Holy Work

We're going to come now to a time where we're going to just come before God in prayer.

So if you want to pick up on your conversations afterwards, we'll have community lunch afterwards.

So please invite someone to come for lunch with you and carry on those conversations right afterwards.

But what we do now is in our service, we do what we call the pastoral prayer,

which is it's not just me praying.

What I want you to do is I want to lead you in praying together.

So that means I want to pray and I want you to just be in your heart or even under your breath,

just be amen, just praying with me as I pray.

Okay, so let's just bow our heads and ask our Father to just hear our petitions before him.

Father, amazing, loving Father,

may we see you in the splendor of your holiness.

God, your glory is above the heavens.

You created galaxies.

You stand far beyond the universe.

Heaven is your throne.

The earth is just a footstool for you.

And yet you're the God who says,

I come close and I'm with you.

Thank you for the depth of your love for us.

Thank you the only way we can come is because you sent Jesus to be our great high priest,

to be our intercessor,

to be the one who pleads for us,

broken, sinful people,

to draw us to yourself so we can come into your presence.

We thank you, Father, that you are a good, good Father.

Thank you so much for the gift of life.

Thank you for Eric and Justine and Judah,

their little baby, Father, this morning.

Well, thank you for the gift of life.

It's just so exciting to see how you're working both in their lives

and also how you're working, Father,

through them in the life of the church in the bridge.

Lord, we pray for Justine.

We pray give her a swift recovery.

We pray that you would strengthen them in these coming weeks and months

to know how to parent the little Judah with wisdom

and with a deep sense of courage and strength and trust

knowing that you're in control.

We pray for the bridge church.

We pray that they will be a church that really supports them.

We pray that in that church,

they not just have physical babies being born,

but spiritual babies being born, Father.

We pray that you would awaken life in that church in Tongchong, Lord.

And we pray, Father, that as we think about even this city

and we think about the need for new life in this city,

which feels so broken at times, Lord,

we ask that you would awaken your church.

You would awaken your church to see the needs of those around us.

Father, we pray as a church in Hong Kong,

let us not be a church which is defined by busyness and activism,

but which works hard for your kingdom out of a deep sense of rest in you.

Lord, we live in a culture which pressurizes us

to try and prove ourselves all the time,

to just try and fight for survival.

But we pray that as your church we'd be different,

that we would know that our survival is in your hands,

not in our hard work.

We pray, Lord, that as local churches,

as international churches in this city,

particularly at this time,

where there's so much tension,

would your grace be what fuels everything we do?

Would your people be a light in a dark world?

Would you teach us what it means to walk with you

and to be the hope, Father,

the people who point to you

in any and every situation we face,

even in this week?

Father, forgive us where we dumb down your word

to suit our own lifestyles,

where we're not ruthless with our sin,

where we only see sin as things we don't do

rather than a call of holiness

to live lives of love and of compassion,

of courage and of grace to those around us.

Father, we need you.

Change our hearts, we pray.

I pray, Lord, even in this city,

I pray for those, and in our church as well,

those who are single.

Father, our society places so many pressures

and expectations on those who are single.

Father, would you just lift up the eyes

of all those in our congregation and beyond

to see a vision for how you want to use their singleness

for your kingdom,

not just for their own comfort, Lord.

Show them their value is not in what other people

think about them,

not in their relational status,

but it's found in your deep, abiding love.

Father, we pray that we would be a community

which walks alongside

those who struggle in their sexuality,

those who struggle in loneliness,

those who struggle with the pain

of relational breakdown.

Don't let us be so busy

that we fail to love,

fail to see those around us.

Change us, Lord, we pray.

Thank you that you're a good, good Father

who longs to change us

and make us more like your Son.

In Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.

I want to invite Echo

to come and read God's Word

to us this morning.

The scripture reading comes from Haggai, chapter 2.

Haggai 2 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your bulletins or on the screen.

On the 24th day of the ninth month,

in the second year of Darius,

the word of the Lord came by Haggai, the prophet.

Thus says the Lord of hosts,

ask the priests about the law.

If someone carries holy meat

in the fold of his garment

and touches with his fold

bread or stew or wine or oil

or any kind of food,

does it become holy?

The priest answered and said,

No.

Then Haggai said,

If someone who is unclean

by contact with a dead body

touches any of these,

does it become unclean?

The priest answered and said,

It does become unclean.

Then Haggai answered and said,

So is it with this people

and with this nation before me,

declares the Lord.

And so with every work of their hands

and what they offer there is unclean.

