HAGGAI 2:1-9

2:1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,

2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say,

3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts,

5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.

6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.

7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.

8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.

9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

“Do not compare yourself with others for always there will be those who are greater or lesser than yourself.”  Those words of wisdom come from a poem called the “Desiderata.”  Desiderata, by the way is a Latin word that refers to the things in life that are to be desired.   “Do not compare yourself with others….”  It’s good advice but it’s advice that can be hard to follow.  That’s because the temptation to compare yourself to others is always there.  In high school you compare yourself to the captain of the football team or the most popular girl in your class.  In the business world you compare yourself to the guy in the corner office who gets the biggest bonus.   The temptation to compare is why we notice who wears the expensive jewelry.  It’s why we notice who drives the Mercedes versus who drives the Fiat.

All of this is why it’s been suggested that these days too many people spend money they don’t have to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t really like.

The temptation to compare is what happened that day when the people gathered to dedicated their new Temple.  It should have been a day or singing and celebrating but instead it was a day full of sadness and despair.  That’s because their new Temple was nothing like the grand and glorious Temple that the Babylonians destroyed when they conquered Jerusalem and took most of the people into exile. 

You can feel that sadness and despair that was in the air that day by looking at the questions that the prophet Haggai asked when the people gathered to dedicate their new Temple.   Haggai asked them three quick questions.  Question #1 “Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory?” Question #2 “How do you see it now?”  Question #3 “Is it not as nothing in your eyes?”

The people were down in the dumps because they were comparing their modest and mediocre Temple to the magnificent and majestic Temple that was there before they were defeated and carried into exile.  They were comparing the Temple they had now with the Temple that they had in the good old days.

Ah yes, the good old days.  We also have our good old days.  Do you remember the good old days when you had to walk three miles to get to school and it was uphill both ways?  The good old days when life was a lot simpler and we weren’t so materialistic?  That’s how I remembered the good old days until I got a wake up call shortly after my mother died.  We were going through boxes of old photographs and letters when I came across a letter that I wrote to my grandmother when I was eight years old.  I wrote the letter to her sometime after Christmas.

Dear Grammy,

Thank you for the bubble bath.  My mother likes the bubble bath.  She said it smells nice.  I got the letter you sent to me.  Now this is what I got for Christmas.  I got a typewriter and I got a Etch –A-Sketch.  And I got Mouse Trap.  And a pogo stick.  And I got Scrabble.  And I got an electric train.  And I got roller skates.  And I got some clothes.  And I wear the sweater you gave me.  And I am writing with my new typewriter.”

When I read that letter from almost 50 years ago the first thought that went through my mind was “Look at all those presents that you got.  You made out like a bandit.” It made me realize that we were just as materialistic back then as we are today.  It made me realize that the good old days weren’t as good as I thought they were.

The people did the same thing when the gathered that day to dedicate their new Temple. They compared their modest and mediocre Temple with the majestic and magnificent Temple that used to be there and they were convinced that their Temple wasn’t good enough.   Of course when you compare like that you also can go to the opposite extreme.  Instead of feeling like you’re not good enough you end up feeling like you’re better than everyone else. Do remember the story that Jesus told about the Pharisee and the tax collector who went up to the Temple to pray?  Standing there next to each other the Pharisee looked up to the heavens and said, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. “

When you compare it can lead you to think that you’re better than others and that can also get you into trouble. Consider if you will the elderly woman who walked into a tall skyscraper one day and took the elevator to the penthouse.  When she got off the elevator she was greeted by the smell of incense and the soothing sounds of mystical music.  A young woman in a long white robe welcomed her and announced her presence by striking a large gong.   The woman in the long white robe then bowed and asked, Do you wish to see the Wise and Wonderful One, the all knowing, all powerful Maharishi Narru?”  The elderly woman  shook her head in disbelief.  “Yeah,” she said.  “Tell Sheldon his mother is here to see him.”

Pride, envy, despair, sadness, feelings of inadequacy.  Those are some of the dangers that creep into your heart when you start to compare yourself with others.   That’s why the words that the prophet Haggai spoke long ago are just as important for us today.  Haggai saw what was going on that day.  That’s why he told the people to stop feeling sorry for themselves.  The message from God that Haggai delivered to the people that day was simple.  “Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts…”

I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts…

That’s what you loose sight of when you compare yourself with others.  You loose sight of the God who is with you right now.  You loose sight of the blessings that are all around you right now.  You focus so much on the way things used to be or the way you want things to be some day that you don’t see the good that is in you right now and the reasons you have to be happy right now.  Just look at what happened that day in Jerusalem.  The people had plenty of reasons to sing and celebrate.  They had been blessed with an incredible miracle.  For the first time in 80 years they were free.  For the first time in 80 years they were back in the land that they loved and through their hard work and limited resources they built a new Temple.  Like the psalmist they should have been shouting, “This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.”  (Psalm 118:23)

There’s a story in one of the Chicken Soup For the Soul books about a boy who learned not to compare himself to others.  The story goes like this:

“Ever since I was a little kid, I didn’t want to be me.  I wanted to be like Billy Widdledon, and Billy Widdledon didn’t even like me.  (Does that sound familiar?)  I walked like he walked; I talked like he talked; I signed up for the high school he signed up for. Which is why Billy Widdledon changed.  He began to hang around Herby Vandeman; he walked like Herby Vandeman; he talked like Herby Vandeman.  He mixed me up!  I began to walk and talk like Billy Widdledon, who was walking and talking like Herby Vandeman.  And then it dawned on me that Herby Vandeman walked and talked like Joey Haverlin.  And Joey Haverlin walked and talked like Corky Sabinson.  So here I am walking and talking like Billy Widdledon’s imitation of Jerby Vandeman’s version of Joey Haverlin, trying to walk and talk like Corky Sabinson.  And who do you think Corky Sabinson is always walking and talking like?  Of all people, Dopey Wellington - that little pest who walks and talks like me.”  (p.28)

Now you and I both know that teenagers aren’t the only ones who compare themselves with others.  I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts. When you draw near to God it changes things.  It changes the way you look at the world around you and the way you look at yourself.  It makes it possible for you to see and celebrate the good that’s in you right now and the blessings that are all around you right now.  You realize that happiness isn’t waiting for you in the good old days and it isn’t waiting for you in the person you’re going to be somewhere down the road.  Happiness is waiting for you right now – in this day and this very hour and this very minute.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

November 10, 2013