22nd Sunday after Pentecost
November 10, 2019
Haggai 1:15b-2:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
You may have noticed a theme in the All Saints songs we
sang last week, something that’s spelled out in the All Saints song we sang
this morning: saints are patient and brave
and true. Every song about saints talks about how they are bold and courageous.
The passage in the Bible we tend to think about when we hear the phrase “strong
and courageous” is when the Israelites are getting ready to enter the Promised
Land. Their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness is at an end. Moses sinned
and his punishment is that he’s not allowed to lead the people across the
border. In one of his last speeches, he tells the new leader Joshua, in front
of all the people, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people
into the land that the Lord promised to their ancestors to give them, and you
must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before
you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be
afraid; do not be discouraged.”[1]
Those are Moses’ parting words as he passes the torch of leadership to Joshua.
Then, after Moses dies, the Lord speaks to Joshua and says, “[Get ready to
cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.] As I was with Moses, so I will
be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous,
because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their
ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all
the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the
left, that you may be successful wherever you go… Be strong and courageous. Do
not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you
wherever you go.”[2]
Three times, be strong and courageous, and that reminder to not be afraid,
because the Lord your God is always with you.
This is the same refrain that the Lord tells Haggai
hundreds of years later as Haggai prepares his people for something new. If you
remember, Israel lived in the Promised Land for quite some time, ruled by
judges and then kings. The kingdom split after King Solomon and into Israel in
the north and Judah in the south. Then came the conquering armies: first the
Assyrians who conquered Israel and later the Babylonians who conquered Judah. God’s
people were taken into exile and their homes destroyed. The prophets stayed
with God’s people throughout the exile, like Jeremiah who told the people to
settle down in exile and build homes there and have families. The exile lasted
about 70 years when “King Cyrus of Persia announced that the peoples who had
earlier been exiled by the Babylonians could return to their homelands. They
could settle in, rebuild, and worship as they wished. Persia would retain
ultimate control, but Judea would have some modicum of say in the everyday
order. So, exiled Judeans, though mostly their descendants, returned to
Jerusalem and set about the difficult work of rebuilding a city. It was not a
wholly peaceful time as those who returned had conflict with those who had
remained among the rubble and those who had moved in during the interim” (like
Nehemiah who had gone back to rebuild the wall and the city gate).[3]
One big source of conflict was rebuilding the temple. The original one had been
built by King Solomon and was a thing of grandeur and beauty. It was destroyed
when Babylon invaded. Rebuilding has begun, but some people think it’s moving
too fast, they can’t afford it yet.
Haggai
is the first prophet after the exile and his book is only two chapters long. In
chapter 1, he reminds the people that they have homes and are quickly acquiring
wealth. Surely they must have something for their God, too. They built their
houses; it’s time to build a house of worship, too. Yes, they can afford it. In
fact, they can’t afford not to.
In
chapter 2, what we read this morning, the word of the Lord came to Haggai and
said, “Go talk to Zerubbabel, the governor, go talk to Joshua, (different
Joshua), this one is the high priest, and go talk to the people. There are a
few who still remember the old temple in all its glory. To them, the new temple
does not seem enough: big enough, fancy enough, good enough. Tell them to take
courage, to be strong, and work, for I am with you and my Spirit remains among
you. Do not be afraid!” That mandate to be courageous is repeated three times,
just like with Joshua getting ready to enter the Promised Land. This time, it’s
rebuilding God’s temple, which is going to look different than before, and God
commands, “Take courage, Zerubbabel, the governor. Take courage, Joshua, the
high priest. And take courage, all my people, and get to work.” Do it, anyway.
It doesn’t matter whether you don’t think you have enough resources. It’s not
going to be like Solomon’s temple, anyway. That was then, this is now. Now,
rebuilding this temple represents your priorities and your allegiance to God
who sustains you. Be brave, be strong. Don’t get sucked into the mindset of
scarcity and not enough. There is enough.
You have all you need. So be strong and courageous and bold, and get to work.
Our
reading from 2 Thessalonians is similar in this way to Haggai. These Christians
in the early church believed that God could do anything, but they were doing
nothing to help.[4]
They were just passively waiting for Jesus’ return, which the early church
believed would be soon. In the meantime, all they wanted to do was watch and
cheer from the sidelines. They were unwilling and hesitant to get involved in
the church. It’s like an end of the world scenario, right? The end is coming,
so why bother with anything? Some people turn into the “frozen chosen,” even
though God says to keep working. As we read in Luke, “God is not God of the
dead but of the living.”[5]
So, Paul told the early Christians to stand firm and be encouraged and
strengthened. God is with you. God says that great things are going to happen
and that your help is needed. So, be strong and courageous and get to work!
There
are times when we’re afraid to take that next step, whether it’s entering the
Promised Land or rebuilding or getting more involved. I was talking with a
colleague last week about that moment between when I get ready to preach, and I
open my mouth. It’s terrifying. But I trust that what I’ve prepared was
inspired by the Holy Spirit. I trust that the Holy Spirit can work through me
and my nervousness and my flaws and the limits of language. And I trust that
you will hear the Word from God that you need to hear today, if you are open to
receiving it, whether it’s something I actually say or not. I take a deep
breath, and I just do it. There’s a reason why Nike was so effective with that
slogan. It’s about overcoming fear. It’s about being courageous and brave. And
that’s what God calls us to do, too. To have courage to live. To have courage
to do what we know we need to do. It goes back to that passage from Hebrews I
quoted last week about how because all the saints surround us, this great cloud
of witnesses, then we can throw off everything that hinders us, like fear, and
run the race set before us.
Sometimes
we need the courage to face the fact that life is different than it used to be
and there’s no going back. It’s not going to be like it was before a major
medical diagnosis or a natural disaster or job loss or any other major life
event. The new temple isn’t going to be like the old one, so it’s not helpful
to compare the present to the past, which we usually idolize, anyway, rose-colored
glasses and all that. The past isn’t usually as great as we think it was. Have
courage to live in the present and have hope for the future. Trust it will be
ok. In this case, comparing the present with how things used to be isn’t
helpful; in fact, it’s downright harmful. Because this is a new time. Today is
a new day, one we’ve never seen before and a day we’ll never see again. Today, will you be bold and courageous?
Will you live into your calling as a saint of God, to be patient and brave and
true? Will you have courage to face whatever it is you need to face, knowing,
deep within you, that God is with you?
That’s the meaning of Emmanuel, which we’ll hear and sing more about next month
during Advent as we prepare for the coming of our Savior.
This morning I’d like to end a little differently. I’d
like to ask you to reflect first on last week and when last week did you have
to be courageous. [Pause.] Then, where this week do you need courage? [Pause.]
Now, turn to your neighbor and tell them so that they can pray for you. After each
of you shares, I expect you each to pray for each other.
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