Now then,

consider from this day onward.

Before stone was placed upon stone

in the temple of the Lord,

how did you fare?

When one came to a heap of twenty measures,

there were about ten.

When one came to the vine vet

to draw fifty measures,

there were about twenty.

I struck you and all the products

of your toil,

with blight and with mildew

and with hail.

Yet you did not turn to me,

declares the Lord.

Consider from this day onward,

from the twenty-fourth day

of the ninth month,

since the day that the foundation

of the Lord's temple was laid.

Consider,

is the seed yet in the barn?

Indeed,

the vine,

the wheat tree,

the pomegranate,

and the olive tree

have yielded nothing.

But from this day on,

I will bless you.

This is the word of God.

Thank you,

Echo.

That's great.

It's great to see

many of you.

I know there's some

familiar faces,

unfamiliar faces this morning.

So,

if this is your first time,

if you've been with VBS,

or your kids have been with VBS,

or you're just passing through,

we just want you to feel

just really welcome this morning.

We're going through

a series in Haggai,

which is a book in the Bible

where no one knows

where to find it,

but it is in there.

So,

trust me.

And we've been going through

this series

looking at the prophet Haggai,

who preaches four sermons

over a period of four months

to the Jewish people

who God had brought back

from the land of Babylon in exile.

He brought them back

to their homeland in Israel

to rebuild the temple.

And the temple was the centerpiece

of worship to God as a community.

It's where God's presence

dwelt.

And what we've seen

over the last couple of sermons

that we've had

is that people had got

very keen to start with

and then they'd just grown busy

with their lives.

And God's temple

had been neglected.

And Haggai came

the 29th of August,

520 B.C.

to them

with a sermon

telling them

to start getting on

and getting back

working on the temple.

And we'd seen

that they'd responded well.

And so the people

had started working

and working

and then last week

we saw

they got to October

and in October

they were getting discouraged

because the temple

wasn't looking as great

as they thought it was.

It should be.

It didn't look as great

as the previous temple

they'd had.

And they were wondering

whether this was really

worth continuing or not.

And Gary preached to us

last week

and showed us

that actually God

encouraged them

through Haggai

don't give up.

Keep working

because God is with you

and he's doing something

far more glorious

than you realize

right at this present moment.

So don't give up.

Keep working.

And so now

it's the 18th of December.

So Haggai as a career

he only has like

a four month career.

So it's not a very long

prophesying preaching career

and you'll see maybe why.

But Haggai comes again

his third sermon

and his time

he comes to the priests

the religious leaders

who are basically like

community adjudicators

as well

on matters of the law.

And so he came to them

with a question

about holiness.

Now I don't know about you

but let me give you

a little bit of background

on holiness

because when I say

the word holy

I mean

what comes into your mind?

Anyone?

God

do you say?

Okay.

Nothing comes into your mind

clearly.

Okay.

So

but holy

is one of these

religious words

like how often

do you go around

using the word holy

like to your boss

oh that was a very holy moment.

I don't think you do.

But this word

means set apart.

But the problem

with the word

set apart

is it sounds very cold

very distant

like kind of

God's a bit too cool

to hang around

with dirty sinners

like us.

And

we have this kind of

impression

that holy

is actually a kind of

negative word

really.

It kind of feels

a bit like the right thing

but just a bit like

bright light

that you don't want

to look at really

because it's too shiny.

But actually

when the Bible

talks about

God as holy

he's saying

that God

is the creator

of everything

and we are created.

God is infinite

and we are finite.

We

have to sleep

at night.

God

is always awake.

It's like

he

is self-sufficient.

We are dependent.

He is the sun

and we are the earth

which depends

on its rays

for our very existence.

This is his holiness.

He is the source

of everything.

And yet

I watched an advert

a while back.

I think it was

for toilet paper.

But in this advert

I'm not going to

name the brand

but in this advert

there was a

woman and a guy

sitting at a restaurant

opposite each other

on a beach.

It was a very romantic scene

and there was a

and the woman

was thirsty

and there was a coconut

like palm tree

next door

and so the guy

reaches up

gets a coconut

cracks it against

his head

with just

sheer power

as if nothing

had happened

opens it up

gets a straw

places it in the coconut

and then gently

hands it to his beloved

across the table.

And the caption line

went something like

like this

strong and gentle

everything you could

ever want.

and I thought

about that

and I thought

I mean they're

talking about

toilet paper

but actually

isn't that

what we really

desire in our lives

because

if you think

of people

who are very

strong and bold

and courageous

aren't they often

not very gentle

or not very

compassionate

or not very kind

and you think

of people

who are very

compassionate

and very kind

and very gentle

aren't they often

not really very bold

and courageous

and strong

right?

And so

who here

has unshakable

courage and strength

and perfect patience

and love and compassion?

Anybody?

I don't see many hands

okay

do you want to be

like that?

Okay

okay

five people do

we'll work on it

okay

but actually

do you know

why we want

to be like that?

That is a longing

for God's holiness

because you see

like the sun rays

point back

to the sun

our longings

for these things

are a longing

for a God

who is perfect

in love

perfect in power

perfect in strength

perfect in compassion

perfect in gentleness

perfect in awesome majesty

everything

you could ever want

he is

and he's the source

of all of those things

that is the beauty

and holiness

of God

that is how

he is set apart

and you know

in the old testament

anything that is

related to God

associated with him

is holy

so what you have

you see Moses

Moses

comes along

and he's walking along

and he sees this burning bush

and he starts walking up

to it

and he hears a voice

saying Moses

take off your sandals

because the place

that you are standing

is holy ground

why is it holy?

because God's presence

is there

the temple

that we have been

talking about

it is the holy temple

of God

why is it holy?

because God's presence

is there

there are priests

who are called

to be holy

because they're set apart

to serve and worship him

you know in the bible

there are holy days

there are holy cups

there are holy meetings

there is holy bread

there is holy steak

because there is meat

that is offered

in worship to God

and that becomes holy

because it's for him

and devoted to him

all of these things

become holy

and God's people

were also called

to be holy

a holy nation

a people who belong

to God

we are his

so when I got married

to my wife

I became holy

to her

set apart

for her

and she for me

that is the image

of being holy

but in the book

of Leviticus

in the law

there was a problem

because ever since

the fall of Adam

and Eve

sin entered the world

sin where we sought

to find our life

anywhere outside

of God himself

and sin brought death

it's like an oil slick

that brings pollution

into all of creation

it made us unclean

it made us dirty

and Leviticus

has lots of laws

which say

anyone who releases

bodily fluids

like menstruation

the things related

to the life

death cycle

anyone who touches

a dead body

any of these things

become unclean

and need cleansing

and you know

touching a dead body

wasn't sinful

because actually

you've got to bury

dead people

but actually

it's like

when you touched it

you now had

the smell of death

on you

you had the stain

of the pollution

of a broken world

on you

and you needed

to be washed

and cleansed

before you could

come into the presence

of God

that is the background

to this passage

in Haggai

so

are you with me still?

good

so if you've got

your bulletin open

we'll be going through

just some of that

passage together

so first of all

Haggai comes

and in verse 11

he says this

he kind of asks

the question

if someone

carries

holy meat

in the fold

of his garment

and touches

with his fold

bread or stew

or wine

or any other

kind of food

common food

does it become

holy?

and the priests

go

no

what is he asking?

he's saying

is holiness

contagious

like a virus

so if I am clean

and I touch you

I've had a bath

and I touch you

do you become clean?

and they go

no

of course not

and so

he says

okay

if you stand

it's like

if you have

a holy garment

that's touched

holy meat

and then

does it kind of

pass off holiness

to something else?

he goes

no

and he says

the same idea

you know

if you were to

stand next to

a holy person

would the holiness

kind of rub off

on you?

his answer

would be saying

no

because you know

in church history

a lot of people

have actually thought

they've kind of

forgotten this

so they think

that if you go

into a holy building

like a church building

you suddenly

become holy

or they think

if you go

and get prayed for

by the holy pastor

suddenly

you become

like the spiritual

holy zapping

from God

comes upon you

and

Haggai

and the priest

are going

no no no

that's not

the way holiness

works

and then he

switches the question

he goes

okay

not the clean thing

if I'm dirty

and I touch you

do you become

dirty?

yes

good answer

that's the priest's answer

they say

if someone who's

unclean

by contact

with a dead body

touches any of these

things

does it become

unclean?

and they go

yeah

it does

is uncleanness

contagious?

yes

so it's a bit

like this

I want you to

imagine

like

who here is

who's thirsty?

I know some of you

are thirsty

anyone thirsty?

anyone?

okay

Dan is thirsty

okay

so what I'm

going to do

Dan I've got a

drink of water

for you

here we go

here we go

drink of water

hold on a sec

don't drink it

just yet

I just want you

to know

that just before

I did a urine sample

and a poo sample

in that cup

I washed it out

afterwards

so it's probably

about

it's 99% clean

feel free to carry

on drinking

if you'd like

would you drink it?

