The Lord is With Us
Haggai 2:1-9[1]
What is your formula for “success” in life? It
depends on whom you ask, and I would say a survey would yield a wide variety of
answers. There was a time when the formula for success was to work hard, do
what is right, love your family, and trust in God. Unfortunately, the changes
in our society and our economy over the last several decades have made us
painfully aware that we can do all that and not wind up with the “success” we
were hoping for. The “millennial” generation is learning that to be successful
in life, they have to be flexible, able to innovate, thinking creatively about
ways to carve out a niche for themselves in the world. It’s a very different
approach to life, but then they face challenges many of us could not have
imagined at their age.
One of the side effects of the changes in our
society and economy is that church is changing. And while many are wringing
their hands about the future of the church, I think there are just as many
people in churches who are actually worried about the past. Remembering “the good old days,” they are
desperate to find the solution that will make it possible for us to re-create
those days, when the pews were mostly filled.
Unfortunately, no one can turn back the hands of time, and those days
are gone for good. In order for churches to thrive, we have to take a cue from
our children about what that takes to thrive in this day and time.
I imagine that our situation isn’t all that
different from the way it was in the days of the prophet Haggai. He was one of the exiles who returned to
Judea from Babylonian captivity. And
when they returned, they found that everything had changed. Jerusalem, their
cities and towns, and especially the Temple, were all in ruins. There were those who looked at the ruins of
their culture and their temple and who worried about the future: how would they
survive? And there were those who looked
at those same ruins and grieved over past greatness that had been lost. But for all their worrying and all their
grieving, I’m not sure they knew what to do about it.
And so the word of the Lord came to Haggai. He rather pointedly reminded them that their
efforts to restore their lives and to provide for their future had been in
vain. They struggled with crop failures,
food shortages, inflation, and famine—not to mention the lingering threat of
their enemies who would like nothing better than to see their restoration
project fail. And the word of the Lord
came to them: “You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when
you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my
house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses” (Hag. 1:9).
Apparently, everyone was devoting their efforts to
ensuring and securing their own future—rebuilding houses, planting crops,
trying to maintain their feeble hold on the land of their ancestors. And their efforts met with more failure than
success. Haggai asks them, “Is it a time
for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in
ruins?” (Hag. 1:4). And Haggai’s words
had their effect: “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel ..., and the
spirit of Joshua ..., and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they
came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God” (Hag. 1:16).
But even though the people set about the work of
rebuilding the temple, there were those who remembered the former temple,
Solomon’s temple. And in comparison,
this new temple looked pretty shabby. Once again, Haggai came with the word of
the Lord: “take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I
am with you, says the Lord of hosts” (Hag. 2:4). Even though the results of their work may
have seemed disappointing to those who had seen the original temple, the word
of assurance was that the “Lord of hosts” was with them. That was the purpose of the temple: it was to
be a place where the people could come to encounter the presence of God in a
unique way. And so Haggai told them to
go on with the work despite their misgivings.
I would imagine that there are many in our day who
are saying similar things about the church—or about their church in particular.
They remember the “good old days,” and look for a way to somehow re-create that
storied past. They may believe there are certain qualities that are supposed to
define a thriving church. But we live in a very different world, and the
strategies that worked 25 years ago will not necessarily work today. Rather
than trying to go back to the way it was, we have to learn to be flexible, able
to innovate, and think creatively now.
Regardless of challenges we face in the church, the
promise Haggai made to the exiles in Judea applies to us today as well. We can rise
to the occasion and do the work it takes for this church to thrive. Just as the people of Haggai’s day needed
foundation stones and timbers to build the temple, so we have specific things
we can do promote new life in our church.
They aren’t secret; they’re the same as they have always been: prayer,
worship, studying Scripture, helping those in need, working for peace,
promoting community, and inviting others to join us. And the reason why I
believe we can do the work it takes to see the church thrive in our day is because
we have the promise that we are not doing the work on our own. We can do our part because we have the same
promise the people of all ages have had: it is not our efforts alone that will
cause this church to thrive, but the presence of the Lord who is with us.
[1]
©2016 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 11/6/2016 at
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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