Gold Mine

 

Gold Mine

 

Haggai 2:1-2:9

 

2:1 In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying:

 

2:2 "Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say:

 

2:3 Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?

 

2:4 Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts,

 

2:5 according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear.

 

2:6 For 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,

 

2:7 and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the LORD of hosts.

 

2:8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts.

 

2:9 The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts, and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts."

 

 

An old friend of mine and I used to tease each other about naming one of our children, “Zerubbabel.” One of the great Bible names, what nicknames could it possibly spawn? Zero? Bub? Babel? ZB? Thankfully, our sense overcame our inner “Monty Python,” and none of our children ever had to wear this moniker like a millstone around their neck. Still, it’s an interesting name, memorialized in this passage as one of the ancient leaders of Israel. God had a message for him.

 

Israel was at one of its nadirs, and God wanted to reassure them that God had NOT forgotten them. Indeed, the core message was, “My Spirit abides among you.” God was about to stir the pot again, to the end that Israel will be reestablished and reborn. It happened a lot, because Israel knew how to fall hard. Yes, they were victimized by being a largely religious “theocracy,” surrounded by warring, conquering peoples, but they most often brought their “bad luck” upon themselves. You see, when things were going well for them (thanks to Yahweh), they had a bad habit of believing they were responsible for their own good fortune, and began exhibiting quite arrogant behavior. Then, when the walls fell in, they cried out to God, “believing” that somehow God must be responsible for their plight. At the very least, the “bad guys” who had beat them up deserved a bit of spiritual retribution, so they would pray for it to happen. In my opinion, God too regularly obliged. I’m not really criticizing God, here, for I don’t believe God is this kind of a side-taker, other than to preserve and dignify righteousness. However, we must remember that “history is written by the victors,” as they say, so what we read in the Bible about Israel’s restorations and triumphs must be seen through this “victory” lens. This is a good reason why we should not take the bible “literally” without a thorough review of which “eyeglasses” through which we are viewing the story. The clearest view we get in the Hebrew Bible is through the eyes and preachments of the prophets. Jesus probably gives us the best view of current reality in the New Testament, however, even HERE we are “hearing” his words through the Gospel writers and their later redactors. Again, we should approach the Bible with some degree of caution. If the word is positive and redeeming, we should ask about what “sins” are being forgiven, and if it is doom and gloom, we should ask who’s being blamed for it. Humans have a nasty tendency to take credit for what is good and blame others for what is not. It’s a cheap way to “save face,” and it will reduce genuine religion to a list of platitudes and rules REAL fast. 

 

Honestly, I have a hard time not seeing the Christian church in today’s scripture lection. We have fallen on hard times. There was a time—and I mean a recent one—when the huge “megachurches” were singing songs of triumph, while the historical denominations were reeling and “singing the songs of Zion” in a strange land, the land of “where’d everybody go?” It was easy to suggest that the Megas (maybe too close to MAGA?) were “preaching the fundamental Word” and were therefore prospering, while the “mainline” churches had become too occupied with social justice, dismantling racism, and caring for the poor, thus alienating their people who just wanted to come to church and then go home to watch football. The “prosperity gospel” of the Joel Osteens and the “come to Jesus” message of the evangelicals was both soothing and encouraging. If some, out of being slathered in the “balm” of these messages, chose to show gratitude by helping the downtrodden or people in the Sudan who needed clean water, then sobeit, but this was not the necessary outcome of the Megachurch thrust. Growing was, and growing required lots of cash. And it flowed, often with the promise that the “pressed down, shaken together, running out all over” reward would be forthcoming to those who were generous. “God loves a cheerful giver” would result in that giver being showered abundantly with God’s blessings and a Divine debit card, a secret PIN, and a large balance just waiting to be drawn upon. Then, like overly prosperous Israel, the Mega-thing began to unravel. WAY too many “shepherds” of this movement began their descent into the leadership abyss by preying upon the sheep, if not their bank accounts, then their marriages. “O how the mighty have fallen” could have become the Call to Worship in many of the popular megachurches. They might have spared themselves by reading this text, which reminds us that the GOLD and the SILVER belong to God.

 

Meanwhile, the historical denominational churches began a-splitting over things like “authority of scripture” and “doctrinal purity.” Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and more recently, United Methodists, split apart. Most have recovered from their schisms, or at least have righted themselves, but the United Methodist “ship” is still listing. Many of our charges had been cobbled together to provide a “parish” big enough to function and to pay a pastor a living wage. The disaffiliation reduced many of these charges into two bodies, neither of which can stand on its own. We retired UMC pastors have been pressed into service in an attempt to keep our end of the divided church afloat, and “charge realignments” are the order of the day, going forward. The Global Methodists may or may not support the parts of these charges that left, but their new-found polity doesn’t say they HAVE to, so we’ll see. Whatever, this text from Haggai can speak to the schism, and its sad aftermath, can’t it? The “gold is mine,” says the Lord. Even if some of it appears to be fool’s gold. There are those who say a “revival” is coming. I think it will be a shakeup such as this text mentions. Our hope is in God’s continued presence “among” God’s people, regardless of their chosen “house,” and in the tremendous promise of the last verse: The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts.

