude toward sin which leads to a change of conduct.
Are you giving God just the externals? Or, are you trying to give God the best?

Now in verse 8 we find that what God wants is us! God had shown Israel what is good. God’s law did not stand as something new – there wasn’t any need to bargain with God. He had already told them what he wanted. God’s law is good. Nehemiah 9:13 tells us that God gave the Israelites “good statutes” at Sinai. God’s law is good in that it lays down good moral instruction. As we follow God’s instructions, we are raised to a higher standard of living.

God has shown men what he expects.

First, we are to do justly. “Justice” means to see that the rights of others are protected. In Isaiah 1:17, the prophet equates justice with rebuking the oppressor, defending the fatherless, and pleading for the widow. Justice basically means that we help those who cannot help themselves.

We need to do justice. In James 1:7 we’re told that, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Pure and undefiled religion, is, in part, caring for widows and orphans. We have so many opportunities to do justice. We can take meals to the sick and shut-in as some may be doing. We can support our local Community Outreach Food Bank as Delphi Falls is doing.

The second thing God wants us to do is to love mercy.

“Mercy” literally means loving kindness. “Loving kindness” in this context refers to “brotherly love.” Micah is telling these Jews to love one another. God expects us to love one another as well. In Matthew 22:39 Jesus told us that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Romans 12:9 reminds us that our love is to be without hypocrisy. We have opportunities to show love to our brothers and sisters. We can pray for those facing difficulties, and we can listen when they need to talk. We can visit the funeral home when our friends and loved ones experience loss.

The ancients said of the early Christians, “They love each other without knowing each other,” and “Behold, how these Christians love one another.” The world ought to see us loving one another. Do you love your brethren?

The third thing that God wants us to do is to walk humbly with Him.

“Humbly” here is probably best understood meaning “wisely” – we need to know how to walk with God. We must walk with God. 2 Kings 23:3 teaches us that, walking with God means that we keep his instructions with our whole heart. Walking with God means that he is first in my life, and I make every decision based on his Word.

As you come to understand what God really wants of you, your daily walk with God will then become your source of spiritual life and strength to live your life fully for the Lord – and even to do justly and to love mercy as Micah 6:8 says. I would therefore urge you not to be satisfied with your devotional life until you are enjoying your walk with God. I would ask all of you to make a firm commitment right now, to keep not just doing the external things but spend quality time with the Lord, enjoying a personal and meaningful relationship with Him all the days of your life.

A Stronghold In The Day Of Trouble

Nahum 1

Pastor Barry Kerner

Hollywood loves sequels. That’s why there are 14 Batman films, 26 James Bond movies, and 21 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sometimes those sequels are really good, like Toy Story 2, 3 and 4. Other times, those sequels are really lousy, like “Jaws: The Revenge”.

            But there’s something satisfying about sequels, because whenever a movie ends, we wonder where the story will go next. Maybe you watch a romantic-comedy where the couple falls in love at the end, but as the credits roll, you don’t know what’s going to happen next. Will they get married and eventually celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary together, or do they spend the rest of their lives fussing and fighting with either other, eventually getting a divorce? The only way to know is to watch a sequel.

            Well, if you like sequels, you may like my lesson this morning because it’s a sequel to the book of Jonah. If you look at the name of this book in your Bible, you will see the word “Nahum”. But this morning, we’re not going to call it Nahum.  Instead, we’re going to call it “Jonah: The Sequel, the Wrath of God”.

            You remember the story of Jonah, how God called Jonah to go preach to the wicked city of Nineveh. He told them they were going to be destroyed in 40 days, but they repented, everyone from the king all the way down to the lowliest people in the city. And because they repented, God did not destroy Nineveh, which made Jonah extremely angry. So, when the book of Jonah ends, Nineveh appeared to be a righteous city that had God’s blessing.

            But that wasn’t the end of the story. Fast forward about 100 years and we learn that Nineveh and the Assyrians turned back to the wicked, violent lifestyle that they were living before the days of Jonah. And so, 100 years later, God says, “I’ve had enough. I’m going to destroy the Assyrians.” And after this point, there’s not going to be another sequel because there won’t be a nation left to have a sequel with.

