Former Glory

Mark 13:1-8

1As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" 2Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." 

3When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,  4"Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?" 

5Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' a and they will lead many astray. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God

Haggai 2:1-9

1In the second 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: 

2Speak 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, 3Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? 4Yet 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, 5according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. 

6For 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; 7and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. 8The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. 9The 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.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God.

February 14th of this year, I announced that I was leading this congregation into exile. I intentionally put us into uncomfortable places, took us to places we did not expect to go, put unfamiliar hymns into our mouths, so that we might know a little of what it felt like to be carried off into captivity in Babylon. Last Sunday, the prophet Ezekiel promised a coming restoration, when God would other us in and wipe the tears from every eye. This morning…

Transition to Pulpit

…We’re back in the promised land. We’re still under foreign rule, but at least we’re home again. We hear the prophet Haggai calling us to remember the former glory, and to watch for what God is doing as we rebuild in the echos of exile. That’s the story the disciples and crowds had in their minds while Jesus rode over their coats and palm fronds. They expected to be returned to the former glory of Kings David and Solomon.

Yesterday, I joined the “March for our lives” event in Charlotte. If you haven’t heard about it, it was a political march for school safety, organized primarily by high schoolers. There were a few reporters there interviewing the attendees. The questions all followed the same pattern, “Why are you here? What do you hope to accomplish?” That got me wondering about another march, long ago, the march that we remember together on this Palm Sunday. I wonder how the disciples would have answered those questions as they gathered outside Jerusalem. I wonder if the crowds who went before and followed after Jesus would have had the same answers as Jesus’s closest companions. I wonder  what Jesus would have said as he rode into Jerusalem, fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy and at the same time mocking the Roman procession that was entering on the other side of town. I wonder...

“We want to run the Roman Empire out of the Holy Land. We want to re-establish the line of David and live under a godly monarchy again. We want to cleanse and rededicate the temple so that people from all the nations can gather in its courtyards and worship the God of Abraham and Isaac, the God of Israel and Judah.”

I wonder how the disciples felt when, after all the palm waving and chanting of Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest! Jesus enters the temple, looks around, and returns to Bethany for the night. I wonder how the crowds reacted when, the next day, Jesus returns again, cleans the money changers out of the temple, and once again returns to Bethany. I wonder if the people of Jerusalem were getting a little impatient when Jesus comes to the temple for the third day in a row and simply teaches for the back end of Mark chapter 11, and all of chapter 12. When we get to our New Testament lesson at the beginning of Chapter 13, I wonder if the unnamed disciple meant to prod Jesus along to giving the people what they wanted. I wonder if “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” was meant to push our Hosanna’d savior on towards the revolution, the righteous rule, the rededicated religion that the crowds had all showed up to see.

But that’s not what they got. It’s no wonder the distance between “Bless him” and “Crucify him” is exactly five days.

Jesus has not come with revolution and restoration in mind. Redemption and Resurrection are what Jesus plans to accomplish. We, believers in a post-resurrection world, know how the story will go this week. We know that the cross is before us, and we are confident in the resurrection.

Even so, the task before us is daunting. A life of faith doesn’t protect us from suffering, it leads us to the cross. We see the brokenness of the world around us, and we remember the former glory, the way things used to be, and it’s so easy to get discouraged. “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.” Take courage, because even though our task is difficult, we do not undertake it alone. Even though we are heading to the cross, we go there following Jesus. “Not even the most difficult circumstances for the most arduous task will persuade God to stay away.” Redemption and Resurrection are on their way, and the suffering we endure will not define us, even if it overwhelms us.

It’s easier to stay in the past, to remember the former glory of the old temple, rather than to do the work of faith here and now. It’s easier to be impressed by the decorations and wondrous stones than to be transformed by the wondrous love of the cross. Too often those decorations and stones are merely tombs for a dead faith. But we know that the stones will be rolled away. "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” Do not be so impressed by “former glory” and with the accomplishments of the past that we forget the ministry to which God is calling us right now.

Instead, remember the promises of God, remember the source of that former glory, and look around at were the Spirit of God is at work here and now. “according to the promise that I mad you when you are out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear.” We can rebuild a temple, because we don’t have to be afraid that it’ll just be destroyed again. We can follow Jesus, even to the cross, because we know that the empty tomb is behind it. We can do the work of being the Church, living as a family of faith, because we know that God’s spirit abides among us.

The disciples and crowds, in their desire for revolution, are driven by fear: fear of Rome, fear that they will never again reach their former glory, and once Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple, fear of a future exile and captivity. “We, like the disciples, can become so focused on discerning the signs of the times that we neglect our more important mission to witness to the gospel today.”

“3When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,  4"Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?" 

5Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' a and they will lead many astray. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”

“The great assurance Haggai offers the people is that God is truly present with them as they struggle with their past and with their future.”

And with God present with us, we can labor on through the birth pangs, until the latter splendor of God’s people is greater than the former, and the redemption and resurrection of all creation is accomplished at last.