LORD of Hosts

(Haggai 1:15b - 2:9; 2 Thss 2:1-5, 13-17) JG White

10:30 am, Sun, Nov 9, 2025, FBC Amherst

My theme for this month of preaching is The Church. Today I want us to remember that we, the Church, are not alone. We are together, by the grace and power of Jesus, in this place, and across time and space. We are more and bigger than we realize. 

Once every three years we have a reading - this reading - from the little prophet Haggai. This prophet of God spoke 2,500 years ago in Jerusalem. The exiled Jews had returned to their ruined holy city, and were very slowly rebuilding. The great Temple, at the heart of it all, was barely getting off the ground, and it was discouraging. It did not look like it had before. 

The message from the Lord God was to take courage. ‘You leaders of the people, take courage! Not many of you are old enough to remember the great Temple before it was wrecked and we were taken away as captives. What is coming will be wonderful.’ “I will fill this house with splendour, says the LORD of Hosts.”

In the midst of what’s written here, what caught my attention was that repeated title for God: the LORD of Hosts. We church folk hear this from time to time. Can we say what the words mean? YHWH of Armies. Capital LORD means Yahweh, and hosts are armies, angelic armies, troops of spiritual beings, in the visionary imaginations of the ancient peoples. 

It seemed appropriate to me, before Remembrance Day, to take note of God as the LORD of Hosts. 

This is what we will hear near Christmas, with this scripture: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” (Luke 2:13-14)

And it is the role, again and again, for the heavenly hosts to speak and sing and support and strengthen us who do not see them. We who live our lives sometimes wonder about all this Church business, and what powerful goodness we could possibly bring to our world today. We are not alone! 

Perhaps you have read C. S. Lewis’ classic bit of spiritual fiction, The Screwtape Letters. Each little chapter takes the form of a letter from one experienced demon, writing to his nephew, who is a devil in training, and is assigned one human on earth to lead astray. So the letters are from one evil being to another - from that perspective. I appreciate what Screwtape says in letter number two, to his nephew, Wormwood, when the man on earth has become, uh oh, a church goer. Not to worry, Wormwood is told:

One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy.

To the evil beings, The Church of all people in history (and the future) is like a terrible and powerful army. At any moment in our lives, we usually don’t see that. 

November is a helpful time in our Faith life to be reminded that we are more than we ourselves. Last weekend we remembered all the saints - the people devoted to Jesus of the past - who are numerous, and even cheer us on today. They join the heavenly hosts to encourage us. This week we remember the service and sacrifice of thousands upon thousands in time of war and time of peace. Perhaps you do think more often of them. We have these names inscribed here at the front of the sanctuary. We remember that these were men, young men, of this congregation, of these very pews, who went off to war and never came back. The impact of all that has been in in our history comes into special light in this season. We refresh our sense of quest for peace and justice in our world, our gratitude for what we have now, and our hopes for others in our troubled world. 

So we have a God of angel armies, today. The paragraph from Haggai that I read, six times God is called the LORD of Hosts, God of Armies. It becomes, in the scriptures, really one of the many special titles for the Creator, God the Father. But it is rooted in this meaning, Yahweh of Armies. Hosts comes from the Hebrew word ‘tsava. The Greek version of this is Sabaoth, which we sang in that old hymn, A Mighty Fortress. ‘Lord Sabaoth, His name’

However we understand angels and spiritual beings, however we want to explain this, basically we are being told: the world is filled with agents working for good, working for God. We are not alone, not on our own. Many folk are about to get decorating for Christmas, and angels will figure prominently. The town will even put glowing angels our our front lawn. I think our decor downstairs for the Tea at will be angels. 

Don’t believe them all to be cute and pale and chubby and white-winged. Biblically, an angel is a powerful messenger of good. A vision of one would be frightening, but I would expect them to say, as they did in Bethlehem, ‘Do not fear, for I bring you good news of great joy.’

Take a good look at that message in the days of Haggai, more than 400 years before Jesus was born. The people, struggling to rebuild their home, their city, their Temple, are told: Take courage!

God says, I am with you. My spirit lives with you. Do not fear.

In a little while I will shake the world, the nations, and the treasures will come flooding in and fill the Temple. 

The splendour will be great. In this place I will give prosperity.

Who is the One who gave this message? The LORD of Hosts. Again and again, six times, their Deity is named: LORD Sabaoth. The Creator who has a multitude of serving forces is there for them. The God of Angel Armies. They are not alone. Take courage!

Here we are, 2,500 years later, in a very different moment. We could see things as different but the same. Our physical temple, in honour of Christ Jesus, is a place of great splendour. Sure, there are a few bits of plaster damaged by water, a few shingles to be replaced. But we, and our visitors especially, look in awe at this edifice. 

I feel we, the Church, are at a point to rebuild from the ruins. First Baptist is the people, a fellowship of people, in Christ. Some of you can easily remember when Sunday mornings saw two hundred or more. Now we average fifty. We once were quite intergenerational. We once were busy with a lot of Christian education.. We once had so many groups that served in more ways, at home and beyond. And so many annual special events: tours, banquets, dramas, concerts, youth gatherings, and so on. 

In the first decades of the Church of Jesus, the Thessalonian believers were encouraged: God called you… stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught… We, two thousands years on, may feel at the other edge, the end of Christianity in our world. Maybe the end of the world. But we proclaim a new beginning!

I listen for some prophet, maybe some angel messenger, to tell us: Who saw your former glory? Does what you’ve got now look like nothing? Take courage! Do not fear! Work, for I am with you, says the God of angels. My Spirit abides among you. The treasure of all nations shall come to You. I will build my Church. You shall prosper.

The ‘new temple,’ Body of Christ, is a different First Baptist than what we remember from the year of our Lord 2000, or what we looked like in 1980, or 1890. We may never again be a number that fills these pews, but what quality of spirit shall we have? A hopeful and generous spirit? What treasure of the nations shall be among us? People of diverse ethnicities and languages. What patterns of meeting together will develop? Not just Sunday mornings. What work shall we do in the name of First Baptist? Surely not all the same ministries of the past. What will prosperity look like for the spiritual lives of Amherstonians? What is our calling today to bless our community?

With me, pray to know the wonderful ways we can go, the will of God for us. 

Evaluate yourself and our Church, with an eye on why we do what we do, and don’t do what we aren’t doing. 

Join in conversation about our next steps, and long term plans. 

Look out at the world at our door, with fresh eyes and hearts. Let our hearts break for what breaks Jesus’ heart, and let us rejoice in what brings the Lord delight! 

And pay special attention to what our sisters and brothers in Christ are doing nearby - we are on this same Team.

As we listen for the voices of the angels, we will notice each other as messengers of Christ. We must remember we are not alone. We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who have died before us, but are alive to God. And to us. Our Master has many millions on the Team, and we are surrounded by teammates.