            The theme of Nahum is God’s wrath against Assyria.  After allowing approximately two hundred years of powerful Assyrian kings and rulers, God announced through Nahum his plans to judge the city of Nineveh. This book shows God’s concern about sin, his intention to punish those who are guilty of wickedness, and his power to carry out his desire for judgment.

            In chapter 1, verse 2, we read:

“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.”

            And in verse 6:

“Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.”

            As I was preparing this lesson, the first thing that struck me is that the word “Nahum” is a Hebrew word that means “comfort” or “consolation”. And I thought about how ironic it is that this book that describes in great detail the destruction of Assyria is written by a guy named “comfort”.

            But that’s not really as strange as it may seem, when you realize that Nahum did not deliver this message to the Assyrians. He delivered this message to the Jews.  Those Jews who had been conquered by the Assyrians. Those Jews who had been mistreated and abused by the Assyrians. Those Jews who had been killed by Assyria and carried away into captivity.

            God says to those Jews, “I know what your enemies have done, and I will make sure that they are punished for the sins they have committed against you. In the end, I will make everything right. The righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished.” And I’m here to tell you this morning that there is great comfort in that message.

            In that regard, I think the message of Nahum is very similar to the message of the book of Revelation, where God says to the Christians who are being persecuted by the Roman Empire, “I want you to know how things are going to turn out in the end.  I know that things don’t look so good right now.  But I want you to know that the Roman Empire will be destroyed. I want you to see that in the end, I will make everything right.  The righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished.” And there is great comfort in that message.

            Now, it’s important for us to see that God didn’t say to the Jews of Nahum’s day, or to the persecuted Christians in the first century, “I will take away all of your suffering.  I will make life easy for you.” God never promised that.  But he did say, “I will be with you. I will be your comfort. I will be your strength. And I will make everything right in the end.”

            With that in mind, I want us to focus our thoughts this morning on Nahum 1:7,

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.”

            It is important for us to see that as God’s people we are not promised immunity from trouble. In fact, in John 16;33, Jesus told his disciples, “In the world, you will have tribulation.”  Or, as the New Living Translation translates it, “you will have many trials and sorrows.”

            God never promised us that life would always be easy. He never said that if we love people, they will always love us back. He never promised that we would never experience loss, or failure, or death, or pain. He never said that things will always go our way and that our path will be smooth.

            But what God did promise is that he will never leave us, that he will forever be standing by our side, strengthening us, comforting us, carrying us through the tough patches. God has promised to be our stronghold, a place of refuge. Someone to whom we can go, and someone in whom we can hide. And once we realize that, it gives us great comfort and peace when things get tough.

            But it so often happens in the church that we sing these great hymns about God’s wonderful providence – “God will take care of me, through every day, o’er all the way” — but then our lives are often characterized by nervousness, worry, and fear.

            The problem comes when we put our faith in the things we can see. If I put my faith in the money I’ve got in the bank, then I begin to worry when that money gets a bit low. If I put my faith in people, then I begin to worry when people let me down. If I put my faith in all the things that I can do on my own, then I begin to worry when I fail or when I come to a situation that I have no control over.

            This world was never meant to be our spiritual refuge. So, when we run to the things of this world for comfort, we only end up with more concern. Because we’re asking creation to do for us what only the Creator can do.

            You may have sung the hymn, “A Shelter in the Time of Storm”.

Jesus is a Rock in a weary land, a weary land, a weary land.

Jesus is a Rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm.

            There are many scriptures, especially in the psalms, that point to the fact that God is indeed our shelter, our refuge in the time of storm.

            Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

            Jeremiah 16:19, “Lord, you are my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble.”

            Psalm 18:2, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

            Psalm 61:1-3, “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.”

            As I said, many of these references to God being our refuge appear in the psalms.  And most of them were written by David. A man who lived his life with trouble for many years. He was physically worn out from what he went through. As he was running from King Saul, David needed a shelter in the mountains where he could hide.  But, more than that, David needed the shelter that only God could provide.  He was going through dark times. He was in distress, and he needed God.

