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With Help From The Prophets (Ezra 5:2)

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  Friday, October 18, 2024 Psalm 107:1-22 Ezra 5 1 Peter 2:11-17 Observance: Luke, evangelist and martyr With Help From The Prophets (Ezra 5:2) There’s nothing like the feeling you get when you are doing the right thing, and you know it. So often we get caught up with trying to decide what the right thing to do is, we forget how good it is for the soul to just decide on a path, in good conscience, and march right down it to the end. Rebuilding the temple fits into this category perfectly. The people had gotten to work rebuilding the temple and the prophets of Jerusalem, who are so often pointing out when people do the wrong thing, are helping them. So it is with the Lord: when we turn away from him, his Holy Spirit speaks to us in strong words, turning us back. But when we follow the Lord, he steps in and gets stuck into the work at hand. How wonderful as well the confidence of the elders to the interrogation of the Persian governors! Whenever we t
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Happy Festivals (Zechariah 8:19)

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  Thursday, October 17, 2024 Psalm 106:1-24 Zechariah 8:9-23 1 Peter 2:4-10 Observance: Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (d. c. 115) Happy Festivals (Zechariah 8:19) One of the tricky things about reading the Old Testament is trying to separate out what words were for the original audience, and what words we can take as promises for ourselves today. If we had only read the prophets before the exile, with the invading army just over the horizon, then we might risk falling into pessimism. With only that picture in mind, we would be walking around with a cloud over our heads, worried of stumbling, because at any moment the Assyrians or Babylonians might come in and destroy everything as a result. Adding in more context – as we have today, with Zechariah prophesying after the return of the exiles – the commands from God to “speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgement in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbour, and do
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Marvellous? (Zechariah 8:6)

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  Wednesday, October 16, 2024 Psalm 105:1-22 Zechariah 7:1-8:8 1 Peter 1:18-2:3 Observance: Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, bishops and martyrs (d. 1555) Marvellous? (Zechariah 8:6) There are several phrases that, when we see them in the Bible, should make us sit up and pay attention. Anything to do with the “Day of the Lord” is one of them; another is when God speaks about when “they shall be my people and I shall be their God”. This second phrase, which, because of its frequency, risks becoming bland to our hearts, is so tremendously deep and rich in what it speaks of, is nothing less than the gospel of Jesus Christ. We remember way back in Genesis that God would walk through the Garden of Eden in the cool of the afternoon and speak with Adam and Eve about their day. One can imagine the scene: an enchanted place, a place with no evil, our first parents probably bouncing along, joyfully telling their loving Maker about all the wonderful things they ha
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The Priest On His Throne (Zechariah 6:13)

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  Tuesday, October 15, 2024 Psalm 104:1-25 Zechariah 6 1 Peter 1:10-17 Observance: Theresa of Avila, teacher (d. 1592) The Priest On His Throne (Zechariah 6:13) Our prophet’s series of visions now come to an end – the most incredible night of his life draws to a close – and what a glorious end it is! This Branch, the coming Messiah, is to be enthroned in the temple as both priest and king. No mere human could ever hold both titles; there has always been some degree of separation between church and state. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of heaven and earth, the Incarnate one who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, is worthy and able to sit on this throne of thrones. The promise towards, and aspiration of, all of God’s people has been for a government that loves God. How exactly we are to work this out has been an ongoing effort; our current phase of this effort is a pretty poor one, however. A separation of church and state that
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Give It Away ... And Follow Me

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     Give It Away ... And Follow Me 21 st Sunday After Pentecost Hebrews 4:14-16 Mark 10:21 It is truly wonderful to be able to preach at a baptism. Very soon, our priest will take our two newest saints, baptise them in the name of the living God, and heaven will thunder with the sound of the angels rejoicing over these precious little lambs. Baptism holds so much for what it means for us to be brought close to God. Our second reading from the letter to the Hebrews describes Jesus as our “great high priest”. This is one of three titles given to him in this letter: the full, threefold position Jesus holds is prophet, priest and king. As prophet, Jesus speaks the words of God; he speaks for God; he speaks as God. As king, Jesus governs the church with spiritual prosperity and protection. And as priest, Jesus brings us to God, and God to us. In the years before Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth, a priest had a full-time job making sure everything was just right, s
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For All To See (Zechariah 5:1)

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  Monday, October 14, 2024 Psalms 108; 109:20-30 Zechariah 4:8-5:11 1 Peter 1:1-9 For All To See (Zechariah 5:1) As we get further into these visions of Zechariah, one cannot help but feel the same sense of overwhelming confusion one gets when reading through the book of Revelation. Something very profound is being communicated to us here, and God has spoken through Zechariah to us in the form of visions, rather than propositional statements. In our lectionary reading we have been given two visions: a flying scroll, and a basket being carried by winged women. Perhaps in three years’ time, when this reading comes back around again, we can look at the basket. Today, though, lets look at the scroll. This picture of a flying scroll reminds me of those planes that sometimes fly around with a banner behind them, or perhaps of those sky-writing planes. Big letters, up in the sky, for all to see. If you are an advertiser and want to get your message out, then writ
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Given A Place Among Them (Zechariah 3:7)

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  Saturday, October 12, 2024 Psalms 99; 100 Zechariah 3:1-4:7 Philemon 15-25 Observance: Elizabeth Fry, prison reformer, England (d. 1845) Given A Place Among Them (Zechariah 3:7) This must have been quite a night for young Zechariah: these visions are coming thick and fast. God opened the evening with the vision of the horsemen, reassuring him the love God has for the people. Now God is starting to get more specific – well, as specific as apocalyptic literature can get – and Jesus is beginning to become clearer and clearer. Joshua is the name of the current high priest, and his clothes are filthy. This is no way to be dressed before the Lord of creation! But, just as God gave Adam and Eve clothes of animal skin, and this high priest clean clothes of religious office, God has taken away our filthiness and dressed us in the pure linen of the saints. God did not have to do this for us. But (have we got the message yet?) God’s love for us burns so bright th
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