I once read about a young man who had run away from home because he could not get along with his parents. Somehow, his parents were able to get a message to him, inviting him back home. He wrote back, saying that he was coming home and if they were sure he was welcome, they should hang a white handkerchief in their apple tree which he would be able to see from the train. As the train neared his home, the young man became apprehensive and told the person sitting next to him, “I can’t bear to look because I don’t know if they will welcome me. Please watch for me.” And he put his hands over his eyes. His seatmate watched and then said, “Hey. You have to look.” And when the young man opened his eyes he saw not just one handkerchief, but a tree completely filled with handkerchiefs fluttering in the wind. His parents wanted their son to come home.
The overarching theme of the Bible is about God’s burning passion to keep his people in a close relationship with him and he has gone to extraordinary lengths to make that possible. Even though God made a covenant with them and demonstrated his love in many ways, God’s people wandered off the path like sheep that don’t want to follow their shepherd. They didn’t seem interested in keeping the relationship going. Still, God kept trying to bring them back to him.
The way God’s people behaved then and the way you and I behave now, makes one wonder why God didn’t just forget about this project a long time ago, rather than make all that effort to bring us back to himself.
While cleaning out an old notebook last week I ran across a poem that expresses a similar idea. I read it to the Leadership Team last Tuesday and they suggested I share it with the rest of you, so if you don’t like it, you can blame them. Just to warn you, it starts out in a familiar sort of way, but the ending might surprise you.
BUTT PRINTS IN THE SAND
One night, I had a wondrous dream;
One set of footprints there was seen.
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?”
“Those prints are large and round and neat,
But, Lord, they are too big for feet.”
“My child,” He said in somber tones,
“For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.
You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk-of-faith you would not know.
So I got tired and fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt.
Because, in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand.”
-Author unknown
The point of all this is that a relationship with God requires effort, not just on God’s part, but on ours. It is a two-way relationship and God has come toward us more than half way. So, my question for you is, “How far have you come?”
Today we arrive at the final message in our series from Zechariah who preached to God’s people back in 520 B.C., trying to awaken them out of their spiritual apathy. After they had lived 50 years or more in a foreign country, God made it possible for them to go back to their homeland, 900 miles away, where they began to rebuild their lives. According to the prophet Haggai, instead of building a temple where they could worship the God who made their return possible, they built fancy houses for themselves. So, the prophet Haggai first, and then Zechariah, challenged them to get off their duffs, so to speak, and to get their priorities straight.
Our scripture for today comes from Zech. 12 & 13. When I began to study these chapters, I didn’t see how I could ever make sense out of them, much less preach a sermon about them. But as I studied and prayed, I began to see that this passage is rich in images and truth. The only problem I have now is how to share it with you in less than two hours! But, I will promise to stop on time if you promise to show up on Wednesday evening so we can dig a little deeper. Well, I won’t ask you to promise, but I want to challenge you to take a radical, new step towards growth.
One commentator has called the verses in these chapters a montage, an artistic term for the process of bringing together a number of pictures so that they make a blended whole.(I wasn’t able to achieve that effect on the screen, but I hope you get the idea. There are nine images in these verses, one right after the other, each of which is introduced by the words “On that day.” You already saw the individual images a few moments ago, but if you stay with us, you will see all of them on one screen by the end of this message. (A new image every 2 minutes.)
The message of these two chapters for us today is that regardless of how far you have wandered away, regardless of how messed up your life is, regardless of how weak and inadequate this church is, God has a recipe for transformation and renewal.
Some of you are struggling with challenges. You may feel like you are spinning your wheels in ruts you can’t get out of. You may be going through deep waters that threaten to overwhelm you. You may feel like you are surrounded by so many filthy, violent, and desperate people you don’t know where to turn. You may feel trapped in some kind of secret sin that you can’t let go of. I don’t know what you are up against, but whatever your challenges are, these verses offer hope.
The first thing to remember is that even though it may not seem like it, God is looking out for you. By that I don’t mean that you will always find a parking space at the mall when you need one or that you will never have a bad hair day. That is not what this is about. We all know that God does provide for us in unexpected and undeserved ways. If I asked for your testimonies about unexpected blessings you have received, several of you would have something to say. Let me just ask you to raise your hand if God provided for you in some special way during this past week. God does that and we should praise him for it.
But the picture I’m painting today is bigger than that. As the description of Jerusalem begins to unfold in Chapter 12, it sounds at first like bad things are going to happen: heavy stones, frightened horses, flaming torches. But with each one, some action is added that makes clear that God will save and protect his people, making it possible to live victoriously in the midst of turmoil and threats. God looks out for his people.
