Text: Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Theme: "A Visit to the Eschatologist!"
25th
Sunday after Pentecost
November
10, 2013
FIRST
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Denton,
Texas
Rev.
Paul R. Dunklau
+In
the Name of Jesus+
In
the second year of King Darius, 1 on the
twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the
prophet Haggai:
2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,
governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,[a] the high priest,
and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who
of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you
now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But
now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be
strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of
the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’
declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I
covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among
you. Do not fear.’
6 “This is what the
Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little
while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry
land.
7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired
by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is
mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
9 ‘The glory of this present house will be
greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Before
I begin this morning, I wish to extend a word of gratitude to the members of
this congregation and to a growing number of friends in faith who worship with
us regularly. Although we are a small
congregation and we still face uncertain economic times, our financial gifts are
a tremendous blessing. During this
harvest and stewardship season in the church, I want to assure you that our
Administration and Finance Committee -- along with our session -- continue
to honor your offerings and endeavor to use them wisely. When I go to my favorite barbeque restaurant,
I have a choice between "lean brisket" and "moist
brisket". "Moist brisket"
has more fat. "Lean brisket"
has less fat. If our church budget can
be compared to brisket, it is most definitely "lean brisket". There is no fat, if you will. While we do have a mortgage payment, your
gifts have kept us on track to pay that off.
In other areas, you provide for your staff here; you keep the lights on,
the heat on in the winter, and the air-conditioning on in the summer. And, not surprisingly, you give generously to
mission and ministry causes above and beyond the operating budget. Think of the mission trip to Haiti, and,
closer to home, the trip to Moore, Oklahoma.
Our age and youth made a big difference, and all of us -- young, old, or
in-between -- step up to the plate with good cheer. These are very positive
signs for our little group -- even as many larger congregations are
collectively scratching their heads and twiddling their thumbs. Finally, along with the consistent generosity
of our membership, I also wish to acknowledge our visitors and guests -- our
growing number of "friends in
faith" -- who have sensed something good in our mission and ministry and
have felt led to support it. Thanks to
them, and to God alone the glory!
Now,
on to something different. Y'all ready
for Christmas? It just blows me away
that we are headlong into the proverbial holiday season. I saw a picture out and about which showed
the Thanksgiving turkey talking to Santa Claus.
The turkey was mad because Santa was getting all the attention. "November is my month," said the
turkey to Santa, "and December is yours!"
Fortunately,
our church year and our lectionary (the "lectionary" is the set or
readings appointed for any given Sunday) won't let us get too far ahead of ourselves. Things will go better. Take a big breath, slowly exhale through the
mouth, and stay with the Word of God as it guides us through our days -- and
even our holiday seasons.
We've
got two Sundays left in the current church year -- today and next week. What does this mean? It means that the
Scriptures, as the church year draws to a close, direct our attention to the
future. As a general rule, I like to
stay in the present. If I spend too much
time thinking about the past, I'll get into thinking about what I "woulda,
coulda, or shoulda"done. People
second-guess themselves all the time when they look to the past. "Well, I woulda done this, but I
didn't. I coulda done that, but I didn't
think of it. I shoulda done this, but I didn't bother." Then we look to the future -- and, at times, we
wig out with worry almost to the point where we create our problems and
choreograph our own drama. I remember
that great quote from Mark Twain:
"In my life, I've had many problems; most of them haven't
happened." So, as a general rule,
it's best to stay in the present. Even
Jesus said as much. Each day has trouble
enough of its own. Why worry about
tomorrow?
But
nevertheless, on occasion, the Scriptures do invite us to ponder the
future. We acknowledge this when we
affirm, with the Apostles' Creed, that Jesus will "come again to judge the
living and the dead." That hasn't
happened yet; that is still in the future.
Down
through the course of days, all kinds of people have pondered the end of the
world, the end of time as we know it, the cataclysmic event to end them all,
the apocalypse. All kinds of grisly
scenarios have been sketched (a World War III, a nuclear holocaust, and so on)
and theories about dates and times have been going on for years. There
is even a genre in literary circles and entertainment that is called
"post-apocalyptic."
Even
the church has spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about the
future. Some say that there will be one
thousand years (a millennium) of increasing good times, and then Christ will
come back. Others say that there will be
one thousand years of increasingly worse times, and then Christ will return.
Still others think that divine history is divided into segments the theologians
call "dispensations". Thus,
you get "dispensational millennialists".
You
know, when you go to your doctor, it's usually a general practitioner,
right? But there are times when a
general practitioner refers a patient to a specialist. Some doctors are called oncologists; others
are called dermatologists; still others
are called neurologists -- and there are many more.
In
the general field of Christian theology, which is the study of the Bible, there is a
specialty field called "eschatology".
It comes from the Greek term, eskatos,
that refers to the last things, the final things. In short, it's about the
future.
I
noticed in today's Old Testament reading that God Himself is something of an
eschatologist. God is making a statement
about the future -- and, in fact, it's about the ultimate and final end.
In
order to point people to the future
which they cannot see, God has them look back to the past and jogs their
memory. God reminds of something that
they could picture in their minds' eye:
that beautiful and glorious temple in Jerusalem. How magnificent it was in what we might call
the good old days. But now it is in
ruins. God says: " Who
of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you
now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?" If they were honest with themselves, they'd
all, with one voice, have to say yes.
"Yes, it does look like nothing; we brought it upon ourselves. We were unfaithful to you. The temple is in ruins, and we see on the
outside, in the present, a mirror of what is on the inside. God, we are in ruins. Is this it?
Is this where the road ends?"
Before
the spiritual leaders, the civic leaders, and the remnant of folks that were
left could give voice to their thoughts, God speaks up. Three times God says: "Be strong" (or "be
courageous"). Be strong and
courageous because "in a little while" that mound of ruins you see
will be rebuilt -- and it will be far more glorious than you could ever
imagine. "The glory of this house will far surpass the glory of the
former." If that's how it will be on the outside, imagine what it will be
for you on the inside! "This is the
covenant," says God. "I am among you.
Be not afraid."
There
are your takeaways for the future, my friends, from God, the eschatologist.
When you look ahead: be full of courage;
God is with you; do not be afraid. That
works for the holiday season that sprawls before us; that works for every
single day: be full of courage; God is with you; do not be afraid.
A
wise individual (I can't remember who) once offered up a tremendous working
definition of courage: "What is
courage? It's nothing but fear that has
said it's prayers."
The
One who will come again to judge the living and the dead is also the One who
was put to death for our sins and raised again for our justification. In Jesus Christ, our future is ultimately
secure. We have a clean bill of health
from the divine eschatologist. So be of
courage; do not be afraid; God is with
you.
Amen.
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