First Things First

I've been banned from sewing anything more for myself this summer (well, asked nicely to cease and desist) until I finish recovering some cushions for a couple church pews. What? You mean I have to stop being self-centered for a while? Put the aesthetics of the church entryway and narthex before my own pleasure sewing? Where is that in Scripture?

This is what the Lord Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be built.'" 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?"

Oh. Right there in Haggai 1:2-4. The context of that passage is that some 50,000 Jews had been released by Cyrus, king of Persia, to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple, which had been destroyed when the Jews were taken captive by the Babylonian empire about 50 years earlier. But rather than put all their effort into rebuilding the temple, these people started putting most of their energy and money into restoring their own family homes. They put their homes and their interests ahead of their God.

How often do we put ourselves and our interests ahead of our devotion to God, church, and our church family? I think most of the time it's not done purposely. We all tend toward selfishness and self-preservation. So we spend far more on redecorating our house than we should, and yet our church buildings may be in disrepair. We spend more time with amusements than service (aside: "a-muse" literally means "without thinking" and archaic definitions include "to divert attention, distract, or bewilder").

We let the church pew cushions languish in the corner of the sewing room while we sew yet another unnecessary dress that pleases us but isn't helpful for others and doesn't contribute to the church.

So it's time to buckle down and get this project done. Not just because I have personal things I would like to sew. But because my priorities should be ordered thus: God then self. Not self then God. It is not a time for me to sew my pretty dresses while God's pews remain swathed in the ruin of disgusting, outdated 1970s orange fabric or are torn and letting the stuffing pop out. It's time to take those cushions from this...

to this...

And after that, there's the matter of the gardens at church...

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