(A “Sermon Echo” is a short reminder or elaboration of something I preached or heard on a previous Sunday.)

 Haggai 1:3-6 says, “Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: ‘Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?’ Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways. 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.'”

From there the passage elaborates on the aforesaid and explains that their economy has been sabotaged by God because their priorities and values were out of order. They were focusing on their own interests while neglecting God and their relationship with him. No doubt about it, it was time for them to rebuild the temple.

Now that we are post-crucifixion, post-resurrection, post-ascension, and post-Pentecost, we are not called upon to rebuild an earthly temple. Instead we are called upon to be building the Kingdom; that is, spreading the gospel. The question is: Are our own priorities and values in proper order or have we let our own interests cause us to neglect our mission? It’s something to cerebrate…