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Pentecost 23

November 7, 2004

Haggai 1:15b-2: 9

Psalm 145: 1-5, 17-21

2 Thessalonians 2: 1-5, 13-17

Luke 20: 27-38

Haggai 1: 15b-2.9: The prophet preached the five sermons recorded in the book of Haggai during 520 BCE at the time Darius was beginning his reign in Babylon .

The Jews had begun to straggle back to Jerusalem in 537 BCE - the locals were not happy to see them trying to reclaim property abandoned at the start of the exile 60 years earlier; tension also arose with the Samaritans in the north who resisted the rebuilding of the temple, fearing resurgent southern nationalism. Haggai challenged the people to consider that the reason their conditions were bad was because they had not been putting God first; rebuilding of the temple began soon after his prophetic pronouncements. A trap that the Chris tian church has fallen into over the centuries is to think that if we erect elaborate church buildings God will bless us – but large and empty buildings are just as bad as those that are ruined and neglected. In a deep sense we are most likely to build acceptable ‘houses of God’ when we ensure that the poor and disadvantaged are adequately housed! Haggai¹s call should lead us to re-examine what the centre of our lives is.

Psalm 145: 1-5, 17-21: It is a pity that the key verses, in which the whole of creation is invited to join the worshipping community in praise of God, are cut out of the lectionary reading - we could, at least, read verses 1-7 and 13b-21, in accordance with the paragraphs in the NRSV. Incidentally, the psalm is an acrostic in which each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The psalm was probably used in public worship as a hymn or prayer of thanksgiving – ‘the glorious splendour of [YHWH¹s] majesty [v5], abundant goodness and righteousness [v7], grace and mercy, slowness to anger and steadfast love [v8], justice, kindness and responsiveness to those in need [vv 17-19], are all reasons for both individual and worshipping community to praise God. Some manuscripts translate verse 21 as follows: ‘My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh praise his Holy name! We praise the Lord from this time forth and for ever more. Hallelujah’. The psalm was thus likely to have been used responsively in worship.

2 Thessalonians 2: 1-5, 13-17: Paul comes to the reason for his letter – the time is probably about 52 CE, very early on in the history of the church. The return of Chris t [the Second Coming] is still actively awaited and Paul is concerned that the small congregation is being unsettled by people who were asserting that Jesus Chris t had already returned or was in the act of returning. This is not to be confused with the much later concept of ‘realised eschatology’ that we find, for example, in John¹s gospel. Paul says that the rumour does not originate with him and that the congregation should continue working and actively waiting for Chris t to return. Verses 13 to 17 are warmly affirming - if Paul is experiencing impatience and frustration at the congregation¹s vulnerability to destructive ideas, this is overcome by his love for them and his faith in the God¹s long termpurposes.

Luke 20: 27-38: This is the only time Sadducees appear in Luke¹s narrative. They were few in number but wealthy and with huge influence. They were the governing class and collaborated closely with Rome to preserve their power and status. Sadducees accepted only the written Law of Moses, ignoring the prophetic and other writings in the Old [or Hebrew] Testament.

In particular, the Sadducees opposed belief in the resurrection, a doctrine held by Jesus [see Luke 14.14]. So they devise a complex story to trap Jesus - ‘in the resurrection’, they ask, ‘if a woman becomes a widow seven times which will be the woman¹s true husband?’ This is typical of debate among Jewish rabbis and Jesus responds without hesitation. The Sadducees quote from their scriptures [the first five books of the bible] - Deuteronomy 25.5 - in setting up the debate; Jesus responds by also quoting from the Pentateuch. He points out that resurrection life will be different with sexual relations being irrelevant. Death is abolished - reference in Exodus 3.6 to the ‘God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’ means that the patriarchs are alive in God¹s presence, awaiting the final resurrection. ‘He is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive’ [verse 38]¹

For Luke, this incident is the climax of Jesus¹ disputes with his opponents. Luke has him in 20: 45 -47 going on the offensive and attacks scribal teaching and lifestyle.

Directions for Preaching:

1. The two Old Testament readings could lead to a sermon on ‘the House of God’. The Hebrew word for ‘house¹ gives rise to our words: Œecumenical¹, ‘economy’, and ‘ecology’, so the nature and life of a community, rather than the character of a building, are indicated. In South America, huge cathedrals are set amid grinding urban poverty and the living church is found in the so called ‘base communities’ of believers which meet, worship and live in the slums. I am increasingly wary of expensive new churches which tend to soak up energy and divert attention from outward looking mission.
2. ‘Life after death’ or, in more formal terms, ‘the doctrine of the resurrection’ would be another possibility - a pity to only treat this central issue on Easter Sunday or at funerals! Romans 6, 1 Corinthians 15, Ephesians 2: 1-10, and Colossians 3: 1-11 are helpful passages in this context.