When Your Efforts Seem Like Nothing

“On October 17 of that same year, the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai. ‘Say this to Zerubbabel, to Jeshua, the high priest, and to the remnant of God's people there in the land: Is there anyone who can remember this house—the Temple—as it was before? In comparison, how does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all!’” (Haggai 2.1-3 [NLT])

Around 520 B.C., the prophet Haggai brought these words to Zerubbabel who was the governor appointed over Jerusalem by the Persians. Almost seventy years earlier the city of Jerusalem had fallen to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon in a massacre of rape and pillage. The Bible describes the fall of Jerusalem this way,"The king killed the young men even when they were in the Temple. He had no mercy on the young men or women, the old men or those who were sick. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon all the things from the Temple of God, both large and small, and all the treasures from the Temple of the Lord and from the king and his officers. Nebuchadnezzar and his army set fire to God's Temple and broke down Jerusalem's wall and burned all the palaces. They took or destroyed every valuable thing in Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar took captive to Babylon the people who were left alive, and he forced them to be slaves for him and his descendants ... The country was an empty wasteland for seventy years …” (2 Chronicles 36.17-21 [NCV]) It had been a bitter time for the children of Israel. They had lost their homes and livelihoods. All that was once familiar to them had been stripped from them as they were led, some mutilated and in chains, hundreds of miles away to the kingdom of Babylon to be slaves. Many had seen wives, children, husbands, and parents cut down by the Babylonian sword and, understandably, they had very little hope for the future. The prophet of those days, Jeremiah, had been fittingly referred to as “the weeping prophet”, for there were many reasons for despair and sorrow.

But now things were different for Zerubbabel, fifteen years earlier he had led the children of Israel out of their captivity and reunited them with their homeland. But he was dismayed at how the people, busied with the work of reconstructing their lives, had quickly forgotten the lessons that God had intended to teach through their exile. They built houses. They planted fields. They rebuilt and opened shops and trades that had once belonged to their parents. They sorted out, and in many cases bickered over, what land belonged to whom. The older people were thrilled to be back in their native land where they could show their children all the places about which they had told stories during the long years of exile. Zerubbabel had himself been swept up into the euphoria of having returned to Jerusalem, but an unsettling awareness had slowly made him realize that things were not what they had been when Judah was an independent state. Charred piles of rubble now lay humbly where the king’s palace, the city walls, and the temple of the Lord had once proudly stood. They served as constant reminders of the pillage, rape, and destitution of that miserable day seventy years past. Yet the children of Israel, consumed in the pursuit of new personal opportunities after their many years of waiting, seemed indifferent to how the center of Israel’s corporate identity lay in ruins. But the Lord was unwilling to let them ignore their past and sent the prophet Haggai to tell the people that they had become so busy about their own lives that they had forsaken the God who had delivered them from captivity

The Lord had spoken through the prophet Haggai and told the people that although they had taken great pains to live well, they had not concerned themselves with rebuilding the temple. As a result of Haggai’s message, the people had set about the temple’s reconstruction. The prospect of restoring Jerusalem to its former glory excited the people, and they looked forward to once again being able to worship God as He deserved. Rebuilding the temple, however, was a daunting task that required intense effort and yielded disappointing results that eventually discouraged the Hebrews. Many who had seen Solomon’s original temple watched with disappointment as the new temple was constructed, as they realized that this temple would pale in comparison to the majesty and craftsmanship of Solomon’s. It was against this backdrop that God began speaking through the prophet Haggai to encourage the people:

“But now take courage ... all you people still left in the land, says the Lord. Take courage and work, for I am with you, says the Lord Almighty. My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid. For this is what the Lord Almighty says: The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord Almighty. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken!" (Haggai 2.4-9 [NLT])

“It must seem like nothing at all!” It is possible that many of you feel this way about some aspect of your lives. You have seen the Lord do great things through you. You have aspired to accomplish great things for His name’s sake. You set about cleaning up the charred rubble of some past decisions in your life. But the going has gotten tough and the results seem small. You look at the work that you set out to do and the people you intended to reach and you think, “It all seems so small.” Perhaps you have made sacrifices for someone close to you or have extended yourself financially in order to reach out and you had great dreams of what success might look like. Right now, however, you are questioning the wisdom of your sacrifice and may be feeling as though you have accomplished little for God. My encouragement to you is the encouragement of Haggai, pluck up your courage and work with confidence that God has not called His children to futility or fruitlessness. I am sure that in your heart you sincerely believe in the commitments and the sacrifices you’ve made. However, I also understand that you sometimes feel discouraged by the steepness of the climb and the slow pace of progress. Brother. Sister. Church. “The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory.” God is not done with you yet. His plan continues to unfold with you as an integral part, fulfilling the purposes that He has given you. Let this be an encouragement to you: the best is yet to come.

