Better Than Before
David I. Alvarez
St. Johns United Church of Christ – February 25, 2023
INTRODUCTION
Several weeks ago, in preparing for a midweek bible study at our church, the Lord brought me to the book of the minor prophet Haggai. It’s not a portion of scripture I can honestly say that I’ve preached out of before, but for weeks now I haven’t been able to get away from it. If you’re not familiar with the book, allow me today to share with you a little background on the book. It’s here we find the prophet Haggai delivering 4 messages to the Jewish people of Jerusalem in 520 BC, this is about eighteen years after their return from exile in Babylon (538 BC). The people in Jerusalem at this point in their history were extremely vulnerable after all that they had been through. The exile to Babylon had reduced them too almost nothing. They had been hopeful in their return to the promised land, only to be discouraged by opposition to their rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. So discouraged in fact, they had actually quit rebuilding the temple of God.
Now here we are some 16 years after their return from exile and Haggai, who it seems in his lifetime had seen Jerusalem before the destruction of the temple and the exile (586 BC) and now is with those that had returned, which would mean that as he delivers these words, he’s an older man, probably more than 70 years old and he is looking at the current state of Jerusalem, still in shambles, with a temple rebuild incomplete, he no doubt it reflecting back on the former glories of his nation, and yet here he comes with a message of encouragement to the people of Judah- a message encouraging them to finish the work on temple that they had begun so that they can see the once blessed nation rise from the ashes of exile and reclaim their place as God’s light to the nations.
Listen to his message today…
TEXT: HAGGAI 2:1-9 (NLT)
Then on October 17 of that same year,[a] the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai. 2 “Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua[b] son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land: 3 ‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! 4 But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’
6 “For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
Today if you’re taking notes, I want to title this thought, “Better than Before”.
About 15 years ago now, I drove out east to small town Yuma and purchased a 1958 F100. It had always been a dream of mine to own a classic truck and this seemed like the right opportunity at the right time. The truck had been in one family all of its life, it was used mostly on the farm and around town. And now the farmer’s grown son, was in possession of the truck and looking to get rid of it. We bartered a little bit and soon money was exchanged and I was behind the wheel of the ol’ truck, with a big smile on my face, driving down the road towards home.
In the next couple of years, I would make some little improvements on my prized possession; nothing major, but things I could do, for example when I purchased the truck, it had bucket seats…which weren’t original to the vehicle. So, I did my research and was able to find an original bench seat, which I bought and installed. I bought some new tires for the truck, waxed the paint, helped support the rear suspension to balance out the bed of the truck which over the many years of hauling hay bales on the farm had begun to sag.
Slowly but surely the truck was beginning to look pretty good, but no matter how much work I put into it, deep down inside, I still knew that it was nothing compared to what it used to be, eventually my work on the ol’ truck would stop. I’d drive it around when I could, but moving and relocating, it sat more than it drove.
But then something happened. I had moved to Utah to pastor a church and while there I met a guy who worked in car restoration. We got to know one another and he began attending our church. I told him about my truck and showed it to him and we were able to work out a deal for him to begin to restore this old truck of mine.
What I couldn’t do, this restoration specialist was able to do, taking the truck apart piece by piece, he inspected the entire thing, sanding it down to the bare metal and exposing what years of rust and several paint jobs had tried to cover. Piece by piece, he began to rebuild the truck and pretty soon this once aged antique truck of mine, was made brand new, with colors of my choosing, and custom interior. In fact, the truck wasn’t just like new…. the truck I really believe was better than ever before…
But that’s really what master restorationists can do…they can take something that once was new, but over the years had come to a state of deterioration, and when placed in their hands, they can make it new…and more times than not, it’s better than new…its better than before.
You know I’m not very old, but I’ve realized in my lifetime, that sometimes life and all the experiences we face has a way of leaving us kind of like that old truck I found out at the farm in Yuma. It uses us, sometimes it abuses us, and leaves our rear suspension sagging from carrying too heavy a load. Anybody know what I’m talking about?
Each of every one of us have a story I’m sure that we could tell. Because we all come from some place. We’ve all experienced some things. Some things good, but more than likely somethings bad. Now fortunately, for most of us here, hopefully today we’ve all had some kind of encounter with Christ. If not that’s ok, because I believe that today can be that day if you haven’t, but for those of us who have experienced Christ, we can honestly say what a difference Jesus makes. Because I’ll be honest with you, if it weren’t for Jesus, I don’t know where I’d be.
But how many know that even though we as believers enjoy the benefits of a relationship with Christ and all that has to off, from time to time, we still can find ourselves like the people of Jerusalem in our text, feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, hopeless, and maybe even at a point or place where we feel like giving up or maybe we’ve already quit.