            David needed a shelter in the time of storm when he was surrounded by his enemies, when his neighbors wanted nothing to do with him, and when his former friends all turned their backs on him.

            And, as you read these psalms of David, maybe you can relate to David.  Because you know what it’s like to struggle with the pain and the sorrows of life. You know what it’s like to be rejected by the people around you. Criticized, gossiped about, and maybe even people against you to the point of threatening to do you harm.

            This morning, I want you to see that God is our shelter in the time of storm. He is the one we can turn to. He is the one who will never let us down.  He is the one who will be our comfort and our strength.

            There are many mysteries in life that we will never be able to solve. One of the questions we ask more than any other is, “Why?” Why, Lord, did my mother have to suffer with that disease? Why did that person have to die so young? Why did I lose my job? Why is my relationship falling apart?

            There are many mysteries in life that we will never be able to solve. But there are a few things that we know for sure. We know that we live in a broken world. And we haven’t been given a ticket out of the brokenness of this world simply because we are the children of God. What happens to us and to those we love sometimes involves pain and hurt and shock and despair. The world we live in simply is not operating the way God intended.

            But there’s a second thing that we know for sure. That there is a God of grace who meets his children in those moments of darkness and difficulty. He is worth running to. He is worth waiting for.  He brings rest when it seems like there is no rest to be found. God has always cared about those who need a refuge, those who need a shelter in the time of storm in their lives. And he is a God of great comfort.

            But I want to build on that thought to make a third point – God gives us comfort not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit of those around us.  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

            Our God is the God of all comfort. Our God is the father of mercies and he comforts us in our times of trouble. When we walk through the trials of life, God is not far from us. God is with us. And he comforts us in all our troubles.

            But God’s comfort is not an end in and of itself.  It’s a means to an end.  Paul says that any comfort that you have received from God isn’t just for you – it’s also for you to share with others.

            The beauty here is that as we are comforted by God, then we can be a reflection of his comfort to others. So that we may be able to comfort those who are going through any time of trouble with the comfort which we ourselves have received from God. I think about how gracious God has been in the tough moments of my life. When I see someone else going through a similar difficult time, I want to be a reflection of that comfort from God to them. And that’s the way the body of Christ works. God intends that we care for one another with the same comfort that we have received from God.

            To illustrate this, I want to go back for a few minutes to the Law of Moses where God instructed the Jewish leaders to set apart six cities to be a place of refuge for a person who had accidentally killed someone. This was necessary because relatives of a murdered person often took justice into their own hands. The city of refuge made it possible for a person to be safe from losing their own life if they had accidentally taken the life of someone else.

            I have heard that, in order to assist the fugitive, it was the responsibility of the Sanhedrin to keep the roads leading up to those cities in good repair.  Hills were made smooth, rivers were bridged, and low spots were filled in. And, at every turn, there were guide posts which directed the fugitive bearing the word “Refuge.” 

            In Joshua 20:4 God directed, “He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them.”

            Those cities of refuge were places where people could run to when they had made a tragic mistake, or some unforeseen event caused them to be guilty of the taking of human life. Axe heads have been known to come off of their handles at a bad time.  Walls have been known to collapse as they were being built. Objects have been dropped from heights. Sometimes fatal accidents simply happen.

            And when they do, those who were responsible were often emotionally distraught. They would have liked to have erased the memories.  They were frightened as they faced the possibility of harsh consequences over what happened. And so, they need a place of refuge, a place where someone would welcome them in and make them feel safe.

            So, I wonder.  Who is willing to provide that place of refuge to others today?  Who will be there for the person who has had the bottom drop out of their life?  Who will care enough to listen while someone cries?  Who will be there when someone is feeling awful about life? Who will care when someone is hurting?  Who will try to understand?  A place of refuge is needed. A shelter in the time of their storm.

