Worship with Zion & Knox Churches - Remembrance Sunday Nov. 6, 2022

The Prophet Haggai 2: 1 - 9   ‘Built to last’

years ago, when my brother was preparing to move to London, Ontario for university, our parents offered to sell him our old green Reliant car, the original shoebox on wheels. He got it for about $500 and everyone assumed that it would get him around London and back & forth to Toronto for his first year of school. He retired that car 7 years later, after 5 years of university and two years into his job as a publishing sales representative driving all over southwestern Ontario!

There was no front seat, really - just a toss cushion off the couch to cover the exposed springs. On the ‘Beast’, as we called it, the turn signals were manual; there was no heat after year one; he never bought snow tires. One afternoon, John thought he should clean out the trunk. Peering into the empty space, he noticed his feet on the pavement below. He put everything back in.

Mom thought he should have an upgrade so she bought him a sun visor to put across the front windshield: “Porsche”!

The Beast was built to last. Neither the ravages of time nor the fiercest elements could stop that car from doing what it was built to do → get people from ‘A’ to ‘B’.

Something that sturdy & reliable gets our attention & deserves our respect. The older I get, the more I appreciate that which stands the test of time: functioning century-old furniture & cars; classic art, music and books that never lose their meaning & relevance. And sturdy Christians – I particularly appreciate unstoppable faith, doing what it’s built to do: move us from A to B, from shallow to ever-deepening relationship with the Trinity, moving us through & past the hazards of life.

The Prophet Haggai [Ha’-gee-i] was worried about this for his people, the Hebrews of 520 BC; he worried for their faith. But a little background would be helpful.

About 80 years earlier, in 597 BC, Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians who pillaged & burned the Temple. They began taking the wealthy, professional classes back to Babylon to use as slaves - about 10,000 people. Within 10 years, the nation of Judah, or Palestine as it was known, was no more; the Jews were adrift with no nationality, no anchor of faith.

Then in 537BC, the Persians, from what is currently Iran, conquered the Babylonians & freed the Jews! The Persian leader, Cyrus, specifically instructed the Jews to return to their homeland for the express purpose of re-establishing their faith tradition.

Enter Haggai, 17 years after they returned to their home, and the Temple remained in ruins. Oh, it was still in use for worship & animal sacrifice → the walls were scorched black but sortof standing & the roof was entirely gone, so they could make their burnt offerings inside the temple. But nothing had been done to restore their spiritual home.

Not entirely surprising and Haggai recognizes their other priorities upon returning home: securing shelter; sustainable water & food supply; business start-ups & getting momentum behind an economy again. Their interest in the Temple had faded over the previous 20 years, while their desire to consume & compete was growing strong. As the prophet writes, “You eat and drink but never have enough. You put on clothes but are never warm. You make money, but it goes right through your hands.”

Haggai saw it coming. Reality TV calls them hoarders; Dr. Phil treats ‘shop-a-holics’ and addresses the emptiness in their lives. And huge crowds sleeping in the cold outside big box stores to be the first through the door on Boxing Day suggests a great many people are not satisfied with what they already have. Human beings tend to want bigger, better, faster, newer, easier, state of the art, ‘mine’s cooler than yours’, until the next latest best model hits the market – in about a month.

I can’t be the only one who’s noticed the timing. Haggai certainly saw it, 2,500 years ago – the rampant, rabid focus on my needs, my wants, my whims, my status, ‘I’ phones, ‘I’ pods, ‘I’ tunes, me me me, all coincides a bit too closely with the demise of faith in society. Any society, any century. We witnessed the civil rights movements and women’s liberation protests through the 60’s, which helped us to recognize all people as people, equal in the eyes of the Law at the very least, but certainly in the eyes of God.

Then somehow equality got flipped on its ear and ‘I’m more equal than you’, ‘My rights are more important than your rights’, and equality became entitlement, starting with the 70’s ‘Me Generation’ and gaining momentum ever since. Exactly the same period of the decline of faith in Canada. Because people of faith are called to put others before self, and that is just not trending.

Haggai saw what was happening among the Jews, jostling for position, fighting among themselves, never satisfied with what they had, trying to fill the resulting void in their lives with stuff and nonsense. But Haggai offered a solution as more than a concerned citizen. He was a prophet, recognized by the people, anointed & scripted by God to point out their disastrous self-interest, their lip-service faith, the violation of their covenant with God, but also, how to adjust their path: restore the Temple.

He saw their indifference and their neglect of the Temple as, very directly, their neglect of God. Remember, for the ancient Hebrews, the Temple doesn’t represent God’s house - it IS God’s house. They believed that God lived IN the Temple, so leaving it as a burned-out shambles was a statement about their level of devotion. Haggai said, if you believe in God’s promises for aid and blessings, then act like you believe. Commit to our Lord, says Haggai, and start working on making His promises a reality, and God will get us the rest of the way.

They started to restore the Temple in 520 BC – try to imagine their ancient tools, hammers & chisels, doing this without cranes to lift on the new roof, just some ropes & man-power. What they built was far larger, more beautiful and more impressive than the one that was destroyed. They completed this new Temple in less than 4 years - miraculous.

Historians characterize the post-exilic period in the Jewish faith story as one of, if not THE strongest time in their 5,000 year history. The renewal of the Temple gave them a unifying project, purpose as a people; the work itself affirmed their gifts, satisfied a sense of accomplishment and reliance on God, and it brought them out of their homes, out of themselves and into community to focus on what was best for the whole. In truth, as they secured stone on stone, they rebuilt their faith.

We didn’t read Haggai this morning because I’m worried the roof is about to cave in. Our church buildings are beautiful and well kept and each serves their community as a beacon of warmth & welcome & caring; each is a bold statement that the Christian faith is not dead in Canada. Our fine buildings tell the world that there continue to be folks who trust in God and cling to Christ’s ways, and who find deep meaning, joy & affirmation through service in His Name.

We don’t have temples in the Presbyterian tradition. We believe that the real Church of Christ doesn’t depend on bricks & clapboard & shingles, but that Church is, in fact, the people who gather in Christ’s name and endeavour in God’s purposes. And THAT is the temple needing our diligent, ongoing attention and care. That is the temple that is subject to slow, almost imperceptible erosion from the wear & tear of harsh conditions, and tiny cracks between the pillars; that is the flesh and blood Church needing to be fortified against wedges of division that run counter to the values of Christ, and stand firm against the spinning of tales that have nothing to do with God’s truths. In order to keep moving forward along the way of Christ, we need to heal the ragged holes that may be caused by forces outside or inside.

Because THIS Body of Christ is here to stay, and nothing must ever shake our conviction → not social exile because Christians are different; not the lazy ‘me first’ trend that tempts people away; not the several wars on this earth that challenge our hope for humankind. THIS Church of pumping heart & fervent spirit will hold fast to what is good, will rebuild wherever we’ve taken a hit, and “‘the glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house’ … ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ says the Lord Almighty. Praise & thanks be to God for the gift of faith that is built to last. Amen