Is there anyone among you who can still remember how splendid the Temple used to be? How does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all. [Haggai 2: 3]
SERVICE & WITNESS
MOVING home is never easy. There are new areas to discover, new people to meet, perhaps a new job to settle into, and the inevitable decorating and gardening.
The Judean exiles in Babylon have returned home to Jerusalem, courtesy of Persian king Cyrus who, in 538 BC, conquered Babylonia and issued an amnesty to political prisoners. Some accepted the offer, returned in 537, and laid the foundation of the temple which Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed (cf. Ezra 1-4). That was 17 years ago, and the temple is still in ruins.
Today, on Remembrance Sunday, we remember all those who have fought and died in pursuit of liberation and freedom.
Haggai says that God should have been their first thought, not their last. They have built their own houses, but not his. In modern terms, that means service and witness for God should be our first priority. Of course we need balanced diaries with home and work getting their fair share. But when something has to go, generally we should ask: ‘how may I best honour God?’
If we have gifts to use, it is a sin not to use them. Religion is not a hobby horse to be ridden in spare moments; it is a vehicle which will take us further towards God himself.
IT IS, perhaps, a terrible put-down to be told that your predecessor was a ‘hard act to follow’. The result of such a remark is either to make you quake at the prospect, or determine to be different for difference’s sake in order to make your own mark.
Solomon’s temple was an impossible act to follow. It had been spectacularly beautiful and richly decorated. The returned exiles couldn’t hope to match it (2: 2). Probably some of the older ones could remember it; most would have heard vivid descriptions from their parents.
Haggai says that it doesn’t matter. The people had done their best with what they had. That pleased God and counted for more than architectural acclaim. When we work for God, we are simply to use our gifts and opportunities to the best of our ability and not compare them with others or with what we think ‘might have been’. Perfectionism can be a sin.
If we try to be better than someone else, we run the great risk of becoming proud. If we aim to do better than others did before us we will create competiveness among organisers, and activities will lose their spiritual vision and impact. We can, of course, improve on mistakes made in the past, but ‘bigger and better’ is not a virtue in itself.
After the encouragement, however, comes a challenge. These people had done well, but were beginning to slip into sin again (2: 14). They had accepted failed harvests as misfortunes and not as God’s warnings that all was not well (2: 15-18).
Yet, God does not threaten them but promises to bless them (2: 19). Instead of the stick, he uses the carrot. Having pointed out the sin, he immediately offers forgiveness.
The natural reaction to that kind of generosity is worship. The proper response to love is love. God makes that same offer to us through Christ, and we should be equally generous to one another. Sometimes love will have a more positive effect on someone than criticism.
The Lord bless you, and keep you:
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you:
the Lord lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Amen.
Dedication:
- “Love Divine All Loves Excelling”
The writer was formerly commissioned as a Boys Brigade Officer by the Reverend Robert Lynn, St. Leonard’s Parish Church, Ayr.
The Boys Brigade is a commissioned body and authority whose aim is to “advance the Kingdom of Christ”.
The Boys’ Brigade was founded in Glasgow on 4th October 1883 by Sir William Alexander Smith.
Filed under: Music Selections, Religion, Sunday Teachings, christianity | Tagged: cross at sunset, haggai, love divine all loves excelling, remembrance sunday, service and witness, Solomon's Temple, Sunday Teachings, the lord bless you and keep you, the lords prayer