            As Christians who have been the recipient of God’s comfort so many times in our own lives, we need to stand ready to be that place of refuge. What if it was your wife who was an alcoholic? What if it was your husband who just walked out?  What if you were the one who just lost their job? What if it was your unmarried daughter who just announced she was pregnant? What if it was your house that was being foreclosed?  What if it was you who just had an autistic child?  What if it was you who just buried a spouse or child?  What if it was you who was fighting identity theft? What if you were the one who was being abused physically, sexually, or emotionally? What if it was your car that got stolen?  What if it was your child who was placed in prison?

            Every church and every Christian ought to be a storm shelter. We ought to all be willing to help that person who is hurting and in trouble. We should all have loving compassion for the needy, and be available to help in a practical way.

            Those cities of refuge have much to teach us about what is needed when the storms of life come. The cities of refuge were located close to everyone.  Those cities were arranged so that no matter where you were in the land, a city of refuge could be reached by traveling half of a day. We need to be easily accessible to those who are in need.

            The cities of refuge were all cities where Levites lived.  That means the community was made up of those who served God. That community was able to teach the things of God to those who joined up with them. We are all priests according to the Bible, and we should all be able to share God’s Word when people come to us with different needs.

            Keep in mind that the cities of refuge weren’t man’s idea. That was God’s idea.  God said to the Jews, “When somebody has had something terrible happen in their life and there is nowhere else they can go and be safe, I want you to provide them a safe place.

            Why?  Because, as Nahum 1:7 says,“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.”

            And as 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 reminds us, because he is “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

            This morning, even as I speak, there are some of you listening who are walking through affliction, of all kinds. I wouldn’t begin to presume to know all the ways that people are experiencing troubles right now.  But we serve a God who knows all those ways. He knows every one of them. And not only does he know the affliction you’re walking through, but he is the God of all comfort.  He is the Father of mercy. So, I pray that God would shower his mercy down, that he would bring comfort to you in the time of your affliction.

            But it is also my desire that God would help those of us who have been comforted by him to show his comfort to others, to be there for others in their time of affliction, to care for others, to uphold one another, to pray for one another, to be with one another, to provide for one another in ways that would show the comfort of God.

            And we are so very thankful that God sent Jesus into a world of suffering and sin, to pay the price for our sin that we might have eternal life. That we might have the hope that one day there will be no more affliction. Because that is our greatest comfort. We know that suffering will not have the last word.  As Nahum made clear, the day is coming when God will make all things right. The righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished.  And there is great comfort in knowing that.

            We are so very thankful for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Because of that resurrection, we have hope.  We may live in a world where we have tribulation and affliction. But there is coming a day when it will be over, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. This is our greatest comfort and we praise him for it.  We praise God for the hope we have in Jesus Christ, not just in the future, for the comfort we have from him even today.

Put First Things First

Haggai 1:1-12

Pastor Barry Kerner

E.M. Gray spent his life searching for the one trait all successful people share. His essay entitled “The Common Denominator of Success” revealed successful people’s common characteristic was not simply hard work, good luck, or astute human relations. Although those traits were important, the one factor that seemed to transcend all the rest was the habit of putting first things first. Gray wrote, “The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do. They don’t necessarily like doing them either, but their dislike is overcome by their purpose to succeed.”

The Book of Haggai, the second shortest in the Old Testament, communicates this same message: Put first things first. It was written to people like us, who would say that God must be first. But they had drifted away from this truth. They lived with misplaced priorities. Haggai was sent to help God’s people get their priorities in line with what they knew they should be. My question for you today is, “In your life and in your relationship with God,  are you putting the first things first?”

Haggai’s prophetic message was to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after living in captivity in Babylon. If you recall, Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple some 70 years earlier. When the Jews returned from exile they faced the daunting task of rebuilding. The ones who had first returned made preliminary attempts to clear the debris and lay the foundation for a second temple. Their Samaritan neighbors offered to join in the work, but the Jews refused them. The Samaritans, in turn, threatened and harassed the workers and sent men to Persia to lobby against the Jews, bringing the work to a halt.

