Haggai 1:1-15 BibleGateway.com
As I write this, the news is all about volatile town meetings and a certain representative who called the president a liar. We are, many of us, shocked at the level of incivility in our land. Weighty issues call for calm, reason, and thoughtfulness.
Advent stuff. Is not Advent in the spirit of Mary “pondering these things in her heart”? Is not Advent a season of winter hush, of dark waiting into the light and the not-yet alleluias of Christmas?
Haggai has not heard that message. He hears, rather, the growl of God: “You people!!” The people have stuffed themselves to surfeit—but not satisfaction. They have busied themselves with their own estates and ignored the House of the Lord. Haggai, and Zerubbabel and Joshua as well, are charged with the pronouncement of the Word of the Lord. This Word is not something to be pondered in the heart. This is the lash of command, the goad to get going; it is divine incivility.
Such untoward language occasionally comes from the lips of Jesus. He once called Peter “Satan” and the Pharisees “white-washed tombs” and “brood of vipers.” Not the gentle language expected of a Prince of Peace.
Advent is not a season of still-lying Bethlehems and cooing turtledoves. It is the time for building the House of The Lord, a house where all are sheltered and nourished and all are healed. This is no public option. This is theWord-of-The-Lord: “You People!!” God has an advent Word for you.
Prayer: Houseless God, we dread thy word to us as we yearn for thy wordless breath of comfort. Your Prophets repeat demanding words we dull with repetition, and your House of universal welcome lies incomplete, windows empty, doors shut. Open them. Open us.
Amen
Whit Bodman
Associate Professor of Comparative Religion
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
CLICK HERE to listen to each day's devotional.
As I write this, the news is all about volatile town meetings and a certain representative who called the president a liar. We are, many of us, shocked at the level of incivility in our land. Weighty issues call for calm, reason, and thoughtfulness.
Advent stuff. Is not Advent in the spirit of Mary “pondering these things in her heart”? Is not Advent a season of winter hush, of dark waiting into the light and the not-yet alleluias of Christmas?
Haggai has not heard that message. He hears, rather, the growl of God: “You people!!” The people have stuffed themselves to surfeit—but not satisfaction. They have busied themselves with their own estates and ignored the House of the Lord. Haggai, and Zerubbabel and Joshua as well, are charged with the pronouncement of the Word of the Lord. This Word is not something to be pondered in the heart. This is the lash of command, the goad to get going; it is divine incivility.
Such untoward language occasionally comes from the lips of Jesus. He once called Peter “Satan” and the Pharisees “white-washed tombs” and “brood of vipers.” Not the gentle language expected of a Prince of Peace.
Advent is not a season of still-lying Bethlehems and cooing turtledoves. It is the time for building the House of The Lord, a house where all are sheltered and nourished and all are healed. This is no public option. This is theWord-of-The-Lord: “You People!!” God has an advent Word for you.
Prayer: Houseless God, we dread thy word to us as we yearn for thy wordless breath of comfort. Your Prophets repeat demanding words we dull with repetition, and your House of universal welcome lies incomplete, windows empty, doors shut. Open them. Open us.
Amen
Whit Bodman
Associate Professor of Comparative Religion
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
CLICK HERE to listen to each day's devotional.
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