Small little church…not so small a task!

November 9, 2025

Scripture: Luke 20:27-38

The Prophet Haggai wrote this letter to the returning exiles in 520 BC. Cyrus the Great of Persia had defeated the forces of Babylon some 18 years earlier and Cyrus had allowed the Hebrews to return to their ancestral homeland. After they arrived they began to rebuild their homes, as well as the Hebrew Temple which Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed almost 60 years before. However their focus was mostly on their own personal affairs and the rebuilt ‘Temple’ fell far short of its original luster and beauty. As such there was discouragement among many, and Haggai’s letter was meant to re-inspire them to give more time and attention to making the Temple reflect the glory and majesty it previously had, promising them that the Lord would honor their efforts and ensure that the resources would be provided to do so.

As we heard, Haggai told them that the Lord had declared, ‘…the silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former…and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts’.

And in reading and hearing that, I wonder…in fact, if I were to really try and pull this story into the present age I wonder what it may be saying to us. It seems to me that there are a couple of interesting parallels that it might be good to ponder in this regard. In particular, I wonder if there might be a parallel to our own little church in terms of what it is we are doing, or who it is we are, that is allowing us to prosper in all the ways that we do. Is our experience here in this little church in Patterson NY at all akin to the work of those who were seeking to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem? And if so, is that which we are all about, that which makes us in a sense ‘unique’…is that something that can be replicated in other churches, and in particular churches such as ours, who absent whatever it is that makes us unique, are otherwise struggling mightily, and in many cases unfortunately finding it necessary to close up shop and sell their church buildings?

And secondly in another parallel, I think it is always good to consider the words I just quoted above…the declaration by the Lord in Haggai’s letter stating that ‘all silver and gold’ were the property of God, not of humankind.

But for starters, let us look at the first possible parallel between Haggai’s call to rebuild and our own. Is who we are, and how we do it something of possible value to other churches who may be struggling with their sense of mission or purpose? Both the Council and I believe that this is in fact the case. We feel strongly that who we are, and more importantly, how we came to be who we are, and, how we are seeking to remain out on the forefront of what we believe the Holy Spirit is seeking to do in these times, is both a gift to be celebrated, as well as one that needs to be shared. And in a sense, I feel this is very similar to what Haggai was seeking to do as well.

As you probably are aware, last year we sought and secured the first year of a three year grant from Hudson River Presbytery. The first $50,000 annual funding was slated to be used to undergird and strengthen the foundations of all the outreach ministries we are engaged in in seeking to serve our community. And then in year two of the grant request, we asked to be able to take the time to actually document our story, seeking to create a presentation to be able to share in both picture and in written account just what it is that makes our little church ‘tick’…what is it about us that seems worth sharing with others seeking to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit. What is it in terms of our own spiritual understanding, and our sense of mission in this day and age, as well as the actual ‘nuts and bolts’ of what we do that has made us into a force for good in our community?

And then in year three, which would be 2027, we hope with the third and final extension of the grant to be able to go out and share our story with others, both digitally, as well as possibly through in-person sessions or seminars with interested churches. All of it in an effort to help others to draw nearer to expressing their faith life as that ‘new wine’ of the Spirit which Jesus referred to.

This whole process and effort to find a way both to share who we are and to help other sister churches ‘re-enliven their faith practice and experience’ was the rationale behind our efforts. And just this week, we were informed that we had been approved for year two of this bold and courageous…and yes a bit daunting work of the Spirit! Evidently, the Presbytery feels that we have something of value to share as well.

And I assure you, that since this is a something that can only be accomplished with all of us playing our part, that we will soon set up a time to share the details more fully, but for now I just want to share the parallels I hear between Haggai’s ‘pep talk’ and all that we have been about over the last decade and a half.

I really believe that the grant process as a whole is in many ways equivalent to Haggai’s urgent call to ‘rebuild the Temple’. In our case, it would be to ‘rebuild the Church’ according to the work and guidance of the Holy Spirit. This process involves a seeking after, and in fact developing a preference for the ‘new wine’ which Jesus spoke of in Matthew Chapter 9, where he says in regard to the Jewish faith practices he was opposed to, ‘Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, for the skins will burst, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins, and both will keep in good condition.’

