Today’s Scripture Reading (July 14, 2017):
Haggai 1
Welcome to the “Spin Room.” Okay,
maybe not. But sometimes this world just seems to be so subjective. I love
politics, but I freely admit that often politics is really just the art of arranging the facts. The political left and
right deal with the same facts, but they present them differently. There have
been jobs created under the current political leader, but the beginnings of the programs that have resulted in
the jobs have been set up by the previous political leader. Who gets the
credit? Job growth, while present, has slowed. Who gets the blame? Both sides
grab hold of the facts and “spin” them differently; they tell a story out of
the facts that best support their political bent and what they
desire to happen.
And this is not just a political phenomenon; it goes well beyond politics
spilling into other areas of our lives. I recently spoke a series of messages
about the LGBTQ Community and the Christian Church. And regardless of your conclusion as to whether or not sin is
present within the community, your take will probably be a result of your own
personal “Spin Room.” The question that keeps me awake at night is how in the
world did a behavior pattern mentioned a total of seven times in the Bible ever
get to be the explosive issue it is in our world – and in the church. The answer? Because
we have given the issue the “spin” it needs
to become important. The Bible seems to
take a much stronger stand against greed and gossip and is strongly in favor of
loving those around us even if we disagree with them. But, if we are honest, condemning homosexuality is more exciting than
condemning gossip. (Or as one person told me, “Everybody gossips. Get over it.
Any attempt to make gossip a sin, in spite of what the Bible says about the
behavior, is bound to fail. Just give in and let us gossip.”) I am not sure
that I understand the paradigm at work here. (Or, more likely, I don’t want
to understand.)
Personally, I have to admit that I
struggle with Haggai the Prophet. I have admitted
that I am not sure that I believe that God ever desired for Solomon to build a
Temple to his name. He had commanded the community of God to build the
Tabernacle, a tent of meeting. And that seemed to be enough. But David, using
almost the exact same argument as Haggai,
had argued that the Temple needed to be built.
How could the king live in his grand mansion while the God of Heaven and Earth
dwelled in a tent? God’s response was
that David’s son would build the Temple. David thought that God meant Solomon,
although I am pretty sure God had Jesus in mind.
But, in the end, God accepted Solomon’s
Temple, and his glory rested on it. Babylon destroys the Temple, and now Haggai enters the scene and
encourages another son of David, Zerubbabel, to become the new Solomon and rebuild
the Temple. He places into the mouth of God the rejected argument of David –
how can you live in beautiful houses
while God’s house was in ruins. It just doesn’t seem to be an argument that
God, who taught that “Heaven
is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will
build for me? Where will my resting place be” (Isaiah 66:1)?
I love
Daphne Rademaker’s response to the question of God in Isaiah.
Here
Oh Lord, have I prepared for you a home
Long have I desired for
you to dwell
Here Oh Lord, have I prepared a resting place
Hear Oh Lord; I wait for you alone
God’s intention has always been to live in the midst of his people, wherever they
might be, the presence of an earthly Temple notwithstanding.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Haggai 2
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