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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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A Wall Of Fire (Zechariah 2:5)

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  Friday, October 11, 2024 Psalms 95; 96 Zechariah 1:18-2:13 Philemon 1-14 A Wall Of Fire (Zechariah 2:5) At the risk of jumping ahead in the historical narrative, we’ve got to touch on the fact that at some point soon we will be considering the fact that the people will be rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Yes, for now, we are with Haggai and Zechariah, who just want to see the temple over and done with. There has been enough prevarication already; get the worship back on track, then we can worry about everything else. But this point of history is dripping with spiritual messaging. We are in the second-last book of the Old Testament, almost at the budding point before everything is fulfilled in the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And so while these returned exiles are being roused to finish the temple, they will then have to rebuild the walls, and then those will both come crashing down again in the future. But we will then finally understand this has all been a s
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Returning To The Lord, The Lord Returning (Zechariah 1:3)

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  Thursday, October 10, 2024 Psalms 92; 93 Zechariah 1:1-17 Colossians 4:7-18 Returning To The Lord, The Lord Returning (Zechariah 1:3) Things are really starting to rev up as we get closer to rebuilding the city walls. Haggai, the old man who had seen the before and after effects of the exile, is joined by Zechariah, a young man born during the exile, in Babylon. Both men have been given words by God to speak to the people to encourage them to get to work. While Haggai’s words were more appropriate to a man of years, full of wisdom and careful consideration, Zechariah is brimming with youthful eagerness, wanting to soak up as much as he can from the experience of his forefathers, so as to do as good a job as possible in his own generation. Haggai knows about patiently waiting on the Lord; Zechariah wants to learn for himself. Zechariah is going to receive several visions all in the one night. Today we read about the first. And they all fall under the on
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