"My Spirit abides among you, do not fear."
Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Proper 27C, November 11, 2007
A Sermon by Fr. James Haney V
A few months ago I took the kids to relive a bit of my past. When I lived in Canyon, Texas, from 6th grade through 10th grade, every summer, sometimes several times a summer, we'd drive 15 miles from Canyon to Palo Duro Canyon State Park to see the musical play, Texas. Even when we moved to Lubbock, and even later when I was in college, I'd still go back. By that time a number of my friends from Canyon were part of the play themselves, which made it even more fun.
So last August, I decided to take the kids to see Texas. They hadn't performed the play for several years, so I was really looking forward to it. The kids had a great time. They of course had no previous frame of reference, so it was all new to them. But I sat there thinking over and over again, "This is not as good as it used to be." I won't bore you with my whole critique. There were a couple of things that were better, and a few things that were just different. But there were many, many other aspects that were just not as good as what I remembered. And my memories of the past really affected my enjoyment of the play in the present.
The warm glow of nostalgia can be a double edged sword. Our good memories of the past can be comforting. But they can also get in the way of life in the present. Yearning for the good ol' days can mess up our living of today.
That's the theme of our OT lesson from the Prophet Haggai, which is found on p863 of the church Bibles. Haggai is dealing with a very narrow historical problem, the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Here's the setting. 67 years earlier, Jerusalem was invaded. The temple was destroyed. The people were carried off into exile in Babylon. And they would remain captive in Babylon for 49 years. But then, there was a power shift. Babylon was defeated by Persia. And the Persian Emperor allowed the Jews to return home, if they wished. But it was only a small remnant that decided to make the trip, only a few thousand people. And it was that small, pitiful remnant that started the process of rebuilding their country and their capital city of Jerusalem.
That's the context of our OT lesson. The people have been back for a couple of decades. They've rebuilt their houses. They've gotten some commerce going again. Yet, the Temple of the Lord is still in ruins. That's the charge against the people early in Haggai ch1 v4: "Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house (this Temple) lies in ruins?" That question spurs the people to action.
So they set about the task of rebuilding the Temple. But they're a small group. When Solomon built the original Temple, he had a huge army of skilled laborers. And it took that huge number of workers 7 years to build the original Temple. What could this pitiful remnant do? Actually, all they could really do was to basically take the old stones of the Temple and start stacking them up again.
Which is where we pick up with Haggai today. It's about 7 weeks into the rebuilding process, and the people are obviously demoralized about how shabby the new Temple is. ch2 v3: Haggai names their feelings, "Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?"
In other words, some of you old-old-timers who remembered Solomon's Temple from 67 years earlier must think this new version of the Temple looks pitiful. Compared to its former glory, it looks like nothing. In comparison, it really must have seemed like a bunch of children's building blocks stacked up together. It must have been depressing.
Yet, Haggai doesn't leave the people in their despondency. v4 "Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD."
The message from God is don't be depressed. 'Be encouraged Governor. Be encouraged High Priest. Be encouraged all my people.' No, the new Temple will not be anywhere near as nice as the one that was destroyed. But be encouraged. Do what you can with what you have. Use what God gives you now to do his work, now.
End of v4: "Work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear." Notice that. "I am with you... My spirit abides among you."
That's the important part. God's presence makes all the difference. It's not the aesthetic beauty of the Temple that matters most. The Temple is simply a place where the people can gather together in God's presence to worship him. The most important thing is not the opulence of the building. The most important thing is the presence of the Living God.
That's the message from God. 'I'm in charge. It's my presence that will make the difference.' That's the gist of v7. God is saying, 'I will draw people in. I will fill the Temple with my splendor.' And, in v9 he says, "The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts."
God is basically saying, 'The new Temple may not look as pretty as the old one. But I will use it to draw people in. And I will be present there. And because of my presence, the smaller shabbier Temple will actually be more splendid than the larger original Temple.'
God is telling his people, 'Don't get stuck in the past. Be present in the present, because I am present with you.'
Notice God is not saying, 'Ignore the past.' After all, he called to mind the past promises he made in Egypt with the Jewish people. But he is saying, 'Don't get caught up in the trap of looking back on the past with such nostalgia, such longing that you're paralyzed in the present.' Do what you can now with what you have now.
Those reminders are so important for us. As Christians, and especially as Episcopalians, we have deep roots in the past. Every week we gather together and proclaim our past: "On the night before he died for us, Jesus took bread." It's not a matter of ignoring our past.
But it's important to not get stuck looking with envy, looking with such longing at the past that you're no good in the present.
Because in this life, there are cycles. Circumstances ebb and flow. Sometimes you're on top of the hill, and at other times you're at the bottom. And if you get caught up in the trap of saying, "Man, I wish I could go back to the good old days," then you're in danger of not living in the present where God has placed you.
At the play Texas in Palo Duro Canyon, I was so stuck in comparing the present play to past versions of it that I couldn't really enjoy it. Jimmy and Lisa were living up in the present. They were having a good time. If I could have been more in the moment with them, I would have had a much better time. The past is important. But you have to live in the present.
And that goes for Good Shepherd as well. Last week in our morning of visioning, we spent some time looking at the way things have changed in the past decade. We've had some numerical growth. We've had some numerical decline. And now we're turning the corner again. But we've also had good spiritual growth, growth in outreach, growth in being more unified as a congregation. The task for us is not to be stuck on what's happened in the past. The task for us is the same as it was for the people in Haggai's time.
We need to take what God is giving us now to do the work God is calling us to now. In the past weeks, I've shared my vision of what I think God is calling us to next. Last weekend, you all also added your dreams to the mix. And now, we've got a task group that is going to take all of that data and report back to us by the annual meeting in January of concrete ways we can live more and more into that vision.
Did I like it better several years ago when we had higher attendance? You bet I did. But I can't let myself get stuck in the past. Instead, we need to be looking to 2008, 2009, 2010 and beyond. God is not finished with Good Shepherd. We have much work yet to do.
So take courage, people of Good Shepherd, do not be afraid. God is present with us. "My Spirit abides among you," says the Lord, "do not fear." Let us do what we can with what we have. Use what God gives us now to do his work, now. "Work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts."
God is telling us, 'Seek to do my will, draw closer to me, support and serve each other, carry my love from this altar to those in desperate need of my love.' "Then the latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former," says the Lord of Hosts. May God give us grace to do what he's calling us to do.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev. James P. Haney V
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Wichita, Kansas
November 11, 2007
