“Encouraged to keep the Message alive”

by Rev. Paul Stephens

9:00 a.m. Service at Wesley - 11 November, 2007 - Pentecost 24, Year C

Old Testament Reading: Haggai 1:15b-2:9 (The NRSV)

Epistle Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 (The Message)

It is not difficult to see things only from a negative perspective.

I was once told that economists are constantly fearing the worst – interest rates always go the wrong way; inflation is always too high or too low.

Of course, then there are the poor old farmers who often have good reason to see things in a less then positive light.

Do you remember these words penned by Fr. Patrick Joseph Hartigan otherwise known as John O’Brien?

"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, In accents most forlorn, Outside the church, ere Mass began, One frosty Sunday morn. The congregation stood about, Coat-collars to the ears, And talked of stock, and crops, and drought, As it had done for years. "It's looking crook," said Daniel Croke; "Bedad, it's cruke, me lad, For never since the banks went broke Has seasons been so bad." "It's dry, all right," said young O'Neil, With which astute remark He squatted down upon his heel And chewed a piece of bark. And so around the chorus ran "It's keepin' dry, no doubt." "We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, "Before the year is out." 1

We can often feel much like Hanrahan – there seems little rain or sunshine in sight; or that light at the end of the tunnel is actually the headlight on train heading in our direction.

Maybe the old body seems to be giving up the ghost – with one thing going wrong after another.
Maybe relationships and plans have fallen apart.
Maybe there has been illness in the family.
Maybe the future for work looks bleak.
Maybe we wonder about the future of the faith with so many turning their backs on being involved in the church.

The ancient Hebrew people to whom Haggai wrote have every reason to think that they were “rooned.”

They were not in a good situation: the year is about 520 BC the people had returned from exile in Babylon to find Jerusalem looking like a bombsite.2

We don’t know much about Haggai other than what is written in the book bearing his name and that he is mentioned in the book of Ezra.3 But he seeks to bring a word of encouragement to the people to not lose heart and indeed to get on with the business of not just rebuilding the city, but actually rebuilding that building the spiritual centre of their lives – the temple.

The remains of the temple were clearly a great cause for sadness:

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?

Here comes the encouragement:

4Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel (who is clearly the political leader of the time with suggestions of royal lineage) says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; (another key leader) 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. (God brought his people out of slavery to freedom and does not forget his promises) 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; (Gold and silver will come from the surrounding nations for the new temple: God will shake it out of them.) and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts. 4 (By prosperity Haggai means more than gold and silver, he means that which is truly worthwhile – eternal things – things of faith and life.)

Paul also in the passage we heard has a word of encouragement for the people of Thessalonica. For whatever reason, possibly deep divisions around the doctrine of the Lord’s coming again5 the Christians there were struggling to hold onto the faith that they had received – no doubt they felt things were “rooned.” So Paul writes a letter; the sort of letter you keep and then regularly read because its sentiments are so positive and strike home. Perhaps you have a letter like that – perhaps one you have cherished for years.

Remember Paul wrote:

13Meanwhile, we’ve got our hands full continually thanking God for you, our good friends—so loved by God! God picked you out as his from the very start. Think of it: included in God’s original plan of salvation by the bond of faith in the living truth. (God desired that each person should embraced by his love and hope right from the beginning of all things.)14This is the life of the Spirit he invited you to through the Message we delivered, in which you get in on the glory of our Master, Jesus Christ. 15So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. (Keep it up chaps – you can do it – you really can – don’t give up now – keep the Message alive.) 16May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, 17put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.6 (God has lots more to offer you – God will be there to encourage and support you in the days ahead.)

Now this Biblical encouragement is not clichéd.

You don’t open the Bible and suddenly hear “Always look on the bright side of life…” sung by an angelic choir. As though we have to cheer up; put our chins up; pull ourselves together …

There is nothing in these teachings that avoids the realities of life: the ups and downs.

Meg Wardlaw as part of the marriage preparation program points out that life always involves ups and downs: she draws a graph on the board beginning with the present situation of a couple – way up at the top. Then she plots the ups and downs that are bound to follow: the disaster on the honeymoon; the shock of having to deal with a mortgage; the excitement of getting pregnant; the reality of never ending morning sickness; the joy of the birth of a baby; the pain of no sleep for weeks; the returning to normal when the baby sleeps; the change when the mother-in-law moves in…

The Bible is like this: it is all about reality.
Someone once said to me that the Old Testament was full of murder, rape and war; and that was why they didn’t want to read it. And I said it is full of such things, but in the midst of all that God is seen to be present and that is why it should be read.

The God we discover in the scriptures is not disconnected from life’s dark side.

In the midst of our struggles and dilemmas; in the midst of everything, God comes and offers encouragement – that is the whole point of the birth of Jesus – God comes right into life – life as it really is – not some sort of fairy floss version of life.

Someone told me the other day that when they looked at the church Christmas lights in the day they thought it looked like the cradle of Jesus was covered in barbed wire – in a sense that is a good image – the cradle and the cross are very much connected.

In life, friends, even when we feel we are “rooned” God comes by the power of the Holy Spirit and says:

“God picked you out as his from the very start.” “I am with you” “My spirit abides among you; do not fear.”

The next time you feel that things really have got out of control and anxiety and fear and hopelessness begin to eek into your heart and threaten to get a hold, remember:

“God picked you out as his from the very start.” “I am with you” “My spirit abides among you; do not fear.”

This, friends, is a living Message – a Message for you and a Message worth sharing.

Resources:
1 John O'Brien was the nom de plume of Patrick Joseph Hartigan (1878-1952), born in Yass, New South Wales. He was a Roman Catholic priest in the Goulburn diocese and later parish priest at Narrandera -- also rural towns. http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1573.html
2 “Haggai” in Paul J. Achtemeier (ed.), Harper’s Bible Dictionary, Harper and Row, San Francisco , 1985, p.366.
3 Ezra 5:1 & 6:14.
4 Haggai 2:3ff NRSV
5 Pheme Perkins, “2 Thessalonians”, in James L .Mays (ed.), Harpers Bible Commentary, Harper and Row, San Francisco , 1988, p.1234ff.
6 2 Thess. 2:13ff

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