Lorna would

drink it

would you drink it?

I think most of us

would go

no I think I'll get

from somewhere else

because

it feels

defiled

right

it feels

unclean

even if you told me

it was 99% clean

1%

is enough

to make you go

I don't want to

touch that

right?

this is what

Haggai is saying

and Haggai

brings home

the point

to the Israelites

he then goes

that's exactly

what you are like

he goes

you're not even

99% clean

you're way more

dirty than that

and everything

that you are

offering

in building

this temple

this holy

place

is actually

unclean

and you go

wow Haggai

that's a bit

hard

they seem

to be doing

all the right

things

but you're

supposed to be

this people

who are for

God's eyes

only

to honour

him

with all

of your

life

that everything

set apart

for him

so his

glory

shapes

who you

are

and what

you do

and he

says

outwardly

you guys

have been

starting

building

this temple

you've been

doing a lot

of great

religious

activities

you've been

going to

church

you've been

praying

you've been

listening to

what Oscar

said

and you've

been giving

money

you've been

working in

the kids

ministry

you've been

busy

actively

on the

outside

you appear

to be doing

everything

God says

of you

but what

Haggai says

is

the outside

of the cup

may look

clean

but inside

your hearts

are impure

you're selfish

you're defiled

and you're

like

Haggai's

not the

kind of

guy

you'd

invite

around

to your

house

for a

meal

he's

pretty

strong

and what

he's

saying

is

when you

touch

my

holy

temple

and you

are

impure

what

happens

you're

defiling

my

temple

your

dirty

hands

are

getting

muddy

even

the

good

things

that

you

think

you're

doing

and

God's

saying

do you

think

that I

would

touch

anything

that

you're

offering

when I

know

where

your

hands

have

been

when I

know

where

your

heart

has

been

when I

know

where

your

thoughts

have

been

this

week

it's

a hard

message

that Haggai

is actually

bringing

to this

people

because you

know for

myself I

realized this

is really

striking for

me because

I can come

to church

and I

remember I've

I've come

before to

church and

my wife and

I were just

having a big

argument in

the car

in the taxi

on the way

here

and so we

kind of come

out and then

you come

into church

and you're

all kind of

happy and I

was preaching

that day

I said

it's fine

hi

praise the

Lord

you know

all that

kind of

stuff

and I'm

getting up

to preach

and it

could have

been the

most amazing

sermon

ever

but if

my heart

is filled

with bitterness

and anger

with my

wife

do you know

what God

would say

I don't

want to

touch that

because I

want your

heart

I don't

just want

your outward

actions

and I

think this

is just

such a

challenging

thing for

all of us

don't we

often walk

into church

into our

community

group

and we're

nursing

grudges

against our

bosses

we're

nursing

all kinds

of offenses

that we

we're angry

we've got

all kinds

of things

and then

we start

singing

and then

we start

praising God

and then

we do

all these

things

thinking

that that

is what

holiness

is

but God

says no

I look

deeper

than that

I look

down

here

which is

one of the

reasons why

when we take

communion

we say

don't just

kind of

come up

and take

communion

as if

it's just

a nice

religious

ritual

that you

do

because

actually

that's a

moment

for you

to stop

and say

God

where is

my heart

right now

because

you know

Jesus

says

if you've

come to

the altar

and you've

got an

issue

with your

brother

or your

sister

don't

come and

just quit

everything you're

doing right

there

and just

get right

you see

holiness is not

about just

externals

holiness is about

the heart

and in

psalm 24

it says

this

who can

ascend

the hill

of the

lord

who can

stand

in his

holy place

that's the

temple

who can

come

he who

has a

clean hands

and a

pure heart

who's got

clean hands

and a pure

heart

this morning

who's got

kind of

75%

clean

because

don't we

sometimes

say well

I know

I'm not

perfect

but you

know

I've

got a

75%

and God

still says

the same

that's

I don't

want to

touch

that

if it's

just you

coming

with your

own

sense of

holiness

and the

right response

to that

isn't to

go oh

well then

if that's

the case

then I

won't even

bother doing

any of the

praising God

I won't

bother doing

any of the

other things

that's not

the right

response

the response

God is

looking for

is he wants

to draw

you to

himself

and say

I want

to call

you to

repent

and to

turn back

to me

so that's

the second

thing I want

to talk

about

the call

of repentance

second thing

Haggai says

from verse

15 to

verse 18

Haggai

uses

three

consider

he says

consider

from this

day on

consider

from this

day on

consider

and that

word

consider

it's the

same

that he

said

back in

chapter 1

verse 7

when he

told the

people

listen

consider

where you're

going

consider

your ways

and the

ideas

so that

you can

turn back

to me

you see

in this

passage

behind the

scenes

is actually

a reference

to

Deuteronomy

28

it's where

Moses

is about

to take

the people

wants to

call the

people

to go

into the

promised

land

he won't

go

but he

says to

them

listen

guys

you have

a choice

before you

you've got

a decision

either

obey

God

run

to him

love

him

and he

will

bless

you

or

run

away

from

him

and

you'll

receive

curse

because

if

you

try

and

go

away

from

the

son

and

get

it

by

yourself

you'll

have

no

life

so he

says

this

I set

before

you

today

life

and

death

blessing

and

cursing

now

choose

life

by

loving

the

Lord

your

God

obeying

his

voice

and

holding

fast

to

him

for

he

is

your

life

do

you

see

what

he's

saying

I

want

you

to

come

to

me

because

I'm

life

for

you

and

what

he's

saying

Haggai

here

is

he's

saying

to

the

people

you

guys

have

turned

away

from

me

and

what

did

you

get

you've

got

curse

you

didn't

get

the

harvest

you

were

looking

for

you

got

death

on

your

work

death

on

your

crops

because

when

you

walk

away

from

God

that

way

it

always

affects

that

way

horizontally

and the

call

is

come

back

to

me

not

tomorrow

but

today

today

but he

doesn't

just say

kind of

look

back

at the

past

he

also

says

look

forward

to

the

future

this

is

verse

18

and

19

he

says

from

the day

you

started

building

the

temple

until

now

you've

sown

your

seed

for the

next

year

for the

harvest

it's

in the

ground

and

you're

hoping

that

you're

going

to

get

past

and

God

says

listen

though

your

past

has

been

bad

and

the

harvest

has

been

bad

because

of

your

sin

right

now

it's

not

too

late

because

now

I

want

you

to

come

to

me

because

I

want

to

bless

you

I

want

to

bless

you

he

says

just

watch

from

this

day

on

if

you

run

back

to

me

just

see

how

I'll

bless

you

just

see

that's

my

heart

because

don't we

often

think

God's

holiness

is about

telling

us

to

say

no

to

everything

like

don't

sleep

with

your

boyfriend

don't

be

nasty

to

people

don't

do

this

don't

do

that

and

it

feels

like

a

whole

list

of

rules

that's

God's

holiness

we

think

and

that

never

attracts

your

heart

to

ever

want

to

run

back

to

God

because

the

moment

I

say

no

inside

you're

going

yes

right

you

know

when I

was a

kid

during

the

holidays

me

and my

friend

we

wanted

to

play

tennis

and

our

school

had

tennis

courts

but

we

weren't

supposed

to

use

them

during

the

holidays

but

no

one

used

them

so

we

would

go

and

there

was

actually

a

hole

at

the

side

under

the

fence

so

we

would

kind

of

creep

under

the

fence

and

we

start

playing

tennis

together

and

I

remember

one

day

the

caretaker

of

the

school

came

out

and

he

started

shouting

at us

and

telling

us

to

get

out

of

there

and

we

just

ignored

him

we

kept

playing

and

then

what

he

did

he

brought

out

a

camera

and

started

trying

to

take

pictures

of

us

and

we

started

taking

off

our

shirts

over

like

this

so

they

couldn't

see

us

it

was

a bit

of

play

tennis

at

that

point

but

we

carried

on

but

then

he

wouldn't

go

away

and

so

we

just

started

reasoning

with

him

we

said

hey

listen

if

you

let

us

play

here

we

are

doing

harm

it's

fine

there's

no one

else

here

we'll

help

you

clean

up

different

things

if

you

let

us

play

and

we

started

trying

to

reason

and

justify

why

we

should

be

there

and

he

wouldn't

have

any

of

it

so

we

had

to

you

want

to

have

those

in

your

school

those

kind

of

teachers

you

just

think

they

need

to

get

a

life

I

think

that's

often

how

we

actually

deep

down

view

God's

holiness

we

know

we're

doing

wrong

things

but

we

kind

of

feel

God's

a

little

bit

unreasonable

because

he

wants

he's

just

spoiling

our

fun

spoiling

it

and

he

just

doesn't

seem

reasonable

and

so

what

we

try

and

do

we

try

and