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But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’ “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” (Haggai 2:4-9)

We wonder at times, and especially in these times after lockdowns, whether we really need to go to a church to worship God.  And in some sense, the answer is a resounding no.  God is everywhere present, God is spirit—all the universe belongs to God—so how can we be anywhere but in his presence all the time?  Wherever we are, he is.  We can pray by ourselves, read the Bible by ourselves—and actually we might just find that we do better on our own without all the hypocrisies of the church anyway.  So what do we need a committed habit of Sunday worship in a particular place and with a particular people for? 

The returning exiles from Babylon perhaps wondered the same.  They too had been removed from their regular place and habit of worship—and for a much longer time: some 60-70 years.  Now having come back, they had erected their own houses, but the Temple of the Lord was still a blackened pile of rubble.  It was no site of worship or connection with God.  And, well, they seemed to be doing alright without it, so why build?

But here’s the thing, throughout Israel’s history as a nation, God continually chose to dwell with his people in a particular spot and in a particular way.  There was a tabernacle and later a temple with an ark where God was enthroned and where his words lay.  This is the mode through which the condescending God had chosen to dwell with his people: in a particular, central place of meeting. 

So Haggai calls the people once again to rebuild.  To lean in, to invest, to commit, to work together until the temple is rebuilt and the glory of the Lord is restored in the place where God once again has chosen for his glory to rest.  But a problem soon arises: this temple looks nothing like the former one.  It is much diminished, not only smaller, but also with far more crude and humble materials. 

So comes Haggai’s reminder in our text: the temple is not so much about the look of the place, or the size of it, or the number of people who gather in it—it is about the God who fills it with his glory. 

Of course, all this temple imagery is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who becomes, in himself, the embodiment of the word, the rule, and the glorious presence of God on earth.  And yet his incarnation at Christmas and his post-Easter promises remind us that it is still in a particular place and time that the condescending God chooses to dwell with his people: now in the church.

And so a similar thing could be said to us as was said through Haggai: though our church community may have changed over these last few years—no matter how things look, it remains important to lean in and commit to being present together with God’s people in this place, trusting that what fills our gathering place with meaning and purpose is Jesus, who brings his glory and his peace into it. 

So remember: God’s covenant remains, the Spirit is among us, and Jesus is with us.  There is no reason to fear.