Who?

Today's text is from Haggai. The computer keeps trying to correct it. Yeah, that guy. After Cyrus the Great conquerors Babylon and allowed the exiles back into Judea, Haggai and Zechariah challenge the people to rebuild the temple. "For Haggai, nothing is more crucial than the Temple, because it represents God's indwelling presence."(Stephen L. Cook, New Interpreter's One Volume Commentary, Haggai)

We've moved to the polar opposite of temples representing God's indwelling presence. Many will say we don't need buildings at all. That is beside the point.

God's point asks these questions to a people who don't want to invest in rebuilding God's house: "Is it a time for your yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?...Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes."

Then my favorite line: "Consider how you have fared."  Maybe the original version of "How's that working for you?" God wants to know if there's a deep dissatisfaction in our lives that nothing seems to fill?

God continues, "You have looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away."

If we keep looking for meaning and purpose, will we eventually open ourselves to the indwelling presence of God--the presence that fills the holes and enables us to turn toward our neighbors to build the kingdom?