Sermon Tone Analysis

When it comes to insects, I am no fan.

Any insect really…not just the scary ones.

I simply don’t like bugs.

I don’t trust them…I don’t like their tiny little eyes…most of all I don’t like their legs.

Something about insect legs really freaks me out.

I know you’re learning something about your pastor that can be used against me.

Imagine you’re sitting outside having a nice glass of iced tea on a pleasant afternoon.

Suddenly a fly lands in your drink.

Now, there are some crazy people out there that would simply scoop out the fly and keep on drinking.

Not this guy.

Not only has that fly been places no one dare go…its little legs were in there with their little leg hairs and little leg joints.

Suppose one of those legs was ripped off then I drink it.

I can’t handle that.

That iced tea is contaminated beyond hope…in fact so is the glass…it will need to endure scorching hot water and soap before it is clear of any threat of fly legs.

Sound bizzare?

Well, so is so often our shallow view of sin.

In our default position as humans we don’t see the serious contamination of sin.

We don’t understand that the defilement of our sin far worse than we’d imagined…and it will require more than just scooping it out and keep going.

The Stain of Sin

The returned exiles in Haggai’s day were suffering due to their sin.

Understand the relationship God’s people had between their obediance and the quality of their lives.

Under the Old Covenant, the people’s faithfulness was tied directly to both their military success and their agricultual success.

We should understand fully though that happiness and holiness are not always tied together.

We’re not promised a life free of care and always to be happy as believers.

Even if we are living in a relatively holy way of living…we will still be unhappy if not for our own sinning but because of the sins of others and the general falleness of this world.

But , we must understand…sin makes us miserable.

Now, we may be tempted to look at unbelievers and wonder whether that statement is true.

So many people who openly rebel against God seem to live lives free from trouble…they seem pretty happy and successful.

But those outward things do not reveal in inner turmoil.

Sin may satisfy in the moment but it brings no lasting fulfillment.

Even sinners who willfully and arrogantly deny God…even saying they are perfectly fine without him are tormented inwardly by their own insecurities, fears, and cares.

No one escapes sin’s misery.

The sad reality is sin’s goal is more sin…so people end up finding new ways to sin in order to cover the misery of their sin....it is an endless cycle.

Not only is no one immune from the damaging effects of sin…no one is immune from suffering in this life.

Suffering will come for the believer and unbeliever alike.

But suffering due to sin has different purposes for unbelievers and believers.

In Romans 1, Paul makes it clear what the endless suffering and misery of sin results from for those who reject the Lord.

Romans 1:21–32 [21] For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

[22] Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

[24] Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [25] because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!

Amen.

[26] For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; [27] and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

[28] And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

[29] They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.

They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.

They are gossips, [30] slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, [31] foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

[32] Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

(ESV)

The haunting phrase “God gave them up” is a reminder of the judgment of God in letting human beings wallow in their sin in a downward spiral of destruction.

This is judgment…getting exactly what we want.

Because that’s the reality of sin, as unregenerate sinners…we want it…and God lets us have it.

But for believers, suffering because of sin is not the result of God’s judgment, but rather his fatherly discipline.

Now, let me make this clear…not all our suffering is the result of our own sin…sometimes we suffer due to others sin, sometimes due to the fallen world we live in…but yes, sometimes our own sin brings about suffering.

But, contrary to the unbeliever…God has not given us up.

Quite the opposite…God allows us to suffer so that we see the ugliness of our sin…to truly learn to hate it…that we would repent and turn to him…growing ever closer to Jesus in the process.

But, for the people in Haggai’s day…the consequences of their sin, namely a failed harvest, did not bring them back to God.

Pain and suffering did not result in immediate repentance.

This may seem surprising to us, as Israel should have known that their success living in the land was tied to their obediance.

But, those promises of fruitfulness in harvest and political stability were not an end in themselves.

God always meant those physical realities to be signs of a deeper reality…a spiritual fruitfulness that came from the nation of Israel living in obediance to their God.

What is interesting is that the people did respond to God’s judgment on them.

But it is how they responded that shows what was really going on.

It’s clear from this passage that the people were bringing sacrifices to the altar.

Even though the temple was unfinished we learned from Ezra that an altar was set up to bring offerings to God.

The people were doing that, hoping they would appease God and bring about a change in their situtation.

That is a normal human response is it not?

Studies continue to show us that the majority of people believe in a god.

Now, let’s be very careful in what we mean by that.

The majority of people do not believe in the God of the Bible…the one and true God.

Only those who believe by faith in Jesus Christ know the one and true God.

But, most people do believe in a higher power.

Sadly, many think they are believing in the God of the Bible while in reality they are serving a god they have created in their own minds.

Appealing to a deity is a normal response in the midst of hardship and trajedy.

The majority of us in this room remember the national response after the terror attacks on September 11.

Churches opened their doors for prayer…and the people came.

For weeks after churches were open and it seemed like a national revival had happened.

There was even this strange peace among people that seemed to be happening.

People were looking for answers, and hoping religion could make them feel better.

They were looking for worship, but not realizing they could not find it apart from Jesus.

But, let’s be honest, this pursuit it was short lived.

It wasn’t long before people went back to normal.

Normal being people doing what they want with no regard for God.

So whether it is in Haggai’s day or ours…the same truth remains…and as one commentator further pointed out...religion cannot save, even when it is the true religion.

The people in the US were looking for religion to give them answers…hoping that their acts of devotion would bring about results…yet they came up empty.

Likewise, the people in Haggai’s day were hoping their devotion would bring change.

The truth is, they were serving the one and true God.

This was not a case of manufacturing their own deity.

This wasn’t idolatry as is the case of most Americans.

But, how they approach the one and true God is as important as anything…and that’s where the people were falling short.

So in order to illustrate this point, God told Haggai to ask the priests for an interpretation of the law in verses 11-13.

So Haggai asks a hypothetical question.

We’re assuming he was speaking of a leftover from a freewill offering.

This offering, unlike others, did not have to be completely consumed at the temple…the worshipper could bring it home as long as it was eaten before the end of the next day…and whatever was not consumed needed to be burned.

So, this meat had been consecrated to the Lord.

It was holy.

So the point of the question was…if this holy meat touched other food would it then render that food holy?

The priests answer to that quesiton was no.

Holiness was, as it were, non-transferrable.

So, he asks a second question…this time dealing with defilement.