Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
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Scratching
the Surface of Haggai
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My first field
education experience in seminary was with Jim Powl in Woodbury Heights, New
Jersey.
I'll never forget
one of his sermons that has stayed with me for 40 years.
He put a big
rocking chair in the middle of the chancel area right in front of the communion
table.
Then he just
started rocking and rocking and...for what seemed like...forever.
Then he said,
"I've been in your homes. They are very, very, very nice. You
have the best of everything. You have spared no expense to make your
homes so beautiful as a tribute to yourselves. I find it rather sad that
you've spent so little on making this house of God as beautiful as your homes
as a tribute to your Lord who gave so much to you in this life with the promise
of eternal life."
Ouch.
Haggai comes to
mind.
God uses him to
tell His people that they spend too much time and energy and money on their
homes instead of His; and the big point is trickles don't turn into rivers of
living water - blessings from Him - until we reverse that priority.
God said build: "Go up to the
mountains, and bring down trees to make lumber and build My house. Do
this so I may take pleasure in it and be honored by it."
God is always in
the business of expansion and improving!
God isn't a
standard number 2 lead pencil!
God is the best
of...everything!
God is all about
building upon the best of the past for a better future!
Truth is a basic
axiom of organizational life is we get better or worse.
We don't stay the
same.
Unfortunately,
too many people and even churches that should know better long for the way
things never were or maybe were but are no more which is sin (viz., a rejection
of God's will to get better and improve because
there's always room for improvement).
Listen to the
people's excuse and God's response: "These people living in Jerusalem say
it's not yet the right time for them to rebuild the temple...Do you think the
time is right for you to live in secure and lavishly covered homes when My
house still lies in a heap of rubble?"
Then God reveals
the connection between blessing/honoring Him and being blessed/honored by Him:
"Think very carefully about your choices. You have planted a large
crop, but your harvest is small...You earn a salary, but the money runs out
quickly, as if there are holes in your pocket. Think very carefully about
your choices...You expected to be well rewarded for all your hard work.
But as you see, you are getting back almost nothing..."
Then God hammers
home the big point: "My house has remained in ruins while each of you has
been chasing after your own concerns. This is why heaven above you has
held back the dew and the earth has refused to produce crops."
Samuel's
distinguishing of David from Saul comes to mind: "God honors people who
honor Him...God wants people after His own heart."
Again, as Jesus
said, "Seek first God's
Kingdom...and then God will take care of everything else!"
I've heard about
companies that have "continuous improvement" programs.
They want their
companies to get better and better and better; building upon the best of the
past for an even better future.
That was Haggai's
message.
The old Temple
was great: "Are any of you still living who saw how glorious My first
house was?"
God expects the
renewed, reconstructed, redeveloped, reborn Temple to be even greater:
"You will stand by and watch as the magnificence of this new house will
eclipse the magnificence of My first house."
And here's the
punch line: "And in this new house, I will give you peace!"
There's no
staying the same as a child of God.
We grow better or
decline worse.
We move closer to
Him or farther away from Him.
We build upon the
best of the past for a better future or we go to...waste.
It's like He said
through Moses, "Choose life!"
Specifically,
"I've given you two choices today: you can have life with all the good
things it brings, or death and all the bad things it brings. If you do
what I've commanded you today and love the Eternal your God; if you live as He
wants you to,...then you'll live!...Choose life!"
I remember that
rocking chair as if...
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...to be continued...
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Blessings and Love!
2 comments:
You are teaching your flock the right way Dr Kopp If they don`t listen it`s there own fault.
God Bless
Walton
Bob,
Those who think ministry is for the soft with little to do don't understand that the day you step into ministry and accept the Call you step onto the frontline of the battlefield and immediately become involved in a war that has existed since the fall of Lucifer and will continue until the day of judgement. Few understand how demanding it is, thinking real ministry is like what is portrayed on television - big crowds, super charisma, even some of the miracles...and fail to realize that ministry is demanding, requiring everything in us, taking all we have and giving little in return, always on duty, always giving. That's why it's so important we go to our source daily and drink from His refreshing, replenishing waters of life to restore what's been depleted!
Thank you for your timely words!
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