 

Why would God go to such ends to redeem and relaunch a community so intentionally scattered by human folly and selfish, “I’m right” ambitions? Love is most likely the foundational reason. God IS love, and God loves US. If you can get your head around that, then you are a few steps ahead of this preacher. I’m frankly still angry at the theological audacity and idiocy that split my house. Injustices were committed, instead of being remedied and resisted. Accusations were leveled instead of divisions being addressed and reconciled. I don’t know how the “other half” is faring, but my “house” is hurting. At least we can claim to be an inclusive church, sort of. The “each church” can decide clause in OUR new-found polity can hide a multitude of sins, especially for those of us who WANT to be a fully inclusive community of faith. 

 

Another reason God may want to right the ship is that God does hate injustice. That any of God’s people who WANT to be redeemed, reconciled, and included in the church should be able. Years ago, George W. Bush ran under the promise that he was a “uniter, not a divider.” Well, God is a gatherer, not a hunter, and a farmer, not a butcher, when it comes to dealing with God’s people. I’ve been around WAY too many people who just can’t wait for “judgment day” as a time when those who don’t see it their way will get theirs. There will be lots of surprises, me thinks. God loves, God gathers, and God forgives, to the end that GOD is the true “uniter, not a divider.” This is what the text in Haggai is trying to tell us, if we would only listen.

 

If you can’t guess from reading many of my “retirement sermons,” I’m still smarting from this disaffiliation thing. I love God and I love my church, or my “house,” as this text puts it. And I’ll be darned if I can figure how this schism in any way glorifies God Almighty. It still hurts measurably that one of the beloved congregations I served and nurtured chose to disaffiliate, and I’ll be honest, I believe my successor is culpable in driving the movement, and not righteously so. This pastor sold the idea of dividing on the false premise that the congregation would be able to “control their own funds,” should they vote to leave the United Methodist house, a point not lost on a church very heavily endowed with legacy monies. Members were regularly told “it’s not about homosexuality,” which was actually the key issue of the General Conference legislation that opened the door to disaffiliation, in the first place. See what I mean? I’m having serious trouble getting over this whole thing, and the text reminds me I MUST. WE must. And I must believe that “God is among God’s people,” even those who chose to jump ship. I’ll get there, because I always do, thanks be to God. I share this with you, as I’m sure I am not alone in my sentiments and residual anger that plagues me. Let us agree to be open to the Spirit’s healing voice, shall we?

 

Years ago, I heard a story about a man who led a large Christian organization. It had a need for a van to transport clients in its work, so the man prayed and prayed for a van. One day, a benevolent individual offered the organization a used van in useable condition. A few nights after seeing his prayers answered for a van, the director was returning alone in the van after dropping off clients, when it suddenly died in the middle of a very busy highway. Not only had the motor stopped, but all power was gone, and the van was now a dark, “sitting duck” in the middle of the road, and the director could see a huge tractor trailer barreling toward him in his lane. He said a quick prayer, made sure his shoulder harness was snugged, and held the wheel to steer the van away from any oncoming traffic after being launched by the impending collision. The truck saw the stalled van it the last minute, but could not stop in time and collided with it. Thankfully, the director was not hurt, and was able to safely steer the crushed vehicle onto the side of the road, in the aftermath. As he sat there in the crunched van, waiting for the police and emergency crews to arrive, he at first cried AT God: “God, WHY would you answer my prayer for the van, only to allow it to be so quickly destroyed?” He related that after a few minutes of gratitude that neither he nor anyone else had been harmed in the accident, he heard the voice of God say to him, “Bill, whose van IS it?” The director sadly acquiesced, “It’s YOUR van, God.” God spoke again, “Then let me take care of it.” Word got out about the accident and the demolished van. A few days later, the director started receiving calls from caring souls who wanted to contribute funds toward a new van, and even a car dealer phoned to DONATE a brand new van for the ministry. As the director related the story, he said, “A few days later, as I sat at my desk, thumbing through car titles, I was reminded how important it is to realize who the TRUE “owner” is of all we are blessed with!”

 

Haggai got it. He wrote: The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts. I’m hearing God say to me, “Whose church is it, Jeffrey?” I guess I should listen to Haggai. You think? Amen, beloved.