- By the Rivers of Babylon
I mentioned last week that one major source of grief for the Jewish people was the invasion and occupation by Babylon, and the subsequent deportation of many Jews to Babylon. Psalm 137, which was read last Sunday - and which Sam and Maddy sang for us so beautifully during the offering - was written in response to this horrible event.
By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
we hung up our harps.
For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!
How could we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
This was an existential dilemma. It felt like the death of everything they knew. Their very identity was wrapped up in the temple and their homeland, which was now abandoned and destroyed.
They were in captivity, in Babylon, for 70 years. That’s several generations, born and died in captivity.
- Stuck
But then…after those 70 years, finally, they were allowed to return home, and even allowed to rebuild the temple.
So they returned home.
They rebuilt their houses.
And then… they looked at where the temple had been. And they thought about rebuilding the temple. But, for some reason, couldn’t bring themselves to actually begin rebuilding it.
They were stuck.
Eighteen years after returning to Jerusalem, and they hadn’t even broke ground.
What was the holdup?
Why were they stuck?
Why had they not even begun to work toward their dream, the dream of a rebuilt temple?
Why do any of us give up on the dreams we have? How many times do you hear people talk about their dreams, but for some reason, they never start working to make those dreams a reality? Maybe it would take a long time, Maybe it would be hard work, but come on! This is their dream! They could at least take the first step and begin the process…
There was now nothing standing in the way of the Jews, except themselves. The Babylonians were gone, they were back home…
The prophet Haggai says that a drought was upon the land, and the drought would stay until the rebuilding project got started. Maybe for we who feel stuck - when we feel stuck - it’s because we’re in a drought of sorts... We long for refreshing water, but instead we languish in the dust…
- Discouraged
Eventually, they do break ground, and begin work. Construction is underway. But their resources are limited.
Soon, the people realize that this temple isn’t going to match the one they had before, the one that was destroyed. It’s not going to be as grand or magnificent. It's not going to be the temple they remember.
And they become discouraged. The very oldest members of their community were there, before the deportation, and saw that former temple; and the younger members had heard the stories, about how grand it was.
But it was obvious that the temple that they had now started building just wasn’t going to be as good. It wasn’t going to be the same. And the people became discouraged, and they started to wonder: Why bother? What’s the point?
How do we in the church feel about that? We are setting about rebuilding the church, and we have realized that, no matter how hard we work, the future church isn’t going to look anything like the church from the past.
In the past, we had dozens of programs. In the past, we had many more members. In the past, in the past… things were great! But now...Look!
Like I mentioned last week… we grieve the past. We grieve over the church that once was.
Haggai, the prophet, acknowledged what the people were feeling: “Yes, this new temple appears as nothing when compared to its former glory.” Those days are past, and will never again be.
That former temple is no longer ours; it’s gone. This temple is all we’ve got.
Yet - the prophet says - it is enough! So take courage… take courage… take courage… (Haggai says that three times.) Take courage and get to work! Put your blood, your sweat, your tears, and your sacrifices into the work at hand!
Remember the word of God; God says “I am with you… My spirit abides among you.”
And God promises that great things will come from this new temple. To your eyes it may not compare to the former temple; but in some very real ways, in the ways that matter, its glory will outshine its predecessor. When you focus on what really matters, on what really counts - this temple will surpass the former one…
That's the message God sent to the people through the prophet Haggai.
- God is in this Place
Today, the church is being rebuilt. I'm talking about Bixby Knolls Christian Church, but I'm also talking about the entire global church of Christ. "Church" is being reinvented. Reimagined. Made new.
That's what it is to be part of the church in the 21st century.
As we work with God's Spirit to rebuild the church, the one thing we need to remember is that the spirit of God abides among us… as Haggai said.
In the work that we are doing, God’s spirit is present. Among us. In this place. In our lives. In the work we are doing.
And that is why we can take courage, even as we journey through this unfamiliar landscape. That is why we press onward. Because God’s Spirit is present among us.
We are building God’s church! And this is exciting, but it is also a source of anxiety for us. We worry about the church, we worry about the budget, we worry about the maintenance, we worry about so many things. We lose sleep over it all...
But if we can find a way to remember that God is present, that God abides among us, that God is with us, guiding us… it will help us overcome fear. It will help calm our anxiety. It will help us “take courage, take courage, take courage!”
Because if God’s Spirit is among us and is present in the work we do, then we can rest assured that our future is in God’s hands. Our ministry, our work, our church… is in God’s hands.
Because this is God’s church. And the work we do is the work God has called us to do, on God’s behalf.
So we can work with confidence! We can pray with hope. And we can give generously.
Over the years, ministers and members have come and gone. Some of us have been here longer than others, but none of us here today were here when this ministry began.
People come and go, yet the ministry of Bixby Knolls Christian Church continues. Why? Because the Spirit is present among us. God’s spirit is present in this place. God’s spirit is present in our lives, the lives of all who are a part of this ministry, whether you’ve been here just a few weeks or for many years.
And together, we continue doing the work that God has called us to.
God calls each of us to make a sacrifice… a sacrifice of time, of energy, of what money we have… for the building of God’s church.
And maybe this is something we would do grudgingly, or reluctantly, or fearfully, except that we remember: God’s Spirit abides among us. God has called us to share in a great and glorious work! God calls us to build bridges of understanding, to bring healing to lives that are broken, to share love with those who are so desperately in need of love, to feed those who are hungry, to comfort those who mourn…
God calls us to do all this NOT on our own, but with the power of the Spirit whose presence abides among us.
The Spirit of God abides among us. I can’t stop saying that! Because it puts everything into perspective. And it takes away from us any excuse we might have for laziness, for not acting, for not doing our part to build God’s church.
- Connected to the Vine
The scripture from the gospel of John, about Jesus the true vine, and all of us in church being the branches, is the scripture that was used at last summer’s General Assembly. The image it presents is one of connection, how the branches are connected to the vine and, ultimately, the vinegrower which is God.
And when the branch abides in the vine and is cared for by the vinegrower, it bears much fruit.
In all we do, we need to remember who we are. We are branches connected to the vine. We are people called to ministry by God - the God who abides with us, who dwells among us.
Our General Minister, Teri Hord Owens, talks a lot about Jesus. It’s her way of reminding us what’s really important. Jesus, she says, is why we’re here. Jesus is why we do what we do. Jesus is at the center of everything.
Sometimes we think that we are at the center of everything… that this ministry depends on us and us alone…
But ultimately, this ministry depends on God.
A ministry that depends on you and me will vanish as soon as you and I are gone. If our ministry depended solely on people, it would have vanished as the charter members of this congregation died or moved away.
But this ministry is still here, because it is a ministry that depends on God working through us. We are the branches, but Jesus is the vine, and God is the vinegrower.
Remembering this can make the work we do and the sacrifice we give to the church more of a joy and less of a burden. We give, not to pay the bills, not to keep the lights on, not to pay salaries, but so that the work of God can continue in this place. We give, not out of fear, but out of joy, because God is in this place.
And we give generously, because scripture shows us that our God is a God of abundance, a God who can take what is given and multiply it… take a widow’s two cents, and call it the greater sacrifice… take a few small loaves and fish, and multiply it to feed thousands.
Haggai reminds us of this God. Haggai reminds us of God’s presence among us. And Haggai encourages us as we commit ourselves and our resources to this ministry.
Because the God of abundance abides with us. The God who multiplies what is given abides with us.
Our God is here, among us, in all we do.
