1 On the first day of the sixth month of the second year that Darius was king of Persia, the Lord told Haggai the prophet to speak his message to the governor of Judah and to the high priest.
So Haggai told Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua2-5 that the Lord All-Powerful had said to them and to the people:
You say this isn’t the right time to build a temple for me. But is it right for you to live in expensive houses, while my temple is a pile of ruins? Just look at what’s happening. 6 You harvest less than you plant, you never have enough to eat or drink, your clothes don’t keep you warm, and your wages are stored in bags full of holes.
7 Think about what I have said! 8 But first, go to the hills and get wood for my temple, so I can take pride in it and be worshiped there.
It can seem at times so hard to find any hope in the world, any glimmer of a different future, perhaps especially today, of a time when war and troubles are over, when sorrow has ended.
One thing the Old Testament show us is that Twas Ever Thus. Humanity has always done a good job of causing trouble for one another – mistreating, making enemies, creating disaster – generally trying to prove who is bigger, stronger and making the life of the weak and vulnerable even more precarious.
Into this God spoke. Into this God continues to speak. The Advent message of hope is as needed today as it was when the prophets first spoke it. God promises that this will end.
Why hasn’t he yet? Perhaps we haven’t given him chance, allowed him to. God is trying to stop wars and we keep starting them. We are still intent on proving who is better, more right – and we fail to live with one another, with tensions and different opinions. We struggle to do it over even small things, so no wonder we can’t do it over international conflict. And when weapons get involved, there will only be one end – more hurt, more destruction, more suffering for those who didn’t start anything.
Yet still God continues to stand with us, weep with and for us, and promise an end – just as soon as we let him. Sorrow will end. We will be safely home.
God will lead us home and we will be safely blessed – that is our Advent hope.
What am I doing to work with him?
O Lord,
I know you weep over humanity,
you are distraught
at the things we do to one another.
You promise to bring us home
to a place of safety
and joy,
but we carry on the fighting,
discrimination,
injustice
and wonder why you aren’t doing something.
Forgive me Lord
for the part I play
in keeping anger and oppression going.
Today
and tomorrow
may I work with you
to bring an end
that we may be able
to come home to you.
The theme of the first week in Advent is The Day of the Lord. We look forward to the coming of that day.
14 Everyone in Jerusalem and Judah, celebrate and shout with all your heart! 15 Zion, your punishment is over. The Lord has forced your enemies to turn and retreat. Your Lord is King of Israel and stands at your side; you don’t have to worry about any more troubles.
16 Jerusalem, the time is coming, when it will be said to you: “Don’t be discouraged or grow weak from fear! 17 The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love.”
The Lord’s Promise to His People
18 The Lord has promised: Your sorrow has ended, and you can celebrate. 19 I will punish those who mistreat you. I will bring together the lame and the outcasts, then they will be praised, instead of despised, in every country on earth. 20 I will lead you home, and with your own eyes you will see me bless you with all you once owned. Then you will be famous everywhere on this earth. I, the Lord, have spoken!
There is no place
for pride
or arrogance
here.
There is no place for rebellion,
rejecting the better way.
No room for those
who think they know better,
or are better.
Corruption must go,
haughtiness be brought down,
lawlessness corrected.
Only service belongs here,
in and through God,
lived in humility,
truth,
hope
and love.
That is God’s way.
May it be my way
The theme of the first week in Advent is The Day of the Lord. We look forward to the coming of that day.
3 Too bad for that disgusting, corrupt, and lawless city! 2 Forever rebellious and rejecting correction, Jerusalem refuses to trust or obey the Lord God.
9 I will purify each language and make those languages acceptable for praising me. Then, with hearts united, everyone will serve only me, the Lord. 10 From across the rivers of Ethiopia, my scattered people, my true worshipers, will bring offerings to me.
11 When that time comes, you won’t rebel against me and be put to shame. I’ll do away with those who are proud and arrogant. Never will any of them strut around on my holy mountain. 12 But I, the Lord, won’t destroy any of your people who are truly humble and turn to me for safety. 13 The people of Israel who survive will live right and refuse to tell lies. They will eat and rest with nothing to fear.
Pam's Perambulation 