Greater things have yet to come (by Sarah Scott)

Mr. Goldblatt,” announced little Joey, “there’s somethin’ I can’t figger out.” “What’s that Joey?” asked Goldblatt.

“Well accordin’ to the Bible, the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, right?”

“Right.”

“An’ the Children of Israel beat up the Phillistines, right?”

“Er–right.”

“An’ the Children of Israel built the Temple, right?”

“Again you’re right.”

“An’ the Children of Israel fought the ‘gyptians, an’ the Children of Israel fought the Romans, an’ the Children of Israel wuz always doin’ somethin’ important, right?”

“All that is right, too,” agreed Goldblatt. “So what’s your question?”
“What I wanna know is this,” demanded Joey. “What wuz all the grown-ups doin?”

So lets talk a little bit about those children of God. At the beginning of today’s service I asked you all to consider the questions on the note side of your bulletin. I want you to consider your answers/thought on the matter as we look at today’s scripture.

The scriptures today will challenge us to consider the past, present and future and where we focus our time and attention.

First lets look at our old testament lesson. Who here has heard of Haggai? Does anyone even remember this 3 chapter book?? I vaguely remember it because during Disciple one when we had to read soooo much there were a few book that were like a ray of sunshine because they were short and didn’t contain a ton of names/places I couldn’t pronounce. I’m guessing I would have liked this book for that reason alone.

The truth is that Haggai is a really short book, because he was only a prophet for 3-4 months, but clearly the messages he received were important enough to make it into Scriptures. Haggai is credited with getting the temple rebuilt after the Jews were released from exile. There is a great message for us to learn by looking at Haggai’s experience. Even though his service as a prophet was short, we can see that God calls us and will use whomever God wants to bring his word to the people. Its one of my favorite things about being a Methodist, I learned through some of my courses that John Wesley became a firm believer that a good message can be delivered by anyone that God wants to give it to, not just those who are called into ministry. Its because of that foundation that I have had such an incredible experience this year with preaching.

Anyway back to the Jews and their temple. Once the Jews were released and returned back to Judah Temple restoration efforts faded, people were no longer interested in building the temple, and focus more on their personal needs to build their homes. Just to give you a sense of how long it was taking it took 18 years and only the foundation and a few other bricks were laid, its really easy to see where their frustration came from.

So Haggai is called to call the people out on their lack of enthusiasm and he starts with “Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory?” This question might have been asked rhetorically or there could have been a few people left who had survived to remember what the temple had been like (they would have needed to be over 75).

We aren’t so different from those Jews are we? We are facing a difficult time here at RUMC, we hear about it regularly when we hear updates on our financial situation. Does it make you feel frustrated? Or does it make us think about our glory days when the church was full and we had more than we needed.  I know I think about a time when we had not one but two choirs all decked out in robes that performed every Sunday and holidays provided really special music (like a trumpet entrance on Easter!). At Christmas we had to add rows to the back of the sanctuary to accommodate all of the people who would attend the candle light service.  I remember when we had so many kids in Sunday school that we were able to support ourselves with the tithing that we received. And a youth group that had sleep overs and haunted houses and took trips to large Christian conferences. We had a craft fair with vendors that filled the church from top to bottom, and a second outdoor fair that filled the lawns and had a very popular silent auction / live auction.  What were some of the things that you thought about?

For some of you I may have sparked similar memories and gave you a moment of longing for those times. For those that are newer to our congregation I may have made you wonder about when those times really were and maybe I’ve started you wondering about what might have changed and if we can ever be a congregation like that again? And maybe, you’ve even momentarily wondered about just joining another congregation that already has all of these things and you don’t have to worry about it.

This is what makes focusing on the past so inhibiting. First, I should probably admit that most of what I’m talking about I was a child when that happened (much like those who would have responded to Haggai’s question would have been if they had responded to him) and I probably have a bit of a Camelot memory of those times, they may not really have been as easy as I described it, in fact those things could have only happened once. While looking back over our past can be nice and give us a boost in moral when things are tough we have to be careful about trying to repeat things that we had done in the past because our memory of it may not be the most accurate picture and it may not fit the needs of today.

But if we spend too much time talking about what happened in the past we run the risk of running off newer members because they may feel that we are not willing to progress or consider new ideas or they may feel that we expect them to shoulder the burden of recreating our past.

The next question that Haggai asked is focused on the present “How does it look to you today?” He is asking them to compare their “former glory” with how it appears to them today. How did you respond to that question? Was it positive in terms of growth and outreach or was it a long list of things that you wish was different? Have you ever noticed how a look at the present state of things can be just as discouraging as constantly focusing on the past?

