
Lent Midweek III
Haggai 2:1-19
May 26, 2025
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
On the 26th day of the 3rd month, in 2025th year of Christ’s reign, the theme is this: The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.
Have you ever noticed that the church is better in our minds back in the olden days? Back then, there were more people in the pews and our kids were here with us. Back then, the building was newer, and there were more people willing to serve on committees. Or the really big reason … back then, the preacher was more to my liking. Back then, we had this thing or we did that thing. It’s a bit of a trap to think this way. There is always this desire in the back of our minds to return to the glorious golden age of St. John’s in Curtis, Nebraska.
Or maybe we think even further back. Surely, when CFW Walther or Francis Pieper were alive, that was the golden age of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. There were these larger-than-life church leaders that wrote extensively and worked tirelessly for the sake of the church. If not that, then the good old days of the LCMS was back when the hymnals were in German or Danish! Related to this idea, I have been reading Martin Chemnitz from the 1580s and every Lutheran parish had a school, and everybody went to individual confession and absolution, and the preacher preached for two hours every Sunday. (That sounds impossible, but oh so glorious!)
That obsession about important dates in the life of the church is something that Haggai knew well. He put a date on each of his sermons unlike most of the prophets and indeed most of the Scriptures. He marked the life of the church by the proclamation of the Word. And he preached on this occasion about the good old days. Haggai preached, ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? Haggai is the preacher about 60-70 years after the Babylonians exiled the people of God and tore down the temple and the Ark of the Covenant was destroyed or removed from the house of God and His people. Can you imagine preaching to the church after all that they had been through?
It reminds me of when I visited churches in Russia and Latvia and Lithuania and Estonia. The communists slaughtered the priests and turned the churches into basketball gyms or swimming pools. And the people of God were not allowed to gather for Word and Sacrament for decades. Can you imagine if that was our history? Would any of you remember the church in its former glory before the pastors were killed and the buildings destroyed from the inside out?
To be sure, gathering together after such a long time would feel a bit empty and depressing. Haggai preaches along this vein when he says, How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? The church is small, and the destruction was great. The gold is gone, and the joy went with it. In fact, the Ark of the Covenant is gone. Where can the sacrifices take place? What would we do if the altar was gone and the sacramental vessels were melted down into swords and shields?
But hold up. I want to be clear: Haggai is by no means a doom and gloom preacher. In fact, he shows us exactly how to rebuild the church. First, he encourages the priests and preachers, Zerubbabel and Joshua. As I said before, Haggai defines the life of the church by the proclamation of the Word. Without new church leaders, the church in that time and place stood no chance of recovery.
And then he speaks to the church directly and encourages them: Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. What a magnificent Word from Haggai! Be strong, every single one of you! Work; I am with you! Haggai compares the Babylonian exile to the first tribulation of the people of God, the 400-year slavery of God’s people in Egypt. And they knew and we know that the 40 years in the wilderness were no glory days for the life of the church. But the point is that the Lord was with them then and was with them at the time of Haggai’s sermon.
And here come the present promises of God. Haggai preaches, God’s Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. And this is what I want you to think about. Certainly the temple at the time of Haggai was a worthy structure, but it too would be destroyed over time. The temple would be rebuilt again by King Herod.
But something way greater than a building in the capital city was in store. And when Haggai says, “Fear Not” I immediately think of the most famous “Fear Not” in the whole Scriptures. “Fear not, for behold, is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is the Christ the Lord.” What glory days of the Old Testament could compare to the glory days of Jesus Christ born of a virgin and walking the earth to eventually die on the cross? Didn’t Jesus say, “I will destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days?”
But let Haggai say it in his own words: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The Lord shook the heavens at Jesus’ baptism and spoke out of the cloud. And the Lord caused the sea to be calm and not to shake any longer. And the Lord shook the earth at Jesus’ crucifixion when He gave up His spirit. And the Lord shook the dry land in order to roll away the stone that lay in front of Jesus’ tomb on Easter Sunday.
And the Lord shook up the nations by the power of His Spirit and the proclamation of His Word throughout the whole earth. And like Haggai says, the treasures of nations have been given to God to continue the ministry of the Gospel even up to the present day and in this present place. Remember this: The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. It all belongs to Him, and we too belong to Him. What we thought were the glory days of the church do not compare to the glorious days of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ for each and every one of us.
What the Lord says is absolutely true: The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’” In other words, Haggai points us to the future and to hope. In his day, he preached to the people who were preoccupied with the past, the good old days of the Old Testament. And he preached that what was to come is greater than what they currently were experiencing.
And he meant that Jesus would be greater than every temple. And Jesus most certainly was much greater than the sacrifices in the temple. But for us today, Haggai preaches to us about those good old days of Christ’s death and resurrection. And yet he also preaches to us that our temple here does not compare with the heavenly glory that we shall experience on the Last Day.
We are right now St. John’s Lutheran Church in Curtis. But we look forward to the day when we are St. John’s Lutheran Church in heaven. We await an even greater temple, the presence of God the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, worshipping at his altar forever and ever. Indeed, the latter glory shall be greater than the former in every way! In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.
Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog
The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack
Rev. James Peterson
St. John Lutheran Church
Curtis, Nebraska
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