watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEXEakKWBds
Sunday, January 10, 2020
We read the Bible to hear God and
relate to God. It’s not the only way we
relate to God. Throughout the New
Testament and throughout church history we see the Holy Spirit speak in dreams
and directly to believers’ spirits.
Romans 1 confirms that God speaks through nature. God can speak through a preacher’s
sermon. There are countless ways to hear
God. The Bible is the one way that is
shared by all believers. We all have the
same Bible. We don’t just read it just
to say we read it. We read to hear God and grow in our relationship with
God. Hold onto that word,
‘relationship,’ because that’s the main idea.
As I read Haggai 1 this past week,
two incidents helped me hear God speak to this specific moment in history. First,
Tuesday night out elders met. We feel impatient
at home, socially distanced due to spread of the very dangerous
Coronavirus. We want life to open
up! With initial roll out of vaccines,
in my mind I jumped ahead of where are.
I began imagining us conducting ministries as we had before the pandemic
began. I imagined us doing that very
soon. It is the pastor’s job to lay out for the church a path for achieving
that imagined future.
We’re just not there yet. Yes, vaccines are here. However, with family gatherings around the
holidays and colder weather driving more and more folks inside, breathing one
another’s air, the number of cases has spiked.
I hear people argue that COVID-19 has been hyped up, and it’s not as bad
the media make it out to be, and it’s no worse than a bad strain of the
flu. Cases have risen so sharply in
North Carolina; we are running low on ICU in beds. Just let that sink in; here in North
Carolina, we could run out of ICU slots.
Vaccines are here. One day,
COVID-19 will be behind us. We aren’t
there yet, and right now it has gotten worse.
Our elders did their job
Tuesday. They guided the pastor. They helped me see the situation as it
currently is. It was sobering for me, but
also hopeful. We are doing good in the
middle of the pandemic. We host the food
pantry and blood banks. We stay
connected through streaming worship and Zoom Bible studies. God has enable us to make financial
contributions to other ministries in our area.
God is working through Hillside Church to bless Chapel Hill.
I am thankful God speaks through our
elders. Reflecting on that meeting, I
realize God was speaking to me then. God
spoke through them to me, but also showed me how He is speaking to all of us
through the words of scripture. We need
to bring our hearts along when we read Haggai 1. If we willingly read with our full selves,
emotions and all, we will be stirred up by Haggai.
Speaking of being stirred up … after
that Tuesday night meeting came Wednesday.
Refusing to accept the results of an election that have been affirmed by
dozens of court decisions, rowdy supporters of Donald Trump gathered on
Wednesday on the National Mall in Washington DC. Riled up by the defiant words of the
president himself, they stormed the U.S. capitol. The videos we all watched on the news over
and over of our own congress having to shelter in place because of violent
insurrection have horrified us.
I had one church member say in a
group conversation on Zoom, “I am sure Rob is going to talk about this
Sunday.” After she said that, how could
I not? Another member said she spent the
day weeping as she watched the videos and digested the images of chaos and
violence and disrespect of our democracy.
How could I not address this?
What struck me on Friday is how
easily the real issue comes to the fore when held alongside what’s happening in
Haggai. As we read last week, Haggai
reports God’s frustration that His people were dragging their heels in
rebuilding the temple. Rebuilding the temple
would put worship back at the center of Israelite community life. Worship is the primary context for us to live
in relationship with God. There’s that
word again, ‘relationship.’ Humans were created to worship God. We were made for relationship with God.
After hearing Haggai, Governor Zerubbabel
and High Priest Joshua obeyed the Lord.
These leaders led the people to worship God. Haggai then writes that the remnant, not an
overwhelming mass of people, but the small group who remained followed the
governor and high priest’s lead. They
obeyed God.
God responded to this overture of
worship and reverence from the people with a promise. “I am with you,” God said. This is one of the foundational assurances of
the Bible. It’s not a guarantee that all
that’s wrong is fixed in the blink of an eye.
