Vicar Writes & Info
A Broken House
We start the year by examining the message in the book of Haggai. It is apt as this year is a critical one for the church. It will be a season where our commitment to the Lord’s church will be tested. And it is my prayer that each one of us will grow closer to the Lord and mature in our faith through the journey.
The Lord’s words in Haggai 1:8--"Build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored"--frame the theme of the book. Everything else in this short book of prophecy hangs on this one command—‘build God’s house!’
The temple which King Solomon built was destroyed during the Babylonian invasion. The Jews were thrown into exile in Babylonian cities. Gradually, the Persians rose to power under King Cyrus. He gave permission for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and temple (Ezra 1:2-4).
For some reasons, the Jews wavered. The process was stalled. They said, “The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built.’ What could be the reasons? Perhaps it is the opposition from surrounding neighbours. Some may be reluctant to share their resources, given preoccupation with their own security (eg ‘paneled houses’).
Thus prophet Haggai ministered in that situation and called the people to reorder their priorities, “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” (1:3)
This old book helps us to come to grip with the essential issue: The need to center our lives on the Kingdom of God and in particular, the building up of the Church of the Lord. For ‘the house is in ruins.’ When Jesus promised that “I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:18), by implication, the Church is never a finished product on this side of eternity. (Another common analogy is that of a bride who is being made ready – Rev 19:7) Parts of it is in ruins and in need of building work. Useless and broken stones need to be assembled and be a part of a coherent whole which can serve a God-ordained purpose.
This Church is represented by our individual lives, families, community life as a church, our worship together and our witness before the world. It is not diffiuclt to see that there are many parts in ruins and in need of being given top and life-centering priority. Will we?
Haggai chapter 1 calls us to ‘give careful thoughts to our ways.”
