Paneled privilege

 This week's verses are Haggai 1:2-9:

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said: “These people have said, ‘The time for rebuilding the Lord’s temple has not yet come.’” The Lord’s message came through the prophet Haggai as follows: “Is it right for you to live in richly paneled houses while my temple is in ruins? Here then, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said: ‘Think carefully about what you are doing. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.’”

Moreover, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said: “Pay close attention to these things also. Go up to the hill country and bring back timber to build the temple. Then I will be pleased and honored,” says the Lord. “You expected a large harvest, but instead there was little. And when you would bring it home, I would blow it right away. Why?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Because my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house!

 I was at a church getaway weekend in the mountains this past weekend and we looked into these verses as part of our devotional time. They seem to be in line with what I have been sharing lately, so I thought I would share them with you.

At the time when they were written, the Persians ruled the Middle East. Unlike the Babylonians who they had defeated, the Persians weren't completely against Israel rebuilding their temple and cities. But people were comfortable with how things were. They had what they needed, and didn't want to spend a bunch of money shaking things up. They may have been emancipated but they weren't rich.

So God speaks up through Haggai, and explains that he wants his temple rebuilt. He tells them they are missing out on his blessings because they are selfish. It's the same pattern as the verses on tithing that churches always bring up when they want to pump up the cash flow a bit. But why don't we ever hear these "go cut wood and build the church" verses with the same literal conviction as the "bring your cash, valuables, and credit cards into the storehouse" verses? And yet, at their heart, they are saying the same thing: "quit living a self-centered life."

It's easy to look at them as mechanistically as we look at the tithing verses. "All I need to do is write a check, and then I can go back to my usual diet of Netflix and debauchery, right?" But God's admonition against the people here is less about the money and more about their attitude towards life. They're trapped in a "I've got mine so I can quit caring" mindset.

Do you ever find yourself looking at the world like that? Your career is in good shape, you've got plenty to eat, your health is pretty good, your kids are doing well, so maybe you'll take some of that extra money and buy yourself some nice things. You spend your extra time binge-watching TV series and hanging out with your successful friends. Maybe you remodel a few rooms. If there's anything more to life than that, you don't care to know. You're happy in your bubble of success and that's how you want things to stay.

But that's what upsets God in these verses. The people were completely wrapped up in themselves. They were living in a selfish bubble. They were rugged individualists in a time when they needed to rise up together. God's model for man has always been for us to be part of a community, and in Haggai's time the physical temple was the center of that God-ordained community. Without the temple to focus them as one people, they would just scatter to the four winds and assimilate in the melting pot of post-Babylonian society.

But what does that mean for us now? Do we have to send money to Israel to rebuild the temple? No, not at all. Once Jesus was crucified, we no longer needed a physical building to house God in our midst, because we, as the people of the church, are the temple in which he dwells. So a call to invest in building the physical temple so that he can be glorified in Haggai's time would better translate to a call to building the community of the church (not the physical building) in our modern time. But is that what we're doing? Or are we paneling our lives with selfish decorations and leaving "the temple" in ruins?

God tells them "my temple remains in ruins, thanks to each of you favoring his own house." And in a way he says it to us too. We're not meant to be alone. We're meant to be part of something bigger. In the same way that we have a personal relationship with God, we also have a global "all of the Christians together" relationship with him. 

This is difficult to do when church means driving to a building, singing some songs, listening to a speech or two, throwing some money on the plate, and then rushing out the door to beat the traffic so you can catch the game in peace in your giant paneled house. We have to step outside of our bubbles and engage each other. How are you supposed to bless your "neighbor" if you've never met him? Hauling wood isn't always fun, but if somebody doesn't do it the church doesn't get built.

But it's hard to escape the "I've got mine" mindset. Life is good. You've got hundreds of channels on TV. Your 401k is doing reasonably well. The car is running reliably and you're thinking of getting a boat. We're told from childhood through advertisements that this sort of thing is literally is our main goal in life. Why should we go out to the hill country if we're comfortably parked at our destination?

And yet God describes a great blessing for people who rebuild his house. When we corral the wagons and live for ourselves, instead of with God in the midst of his church, there will always be something missing. In the same way that we're blessed by being generous with our money, we're blessed by being generous with everything: time, energy, emotion, pride, privilege, peace, you name it.

So that's the message this week. There is so much more out there waiting for you than you have imagined. Have a look around and see what needs repair in the Christian community you're part of, and rebuild what has been in ruins.