Walter Kaiser
February 7, 2003
9:30 am
Message Summary
This text is calling us back to a point where we say we’re not going to neglect our duty,” said Walter Kaiser. Preaching from Haggai chapter 1, Kaiser pointed out the slowness of Israel to fulfill God’s commands and compared it to the church today.
Haggai was a prophet during the time when a remnant of Israel was returned from exile in Babylon and they were going to rebuild the temple but had failed to do so. This was Kaiser’s first point—that we need to stop making excuses. Kaiser pointed out that they were full of excuses, as seen in verse 2. They had been back in Israel for 16 years and had failed to rebuild the temple.
Kaiser’s second point was that we need to set priorities, taken from verses 3-6. In these verses God asks why their own houses are nice, yet the house of the Lord is in ruins. Kaiser pointed out that God’s work must come first in our lives.
From verses 7-12 Kaiser showed that we must get involved. In these verses God commands the Israelites to take care of business and rebuild the temple. In verse 12 we see that the Israelites obey. Kaiser said, “What’s the purpose of obedience? Obedience brings pleasure to our heavenly father.
Kaiser also took time to show how ridiculous it is that many of us don’t serve in a church. He said “We put up with a 70 to 80 to 90 percent unemployment rate in the house of God!” The parallels were clear. God is calling us to obedience and that obedience is to serve Him.
Kaiser closed the message by reading verse 13 where God speaks through Haggai and tells the people that he is with them. God’s presence is a direct effect of obedience.
Student Response
Stubbornness is a trait common to all humanity, and I certainly possess that trait as well. Kaiser talked about how good we are at making excuses for justifying our actions and placing other things before God. He called it what it is: idolatry. This is a bit shocking to think about, but I need a healthy fear of putting other things before serving God. Kaiser does an excellent job of tying the passages he covers to our lives and the evangelical church today.
—Tyce Jensen, Senior, Communications/Print Media major