Sunday November 9, 2025

Haggai 1:15b-2:9

In the sixth year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: ² “Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say: ³ Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? ⁴ 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; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, ⁵ according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. ⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, ⁷ and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. ⁸ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. ⁹ 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.”

Sermon

Today we are going to delve into the reading from Haggai. Because I think the Spirit is speaking to us through Haggai.

And speaking to us through Ezra. That’s a different book in the Hebrew Scriptures, one of the books of history, and one that doesn’t show up often in the lectionary. We need to remember Ezra’s story to understand the hope in this reading from Haggai.

Ezra was the priest who along with Nehimiah, led the Judeans out of exile and back to Judea and Jerusalem. After seventy years, they return to a ruined Jerusalem. The city wall wrecked, their houses smashed, the Temple completely destroyed. Under the leadership of Ezra and Nehimiah, they set to work, rebuilding their city and their lives.

In the third chapter of Ezra, there is a celebration. The occasion? The foundation of the temple is complete. Ezra 3: 10-13

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel;  and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

“For he is good,for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord had been laid. 

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy,  so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.

What a poignant moment! Sounds of joy mingled with weeping, so intermingled that one couldn’t be distinguished from another.

Joyful sounds weeping.

I hear the weeping. And I hear the joyful shouts. And sometimes it’s hard to tell one from another.

We remember.

When the pews were full

and Sunday School bustled with noise and laughter.

When there were special services, and music,

and events and activities, ministry in all sorts of forms.

We remember

Before Covid changed our world

Before the doors were closed and we huddled in our homes

Before we worshipped online, or maybe not at all

We remember

Compromise in the name of the common good

Sane policies, sane government,

A world that made sense

We remember.

We grieve.

We worry that it will never be the same and we fear what it will become.

Yes there’s joyful shouts.

Voices lifted in songs of praise

Holy joy, kneeling around the Lord’s table, hands outstrectched to receive Christ

The buzz of conversation over coffee and meals

Prayers lifted, scripture study,

Gifts given and received

All joyful shouts of life together as the people of God here at St Paul’s

But, just like those who gathered to celebrate the new foundation of the temple, sometimes we can’t tell if we’re laughing or crying..

Enter Haggai, who reminds us that God says (paraphrasing a bit):

I know this isn’t what you remember

and you mourn the way it used to be.

That’s ok. Go ahead and grieve,

but don’t be trapped in the grief,

For:

I am with you,

 there’s no need to be anxious and afraid,

be courageous,

and do the work I have set before you

I will provide all that is needed

(that’s what God means when God says

“shake heavens and earth, and treasures of the nations”)

I am doing a new thing.

It will be different, but it will be glorious!

It will be different, but it will be greater than before!

I will give prosperity

(meaning God’s kingdom WILL come,

and God’s will WILL be done

and all the good things it brings)

I AM with you

There’s work ahead of us. God’s work. Rebuilding this house, this community. Better yet, think of it as remodeling. Our community has new challenges and needs. This congregation faces new challenges and needs. God has put us in charge of a remodeling project so our congregation can meet these needs.

·       Sharing our faith, in a world that often equates Christian with hate, bigotry and cruelty. We have the daunting task of offering a different kind of Church – what’s the tagline? Being the church many people don't expect us to be.

·       Caring for the poor, the hungry, the immigrant, the vulnerable, a formidable challenge in light of the current policies in our nation.

·       Holding one another in hope as we face the joys and sorrows of life compounded with the unique challenges of living in unprecedented times.

·       Stepping up to the charge of showing Faith in Action: Love without Limits.

God is doing a new thing. Some of that new thing will be dusting off some of our cherished memories, polishing them and placing them in new settings. I don’t doubt that when they laid the foundation for the new temple in Ezra, they were able to reuse some of the original stones.

I think Bishop Jonathan’s charge to us will help us do this well. We’ll be spending the next few months on our foundation: thinking about God is, who God has made us to be, and why God has calls us to gather in this time and place. We’re going to remember what God has done for us and through us. And we’re going to celebrate the foundation of what God is doing among us now, how God’s love flows through us and out into our community, our world.

This is a future we can face with confidence and joy.

Because God is here.

God is with us.

And God never fails.