In those words I firmly believe that Jesus was calling for a new sense of what the Spirit was asking of the faithful. And I think that call has not diminished…especially in looking at all that is going on around us. I believe that our Lord is calling out for new ways of being the visible and active family of God we are in these moments, which includes ‘holding on very lightly’ onto older more comfortable faith habits, and having a bold willingness to step out into brand new understandings of what it actually means to ‘love’ as our Lord asked us to. In essence, finding and acting on the courage to truly seek after how we are called to follow the oftentimes very difficult path laid out before us. A path that may quite possibly be filled with trial, distraction, noise, and opposition posed by all the ways of a world so lazer-focused on self-serving and self-accrual. How can we get better at loving one another? What does that mean? And when and if we more fully understand how to do so, how can that become a part of our grant inspired efforts to ‘re-enliven’ our Lord’s beloved church?

Now admittedly, this is not a path we should walk without caution or without our eyes wide open. For there is much that stands opposed both to what we are about, and to the ‘new-wine-work’ of God in these times. For starters, I think that when it comes to ‘loving’, over the last several decades we have become much more careful regarding acts of personal contact or actual expressions of care and kindness. In fact, I wonder if in some ways our ability to truly love one another as Jesus demonstrated may have been hijacked by fear? By fear of litigation, or by the crossing of well-defined and carefully taught ‘boundaries’, boundaries which admittedly and in some ways rightly have been put in place due to so much evil practiced by those lusting after ‘love’ in the wrong places and at the wrong times. But really, can’t we find ways to better and more faithfully ‘cherish one another’? I think we can…and I think we need to.

Regarding the second possible parallel in Haggai’s message to the Hebrews, we too must always remember that ‘gold and silver’, in fact all gold and silver ultimately belong to God. All that we think we ‘have’ is only on loan to us to be used in the work of building the kingdom of God within our midst. Long ago I remember learning that there were many ways to look at or to understand the good fortune each one of us enjoys, and which all of us together have been given, but three ways in particular seemed to best summarize them.  

First off, many consider the ‘blessings’…those gifts and talents, and favorable circumstances of one’s life as solely one’s own, leaving out any consideration of God’s role entirely. Choosing instead to believe that one’s ‘fortunes’ are in fact one’s ‘earnings’, and are simply the result of one’s own efforts. Theirs to do whatever they want with. Such people may in fact care for others in need around them, but I fear some may do so not out of a sense of faithfulness to a calling, but more out of a desire to justify this understanding.

A second way to look at one’s possessions is not all that different from the first, however it is in fact cast within a faith framework. In this understanding of one’s personal blessings or fortune, the tendency is for one to in fact credit God as the source of those gifts, but also to feel that they were given to an individual simply because they were deserved…things understood as the reward for good or proper faith behavior. In fact, I am quite sure that this is among the oldest of rationales for the justification of retaining one’s blessings primarily for personal use…the belief that, ‘God is obviously well-pleased with me because I have been given such abundant evidence in the form of having resources well beyond my needs’. And while this is in fact couched within a framework of faith and belief, it is no less still missing the mark in terms of what our Lord is seeking from us both as children of one holy family, and as those who bear responsibility for that family.

But it is a third way of understanding one’s own personal collection of gifts, blessings, or possessions that at least for me feels closest to what our Lord would have us understand as the reason why we each have the abundance we do, as well as the responsibility that comes with it. And that, is to understand that everything that we think we have, still belongs to God…and in fact has only been put into our possession such that we might make use of it to bless others…

I have always believed we were created in the image of our God, and therefore are meant to be happy and content with our life here on earth. However, I have also come to understand that it is not what we have at all that makes us happy, but rather, how well we live and love in community. 

And it is this third way of understanding how better to love one another…how better to foster and support true holy community, that is the underlying reason we are pursuing the path we are as ‘one small church in the valley’!

And so, let us take the words of Haggai deep to heart. Let us stay the course, unafraid, and in fact with greater joy and peace…for if indeed we are blessed and under the guidance and care of our Lord, what else is there? What else could we possibly need?

Thank you, each one of you for journeying along with us…I for one cherish and appreciate all that each one of you brings to this most holy of tasks…

…amen