It’s the promise that the living God will not abandon us in the face of
the storm. Instead, God stays with us,
holding us, even in the darkest hour.
After that promise of presence,
Haggai writes that the Spirit of Lord stirred up Governor Zerubbabel and High
Priest Joshua and the people. Stirred by
God’s spirit, they got to work. By the
time Haggai’s protégé, the prophet Zechariah was writing his prophecy, the new
temple was ready to be dedicated.
Stirred by God, the people did the work they previously thought was too
hard.
Now, let this improbable temple
building work stand side-by-side with what happened at the capital. We need to be stirred up. However, who is doing the stirring? I don’t endorse candidates or political
parties. I know in our church we have
Republicans, Democrats, independents, swing voters, and people who hate
politics. If you think you know my
politics, you might be surprised.
On
Wednesday, a group of mostly white people, allowed themselves to be stirred up
by Donald Trump to the point that they committed an act terrorism and
insurrection. If there is justice, every
person who crossed the barricades will be tried and convicted of acts of terror
on American soil. Our senators and
representatives, doing their jobs, representing us, were literally terrified by
supporters of our president.
We need to be stirred up, as the
people in Haggai were stirred up, but by whom?.
Who motivates us to act? Who we
listen to shows what we do when we’re inspired.
Campaigning, before he was ever
elected, Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women and dragging them around by
the vagina, but he used a much crasser term than vagina. Also, he openly mocked a reporter who has a
disability. How, in the 21st
century, can we tolerate a leader, who mocks people with disabilities? Tolerate? We made him president and then followed his
lead in making a mockery of our cherished democracy.
When
white supremacists held a rally that turned deadly in Charlottesville,
Virginia, President Trump insisted there were “good people” among the white
supremacists, avowed racists. He refused
to condemn white supremacy. Later in his
presidency, when given the opportunity to do so, he again refused to condemn
white supremacy, and he has embraced the endorsement and support of
racists.
He
decried nations in Africa as “Shit-hole” countries. I am sure someone is unhappy to hear a pastor
say “shit” in the sermon. I am equally
sure the people offended by me did not utter a word of condemnation when the
president said it. I am quoting
him. I have visited more than one
African country and have traveled to the continent 10 times as well meeting
scores of Africans here in the U.S. I
don’t know where the president gets the idea that these are shit-hole
countries. Some of the most beautiful,
proud, welcoming people I know and count as life-long friends are Africans who
follow Jesus with a dedication I pray I could come close to matching. They’re not shit-holes. You’re wrong Mr. President.
I know from experience.
If
I said any of the things he said, I’d be fired, and should be. The mess in Washington on Wednesday happened
because too many of us have allowed ourselves to be stirred up this
president. Governor Zerubbabel and High
Priest Joshua and the people were stirred up the Holy Spirit.
What
does it look like when we are stirred up by the Spirit? Temples get built. Churches figure out how to do worship and
small group and stay as safe as possible in the midst of a dangerous,
contagious, worldwide pandemic. Food
pantries and Blood banks, happen at the church. The church of Jesus Christ is known for doing
good and loving people.
I
see in our church people stirred up by the Spirit. We are doing vital ministry while at the same
time showing patience and discovering new ways to be God’s church. Stirred by the Spirit, we call out evil. What happened at the capital last week, a mob
following the whims of a foolish, self-serving, self-promoting president, was
evil. We name it.
Stirred
up by the Spirit, we welcome people of different political stripes and
viewpoints. We come together in the
death and resurrection of the one we all love and follow, our Lord, Jesus
Christ.
Stirred
up by the Spirit, we stand in confidence, knowing that our God is with us, we
are His people, He secures our future, and He holds us in His arms. No politics, no event, no pandemic can
disrupt our relationship with God in Christ.
That defines who we are.
Church,
we exist to worship and serve Jesus, and to share his gospel. We love others, follow him, spread hope, and help
people God sends to us find their own way into relationship with him.
AMEN
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