The Gift of Shalom

pneumatizing

Nov 8

A Sermon Preached at Salem United Church of Christ

Higginsville, Missouri

6 November 2022

I. Introduction

Haggai is a fascinating little collection of exhortations – we know almost nothing about the prophet, but we know almost exactly when he preached these sermons – between August and December of the year 520 BCE, which is the second year of the reign of Darius, ruler of the Persian Empire, the prophet Haggai preached to the Exiles who have returned from Babylon and to the remnant who had stayed in Jerusalem to encourage them to build the Temple of God in Jerusalem
The prophet's message is one of encouragement toward the future, and, even though we are not building a literal temple today, the message still speaks to us

II. Be Strong, Take Courage, and Work

The return from the Exile is a hard time for God's people – about fifty years earlier, the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the walls and the Temple of Jerusalem, and carried most of the leaders of the people of Judah away to Babylon
The time in Babylon was hard for those who were there – they felt cut off from God, from the land, from their heritage – but they learned to adapt – the time in Exile is a significant reason for the compiling of the Hebrew Bible – the Exile also laid the foundation for what would become Rabbinic Judaism – and it is only after the Exile that we can genuinely refer to God's people as the Jews
The Exile was also a hard time for the ones who had been left behind in the rubble and destruction of Jerusalem – they were the poor, the laborers, the farmers, and they struggled to survive without the city and the Temple – even so, they, too, built a life for themselves among the ruins
When the Babylonian Empire fell to the Persians, under Cyrus, the Persian king released all the captives that the Babylonians had taken – Cyrus sent them to their various homes, along with some money, and encouraged them all to rebuild their temples and pray to their gods for him – the various peoples, including the people of Judah, lived under Persian rule and with Persian-appointed governors, but they had some degree of freedom in everyday matters
Many of the Jews returned to Jerusalem, but a large number also remained in Babylon – it was the only home that they had ever known – that community became a significant center of Jewish life and learning
Meanwhile, back in Judah, the returning Exiles try to reintegrate with the ones who had been left there, and it does not all go as smoothly as we might think – there are resentments and disagreements and old wounds and prejudices that they all have to face – rebuilding the Temple seems like a good way to bring them all together – it turns out to be more complicated than anyone expects
We read in Ezra 3 about the laying of the foundation for the new Temple – it happens not long after the return – when the people see the new foundation, there is a great shout of praise to God – at the same time, the ones who could remember Solomon's Temple, which the Babylonians destroyed, wailed and wept because, in their minds, there is no way that the new Temple will be able to compare with the former one – the noise of both the weepers and the shouters is so great that no one can distinguish the sounds from one another (Ezra 3.11ff.)
After laying the foundation, however, not much happens – there is no work, no new construction, and when Haggai begins to preach about fifteen years later, there still is no Temple – some of the people live in fine, paneled houses, but there is no house for God
The prophet's first sermon tells the people that it is time to build God's house – we cannot know if the people heed the prophet's words, but his next sermon is our reading for today – if construction had resumed, it has already stalled again a month later
The prophet tells the people of Judah that they cannot look back to the Temple that was – looking back is not at all helpful – looking back is discouraging – looking back is disheartening
If they are going to look back, the people should not look at the former Temple – they should look back farther than that – they should look back to the Exodus from Egypt, when God acted to bring the people out of slavery – during the Exodus, God made many promises, among them, God promised to be with the people – in those days, the Hebrew people carried with them a visible representation of God's presence – it was a tent, which they called the Tabernacle
Just as the Tabernacle represented God's presence, so will the new Temple represent God's presence – so they should be strong, take courage, and work to get the Temple built
When that happens, then God will give them shalom – God's gift will not be a reward for their work, but it will be another expression of God's presence with them
We usually translate "shalom" as peace – the pew Bible translates it in this text as "prosperity" – but we all know that it means so much more than either peace or prosperity – shalom is wholeness, completion, communal wellbeing, wellness, security – shalom is an expression of the presence of God in the people of God – and according to Haggai, it is God's gift – and it is God's gift to us even now

III. The Gift of Shalom

We are fortunate and blessed, and sometimes cursed, I suppose, to have this fine place in which to worship and gather – we do not have to build a new place at all, but simply take care of the place that others have handed down to us – so the literal aspect of raising a building is not ours to undertake
Even so, the encouragement to be strong, to take courage, and to work matters now as much as it ever did – our work is to build a temple of justice, a temple of wellbeing, a temple of shalom in which all people may find shelter and welcome
As we labor diligently on the temple of God's shalom, God is always with us to give us that same shalom – we labor not alone, but with our sisters and our brothers and our friends to be an expression of God's shalom in a hurting and divided world – we work to make the gift of shalom a reality for all people
This work is at the heart of Jesus' teaching, when he tells us not to judge others – when he tells us to treat others the way we want them to treat us – when he tells us to love God – when he tells us to love others as we love ourselves – these are all expressions of the gift of God's shalom to us

IV. Conclusion

We do not and cannot revel in what was or what has been – we find hope in the present by the gift of shalom
God has always been with us – God is always with us – God will always be with us – we can be strong, take courage, and work, because God never lets go of us
And by God's presence and power, the gift of shalom is ours to share freely with everyone we meet, no matter who they are

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