THE DIVINE PRIORITY
Matthew 6: 25-33
Haggai 1: 1-11
In the last few weeks, as the just-completed election cycle was heating up, we have heard much in the way of the priorities for all vying for office. To be sure, priorities are not the sole property of the political arena. In fact, each of us have a least one priority in life; most of us have several priorities. Our priorities are those things to which we dedicate the most time, attention, energy, resources, etc. There are those things that become priorities for us out of necessity; others, we make the choice to give “priority status”. Not surprisingly, then, Scripture speaks many times concerning priorities. There are times when Scripture offers guidance and direction for humans in placing our priorities. At other times, we witness God calling some into account for misplaced priorities.
Such is the case in our passage from Haggai.
It is a time of rebuilding in Israel. If you remember from the earlier prophetic books we studied, the prophets foretold of Israel being overthrown and conquered. That time of conquest has come and gone. Those who survived the invasions were sent to live in exile in foreign lands. Those exiles are now returning to their homeland, and finding everything in ruins. Their homes, their lands, everything, has been utterly destroyed.
They began the task of putting the pieces back together again and rebuilding homes, lives, and so on. There was one major problem, though. Look at what God says in verse 2. Israel had declared that it wasn’t time to rebuild the Temple. The Temple was the center of Jewish life, as well as the dwelling place of God and the symbol of God’s presence in Israel. Yet it seems as if it was more important to them to rebuild everything else before worrying about the house of God! As a result, all the good materials went to construct individual homes, businesses, lives, and so on. Now God has gotten their leftover resources as well as their leftover energies! Now, I’m not blaming them for wanting to get things restored and rebuilt—I think that’s human nature. However, it is easy to see how this is a case of mixed-up priorities on the part of Israel; God got the leftovers. Although it is not explicitly mentioned in Scripture, it is easy to imagine Israel asking of God,
in the face of this criticism, “what do you want us to do?”
Have you ever asked that question of God, either in curiosity or in exasperation? There are times in life when we cannot help but ask, “God, what do you want me/us to do?” We are given a bit of an answer through Haggai. Jesus, though, gives us a beautiful answer in Matthew 6. What does God want us to do? Seek first the Kingdom of God;
make seeking God’s kingdom our #1 priority.
In saying this, I will admit to engaging in a bit of “church-speak”. In the church, we talk a lot about the “Kingdom of God”, but we seldom explain it. The obvious question then becomes, “what is the Kingdom of God? If I’m supposed to be seeking it, what does it look like?” Jesus uses several parables to describe the Kingdom, but doesn’t really come right out and say what the Kingdom is or looks like. However, in Haggai 1:8, we get a glimpse of what God’s idea of God’s kingdom is. God says the Temple should be something in which “God takes pleasure and is honored”.
That sounds like God’s hope and intention for our life! Can we say, then, the Kingdom of God is anywhere, anytime, God takes pleasure and is honored? That seems to make the Kingdom something that is more tangible and easily seen. There are times when the Kingdom is portrayed as something that is oppressive; oppressive in that living in the Kingdom requires constant prayer, Scripture reading, serving, doing something in or for the church, etc. Nothing could be further from the truth! While those things are part of the Kingdom, those are not the only times and places where we live in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom can be something as small as a smile in acknowledgement of someone else, offering a helping hand, offering a hug or other expression of support, and the list goes on. The Kingdom can also be lived in as we cultivate relationships with one another. Parents, spending time with your children/grandchildren is part of the Kingdom of God!
We can make the Kingdom of God our top priority and still have the time of our life!
At the same time, and it must be said, there are consequences when the Kingdom is not our first priority. I don’t think this is so much God punishing us as it is the nature that God put within us longing to live into what God intends for us. Look what God has to say to Israel concerning their priorities. Because God wasn’t their number one priority they, “sowed much and harvested little”, they “ate much but were never full”, and they “drank much but were never satisfied”. So it is with us. We try to fill ourselves with so many other things, yet we still have that feeling of emptiness and a lack of fulfillment. I have to believe that our contentment and fullness of life is not found in how much we do, but whether what we do is centered on God and God’s Kingdom on earth. I don’t believe God is punishing us;
our life is simply empty if anything takes the place of God in our life.
To this point, we have talked only about our priorities. What about God’s priorities? What do you think God’s priorities are? My interpretation of Matthew 6:33 leads me to believe that each of us is a priority for God! God cares about each one of us: our feelings, our hopes, our dreams, our needs. Recall what Jesus says? He says that if we seek first the Kingdom of God, then all those needs we have will be satisfied by God.
God makes each of us a priority! We are part of “the divine priority”.
In closing, I want to ask two questions of you; questions whose answers are a conversation for you and God. The first question is this: what, and where, are your priorities? To what and where do we invest the most time, attention, etc.? The second question is this:
Is your life, right now, the absolute fullest that God can make it?
AMEN.
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