The Last Sermon

Fred Winters had been Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Maryville, Illinois, for over 22 years when he took the pulpit for the Sunday morning service on March 8th. It would be fascinating to know if Pastor Winters had any forebodings of what would transpire during that early morning service. The following are details of what occurred according to an affidavit obtained by a local St. Louis television station: “Terry Sedlacek walked toward the pulpit area and was addressed by Pastor Winters. Sedlacek then raised a weapon and fired one round in the direction of the Pastor. The bullet pierced the pastor's bible sending confetti into the air. Pastor Winters began running west toward the edge of the stage with Sedlacek running parallel next to the stage. Pastor Winters then jumped from the stage where he landed on the ground. Sedlacek then placed himself next to the Pastor and fired multiple shots striking Winters.”* This is a rather sterile recounting of the last moments of Fred Winters’ earthly life. He was declared dead on arrival at a local hospital. There is much about this story that is perplexing and horrifying. The motives of the assailant are still a mystery, and the process of coming to grips with the tragedy has only started to come home to his church and family members. There are, of course, the larger questions concerning how a senseless episode like this could possibly serve God’s greater purposes. Fred Winters’ wife and two young daughters will have to grapple with these “larger questions” on a very personal and immediate level. A rock of this magnitude is bound to make ripples when it is thrown into the pond of life.

The last sermon of Fred Winters served as a particularly poignant and provocative image for me because it cast the calling of the ministry of the Word of God in sharp relief. I could not help but imagine myself in a similar situation. What if my next sermon were to be my last before I was called Home? What if I were called directly from the pulpit and into the very presence of God to hear His final verdict on my life and work? How would I feel about the way I had handled the Word of Truth? Would I feel as though I had hearkened to Paul’s challenge: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2.15 [NIV]) The events of last Sunday morning were a powerful reminder to me that compromising with the truth of God is a perilous pastime. Every thinking preacher realizes that there will be portions of Scripture that will be harder for his fellow believers to receive than others. Every discerning pastor is aware of the potential for offense and misunderstanding that is present every time he brings a message from the Bible. Preachers want to be liked just like everyone else does; thus, there is a constant pressure to steer clear of difficult teachings and to tell half-truths, instead of the whole truth. I will one day be called to give an account of my stewardship of the pulpit of Gilead Baptist Church. Brothers and Sisters, pray for me that I may proclaim the truth in a manner that is worthy of the One who shed His blood to buy me and gave His Spirit to empower me for this work.

There is no better prayer that you could pray for me and others who are telling forth the Word of God on Sunday mornings than to pray in line with 2 Timothy 4, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (vv.1-5 [NIV]) Pray that I will discharge all the duties of my calling, not just the ones that are pleasant, simple, and easy. Like Fred Winters, we never know which message might be our last.

* This and other details are available at: http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi-church-shooting-clearer031009,0,5967220.story.

Of Mice & Men: A Plea For Peace

Just when you thought the daily news couldn’t grow any worse there appears the story of a Massachusetts father who assaulted Chuck E. Cheese in a Dartmouth pizzeria. According to SouthCoastToday.com, 34 year old, Trahan Pires “ripped the mascot's headwear off, pointed a finger at the man underneath the mouse costume and yelled at him”.* How could a nice day at Chuck E. Cheese’s go so wrong? According to court documents, it started out as just “another day at the office” for 19 year old Jessie Carvalho. He punched his time card, went to the costume closet and donned the trademark Chuck E. Cheese regalia; prepared to spread excitement and good cheer to delighted children scattered throughout the dining area. Unfortunately sinister forces were lurking in the gaming area in the form of a group of youths who had decided to ambush “Chuck” whenever he made an appearance. They had decided that it would be terrific fun to “behead” the mouse in the middle of the restaurant, while traumatized youngsters looked on. Mr. Cheese, however, proved more difficult to take down than they expected. Even hobbled by a clumsy mouse outfit, Carvalho proved to be too nimble for the youths to apprehend, but his evasive maneuvers ended up costing him dearly. He inadvertently bumped into a young boy who felt as though he had been “manhandled” by the mouse. The boy ran crying to his father (the aforementioned Mr. Pires), who rose to defend his son’s honor by proceeding to “lay the smack down” on Mr. Cheese. As a result, Mr. Pires was able to succeed where the band of youths had failed: off came the mouse’s head.

If this story had taken place in a more civilized country then the misunderstandings could probably have been tidily handled by a few clarifying explanations and a heartfelt apology or two … but … this is America. In America, things don’t get solved unless they go to court and this story is no different. Carvalho (or Chuck E. Cheese) was charged with assault and battery because Pires alleged that the young man had “picked up his son and pinned him against a video game”*. It took eight months for the unfortunate mascot to be acquitted of all charges before a jury of his peers. Mr. Pires was not so fortunate. Monday he pled guilty to assault and battery charges and was slapped with a $500 fine for his misdemeanor. The moral of this story seems to be that a kid really cannot be a kid at the Chuck E. Cheese in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

There is, of course, a healthy dose of comedy about this whole episode, but I want it to serve as an example of how misunderstandings and overreaction can turn a relatively harmless situation into a colossal waste of time, money and emotion. The Bible warns us that “A quick-tempered man does foolish things” (Proverbs 14.17 [NIV]) and that “anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants.” (James 1.20 [NCV]) My prayer is that we will take words like these to heart as we seek to be people who are governed by wisdom, peace and brotherly love. I hope that Chuck E. Cheese can be a sort of symbol for us of what happens when we storm into a situation with a head full of assumptions but devoid of facts. The next time you are about to speculate about the reason why someone said what they did to you … remember Chuck E. Cheese. The next time you are about to get upset because you feel that someone was insensitive to your situation … remember Chuck E. Cheese. Give people the benefit of your good opinion and take time to talk to them so you can see what they are really thinking. It may keep you from literally “ripping their head off”.

* http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090303/NEWS/903030336