RCL Readings Sunday 7 November 2010
Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
Luke 20:27-38

This coming Sunday (7 Nov) precedes Armistice Day, a setting that cannot and should not be ignored. It was at 11 am on the 11^th November 1918 that the guns finally fell silent on the Western Front, the day the Armistice was signed to mark the end of the 1^st World War. It is therefore with that fact in mind that I reflect upon today’s readings which will inevitably give a certain slant to my comments.

The situation Haggai addresses (1:15b-2:9) is where the people look at the partial rebuild of the Temple destroyed by the Babylonians and all they can remember is the glory of the first Temple. The people understandably feel despondent for it is in their “sight as nothing” (2:3) but God’s word to them is “take courage, all you people of the land … work, for I am with you” (2:4). We know only too well that reconstruction, building the peace and creating a new future is far from easy – it requires courage and hard work. Today we need to pray for courage and be prepared for hard work if we are to see reconstruction, peace and a hopeful future. Also remember in your prayers: those who have lost their lives in war, service personnel and citizens; those displaced as a consequence; and the long term bitterness and enmity which feeds ongoing conflict.

Peace and reconstruction is costly and in Haggai the image is used of God “shaking” the cosmos and the nations “so that the treasure of all nations shall come” (v.7) – I wonder whether we recognise God’s shaking and are prepared for the wealth of the nation(s) to be used for the building of peace? Does Zacchaeus’ example from last week offer a further uncomfortable challenge?!

The Thessalonians are deeply troubled, “shaken in mind” (2 Thes. 2:2). The source of this trouble may seem strange to us – the Parousia (second coming) of Jesus, which some are saying has already happened, and their own state. The language indicates that this isn’t simply worrying them but actually causing enormous distress and anxiety. Things don’t seem to be happening as they expected and perhaps in this sense we can have some point of empathy with them. What our reading (2 Thes.2:1-5,13-17) does is it offers a response to acute distress, anxiety and fear: take seriously and name the problem (2:1-2); recall teaching on the issue (2:3-5); remember God’s act(s) of salvation (2:13-14); stand firm (2:15); pray for the comfort and hope that comes from God’s love and grace (2:16-17). In our prayers and actions this week let us take seriously the deep distress and anxiety that some people (and we) feel and as we pray and respond do so out of an awareness of God’s salvation, love and grace.

The argument and logic of the gospel reading (Luke 20:27-38) is strange to our ears. It raises an interesting question – the place of questioning. Jesus encountered questioning motivated by allsorts of things: to trip him up; to cause opposition; to justify self; or a genuine desire to know. The questioning in this chapter of Luke certainly isn’t out of a desire to know and understand! It strikes me that the politics of war and peace would be greatly helped if questioning were out of a genuine desire to know and understand – that I think is something we desperately need to pray for.

The gospel does raise an issue that causes anxiety for many – namely the fate of those who die. I write this on All Saints Day so an appropriate day to reflect on death and the afterlife. Death and the after life is still a taboo subject for many. Paul’s five staged approach outlined above to the Thessalonians’ anxiety seems to me a helpful way forward.