These verses assure us that when God has a plan, he will carry it through. When he makes a promise, he keeps it. When he offers victory, he means it. Regardless of the circumstances of our lives, regardless of the weaknesses of this congregation, we can be assured that God will carry out his purposes. As Zech. says in 12:8, the Lord will shield his people so that even the most feeble among them shall be like King David. That is more than we could humanly hope for. And as we read in Rom. 8:31, If God is for us, who is against us? That is the first thing to remember. God looks out for his people and He is looking out for you. Have you claimed that promise?
The second thing to remember is that we don’t measure up to God’s standards, so we need to face up to our sin and repent. I have talked with people who know they have violated God’s intentions for them and they are ready to recognize it, repent, and let God change them. I have talked with others whose sin is as plain as the nose on their face, but they maintain they have done nothing wrong in God’s eyes. They say they are as good or better than anyone else. But as we all know, God doesn’t ask us to compare ourselves with the guy next to us. It is God’s standard that counts. And if the mask of Sunday morning pretense were stripped away, we probably wouldn’t like what we see. Through the prophet Zechariah, God reminds us to face up to our shortcomings and recognize sin for what it is.
When you read these verses, you can detect an underlying tone of sorrow and sadness. Something has gone awry. In 12:10, for example, we read about weeping bitterly and mourning. What is that about?
It is a recognition that the way people have treated the God of the universe should cause them to weep because of their sins and wrong doings. We don’t know what the historical circumstance is behind verse 10 when it says, When they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him. Scholars have all kinds of theories about martyrs, assassinations, and betrayals. Whatever it was, the people of Israel had messed up in a big way. And so have we.
We do know that these words also point forward to the time when Jesus was crucified, when he was pierced with a sword. And if we are honest, we all recognize that we have all had a part in rejecting him. In John 19:37, Jesus used these words about his own death when he said, Scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced’.
But that sadness about our sin gives way to healing and hope. No amount of weeping alone can remove our sin. It takes a supernatural act of God to cleanse us from sin. Right after the verses about mourning, we read in Zechariah 13:1 that a fountain shall be opened to cleanse us from sin and impurity. If there is anything the human heart needs, it is forgiveness of sin and cleansing of our stained souls. And once again, even though Zechariah couldn’t have known, God had a plan to make it possible through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.
In his sermon on the mount, Jesus said, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Weeping over our sins is not a sign of weakness. It is the first step toward wholeness. And when Jesus came, he opened a fountain, permanently available, to wash away our sins. The thing to do with our sin and wrong doing is to face up to it and repent and accept God’s cleansing. That is why the Bible commands baptism, to symbolize God’s cleansing. And if you haven’t taken that step, God is calling. God not only looks out for us, He invites us to repent.
But our scripture doesn’t end there. We learn in Chapter 13 that just getting rid of our sin is not the end of the story. And here in these verses about a shepherd we come up against a very difficult passage to understand. It has to do with the way God refines his people.
The Bible often refers to leaders as shepherds. Some were good; some were not, because they led people astray or just looked out for themselves. Unfortunately, God’s people often rejected the leadership of the good shepherds. And we know that when the Good Shepherd came, he was willing to lay down his life for the sheep, but they despised and rejected him and nailed him to a cross.
But why would God want his sheep to be scattered as we read in V.7? Why would God put his people through hardship? And why would he end up with only a portion of the total number? We find the key in V. 9 where we read about the testing and refining of silver and gold. And in order to accomplish that, these precious metals need to go through the fire.
Usually we think of fire as a bad thing. But, in the Bible, being put into the fire is not always bad. Remember the three friends of Daniel who were put into the fiery furnace? As the gospel song says, They didn’t bend, they didn’t bow, they didn’t burn. But they were in the fire. And Zechariah compares spiritual trials to the way gold and silver get refined.
Not everyone responds the same to fiery trials. You have probably known people, who, when they experienced hardship, became bitter and may have even turned against God. And you probably have known others who became thoughtful, humble, and repentant. James 1 says, Whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance and leads to maturity.
So the third thing to remember is that God wants to refine us, to make us pure like precious gold. Don’t let anyone tell you that following Jesus is a piece of cake. Yes, God provides blessings in abundance, but once you set your feet on the path of obedience and discipleship, you will likely run into challenges and obstacles and temptations that you didn’t know were possible. You will be tested. You will be tried. Does anyone here know what I mean?
Churches are tested, too. How do we respond when we face hardships as a congregation? When opportunities for ministry are great and resources seem few? When people we witness to don’t pay attention? When we are faced with the moral failures of our members? Do we let those things distract us from our mission? Or do we see them as a way for God to refine this congregation?
One of the most comforting Bible passages I’ve found is Isa 43:1-3a. God knows what he is doing. He knows what we can take. In I Cor. 10:13, He has promised not to test us beyond what we are able to bear. God will not drop us or abandon us. He invites us to repent, to be refined, and renewed.
We are going to take a moment for prayer at the altar today. God may be speaking to you about your need to set things straight with him.
Resource: David L. Petersen. Zechariah 9-14 and Malachi. 1995.
