On The Twenty-fourth Day
Sermon
Coming Home
Advent/Christmas Sermons From The Book Of Haggai
Haggai works his way to this crucial question, and so shall we. Once again he begins a prophecy with a precise date.
These dates are nearly unique in scripture. Zechariah, Haggai's contemporary, also uses exact dates, but in most instances the date of a particular passage in the Bible is determined from outside evidence. Archaeological evidence in the form of inscriptions can sometimes provide a date for one of the Hebrew chronicles. Sometimes grammatical clues, such as the use of certain words or phrases, give scholars a rough estimate of the date of composition.
But Haggai dates his prophecies by pagan reckoning, and this allows an unusual accuracy in dating the passages.
The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month corresponds to the eighteenth day of the twelfth month in our reckoning.
On December 18 in 520, near the time of the winter's solstice, the word of the Lord came to Haggai.
This word of encouragement came about the time we celebrate Christmas, at the time when the days are as short as they are going to get.
This particular season has always had a fascination for the human mind. For us it is an interesting time. Fall is beautiful, and in some ways a relief after the blistering heat and humidity which can accompany a rough summer. Fall means getting out those comfortable sweaters and sweatshirts and putting away the lawn mower. Day and night are roughly equal, the harvest is winding down, we have canned about all we're going to can, and we've earned a rest.
But the winter's solstice is a sign that cold days are on the way, weeks without the sun, trouble with the car or the insulation or the furnace.
In the ancient world there were many who worried and wondered if this might be the end, if this would be the year the tide did not turn, but the world returned to chaos, night swallowing all as the days finally ebbed to nothing. When the days began to grow longer bit by bit, when the confirmation came that even though bitter cold lay ahead spring would someday return, the ancients celebrated.
The Israelites believed in an assurance their pagan neighbors did not share -- that, as God had told Noah, "... summer and winter, springtime and harvest, will not cease."
This love affair with the solstice, falling as it will on December 20, 21, or 22, is something we baptized when we left behind our pagan past and joined Haggai as part of God's family.
It seems like every Christmas I hear someone complain about the pagan customs of Christmas. The trees are Germanic and pagan; the laurel and the holly wreaths are Roman and pagan; the date is ancient and pagan.
I say bless them all. That's the beauty of our faith. We baptize our pagan past and bring it along with us! Eggs for easter, and bunnies? Sure. The signs of spring and fertility make sense as we celebrate rebirth and resurrection.
That's the neat thing about our faith. We give up everything to follow Christ, and God gives it all back to us, in its proper perspective. Money, food, sex, and television -- there's nothing intrinsically evil about any of those things, although all of them can lead us to perdition if we make an idol of them.
But put them in their proper place, behind the worship of God, and you can keep them all. Eating your cake and having it too.
From the very beginning Christians dragged along their old life and saw it made new. The only problem seems to have been the tendency to permit our own pagan past and to deny the same privilege to others.
Efforts to purify Christmas are laughable -- in retrospect. For a time the grinches have their way. During the Puritan era the Ham Police roamed the streets of London, sniffing the air for evidence of a holiday revel. If a family was discovered cooking a feast for Christmas, the ham was confiscated and the people were thrown in jail!
But, as Dr. Seuss pointed out in his delightful little book How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch didn't stop "... Christmas from coming. It came. Somehow or other it came just the same."
Germanic Christians, English Christians, Italian Christians, all have their own customs. When African Christians or Asian Christians or Native American Christians join the fellowship some people are uncomfortable with their pagan customs, now newly baptized. God is no more European than African, and is no less pleased with the fire of our African brethren as he is with the quiet pew perchers of Europe.
As we approach Christmas, let us examine our customs, acknowledge their origins, and praise God for the new fire that burns brightly among us, reflecting the glory of the creator, as he brings us together into one family.
The nations are coming to the temple. They are bringing the treasure of their customs to share at the altar.
These dates are nearly unique in scripture. Zechariah, Haggai's contemporary, also uses exact dates, but in most instances the date of a particular passage in the Bible is determined from outside evidence. Archaeological evidence in the form of inscriptions can sometimes provide a date for one of the Hebrew chronicles. Sometimes grammatical clues, such as the use of certain words or phrases, give scholars a rough estimate of the date of composition.
But Haggai dates his prophecies by pagan reckoning, and this allows an unusual accuracy in dating the passages.
The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month corresponds to the eighteenth day of the twelfth month in our reckoning.
On December 18 in 520, near the time of the winter's solstice, the word of the Lord came to Haggai.
This word of encouragement came about the time we celebrate Christmas, at the time when the days are as short as they are going to get.
This particular season has always had a fascination for the human mind. For us it is an interesting time. Fall is beautiful, and in some ways a relief after the blistering heat and humidity which can accompany a rough summer. Fall means getting out those comfortable sweaters and sweatshirts and putting away the lawn mower. Day and night are roughly equal, the harvest is winding down, we have canned about all we're going to can, and we've earned a rest.
But the winter's solstice is a sign that cold days are on the way, weeks without the sun, trouble with the car or the insulation or the furnace.
In the ancient world there were many who worried and wondered if this might be the end, if this would be the year the tide did not turn, but the world returned to chaos, night swallowing all as the days finally ebbed to nothing. When the days began to grow longer bit by bit, when the confirmation came that even though bitter cold lay ahead spring would someday return, the ancients celebrated.
The Israelites believed in an assurance their pagan neighbors did not share -- that, as God had told Noah, "... summer and winter, springtime and harvest, will not cease."
This love affair with the solstice, falling as it will on December 20, 21, or 22, is something we baptized when we left behind our pagan past and joined Haggai as part of God's family.
It seems like every Christmas I hear someone complain about the pagan customs of Christmas. The trees are Germanic and pagan; the laurel and the holly wreaths are Roman and pagan; the date is ancient and pagan.
I say bless them all. That's the beauty of our faith. We baptize our pagan past and bring it along with us! Eggs for easter, and bunnies? Sure. The signs of spring and fertility make sense as we celebrate rebirth and resurrection.
That's the neat thing about our faith. We give up everything to follow Christ, and God gives it all back to us, in its proper perspective. Money, food, sex, and television -- there's nothing intrinsically evil about any of those things, although all of them can lead us to perdition if we make an idol of them.
But put them in their proper place, behind the worship of God, and you can keep them all. Eating your cake and having it too.
From the very beginning Christians dragged along their old life and saw it made new. The only problem seems to have been the tendency to permit our own pagan past and to deny the same privilege to others.
Efforts to purify Christmas are laughable -- in retrospect. For a time the grinches have their way. During the Puritan era the Ham Police roamed the streets of London, sniffing the air for evidence of a holiday revel. If a family was discovered cooking a feast for Christmas, the ham was confiscated and the people were thrown in jail!
But, as Dr. Seuss pointed out in his delightful little book How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch didn't stop "... Christmas from coming. It came. Somehow or other it came just the same."
Germanic Christians, English Christians, Italian Christians, all have their own customs. When African Christians or Asian Christians or Native American Christians join the fellowship some people are uncomfortable with their pagan customs, now newly baptized. God is no more European than African, and is no less pleased with the fire of our African brethren as he is with the quiet pew perchers of Europe.
As we approach Christmas, let us examine our customs, acknowledge their origins, and praise God for the new fire that burns brightly among us, reflecting the glory of the creator, as he brings us together into one family.
The nations are coming to the temple. They are bringing the treasure of their customs to share at the altar.
