11/10/19 “Rebuilding Ruins” by Chalice Overy
Scripture: Haggai 1:15b-2:9
“Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now” (Haggai
2:3)?
Sometimes life falls apart.
Things are moving along just fine and then: job loss, illness, the death of a loved one, addiction, separation, divorce. A few decades earlier, life had fallen apart for the people to which Haggai prophesies. They were occupied by a foreign nation. To avoid destruction, their leaders exacted heavy
taxes on the people and paid tribute by extracting valuable articles from the temple. Still, they were eventually invaded. The temple was destroyed, and its artifacts carried off to Babylon along with many of the people.
Sometimes life falls apart, and when it does, we like to convince ourselves that as soon as the external forces that caused things to crumble go away, life can go back to the way it was before the crisis hit. As soon as I get back to work. As soon as I get back on my feet. As soon as my loved one is better. As soon as the relationship is over, and I’m back on the market. As soon as the war is over, the occupation has ended and I can get back home, life will go back to the way it was.
Sometimes, things do just snap right back into place, but more often, life doesn’t do us the favor of falling apart in a way that allows it to be perfectly reassembled. Yet, our desire for things to return to the way they were causes us to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy reaching back for something that we’ll never be able to recapture. This orientation toward the past makes it difficult to move forward or to fully live in the present because, subconsciously, we fear that if we travel too far from the past we are seeking to reclaim, we may never be able to make our way back to it.
So, instead of seeking a life that is full and thriving, our goal is simply to ‘make it’–to survive until things return to the way they were. And sometimes life is so traumatic that the best we can hope to do is ‘make it’ until things get back to a tolerable level. If this is where you are, please know that each and every day that you make it–every day that you survive–you have managed to accomplish the greatest feat of your life. But, for many of us, the immediate threat has passed; we’re safe now. Things have stabilized a bit. This was true for the people to whom Haggai prophesies. By the time of Haggai’s prophecy the exiles have returned by the decree of a king that supported the rebuilding of the temple.
Things are different for them, yes, but they’re not impossible. Yet, like them, instead of rebuilding and moving forward, we too chose to sit in the ruins wishing that things could be the way they once were. Haggai tells the people that things cannot return to the way they were, but things can be better. Haggai tells the people that they’re living a shadow of the existence that is possible for them. “You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill;you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes” (Haggai 1:6).
Sometimes we really need a message like the one Haggai delivers because when we get into the survival mode that I just mentioned, the things that used to be routine become major victories. I took a shower today. The kids ate. I didn’t cuss anybody out at work…today. Those things can equal success for a season, but after awhile you need someone in your life who will say, “I think you’re stable enough now to set your goals a little bit higher. I think it’s time to raise the standard.”
Haggai says, “You need to make a transition from surviving to thriving, and the way to do it is by rebuilding the temple.” But how would rebuilding the temple change anything about their lives? Haggai believed that the reason they were struggling was because God had arrested their prosperity. Haggai’s God is a jealous God who says, “The reason I’m not blessing you is because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses.” “Build the house”, God says, “that I may take pleasure in it and be honored.”
I will admit that Haggai’s image of God makes me a little uncomfortable, because I expect the Most High to be a little more secure. My experience of God has shown me that God’s care for me is a result of God’s love for me, not because of what I do for God. But I also understand that the temple had been the center of their communal, spiritual life. It created a space for them to gather and engage in rituals that worked to bind them together under a common identity as God’s people. These rituals reminded them that God had been with them in the most difficult times in history: enslavement and wandering in the wilderness. These rituals were reminders that God had brought them out of ruin before and caused them to prosper. These rituals recounted history while encouraging them to look to the future. They were a sobering reminder that we can’t always go back to the way things were, but they also provided the assurance that God would go ahead of them to prepare the way to what was next.
Sometimes going from surviving to thriving is about giving intention and priority to those practices that help us release what was, live fully into what is and have hopeful expectation about what is to come.
That’s what their religious ritual was about. That’s the space the temple had created for them. The challenge is that we can often recognize the things that are life giving and life sustaining, but that doesn’t mean we will prioritize them. We recognize that it would be good to go to church, but “I’m tired and tomorrow is already Monday again.” We might acknowledge that centering prayer or meditation really has a way of grounding us, but “I’ve got so much to do right now, I can’t really justify doing nothing.” I might agree that it would be good to go to that thing that would allow me to connect with other human beings, but “It’s already dark, and kind of cold, and my jammies are so comfortable.”
We’re struggling to keep our heads above water, wishing life offered us more fulfillment, hanging on by a thread. Yet, sometimes it just feels easier to stay in survival mode than take on the task of building a life that is full and nourishing.
