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A cynic once remarked that Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God, and what he got was the church -- a distinct disappointment. Certainly there is reason to be disappointed with the church these days. Its membership is melting away. Its life is torn by controversy and dissent. Its influence on the life of society has all but disappeared. And those who have found the center of their trust in the church's message, through all their life long, despair of the slow ruin to which it seems to be subject.

After all, there was a day when the church counted for something in this country. Its buildings dominated every urban skyscape. Its preachers were among the noted figures in the populace. Its acts of mercy were known throughout the world. Its ethics guided society's customs and laws. And even The New York Times featured reviews of its sermons and programs. But now all that glory seems a thing of the past, and the church sometimes appears in our eyes as insignificant and helpless.

The populace in Haggai's time had much the same feeling about the temple on Zion that was being rebuilt. The date of our text is given exactly: October 17, 520 B.C. The people have returned from their exile in Babylonia to form a little congregation under the rule of Darius I, Hystaspes of Persia. They are allowed to have their own governor, the davidic Zerubabbel, and their own high priest, Joshua the son of Zehozadak. But they are struggling and desperately poor. Drought has stunted their crops and brought widespread hunger. Inflation has eaten into their meager earnings. Jerusalem still lies mostly in ruins. But Haggai the prophet has urged them to rebuild the temple of the Lord, and one month earlier they laid the foundation of that sanctuary.

The result of the rebuilding is pitiful, however. The Hebrew of our text calls it "much more than nothing" (v. 3) an insignificant little structure compared to the temple of Solomon that once stood on the site. When the old folks see what the rebuilt temple is going to look like, they weep, for they remember so well the glorious structure that went before: the first temple's cedar and cypress, gold and carving (1 Kings 6); the Ark of the Covenant with its mercy seat and cherubim; the pot of manna and Aaron's rod preserved in the place; the eternal fire on the altar. Now all of that is gone, victims of Babylonia's destructive armies, and dim old eyes can only fill with tears at the loss and at the dismal replacement of what they once knew. Oh yes, the people in Haggai's time could have empathized with our disappointments about the church.

But Haggai's contemporaries forgot, and we forget, that the glory of the temple and of the church is not the magnificent building or the wondrous ritual or the influence of the congregation in society. Rather the glory of the temple and of the church is the presence of the Lord in their midst. And that is the message that Haggai brings to his disheartened people and to us. "Take courage ... take courage ... take courage," God commands three times in our text. "Work, for I am with you," as I have always been since the time of your redemption. "My Spirit abides among you; fear not" (vv. 4-5). God is with Judah; he has not abandoned her, despite her sin and exile and desperate situation. And God is with us in his church, despite all that we have done to disrupt his purpose and to be undeserving of his presence. God is with us, his glory still in the midst of his church.

Do we realize, then, what powers are available because that is true? The God who ignited the sun and flung the stars across millions of galaxies; the Lord who created a people named Israel for himself and who has preserved their life through 3,000 years; the King who defeated all the powers of evil and death on Easter morn and who still reigns as Ruler of heaven and earth; the Shepherd who first gave you the breath of life and who has watched over you and guided you through all your sufferings and joys; that God is still in his church, still in our midst, still lending us his power through his mighty Spirit to rebuild and to prosper his church. Do we not, then, have all the resources we need in him to work without fear?

More, can we not have great expectations, rather than sorrow, over the future that lies out there ahead of us and the church? Our text from Haggai is directed not only to Judah's present condition, but also to her future. "In a little while," the Lord proclaims. In that indefinite time in God's future working, he will shake the heavens and the earth and all the cosmos, to fill a new temple with treasures and a new Jerusalem with abundant life (shalom in the Hebrew, v. 9), and his kingdom will be present on earth even as it is in heaven. Haggai's message reaches out to that eschatological time when God's good purpose for his world will be complete, and all nations will come to his worship.

We have the same expectation and same hope in the church, do we not? That there lies out ahead of us all, not the sometimes desperate situations that we now find in our world, not the meagerness of our faith and the faults of our sins, not the turmoil of nations and the rule of the evil and proud, but the rule of the one God who has triumphed over all principalities and powers in our crucified and risen Lord. The whole New Testament -- and indeed, the Old, and Haggai here -- announce it. That God is not through with us; that his purpose goes steadily forward; that finally every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to God's glory. And our disappointments, our despair over the future, our tears, our sufferings will be things of the past. And earth will be fair, and life will be good and whole, and God will be our all in all.

So take courage, good people of faith, take courage. Work in his church and fear not. For the Lord God Almighty is in our midst, and his Spirit abides among us.