Building the Church
Sermon based on Haggai 1:15b-2:9
In the book of Haggai, the people of Israel have returned from their enslavement, and are back in their homeland. The Babylonian empire sent them home after 50 years of slavery, and provided them with resources to build their temple again, the one that had been ruined when they were taken from their homeland. This is what the people of Israel had hoped for, dreamed of, prayed for, and demanded of God. And now they had come back home from enslavement in Babylon, but things are not immediately easy. They were home, but their homes were destroyed. Their land did not seem like their land any longer.
The people of Israel were dispirited, apathetic, and indifferent. And the prophet was calling them to re-build their house of worship.
These were folks that were just trying to survive. They were just trying to take care of their families, to look out for their children, to put a roof over their heads and food on their tables.
The temple was destroyed. And after 50 years of being away, the Israelites were focused on rebuilding their families and creating stability for themselves.
And this is where the prophet Haggai comes in. We know little of Haggai historically, except for what we read in this book. What we do know is that Haggai called the community to rebuild the temple, knowing that it served a critical function in the community. In chapter one of this book, Haggai suggested that the temple needed to be rebuilt because the state of the house of God reflected the people’s relationship with God.
Haggai prophesied to a recently enslaved, and more recently released people. He’d prophesied to a tired, wary, and protective people. And he told them to rebuild that which was broken. Not just rebuild the temple, but make it more grand and more spectacular than it was before.
“The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the lord of hosts.”
What does it take to rebuild that which was broken? What has to happen inside a person or group of people to continue to rebuild that which has been destroyed?
When we were in Hebron with Christian Peacemaker Teams, Ron, Charlie and I spent a few hours at a Palestinian school that was being built. We were–at the invitation of a Palestinian group called Youth Against Settlements–cleaning up the future site of a small kindergarten classroom littered by barbed wire, trash, and rocks from walls that had been knocked down. This week, I saw this little school in the news–nearly completed, it had been vandalized, covered by racist, hateful graffiti. In that same school yard last week, video was released of soldier harassing the leader of Youth Against Settlements, pushing him, and screaming in his face. He raised his hands to them–not in violence–but as a sign of his unwillingness to fight.
Youth Against Settlements will clean that graffiti of the kindergarten doors and walls. They will rebuild. And young Palestinian children will begin their education in this sweet little building. There is no doubt in my mind about that.
Last year, when Phil, Christine and I went to Far Rockaway with to help out after hurricane Sandy, we worked with a group of Amish men from Lancaster county. When things got quiet on the farm, they would work with Mennonite Disaster Service, clearing out after storms, rebuilding homes.
Christine and I couldn’t keep up with Phil and the Amish guys–we spent a good deal of our time just trying to clean up after their efficient work efforts. What was amazing on this trip is that we didn’t ask questions about the how or the why. We just knew we were there to tear down so that the people of Far Rockaway could rebuild. There was not question that rebuilding needed to happen.
The people of Hebron and the people of Far Rockaway know that rebuilding is a sign of hope. Rebuilding is a sign that people haven’t given up, that they are not discouraged, that they can see things bigger picture.
In the same way and in with that same spirit, we keep building the church. There are some days when it makes absolutely no sense to do so. There are some days when do is completely absurd. Why do we worship? Why do we have this building? Why do we put our time into creating community and interacting with each other?
Haggai reminds us that we build and create to connect with each other. We build and create to connect to God. We build this church, and do the work of God because we can’t live on our own. We can’t live in our houses in isolation. We can’t raise our children or care for our parents without each other. We sing, we worship, we share, we laugh and cry, because we are more than just individuals, we are more than the work we do, we are part of something bigger.
We are building and re-building church because it matters. It matters that we have a place to ask questions, to celebrate, to hold each other up. What we do matters.
When things get hard, it can feel like this isn’t worth doing. When relationships within this place feel strained, we want to return to our own homes, and focus on our four walls. That can feel safer than trying to build something that can be destroyed again.
Nadia Bolz-Weber, Lutheran Pastor and writer, describes what she says to new attender at her church. People come to her church because she’s cool, and her church is edgy. It’s easy for people to become enamored with the hip atmosphere at The House for All Sinners and Saints, where she is the pastor. But she tells new people–”We will let you down, we will upset you. But if you run away in the middle of the conflict and in the middle of the hard stuff, you miss the change to see resurrection happen again.”
We fear rebuilding because it’s hard work, and because it involves risk. But, building the church, showing up here week after week, is an act of hope in a world that feels hopeless. It is an act of turning to God, in a society that scoffs at reliance on anything other than ourselves. It is an act of courage, when everything about what we do defies logic and reason.
Sisters and brothers, we are building the church–with our time, with our talents and with our money. We build the church, day by day, stone by stone, an act of solidarity with God and each other, and an act of hope and courage. AMEN.