Nevertheless, the people are stirred by Haggai’s words and God’s spirit. By the end of chapter 1, they commit to rebuilding the temple and begin construction shortly thereafter. Yet, by the beginning of chapter 2, just 4 weeks later, the work has come to a halt, and Haggai has to address them again. In this second prophecy, God gives voice to the root of their discouragement asking, “Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?” My attention kept going back to this verse because all I could think about was how unreasonable and unproductive it is to compare a structure that is years away from completion to a structure that had been established for centuries. I can’t think of a better recipe for discouragement.
That’s like deciding to document a weight loss journey using before and after photos to mark your progress. A month in, you take a picture of yourself to compare with a picture taken before you began the process. But instead of comparing that 4 week photo with a picture taken the day before you started your fitness regimen, you use a photo taken when you were a sophomore in college, before your adult metabolism had really kicked in. Why would you do that to yourself? Why would you make that type of comparison? But apparently that’s what we do.
When we set out to build a good and full life for ourselves we realize that it’s hard work; and many of us have never had to put in that kind of work before. When we start rebuilding, we become keenly aware that many of the structures that have nurtured us up to this point were built through the blood, sweat and tears of those who came before us. The temple that had been destroyed was referred to as Solomon’s temple because Solomon had spearheaded the work. Solomon’s temple was lavish! Doors covered in precious metals; fine fabrics from floor to ceiling; the most carefully crafted instruments made from the finest materials. Solomon contributed to the building of the temple out of his abundant wealth. Because it was his life’s work, he also set up a sophisticated administration to oversee the additional fundraising and construction. Using his own fame and his diplomatic connections, he imported the best materials and commissioned the most skilled artisans to do the work.
But when the people of this post-exilic community took a look at themselves, it was abundantly clear that they didn’t have the same resources, same influence or even the same amount of energy and focus to devote to such a huge undertaking. Similarly, when we look at ourselves–who we are and what we have–we can conclude that whatever we might be able to piece together will only be a shadow of what we had before. And if we give our time and energy and resources to build something that is insufficient to sustain a good, full life, we’ll end up even more devastated.
Haggai says, “I know what you’re thinking, but you really should keep working.” If we must keep working, from where can we muster the courage to continue?
Have you considered that the reason why you’re so discouraged about where you are now is because you’re comparing it to a past that doesn’t even exist? Haggai asks, “Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory?” The reality was that there could not have been many. Haggai is prophesying almost 70 years after the destruction of Solomon’s temple, and life expectancy was not what it is today.
It’s likely that few people of working age had seen the temple in its former splendor. They may have heard stories about, or dreamed about it nostalgically from exile, but they had probably never seen it in its former glory.
Often, we look at the past through rose-colored glasses, and what comes into focus is something that never really existed. Or at least it never existed the way we choose to remember it. We’ve photoshopped it in our minds to make it much more majestic than it really was. It’s not surprising then that we find ourselves disappointed with our present reality when we compare it to a fairytale–a ‘once upon a time’ that never really was. Shedding those unrealistic expectations may just provide the motivation we need to keep working.
Here’s another reason to keep working: You just started! Haggai asks of the temple they had begun to rebuild four weeks earlier, “How does it look to you now?” Haggai’s question serves as a reminder that it’s not particularly helpful to compare a work in progress to a finished work. At the time Haggai poses the question, the work in progress could not have been more than a foundation. Why compare this temple, in the earliest stage of construction, to the former temple that had stood for hundreds of years? It’s just not fair.
Allow me to offer a modern day example. You don’t get to work out one day, eat french fries for lunch and dinner, and then abandon your fitness journey on day two because you haven’t met your goal weight yet. Similarly, you don’t get to decide four weeks into a four year long project that what you’re building won’t amount to anything. Give things time to take shape! What it will be is not yet evident! Keep working! You can’t give up now!
The final encouragement to keep pressing forward is that God is working with you. When life falls apart, it often takes people and relationships with it, which means that the people who helped you build the life you once enjoyed may not be there to help you rebuild the ruins. Nevertheless, God is with you.
Through Haggai, God assures the people of God’s presence. “My spirit abides with you. You may not have the same resources and connections as the last time the temple was built, but you’ve got a God that has more money than Solomon, and better connections too. I’ll cause people to act favorably towards you. I’ll supply what you need when you need it. I will fill the house with splendor, and give prosperity in this place. Your life might be in ruins, but there’s still more life to live. I know that rebuilding is hard, but you can’t stay in survival mode. Rise up out of the ruins and WORK, FOR I AM WITH YOU!
