“You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
Haggai 1:6 (NIV)

This past Saturday night Wendy and I attended the annual awards ceremony for our local community theatre. At the venue, there was a display of the renovation plans for our local Community Center. Some of our faithful community theatre members have been instrumental in generating support for the renovation as it has been the theatre’s home since 1987, and it needs updating.

Along my journey, I’ve come to understand that no large-scale project is universally loved and appreciated. No matter what you propose, there’s going to be opposition. Momentum and support for interest, funding, and investment require advocates willing to campaign for the cause. Thus, the members and their impressive display at the awards ceremony.

Over the last several months, I have been blogging through the “exilic” books which recorded that stories and accounts of the Hebrew people taken into captivity when Babylon besieged and destroyed Jerusalem around 600 B.C. A large contingent was taken into exile in Babylon and Persia (modern day Iraq) for 70 years. Then, many of the exiles returned to Jerusalem to resettle in their homeland, rebuild their city, and reconstruct the Temple which was in ruins.

The prophet Haggai wrote and preached among the returned exiles. Like any other major civic building project, the rebuilding of the ruined temple was not universally supported. In today’s opening chapter, Haggai clearly states the theme of the message that God had given him to address, which was a pointed call to rebuild the temple.

What I found interesting was the problem that Haggai called out, which was delaying the project: insatiable discontent. The people incessantly believed that they never had enough, and they perpetually wanted more for themselves. Life was an all-you-can-eat buffet and their appetites always brought them back to the line for more. That left little interest, support, or investment in rebuilding God’s temple.

In the quiet this morning, I am reminded of Jesus’ consistent words and example in advocating that His followers reject insatiable discontent that is so prevalent in our world, and invest in things of eternal value:

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.”

“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.”

“Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”

Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge: “Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light. When you enter a town or village, don’t insist on staying in a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave.”

“What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”

Jesus (excerpts taken from The Message)

The problem Haggai addressed with the returned exiles is a basic human problem. He couldn’t motivate people to invest in God’s house because they were never content with their own. Jesus addressed the same problem in His day. Human nature hasn’t changed in 2000 years. My basic human nature is continually given to insatiable discontent. There is always something in life’s all-you-can-eat buffet line beckoning to come back for more. I find myself needing a constant reminder of Jesus’ call to switch my appetites from the things of this world to His eternal Kingdom.