A Religion That Shows
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
Some little girls went on a hike with their scout troop. They were all dressed up in their uniforms and most proud of the way they looked as they tramped around the countryside. But with all that tramping around, some became a bit disheveled as the day wore on. One little girl, who normally wore a Saint Christopher medallion under her clothing, became just active enough to have it pop out from its place of concealment without even becoming aware of it. As might be expected, one of her little friends was quick to point it out to her: "Annie, your religion is showing."
Only a youngster would come up with a line like that. But what do you think? Is your religion supposed to show or not? God's word says, "Yes!"
Drift back 2,500 years, back to a time when Israel was just beginning to get back on her feet as a nation. A few hardy pioneers were just returning to their devastated homeland after a half century of exile in Babylon. They were glad to be there because this was the land of their ancestors, the ancient dwelling place of the heroes of their nation. But what they found there would have been enough to depress the most wide-eyed optimist. The great city of Jerusalem was totally destroyed. The walls were torn down, and there was no protection. Their magnificent temple, the legacy of David and Solomon, the earthly "home" of their God, was in ruins. Yes, the people were happy to be back, but sad at what they saw.
To their credit, they got right to work in repairing their place of worship. They prepared the great stone foundations for reconstruction. They repaired the altar. But along the way, they got side-tracked: Their enemies were giving them anxious moments, so they had to defend themselves; they had to eat, so crops had to be planted and tended; they had to survive the elements, so houses had to be constructed -- all perfectly legitimate undertakings, but they kept the people from finishing their work on God's house. Not just for a little while but for almost twenty years.
Those were hard years for those Jewish pioneers. They might have thought that they were going back to a land of milk and honey, but what they found was a land of famine and drought. Nothing seemed to work for them; their crops and herds just never seemed to provide enough for them -- not enough food, not enough to drink, not enough clothing, and most certainly, not enough money: the "times that try men's souls."
This was no temporary condition; it had persisted for almost twenty years, and no one seemed able to come up with a solution. Almost no one. There was one man who had a solution, Haggai, the prophet of God. His message said, "Your religion isn't showing, and it had better show if you want things to improve."
A nation other than the Jews might not have thought that to be such a terrible indictment. After all, religion is often considered a private matter. Millions think that even today. But the Jews had been a people in special relationship to their God, and they knew from their history of repeated incidents of distress and deliverance that trouble would come if their faith and trust was put on a back burner. Their allegiance to Yahweh had to be obvious or their allegiance was no allegiance at all.
Haggai did not come with a denunciation of sin or social injustice or the worship of false gods. His message simply called attention to faulty priorities. These 38 verses we have under his name in the Old Testament might lead us to think he had a one-track mind.
Get the temple rebuilt; get the temple rebuilt; get the temple rebuilt. You have nice houses with roofs over your heads. How can you expect your God to be satisfied with any less? You say you love God; you say you want to serve God; you say God is worthy of your worship ... and then you leave God's house a dump, a wreck, a ruin. What kind of religion is that? Put your money where your mouth is. Fix the place. You would not want to call a house like that your home; why would you expect God to want to.
-- Haggai 2:3-5 cf
That was Haggai's message.
But the prophet did not quit there. He went on to say that if these impoverished people -- and that's what they were: impoverished -- if they would have faith enough to dig deep enough into their pockets to get the job done, if they would let their religion show by what they were willing to do, God would take care of these other problems they were having.
As the scripture recounts it, within weeks of Haggai's call to get going -- and to get showing -- the nation had gotten the necessary finances together to get the job underway. Granted, it took four years to get the temple finished, but they did get it finished, and that is what Haggai had told them to do.
I wonder what Haggai would have to say today to those who claim God as their Lord. Perhaps there would be a strange sense of deja vu. Oh, not that he would come back and see God's house in ruins (although there are some that don't look like much more than that). What he would see is a great collection of folks whose real religion is not much different from the one he saw among his own people so many centuries ago: They come to worship (when it's convenient), they say the right words, they drop a dollar or two in the plate, and then go on about their business. If they didn't say they were God's people, no one would ever know.
Does that mean the prophet would recommend more and greater cathedrals, huge monuments, and tremendous building programs? I doubt it. The message would be "get your priorities straight, and the place to begin is the same place my people had to begin: in their pocketbooks."
Some years ago, Mora Morris whimsically caught the spirit of the age succinctly.
I am twenty-five cents.
I am not on speaking terms with the butcher.
I am too small to buy a quart of ice-cream.
I am not large enough to purchase a box of candy.
I am too small to buy a ticket to a movie.
I am hardly fit for a tip ... but believe me,
when I go to church on Sunday, I am considered some money.
Haggai would have said, "Amen!"
And of course, he would not be alone in that. Jesus would join in. Fully one sixth of all the verses in the gospels attributed to the lips of Jesus and one third of all his parables concern the right management of possessions. Jesus knew that we could very easily come to love that which we have accumulated even more than God. Jesus preached about money, often.
