Dear Readers,

Greetings to you from the Synod of the Church of North India.

The central issue of the two powerful Chapters of the Book of Haggai is the “rebuilding of the house of God”. At the time of the first return from exile, the people immediately started the work of rebuilding the temple. Unfortunately, by the time the foundation was laid, the neighboring nations were frustrating the construction efforts, and later these neighbors were able to convince the Persian king to call for complete stop to the efforts. The opposition of their neighbors at the time halted the progress, and since then no more work had been done. Apart from the physical impediment to construction, this would also have had an effect on attitudes of the constructors. They waited for the situation to improve and as the years go by they became use to it and this mind-set hindered the rebuilding of the temple, the house of God.

Their intention to rebuild was genuine and they were very enthusiastic about it but they were frustrated by the heathen. Presumably, after this setback, the people saw that the seventy years of desolations was not fulfilled and they were content to wait. The real problem was that they waited longer than necessary before attempting to rebuild again. They had originally become disillusioned because they had been unable to do the work of God in rebuilding the temple. This disillusionment prevented them from beginning construction when the time was right. There appears to be a common theme through scripture that enthusiasm needs to be sustained. On many occasions people have had to wait before their commitment is tested. It is often necessary to have a lasting enthusiasm that is strong enough to overcome delays and difficulties. One example of this is Abraham. He was offered the promises reasonably early in his life, but it wasn't until much later that he was given the son through which the promises would be carried out. Another example is in King David. After the initial anointing and then the defeat of Goliath, it was a long, hard struggle before he finally gained control of the throne of Israel. During the time he was being pursued by Saul, it would have been very tempting for him to give up the ways of God. Consider also the life of Joshua. In his youth he was given the dreams showing his future importance, but it was a long time after that before he saw success. In the meantime he had to endure slavery, imprisonment and the threat of death. In the garden of Gethsemane, Peter was ready to cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest, but shortly later he denied even any association with Jesus. The excitement of the original situation had provoked him to fight for Jesus regardless of the cost, but over the subsequent hours his temperament changed. By the morning he was no longer a fighter, but instead chose denial. Regardless of whether Peter was right in his actions or not, it shows that there is a tendency for enthusiasm to degrade with time. Therefore there always is the need for sustaining the enthusiasm.

The house of God since the ministry of Jesus is not a BUILDING of brick and cement or wood but the house of God is the people of God. We cannot engage ourselves in rebuilding “church, the building of brick and cement” at the cost of the “Church- the people of God”. Let us not make a similar mistake as I heard some years ago one of the Church Secretary speaking at the 125th year of a Church Building about the chandeliers, carpets, furnitures and fixtures of the Building and said not a single word about the people of God worshiping in the said building for the last 125 years. The question before us – House of God is people of God and we are challenged down the history to rebuild the people of God. In the Book of Acts: 17:24, God does not live in Buildings made by human hands! The Bible instead teaches us that the Human Body is in fact the Temple of God. 

What does it mean to us if we are the Temple of God? 

• If we are the temple of God, then we should be holy NOT ONLY IN CHURCH, BUT WHEREVER WE ARE!!! 

• If we are the temple of God, then we should be holy NOT ONLY ON THE “LORD’S DAY”, BUT EVERYDAY!!!

• If we are the temple of God, then we should LIVE ONLY ONE LIFE!!! 

• If we are the temple of God, then we should BE CAREFUL HOW WE TREAT OUR BODIES! 

• If we are the temple of God, then WE MUST USE OUR BODIES FOR THE GLORY GOD!

Yours in His Mission ,  

Rev. Dr. Enos Das Pradhan

General Secretary

The Synod of the Church of North India