The truth is Haggai was talking less about the physical structure of the building and more about what the temple represents, a community of faith. By setting aside the work of rebuilding the temple what Haggai is really suggesting is that they have set aside the work of building their faith. They were ignoring God and putting their own interest first. They were not building a relationship with God or with one another.

But I imagine this was hard for that generation, I mean they grew up in exile, their faith was not the center of life for most of these people as they grew up, so its not a natural connection for them to now make it the center of their lives, they may not see the value in it or believe that they can practice their faith on their own.

I fear this might be true for this generation of children as well. Growing up Sunday was family day. You went to church, you had activities together, and no outside group tried to mess with that. We didn’t have games or practices or other conflicts. And on the rare occasion that we did it was in the afternoon (after church). Sunday school and Youth Group were just extensions of school when we had more time to spend with our friends. But the reality is, that is no longer the way that the world works. Sunday is just another day to get work done, to practice harder to fit other things in….there will always be time for God later right? We can always just sit down and read or pray or complete a devotional alone when things quiet down. Right?

Have you ever noticed in the bible that few people have ever been raised up for praising God alone? Who in the bible did the best job of spreading the word by sitting by themselves? While we all need one on one time with God to hear his message for us, that’s only a small fraction of what we need to do, in order to spread the love of Jesus we need to interact with others, we need to show others what it means to live like Christ, we need to be among others so we can learn from each other to deepen our faith.

So how do we take these two conflicting ideas and get them to come together? As a church we certainly aren’t going to get the world to change their schedules. And if we stay firmly rooted in our past traditions we will only continue to cut people off because they will look for places where they feel they can worship/study at a time that works for them. Maybe we need to think more like Jesus, think outside of the church building and find ways to bring God to the community? Maybe we offer services at different times in different locations, maybe we add in more study groups to provide individuals more choices on when to join. I’ve read so many inspiring stories of how church’s are trying to reach more people by finding creative ways to engage with those we might not get into church on a Sunday morning. I’ve heard of “Pints with the Pastor” or Prayer Hikes or Family study groups. What ideas can we bring to spread the word of God?

Finally, lets look at the third question, what does the future look like? How much of what you experienced in the past influences what you were thinking about for the future?  How often do we let visions of a future inhibit us from acting today?

This is exactly the issue that Paul is addressing in his letter to the Thessonlians. Prior to writing this letter the people were led to believe that the Day of the Lord was already upon them which sent the people into an apocalyptic frenzy. They were ignoring the responsibilities of life today because they were convinced that they weren’t going to need to worry about it tomorrow.

We can understand this right? I mean I know my husband and I have been guilty of trying to shoe horn current events and attitudes to point to the end of days, the coming of Christ. And with the upcoming elections I’m afraid we will see more and more people trying to make that same connection as some individuals continue to search for the lawless one.

I read a story about a pastor who was new to a congregation and asked them what their worst time had been. He had thought he would her a lot about the changing neighborhood or a fire that burnt down their church building. But instead they confessed to a time when a preacher had convinced the congregation that it was the end of days, he convinced them to sell their homes and go to the mountain in white robes to await Jesus. After two days, they came down from the mountain top embarrassed and tried to get back to their daily lives. We all want to wait for Jesus, for that time when we hope we have done all we can to be taken up, to be removed from the evil that this world has growing in it. But if we stop everything and wait for the future how can we prepare ourselves to be ready for Jesus?

Lets think of it this way, lets say I am a senior in high school, I have applied to college and believe I’ve done everything I can to get accepted and will get a full ride. So I stop everything I’m doing today to wait to start college.  I stop attending school so I don’t do the work necessary to graduate, I stop working so I’m not earning any money to help pay for school as well. That makes zero sense…and much in the same way we can’t stop living a life with Jesus today because we believe we will get the rewards tomorrow. Paul alludes to something similar by reminding us that we need to continue to live by the traditions that we were taught. The ways of that Jesus showed us how to live.

The past, present and future are all needed to do the best we can. The past can help show us what success looks like and give us the shot in the arm we need to keep moving forward as well as help us learn from our past mistakes. The future helps us to see where we want to go and what we hope to be so we know what will makes us successful. And living in the now, living each moment with the intent of Jesus, that will bring us what we truly want to see in our past, present and future, regardless of the situation. Remember what God said….”the latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former and in this place I will give prosperity.” Greater things are yet to come for us if we allow the spirit to move amongst us and inspire us to live like Jesus.  And if the spirit is with us then there is nothing that God will not do, even if that means he needs to shake the heavens and earth the sea and dry land, he can even bring us what we need from other places that would be beyond our reach to accomplish a goal for him.

And if in the process we feel discouraged or unsure or wonder where God is, Haggai prophesy reminds us of the words that we need to hear over and over again “I am with you, do not fear.” Greater things are yet to come and when we partner with God we will prosper.