As years passed, slowly but surely, Jerusalem came to life again. Homes were built, stores opened, and commerce was reestablished. Fields were planted, crops were harvested, and life began to resemble normalcy. Israel, however, had gotten used to life without the Temple. The foundations were overgrown with weeds. The remnants of the walls and foundation lay in jumbled piles. They stood as a silent reminder of the Jews’ failure to take care of God’s house. Fourteen to 16 years had passed, and then Haggai appeared on the scene with one prevailing message: It’s time to finish rebuilding the Temple.

It was a message of priority: Put first things first. The Temple was the center for worshiping God. It represented the heart and soul of the Old Testament religion. Although God is everywhere, the Temple was the place on earth where God dwelled in a special sense. For the Temple to lie in ruins was to neglect the worship of God. It was a testimony of misplaced priorities. It was an embarrassment to God and a blemish on his reputation.

Haggai’s message was blunt. He pulled no punches and wasted no words. Haggai spoke like a foreman on a construction project. With a hardhat and tool belt, walking around the construction site, he bellowed out orders. From the Book of Haggai we can gleam a few practical steps about putting first things first.

First, we need to stop making excuses. The first thing Haggai did was to confront the excuses the Jews had for the Temple to remain lying in ruins. Haggai prophesied, “The LORD of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt” (Haggai 1:2). The Jews who had returned intended to rebuild God’s house, but just hadn’t got around to it yet. If you were to ask them about it, they would probably say, “I’m all for building the Temple. It is a great cause. But God wants us to take care of our own families first. Times are hard. Jobs are scarce. We need to pray about it some more. We will eventually build it, but not now.” They made a myriad of excuses.

Billy Sunday defined an excuse as “the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.” Benjamin Franklin wrote, “I never knew a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else.”

It is always easy to make excuses when you don’t want to obey God. We can always find rational justification for not doing what God wants us to do. We say, “The time is not right. I’ve got family responsibilities. My kids need me now. When things settle down at work, then I can do something.” The first step to putting first things first is to admit our responsibility.

Second, we need to cease being selfish. Closely aligned with excuse making is a selfish mindset that permeates everything. Haggai challenged the people’s selfish behavior. He told them, “The word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet: Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (Haggai 1:34). Paneled houses can mean “covered” or “roofed,” but the point was that it represented the finishing touches. Their homes were not “in process.” No weeds were growing around their unfinished foundations. Their homes were complete while the Temple remained nonexistent.

I have to say here that nothing is wrong with having a nice home. This statement is not an attack on riches or big houses. What’s wrong is to own a nice home while God’s house lies in ruins. What’s wrong is spend all your money on selfish needs while ignoring the things of God. What’s wrong is to spend one’s time, one’s best hours, and one’s talents on selfish pursuits while the things of God are left undone. That selfishness is an indictment of misplaced priorities.

It is easy to drift away from God’s agenda to our own. It is easy to pursue selfish desires while ignoring God’s. In fact, it is the default mode of our lives. If we give no thought to how we are living, we will naturally live for ourselves. When a heart isn’t fully for God it always tends toward selfishness. This is what happened to the Jews Haggai addressed.

William Cowper, the hymn writer and pastor, penned these words: “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” That is what happens when we don’t persistently and consistently seek God first, we turn from the God we love and tend to ourselves.

Third, we need to make sure that we don’t miss God’s blessings. As a consequence of their excuse-making and selfish living, the people in Haggai’s day experienced hardship. Haggai continues in his message: “Now, the LORD of Hosts says this: Think carefully about your ways: You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough to be satisfied. You drink but never have enough to become drunk. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it” (Haggai 1:5-6). They sowed plenty of seed, but there was a drought and the crops didn’t yield as much as they had hoped. They had active lifestyles but were not experiencing fulfillment or satisfaction. They were laboring but showing no profit. No matter how hard they tried, they seemed to be spinning their wheels. No matter how much money they made, they could not keep it. They couldn’t get ahead. Does anyone here know how that feels?

Because of their selfishness the people missed God’s blessings. Haggai points out a sobering reminder: What happens in your heart affects every other part of your life. Because the people had pushed God out of the center, they suffered in every area.