Because let’s face it …sometimes in life you face opposition. If you here and you think that just because you know Jesus, life is going to be perfect and easy...I got news for you, it’s not.
As a matter of fact, scripture tells us in Psalm 34:19 (NLT), “The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.”
So today let’s be clear, I’m not telling you that your life with Jesus, isn’t any different than life without Him. Because how many know, Jesus makes all the difference. We’re going to face many troubles, righteous or not, but the difference Jesus makes is that he comes to the rescue each time that we do face troubles!”.
As a matter of fact, Jesus said it this way in John 16:33 (NLT)
33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
The KJV be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world!
So as believers we know, that we’ll have problems, we’ll have obstacles, we’ll have trials, and tribulations, but in the midst of it we can have peace, knowing that because Jesus overcame the world, we too will overcome! Because He won, we win today!
“We’ll all have troubles”. We all face opposition and fight battles in this walk-through life…and the trials and opposition we face looks different in each and every one of our lives.
For some the opposition we face our things out of our control for some they are barriers, we’ve created by our own doing. Moments in our life like when the 5-year plans don’t go according to plan. Moments where we receive the unexpected diagnosis from the doctor or we lose the dream job. Moments where the marriage falls apart, the kids don’t do what you wanted them to do. Moments in our life where a loved one passes unexpectedly or maybe we encounter a setback or a stumble in our walk and relationship with Jesus, moments where we relapse or stir up old habits…
Whatever the opposition or set back is we’ve all experienced them at some time…they can and they often do leave us feeling discouraged and hopeless, making us want to quit and hang it up. But if I can for a moment today, let me do what I feel like the Holy Spirit sent me here today to do, and that is encourage you: it’s time to finish the work you started, though you’ve come along way, you’re not there yet…
I don’t know about you, but I’m still a work in progress and if allow the obstacles and things of this world to discourage and hinder me from continuing in what God has called me to, I know that I’ll miss out on the all the blessings that God has in store for me. And so, if you’re here today, feeling hopeless and discouraged…feeling kicked around and defeated…here the words of the prophet Haggai;
4 But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’
Somebody needs to hear that word this morning, Be strong (Be Brave)…Do not fear (Don’t be afraid) for your God is with you. It’s the promise he made from to the children of Israel when He brought them out of the land of Egypt, that He would never leave them nor forsake them. It’s the promise Jesus made to his disciples, to be with us always, even to ends of the age, and it’s the promise we have today as believers- He is with us.
And because He is with us, it’s a promise that what we are facing, what we are currently experiencing won’t always be this way. Like the old truck in the hands of restoration specialist, God had a way of taking the dents and rust spots of life and making them better than before…He has a way of shaking things up…turning things around.
You see I don’t know about you, but sometimes I listen to radio on my way to work in the morning, or read the headlines and the sad reality of the world in which we live, can become at times overwhelming. Mass shootings, murders, drugs battles, wars and threats of war. This world is hurting and whether it realizes it or not is crying out for something to change, something or someone to shake things up- to change the status quo…and you know I’m reminded today of the prophet’s word from God that said in v. 6 of our text,
6 “For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
Now certainly we know that this is prophecy concerning the restoration of temple in Jerusalem. Taking it from its state at the time of the prophet Haggai, to a greater glory or state that far exceeds even the earlier states of the temple. There’s a lot there honestly that I could get into, but I was only supposed to share two thousand words, because that’s kind of your norm and I have a feeling I’m way past that, but let me tell you what it is to me…these words a promise, it’s a reminder that though things are as they are…This portion of scripture today reminds me that it won’t always be that way. Because there is a day coming…Where the one that always is with me, the Lord Almighty, creator of the heavens and the earth, He’s going to one last time shake things up…
Taking this world and the mess that it’s in and setting it right…making it better than before.
And I believe with all my heart we are seeing a stirring already began to take place. News outlets are reporting movements of the spirit of God, happening on college campuses across our nation. People are pouring into these locations, to see what these meetings are all about and to see if what they are reporting is really real…
But I’ve got good news for you today, you don’t have to go to a spot or a place, because the same spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, that was with Haggai and those that returned to Jerusalem to build the temple is here with us today. And maybe today you’ve come in like that old truck, maybe today you’re in the midst of opposition, discouraged and feeling hopeless…
Just bring your mess to the master, and he can take what’s wrong and make it right- he can take the old and make it better than before.
It doesn’t matter if your marriage, it doesn’t matter if your family, it doesn’t matter if it’s your life in general…just place it in the care of the master restorer and see what only He can do.