Haggai knew what had to be done. The truth is that everyone knew what had to be done. Why was the temple and the wall not completed twenty years after the Jews returned from the Babylonian Captivity? Well… people were busy. There is nothing wrong with having a nice home. God wants us to take pride in our possessions – including our homes. The problem was that God’s people had lost all sense of stewardship. They didn’t take pride in the house of the Lord. They didn’t seem to care that God’s house, the temple, was in ruins.
Maybe it was because the temple could never look as glorious as it did before the Babylonian Captivity. That was beside the point. Haggai reminded God’s people that this new temple would be more glorious, not because it would look better, but because God himself would be walking through it. During Holy Week Jesus would present himself with all of the other lambs about to be slaughtered for the Passover Feast. The priests missed that the Lamb of God was in their midst.
The words of Haggai can be applied today as well. Star of Bethlehem Lutheran church is glorious because God is present. It certainly isn’t because the pastor is so great. We heard in our sermon text this Sunday that wherever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, there he is with them. This is the definition of a church – people gathering in Jesus’ name. That could be a living room in a home or it could be a beautiful sanctuary with stained glass. Either way Jesus is present with his people.
Want to hear more? …including how we have enough with Jesus? Watch this week’s Bible class the final installment from our series Minor Prophet Major Messages: Haggai.
Please click HERE for the Bible class slides.