November 10, 2013 – Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Encouragement in a Time of Rebuilding
15th Sunday after Pentecost [Lectionary 32C] – November 10, 2013
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
The story of God’s people is the story of building a place that is unlike any other place.
In a world filled with tribal and ethnic warfare,
God invited Abraham to go a place he would show him,
where God would bless him so that all the families of the earth might be blessed,
so that blessing might come to all.
In a world filled with injustice and slavery and a few big deals who owned everything and
a lot of little deals who had nothing,
God invited Moses to lead the people to a land of promise,
where they could build a place unlike any other,
where there would be no big deals and no little deals,
where God’s manna and God’s gifts would be shared equitably for the
benefit of the common good rather than the benefit of the few.
And in a world of competing super empires, where might is right and the military is king,
where the small become vassals to the large and the people of Judah become
exiles in Babylon:
In such a world, God invites the exiles to return to the land of promise,
and rebuild again a place that is unlike any other place:
a place where the God of mercy and justice is worshipped,
a place where the people live lives of mercy-giving and manna-sharing,
a place where the vulnerable are valued and even enemies come to
give their gifts for the mission of this God to
reconcile all peoples in peace and
bring blessing to the earth.
Haggai addresses these people this morning.
They have returned from exile, but it is not easy returning from exile.
They are invited by God rebuild and rebuild again the place that is unlike any other place.
It’s discouraging and they feel as if they do not have the resources they need to
do what God is calling them to do.
But Haggai provides encouragement in a time of rebuilding.
God says to the people: I will give you my Spirit, my energy, my life, my drive, my desire to
build a place unlike any other place.
And because it will be unlike any other place, the nations will come and
all peoples will willingly give to this project, they will give their silver and
they will give their gold when they see that the place we are building is
unlike any other place.
That it is a place where peace can be learned.
A place where the vulnerable are valued and cared for.
A place where the land is considered a gift of God whose wealth is to be shared by all.
A place where differences enrich rather than divide.
A place where strangers are welcome and hospitality is shared.
A place where healing takes precedence over wounding.
A place where every single person is valued because
they are known to be made in the image of God.
A place unlike another place.
So: Take courage and work.
Take courage and work.
Take courage and work, says God: for I am with you.
If ever there were a text that speaks to us of stewarding our work and stewarding our silver and
stewarding our gold it is this one.
To be a steward means taking good care of God’s gifts, for the sake of building a place that is
unlike any other place.
Stewarding our work, and stewarding our silver, and stewarding our gold.
We are always called to be God’s stewards, every day of every year:
being a steward is a primary baptismal identity.
Every year, though, at First Lutheran Church, we take a few weeks to intentionally make a
commitment to better stewarding the gifts of God in our lives –
for the sake of building a place that is unlike any other place.
This year the Stewardship Committee has had a lot of fun thinking about some of the
many gifts of God we are called to care for at First Lutheran Church; here are a few:
Peace – on this Sunday of all Sundays we are thinking about stewarding the gift of peace well – grace, forgiveness, life, friendship, community, cake, light, hope, worship, God’s story, the saints, abundance, generosity, volunteers, joy, children, global well-being, possessions, thankfulness, healing, youth, creation, time, justice, resurrection, Spirit, dignity, relationships, our neighbours, God’s mission, one another, and – oh yeah – money.
Can you add others? Just shout them out!
In the 11th month, on the 6th day of the month,
the word of the LORD came by the prophet Heather at Food Bank, saying:
Speak to the people of First Lutheran Church, and to the people of Winnipeg,
and to whoever will listen, and say:
At the First Lutheran Church Food Bank everyone is treated as unique and
as if they were special.
and yet, everyone is treated exactly the same, I mean,
every single person who comes to First Lutheran is treated as if
they were special, and no one is treated as if they were not.
So, thus says the LORD:
Take these words as an encouragement.
You are building a place that is unlike any other place.
Take courage, O people of First Lutheran Church.
Take courage, and work.
Steward your work. Steward your silver. And steward your gold.
Continue to build a place that is unlike any other place.
And people will come, and desire more than anything to share their work and
share their silver and share their gold and join with you in building this place.
This place where the hungry are fed and the broken healed.
Where the saints are honoured and the peace is shared.
Where blessing is received and blessing is given.
Where children are valued and the stranger embraced.
Where the common good of all is valued more highly than the select good of a few.
Where forgiveness is valued more highly than resentment.
Where the grace of God puts lives back together.
Where Jesus lives.
Where Jesus calls us to follow.
Where Jesus both comforts and challenges.
Steward the gift of the Spirit given you in baptism.
This is a place unlike any other place.
So take courage and work.
Take courage and work.
Take courage and work – and I will be with you.
Steward your work, and steward your silver, and steward your gold, and I will be with you.
So together, let us say “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