What they did not see was that God caused their predicament. They hadn’t stopped to consider that God was trying to tell them something. Haggai screamed: “Hey! It’s God who controls the rain and the harvest. He is withholding his blessing because your priorities are not right. Put his house first and he will bless you.” Jesus said the same thing when He told His followers, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you” (Matthew 6:33).

Blessings come through obedience. If we want to experience God’s blessings we will put him first in our lives.

Fourth, we need to take time to perform an evaluation. With Haggai’s strong indictment and devastating predicament, the people realized that they had caused their own calamities. The people were ready to evaluate their situation. Twice Haggai instructed the people, “Consider your ways” (1:5, 7.). The word consider means to give careful thought to. It was time for the people to do some serious self-examination before the Lord. Haggai wanted the people to stop long enough in their busy schedules to evaluate their life in light of God’s Word. He wanted them to measure the consequences of their actions.

Evaluation is a good thing. That is why teachers give tests and employers hold job reviews. In 2 Corinthians 13:5 the Apostle John warns us, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” Socrates wrote: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Each day we need to evaluate how we spend our time and our money, and how we use our talents. We should examine who we choose as friends, what we set as goals, and where we are going. If God is not first, guess who removed him from his rightful place?

The failure to make constant corrections each day is like a pilot who does not make slight course adjustments in flight. The plane will eventually end up hundreds of miles off course. The failure to take the proper precautions today will result in severe consequences tomorrow.

When we stop making excuses, cease being selfish, seek God’s blessings, and take time to evaluate, we can see God work in powerful ways. This is what happens when first things are first, when God is first in our hearts. How will we know that we have put first things first? How will we know that God is first place? Here are three indications.

First, we find ourselves active in the right things. Haggai told the people, “Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house. Then I will be pleased with it and be glorified, says the LORD” (Haggai 1:8). In all of life there is a time to talk and a time to act, a time to consider and a time to do. Those who put first things first are up and doing the right things: spending time with God daily, serving people, honoring him with their time, talents, and financial resources. For the Jews living in Jerusalem, it meant cutting down trees to build God’s house.

Second, our lives strive to see that God is glorified. Some of the people may have asked, “Why should the Temple be built?” The answer: that God may be glorified. When God is not first we are indifferent to his glory. We care little that his fame and his reputation are being spread. But when God is first revealing his glory is first on our minds. In fact, everything we think, say, and do should be to honor God and bring credit to him. Whatever your pastime or occupation, the chief business of every Christian is to bring glory to God.

Third, we find that God blesses us. When the people obeyed, God sent word: “I am with you” (1:13). When God is first, he blesses us. And the sure sign of his blessing was and is his manifested presence in our lives. If God seems distant in your life, perhaps your priorities have gotten mixed up. When you put God first, you experience a new awareness of his presence. That is true blessing.

I’ll close with this short story: An instructor at a time-management seminar told the participants to prepare for a quiz. He reached under the table and took out a wide-mouthed gallon jar and set it on the table. Next to the jar were a number of fist-sized rocks. He asked the group, “How many of these rocks do you think we can get inside this jar?” The participants made their guesses. The instructor said, “Let’s find out.” One by one he began to put as many fist-sized rocks as he could into the jar until the rocks inside were level with the top of the jar.

The instructor then asked, “Is the jar full?” All the participants looked at the jar filled with rocks and said it was. But then he reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar. The gravel filled the spaces between the big rocks. He grinned and asked again, “Is the jar full?”

The participants were not about to be fooled a second time. They said that the jar was probably not full. The instructor nodded and said, “Good. You are catching on.” He next took out a bucket of sand and poured it into the jar. Slowly the sand filled the gaps between the rocks and gravel. After the sand settled, the instructor once again asked, “Now, is the jar full?” The audience responded, “No!”

He said, “Good.” He was pleased that they understood an important principle. The instructor poured a pitcher of water into the jar until it was full to the brim. At this point he stopped and asked the group, “What’s the point of this?”

Somebody said, “Well, there are always gaps, and if you work at it, you can always fit more into your life.” But the instructor said, “No, the point is this: If I hadn’t put in those big rocks first, I would never have gotten them in at all.”

What should be your big rocks? God and his house. Put them into your life first.