Evensong Homily, Candlemas, Sunday 2nd February, by Dn Lucy

Haggai 2:1-9
Romans 12:1-5

Have you ever started a DIY project full of enthusiasm, only to realise halfway through that it’s not going as planned? Maybe the shelf doesn’t quite fit, the paint looks completely different from the sample, or the flat-pack furniture has left you with extra screws you’re pretty sure were supposed to go somewhere. That sinking feeling – “This isn’t turning out the way I imagined” – is one we can all relate to. 

Or maybe, like me, there’s a DIY project you’ve been planning for years but never quite got around to starting. For the past two years, the bubble-wrapped pictures stacked against our landing wall have stood in silent reproach, waiting to be re-hung since we repainted the hall and stairwell.

In Haggai Chapter 2, the people of Israel are facing something similar. They’ve returned from exile, and they’ve finally started rebuilding the Temple. But it’s not looking like the glorious building they had imagined. Some of the older generation remember Solomon’s Temple in all its splendour, and this new version looks… well, underwhelming. God even acknowledges their disappointment: “Is it not in your sight as nothing?” The dream doesn’t match the reality. 

But here’s the thing - just a little while earlier, in Haggai 1, these same people were criticised for not starting the work at all. First, they’re too apathetic to build, and now they’re too disheartened to continue. And that feels… familiar.

How often do we have a vision for our lives, our families, our church, and yet reality doesn't quite match up? We put things off because they feel too hard. Or when we finally get going, we lose heart because they don’t turn out as we hoped. Maybe we start a new job, a new project, a new relationship, and think, “This isn’t as exciting as I expected.” Or maybe, like the people in Haggai’s time, we compare things to the past – “It was better before.” 

God speaks into their discouragement. He says: “Take courage… Work, for I am with you.” The real glory of the Temple won’t be in how impressive it looks, but in God’s presence among them.

Fast forward to John Chapter 2, and Jesus says something shocking: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The religious leaders are confused. The Temple they see has taken forty-six years to build—how could Jesus rebuild it in three days? But Jesus is talking about something even greater. He’s saying: “I am the true Temple.” God’s presence isn’t found in a building, but in a person.

Today is Candlemas, when we remember how Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple. There, they encounter Simeon and Anna - two elderly servants who had spent decades waiting and watching for God’s promised salvation. These two faithful watchers see what everyone else misses. After all those years of waiting, Simeon takes the child in his arms and declares, ‘A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.’ And just now, we have heard those very words sung in the Nunc Dimittis.

Think about that moment. In this magnificent Temple, two elderly people recognise that the true meeting place between God and humanity is not in stone and gold - it’s in this tiny baby. The one they’ve been waiting for all these years isn’t a grand building, but a person - Jesus Christ himself.

So, what does this mean for us? Well, like those in Haggai’s day, we often feel discouraged when things don’t go as expected. Maybe our faith feels weak, our efforts seem small, or life just isn’t matching up to what we hoped for.

But here’s the extraordinary good news: We don’t have to build our way to God’s presence. We don’t have to make ourselves worthy. Christ has already done the work. He is the true Temple - not just showing us God’s presence, but securing it for us forever through his death and resurrection.

When Simeon held that baby in the Temple, he saw what we so often miss - that God’s greatest work often looks small and ordinary at first. The true glory wasn’t in the magnificent building around him, but in the child in his arms.

So if life feels like a DIY project gone wrong - if your spiritual life feels as unfinished as those pictures still wrapped up on my landing - take heart. The gospel tells us that God is working, even when we can’t see it. Christ’s presence with us doesn’t depend on our ability to build something impressive. He is enough. And through him, God is building something far greater than we can imagine.

Amen.