- Haggai 1:15b-2:9
- Matthew 7:21-27
This week's reading from Haggai comes from the era of return from exile, a time when the people of Judah were trying to rebuild their world. Haggai reminds them that God is at work in the building. Haggai shares the promise that "latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts".
The Matthew reading talks about solid rock or sand as a base on which to build. Nowadays preparation for many major building projects includes testing of the sub-soil structure to ensure that the foundation can be laid properly. That did not always happen. and sometimes, as the people of Pisa can tell you, it did not go well. As people of faith we are living in a construction zone. All of life is an ongoing construction zone. God is building a Kingdom, we are building (or maybe rebuilding) our lives. The world around us is, hopefully, building a peaceful way of coexisting. How solid is the foundation on which we build?
WE are encouraged to use Christ as the foundation of our lives. Living as faithful people with Christ as our foundation is, I believe, the only way we build a world where peace and justice and love are the norm.
This week is the Sunday before Remembrance Day. Every year at Remembrance Day I remember our call to Never Again. We best honour November 11th by pledging to work toward a world where warfare is absent. We can only do that when we are firmly grounded in the hands of God.
Foundations matter. They can hold us steady or they can fail and let us collapse. What holds you up?
--Gord
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