Third Wednesday in Advent
December 16, 2009
Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Text: Haggai 2:1-9
THE LORD BRINGS PEACE
THAT SHAKES THE HEAVENS AND EARTH
I THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
WAITING AND WORKING
II THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
SHAKING AND GATHERING
III THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
FULFILLMENT AND GLORY
Haggae 2:1-9
1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 2 "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
6 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty."
　
I am going to read the sermon introduction I had planned to use last Wednesday, one week ago. This is it:
"I might not have been here to conduct this service. Could have died - am getting older. Or Judgment Day could have come - but then none of us would be here, would we. The actual reason is something unexpected that came up: I was called for jury duty this week Monday and Tuesday. That meant waiting to see if I would be finished yesterday or not. So wait I did. Thankfully Pastor Spaude said he would be ready to exchange with me and step in if my duty continued."
As it turned out Pastor Spaude and I had to exchange Wednesdays because my jury duty went beyond Monday and Tuesday of last week and extended through Monday of this week. Believe me when I say I am happy that it didn’t go still longer. So waiting obviously was involved.
We are now in the season of Advent. We had to wait for that to come too. And now our text also speaks of waiting, waiting for the Lord to accomplish and bring something. Our theme is
THE LORD BRINGS PEACE
THAT SHAKES THE HEAVENS AND EARTH
I THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
WAITING AND WORKING (1-4,8)
1. The historical setting (1-2)
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people."
a) Judah had been captured by the Babylonians, the temple was
destroyed, people taken into captivity in Babylon; perhaps you
remember from that time about Daniel in the lion’s den, the
three men in the fiery furnace, Queen Esther
b) after 70 years of captivity, as God foretold, Persia took over
Babylon and permitted a remnant of the Jewish people to
return to Israel to rebuild what had been destroyed
2. The temple
a) a new foundation had been put in, but that was all so far
b) encouragement was needed to keep on building, to restore
the temple, not just their houses as we heard last Wednesday
3. Here a comparison was brought up (2-3)
"Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?’"
a) Solomon’s temple was in the past; it had been glorious,
loaded with silver and gold and the best of everything
b) now back from captivity, how could anything they build come
even close to comparing with that original? - it couldn’t!
4. They, while waiting, were to work (4,8)
"‘But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty.’"
a) don’t stop doing what the Lord wants you to accomplish, just
as you and I are not to stop doing the Lord’s will today
b) work, and the Lord promised to be with them and to provide
"‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.’"
c) He would enable them, be with them as they waited for the
real meaning behind all of this: the bringing of peace
II THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
SHAKING AND GATHERING (5-7)
1. Shaking - coming out of Egypt (5)
"‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’"
a) remember all of the construction, shaking of the ground, for
the work on Forest Home Ave.?
b) can’t compare with the 10 plagues God threw at Egypt to
deliver His people, the crossing of the Red Sea, providing
for them for 40 years in the desert - all of this to keep His
promise of a Savior from the line of Abraham, a Savior who
would be born in a place called Bethlehem
2. Shaking through history (6-7a)
"This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, ---.’"
a) God did that shaking through Greece (remember Alexander
the Great?) to bring a common language in which God would
record His New Testament Scriptures; God did that through
Rome, establishing a world peace that would speed the spread
of the Gospel everywhere
b) God continued to do that through Babylon and Persia; and He
still rules the world today for His good purposes
3. This was for gathering the desired of all nations (7ab)
"‘I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, ---.’"
a) was this "desired" Jesus? surely should be for us; but Jesus
was rejected by nations, not desired even by His own nation
b) rather "desired" (plural verb) refers to gathering of God’s
people, His desired from all nations, including us in Wisconsin
4. Here is glory (7)
"‘I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD Almighty.’" a) God had promised a Savior not for just one nation but for all
b) do you remember how Simeon recognized this when he held
the baby Jesus in His arms in the temple? - "My eyes have seen your salvation - a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
c) and think of the Wise men from the East who also saw God’s
promises fulfilled and brought their thank offerings of gold and
incense and myrrh to be put into the Savior’s service
III THIS IS A PEACE THAT INVOLVED:
FULFILLMENT AND GLORY (8-9)
1. The glory is not outwardness (8)
"‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty.’"
a) Solomon’s temple had to be tremendous with gold and silver
b) here too God provided; but that was not the glory
2. There is a far greater glory (9a)
"‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, ---’"
a) real glory of the temple was not seen in how it looked
b) even as our church’s real glory was not and is not found in
our old church, our school gym for services, or present church
3. It is in what comes out from there (9)
"‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty."
a) what is beauty of our church? it is the message of God’s
promises fulfilled, the Gospel message of peace through Jesus
b) so it was with the real meaning of the temple where sacrifices
pointed to the Lamb of God, to Jesus’ fulfillment and peace
4. Rejoice in this message of peace (9)
"‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty."
a) peace: Jesus came, lived, died, arose
b) peace to sinners: no condemnation, past forgiven and
forgotten by God, heaven’s door open; like Simeon we can
depart in peace
c) a person often hears of earth-shattering news, but here is
hell-shattering news: Jesus slammed shut hell’s door for all
believers and opened heaven’s door wide: Peace
God grant that this peace, this glory of God, will continue to shine brightly in this temple or church of ours this Advent and Christmas season and always as we celebrate Jesus who came to be our Savior. May the closing words of our text always apply here: "‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty."