The following sermon was preached in July, 2002 at the Buffalo Gap Church of Christ. I present it here more than twenty years later because it is being referenced in a forthcoming book.

Opening Song

• #797 Lord We Come Before Thee Now
• Announcements
• Pastoral prayer

Call to Worship

The rich young ruler’s question was simple, “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  …

[After a brief exchange]  Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With humans it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible”(Mark 10:17-27).

Songs

• # 41 Mighty Is Our God
• # 578 We Will Glorify
• # 141 O Worship the King
• # 227 On Zion’s Glorious Summit
• # 39 Awesome Power
• Lord’s Prayer
• # 522 O God, Our Help in Ages Past

Scripture Reading: Zechariah 7-8

Zechariah’s Gospel [OR] God’s Kingdom—Are We There Yet?

Introduction

The child is in the back of the car on a long hot day. The tablet is on the blitz, the snacks are eaten, and the road goes on and on. You have been in that car, haven’t you?  “Are we there yet?” How many times can one child ask the same question? “Are we there yet?” It is the constant question of a people traveling on a journey. “Are we there yet? What town is this? When will we get there?  How long has it been?”

 

The exile of Israel ended with the return of God’s people from Babylon. Soon afterwards, when the temple was being reconstructed, Zechariah received night visions full hope and promise.

 

The riders of the horses proclaimed, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and peace.” And God declared, “I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt … my towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.” “Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’” “Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the Lord.”

 

• But the question persisted, WHEN? Are we there yet? When will peace and prosperity come again to the land?

1. The tension of WHEN— runs throughout Scripture: In the life of Abraham and Sara wondering about not only when would their offspring be like the stars of the sky, but when would they have just one child. And in the days of Judges as they asked when will we get a king? Prophets know the tension of WHEN. The Psalmist and Habakkuk both sing the chorus, “How Long O Lord, How Long?” The woman at the well expressed the tension when she said, “I know the Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will proclaim everything to us.” And in the early church, they heard scoffers saying, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” The tension of WHEN is felt when those under Roman persecution cry out “Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus!” —Are We There Yet?
2. And today we know the tension of WHEN—

• Each time a baby cries in a neonatal intensive care…
• Each time a husband calls the shelter stalking his wife…
• Each time a mother receives a visit from the White House about her child who died for peace…
• When hospice takes up residence in the next room…
• Job contentment, marriage satisfaction, rebellious child, etc.
• And in the church, when the gospel falls on deaf ears, when a community suffers a natural disaster and the church has no hands to help, when one speaks falsely about another, or when grumbling overtakes rejoicing.
• We know the tension of WHEN. When will rest, peace, and the joy of our salvation return?

 

1. When? Such a simple question—The question of when was also asked in Zechariah 7:3 “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
   • According the 2 Ki 25:8-9, Jerusalem fell in the 5^th For 70 years, the lamentations and fastings have beseeched the throne of God on behalf of the land, Jerusalem, and the people. And during their exile, the prophets proclaimed a coming age of grace, a time when a remnant of the people would return to the land. Now with the return of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the temple itself was being reconstructed. And in the second year of that reconstruction process, about half way through, a delegation came asking, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” Or deeper still, “Is this the dawning of a new age?” If the temple is being rebuilt, then why are we still suffering the consequences of God’s judgment …  shouldn’t this be … but we see no evidence … “How long, O Lord, how long?” Such a simple question, “Are we there yet?” WHEN? But lingering underneath the surface, a complexity of issues.
2. When we ask the question “WHEN?” we need to realize that God’s word still speaks. The oracles of Zechariah refer repeatedly to the “former” or “earlier” prophets.
   • In the former days, during days of prosperity, when Jerusalem and the surrounding towns were at rest, the prophets spoke.
     • However, the people did not listen in those former days. The God of the past who had brought prosperity also brought judgment. Consequently, the land of prosperity became desolate. [READ Zech 7:11-14].
     • They rejected the instruction of grace that would have created a healthy and whole community—A community of shalom. Why? Why would they reject instructions concerning compassion, hospitality, fairness, and mercy? Incredible! Both then and now. Concern for the widow, the orphan, the poor, anyone should be able to recognize that a community’s well-being is dependent upon the health of all its residents, from the least to the privileged. It’s incredible that people both then and now reject Justice, mutuality, and forgiveness. That’s what makes it all the more reprehensible.
   • And often that word creates tension between grace and judgment
     • On the one hand, God’s judgment comes as a response to our actions. On the other hand, our actions of truth and righteousness overflow from our response to God’s grace.
       • And to become such a community of renewal, we come to understand that God’s requirements are gospel. They come to us as gift. God’s requirements for just and faithful living make for peace that leads to our communal well-being. As such, God’s requirements are a response to his grace and are not a burden but a joyful possibility given to us by our God.
     • So the people sought to return to God during the exile. Primarily, God desired to return, to restore Zion, and to prosper his people again. “ The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. … Just as I had determined to bring disaster upon you and showed no pity when your fathers angered me, so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and to Judah. Do not be afraid.” [Vv. 8:12; 8:14-15.]
   • The word of God by the former prophets continued to speak to them about what God had done, was doing, and will do. Zechariah preached the word of the former prophets because that word was still alive. Their words still had power. It still spoke to his people.
   • So when we ask, when? “Are we there yet?” We recognize we are asking the question that people in covenant community with God, who have been traveling that road, on that journey, have been asking a long time. And his word of grace and judgment still speaks authoritative words to us. It is a word that is still living, active, and speaking today.
3. Therefore, as a response to God’s grace, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’ … These are the things you should do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this, declares the Lord.” [Zech 7:8-10; 8:16-17] That Word still speaks!
   • A response to God’s grace creates a community that practices authentic justice, exhibits mutuality and compassion, does not defraud the socially vulnerable, and does not plot each other’s harm.
     • “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.” Love does not discount people because of the language they speak or the gray in their hair. Love does not honor one gender over the other and keeps no record of one’s economic value. Love protects the child and the disabled. And love is strong. Strong enough to bend at the knees and strong enough to extend the hand of welcome and of grace. Love never fails.
   • God’s grace calls us “to be strong.” [V. 8: 10, 13c.] As Zechariah calls his people “to be strong and not afraid” and not to interrupt the journey of rebuilding the temple but to continue to strive to join with God’s salvation, so too, God’s word calls us to partner with God’s activity in the world to bring about his kingdom reign on earth as it is in heaven.
   • These social practices give us, the community of God, the opportunity to respond in kind to the grace God extends to us. As God’s community, the church, we become a neighbor, mother and father; brother and sister, to the citizens of this larger society. However, if we reject practicing shalom, peace, we reject the grace that lies at the heart of God and in so doing become a people of desolation.

• So finally comes the answer to the question asked by the delegation, or in reality not an answer but a reversal. Fast days of mourning will become seasons of celebration. “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem … The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there. … The fasts … will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.” [8:4-5; 18-19] In the past, God’s word involved a reversal from prosperity to adversity, but now the future involves a reversal from fasts to feasts. God’s return to Jerusalem inaugurates the beginning of the future now. Can you imagine what such a community would look like? How would the people around us respond if they saw? A vision of God’s coming kingdom will be like a public park, where old men and women can sit together, talk, and bask in the sun. And little children can play in safety with nothing to threaten them. No one lurking in the shadows to lure one of them with candy; no drug dealer waiting to peddle his poison to innocents; no child bruised or warped by abusive parents or stunted by poor nutrition or inadequate education; not even a bully among the group to terrorize the younger and weaker.

• Children peacefully at play in a park—of such is the Kingdom of God. … This is a picture of this world made new by the coming of God—its goodness confirmed and restored to that wholeness that its creator intended for it from the beginning. … And when we think to join cause with God’s purpose for his earth, we need to ask ourselves if we are constructing a place where little children may play. … God’s Kingdom will not have come on this earth until its streets are fit for its children. But by the same token, it will not have come until its children are fit for its streets.
  • Maybe, just maybe they would join us on the journey. Listen to Zechariah envision what God’s kingdom would look like in the future. [READ Zech 8:20-23]. Imagine people coming to us … As a result of God’s restoration in Christ, we are renewed, and we become the light unto the nations. A true sign of the age to come is for a people who love truth and live for peace to be a blessing to the nations. And those about us would know we are Christians by our love as we live such inviting lives that people long to receive with us the blessings of the kingdom. And as they see us traveling the roads of the Kingdom, they will want to travel with us. Not to be with us, but to “entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty.
    • And no one will ask, “Are we there yet?” For the road itself will be a kingdom journey. And we will realize that it has always been more about the journey than the destination. Eternal life is an ongoing life, not a stopping place. The Kingdom to come, is already coming, and is now here—a dynamic place open with possibilities.

4. Concretization of an act of justice. [I knew a church once… a church that participates in feeding homeless folks and victims of HIV …a church that nurtures and challenges through support groups those addicted to the clutches of sin … a church that provides shelter to unwed mothers and to families without a place to lay their head … a church that cares for children from MOPS to scouts; from clubs to classes … a church that reaches out with the gospel on mission trips, to prisons, apartment complexes, and by the air waves … a church that provides mentoring couples to newlyweds, pastoral care in abundance and prayer everywhere you turn … a church that gathers each Sunday to praise God, bless children, baptize believers, and feast at his table.]
   • “Are we there yet?” Yes. God’s Kingdom is very near now. Closer than ever before. And we gather every Sunday, around the Lord’s Table, and he opens his hands wide saying, “This is not a table of fasting, but a feast of grace. A table where everyone is welcomed without partiality until he comes” And people will say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’

Conclusion

When? WHEN will God deliver on his promises? When will peace and the joy of salvation fill our land, our churches, and our lives? Zechariah declares—

• In Zechariah’s sermon, he teaches us that–What God is doing is too wonderful and simply unbelievable. The answers do not lie with us but with God. God’s promises redefine what is possible to imagine and believe. “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” 8:6 Or in the words of Jesus, “With humans it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
• In Zechariah’s sermon, he teaches us that God takes action by his own initiative—“I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called The City of Truth, and mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called The Holy Mountain.” 3, 15
• In Zechariah’s sermon, he teaches us that God proclaims salvation—“I will save my people … I will save you, and you will be a blessing.” 7, 13
• In Zechariah’s sermon, he teaches us that God will do so because God is faithful—“They will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.” 8
• When will God pour out his blessings? Look around! The future is now. The Kingdom of God is among you. Declares the Lord through the prophet Zechariah, “God is with you!”

Songs

• # 99 In His Presence
• # 100 Holy Ground

 

Communion—Comments based on a composite excerpt from Body Politics by John Howard Yoder, pp. 14-21.

 Luke tells us that they “remained faithful to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers” and “they met in their houses for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly and generously” … and “no one claimed for his own use anything that he had.”  … The text fulfills Deuteronomy 15:4: “There will be … no one in need among you.” … We read in Acts 6 abut the reorganizing of leadership structures in order that the distribution of bread should be equitable. …That basic needs are met is a mark of the messianic age. The “common purse” of the Jerusalem church was not a purse: It was a common table. … Some of the first Jerusalem believers sold their estates voluntarily and pooled their goods because in the Lord’s presence they ate together, not the other way around. … What the NT is talking about wherever the theme is “breaking bread” is that people actually were sharing with one another their ordinary day-to-day material sustenance. … That in the age of the Messiah those in bondage will be freed and the hungry will be fed…”

• Prayer for the Bread
• Prayer for the Cup
• Song # 325 Boundless Love
• Song # 129 Amazing Grace
• Prayer for the Collection
• Song # 664 Take My Life, and Let It Be
• The Kingdom of God is Here

Benediction

The last word of a sermon does not close a door but opens a door for the future. The last word of Ezekiel foretells, “And the name of the city from that time on will be: The Lord is there.” And the last word of Joel is “The Lord dwells in Zion.” Today, do not think of the last word as the conclusion, but a beginning—The last words of Zechariah’s sermon remind us all that the God of the past is also the God of the present and the future. And people everywhere will say, “we have heard that God is with you.”

“Be strong, all you people of the land,” declares the Lord, “and work. For I am with you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.”…“I am with you,” declares the Lord (Haggai 2:4-5, 1:13).