They did complete their temple, and they were blessed by God in marvelous ways: Their economic conditions improved, they were protected from their enemies, they became a nation once again.
Only a youngster would come up with a line like that. But what do you think? Is your religion supposed to show or not? God's word says, "Yes!"
Drift back 2,500 years, back to a time when Israel was just beginning to get back on her feet as a nation. A few hardy pioneers were just returning to their devastated homeland after a half century of exile in Babylon. They were glad to be there because this was the land of their ancestors, the ancient dwelling place of the heroes of their nation. But what they found there would have been enough to depress the most wide-eyed optimist. The great city of Jerusalem was totally destroyed. The walls were torn down, and there was no protection. Their magnificent temple, the legacy of David and Solomon, the earthly "home" of their God, was in ruins. Yes, the people were happy to be back, but sad at what they saw.
To their credit, they got right to work in repairing their place of worship. They prepared the great stone foundations for reconstruction. They repaired the altar. But along the way, they got side-tracked: Their enemies were giving them anxious moments, so they had to defend themselves; they had to eat, so crops had to be planted and tended; they had to survive the elements, so houses had to be constructed -- all perfectly legitimate undertakings, but they kept the people from finishing their work on God's house. Not just for a little while but for almost twenty years.
Those were hard years for those Jewish pioneers. They might have thought that they were going back to a land of milk and honey, but what they found was a land of famine and drought. Nothing seemed to work for them; their crops and herds just never seemed to provide enough for them -- not enough food, not enough to drink, not enough clothing, and most certainly, not enough money: the "times that try men's souls."
This was no temporary condition; it had persisted for almost twenty years, and no one seemed able to come up with a solution. Almost no one. There was one man who had a solution, Haggai, the prophet of God. His message said, "Your religion isn't showing, and it had better show if you want things to improve."
A nation other than the Jews might not have thought that to be such a terrible indictment. After all, religion is often considered a private matter. Millions think that even today. But the Jews had been a people in special relationship to their God, and they knew from their history of repeated incidents of distress and deliverance that trouble would come if their faith and trust was put on a back burner. Their allegiance to Yahweh had to be obvious or their allegiance was no allegiance at all.
Haggai did not come with a denunciation of sin or social injustice or the worship of false gods. His message simply called attention to faulty priorities. These 38 verses we have under his name in the Old Testament might lead us to think he had a one-track mind.
Get the temple rebuilt; get the temple rebuilt; get the temple rebuilt. You have nice houses with roofs over your heads. How can you expect your God to be satisfied with any less? You say you love God; you say you want to serve God; you say God is worthy of your worship ... and then you leave God's house a dump, a wreck, a ruin. What kind of religion is that? Put your money where your mouth is. Fix the place. You would not want to call a house like that your home; why would you expect God to want to.
-- Haggai 2:3-5 cf
That was Haggai's message.
But the prophet did not quit there. He went on to say that if these impoverished people -- and that's what they were: impoverished -- if they would have faith enough to dig deep enough into their pockets to get the job done, if they would let their religion show by what they were willing to do, God would take care of these other problems they were having.
As the scripture recounts it, within weeks of Haggai's call to get going -- and to get showing -- the nation had gotten the necessary finances together to get the job underway. Granted, it took four years to get the temple finished, but they did get it finished, and that is what Haggai had told them to do.
I wonder what Haggai would have to say today to those who claim God as their Lord. Perhaps there would be a strange sense of deja vu. Oh, not that he would come back and see God's house in ruins (although there are some that don't look like much more than that). What he would see is a great collection of folks whose real religion is not much different from the one he saw among his own people so many centuries ago: They come to worship (when it's convenient), they say the right words, they drop a dollar or two in the plate, and then go on about their business. If they didn't say they were God's people, no one would ever know.
Does that mean the prophet would recommend more and greater cathedrals, huge monuments, and tremendous building programs? I doubt it. The message would be "get your priorities straight, and the place to begin is the same place my people had to begin: in their pocketbooks."
Some years ago, Mora Morris whimsically caught the spirit of the age succinctly.
I am twenty-five cents.
I am not on speaking terms with the butcher.
I am too small to buy a quart of ice-cream.
I am not large enough to purchase a box of candy.
I am too small to buy a ticket to a movie.
I am hardly fit for a tip ... but believe me,
when I go to church on Sunday, I am considered some money.
Haggai would have said, "Amen!"
And of course, he would not be alone in that. Jesus would join in. Fully one sixth of all the verses in the gospels attributed to the lips of Jesus and one third of all his parables concern the right management of possessions. Jesus knew that we could very easily come to love that which we have accumulated even more than God. Jesus preached about money, often.
They did complete their temple, and they were blessed by God in marvelous ways: Their economic conditions improved, they were protected from their enemies, they became a nation once again.
