FRIDAY OF ADVENT 2

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, saying, I am with you, says the Lord.

Haggai 1:12-13

When I began serving as Bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod in 2014, we numbered 180 congregations. By the time I retired six years later, we were down to 160. Some merged with others, but most merely became extinct.

We presided over quite a few “Holy Closures,” as they are known in some circles. Our liturgy calls them a “Service of Leave Taking.”

The ending of a ministry is always a painful experience, no matter how many times one experiences it – and, believe me, I became quite experienced at it. By the fifth or sixth service, I had crafted a message that I worked into all my sermons.

The people were hearing my remarks for the first time, of course, but I bristled each time I wrote the words. Even though I could probably say the words without a manuscript, I wanted the people to hear them and hopefully be encouraged by them. It was very much like preaching at a funeral.

Church closures are an increasingly familiar phenomenon. The pandemic accelerated the process somewhat; but an aging population, declining attendance, and shrinking budgets, combined with the general lack of religious enthusiasm, have churches shuttering their doors at an alarming rate.

It’s easy to get discouraged when we compare the current U.S. church landscape to what it was in the middle of the last century. But the hopefulness in me always responds to the questions of concern by saying that it’s God’s church, and it will be around in some form or other, just not in the form we’re accustomed to. That’s the most encouragement I can give.

In today’s assigned Old Testament reading, the prophet Haggai has words of encouragement for the Israelites returning from exile.

The magnificent Temple that King Solomon had built lay in ruins. But Haggai will have no pity party. He basically tells the people to get busy and begin to rebuild.

Of course it won’t look anything like the splendid structure of the past, but looks won’t matter. God will be in it and that is all that’s needed to glorify its existence.

I once heard a phrase that I’ve repeated often. “Little is much when God is in it.”

And read again God’s word to the returning exiles: “I am with you,” says the Lord. Those words apply just as much to us today.

We live in a world that seems less and less compelled to worship God, yet God is in each of us, and our search for completion will not be satisfied until we realize that it is in God in “whom we live and move and have our being,” to paraphrase the Apostle Paul. (Acts 17:28)

We can look back and honor the past, but we are not called to cling to it.

“I am with you,” says the Lord.

May God give us courage to hear this good news, and to trust in that promise.

Let us pray:
We give you thanks, O Lord, for all those who had the courage to establish churches in communities, for the dedicated service of the people for whom the will of God was the center of their lives, and the generations that came after them. May those churches still in existence reflect the needs of the communities where they are located, and above all, may they continue to make a bold witness to your presence among us. Amen*