July 22, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven facets on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. And on that day each of YOU will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” (Zechariah 3.9, 10)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Yesterday, I reflected upon the image of the fig tree. It seemed obvious to me that in the midst of that illustration we should have recognized the fig tree had no choice but to be obedient to its nature. However, in a sin-fected world even nature loses its ability to be obedient to its nature even though it has no choice in the matter. Is this a concept we can understand and relate to? A tree cannot say to itself bear fruit when its own DNA has been corrupted and fruit-bearing is not possible. I spoke of Sarai, Abraham’s wife, and Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, in yesterday’s reflection. The story is told in such a way so as to speak to their inability to bear children. What angst they felt within their own communities because they were not able to produce fruit, the fruit of a child. They could receive the seed but it rested in unfertile ground and thus was as good as dead. So, they felt the deadness of life within themselves internally and externally. But God had a different view on the matter. What if God was actually in control of their situations and saw that their condition could be framed more in the understanding of “being asleep.” What God did was awaken their child-bearing nature in its time as they were grafted into a greater purpose. Jesus told His disciples that Lazarus was “asleep” so that God could be glorified. At the right moment, when Lazarus would have been confirmed by all to be “all dead,” Jesus said “It is time to go now and awaken our brother Lazarus.” As the story progresses, Jesus confronts both Martha, first, and then Mary, after, declaring the present promise of resurrection. What both women knew, and we do not hear of either of them having born children themselves, was the resurrection was possible but only on the “Last Day.” Jesus spoke to them of an everlasting truth, “I AM is the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me though they may be dead, yet shall they live.” He knew asked, “Do you believe this?”

They had no choice but to believe this. The stories of Jesus restoring life to those deemed dead were already present and surging through communities far and wide. Even the Temple leadership had to acknowledge the stories even if they didn’t believe them as they argued “It is by Beelzebub that these things have happened.” Though their point of reference was sin-fected, the consequence of what Jesus had done was undeniable. Jesus responded, “A house divided against itself can never stand. Why would Satan combat himself and do what is right and good?” They themselves would later be convicted of being the legacy of the “Father of lies, Satan.” So, Martha and Mary had to believe in the power of resurrection beyond that of the Last Day when judgment would come on all people and the dead would be raised to stand before the Judgment Seat of God. They needed to believe because it was their own brother for whom they mourned now beyond the time of possibility that he merely slept. In raising Lazarus, Jesus also awakened in his sisters the possibility of life beyond what had become their normal course of affairs. We do not know exactly the full course of their lives after that except that they committed themselves more completely to the community of faith in Jesus as the Christ. For Martha, life was more than merely managing the household. For Mary, it was more than sitting at the feet of Jesus wondering at His words. For Lazarus, it was defending the faith which God had in Him to use Jesus to bring him back to life as he had been more than asleep. Each of them was grafted into the “true vine” of faith, hope, love and life which can only come from the Father.

Returning to Zechariah 3.10, we are challenged further with the “therefore” aspect of what God said would happen to Israel when they would be restored, brought back to life. They would be vinedressers and orchard stewards. They would be grafted back into the promise as branches which had been cut away and cast into heaps of exile both foreign and domestic. In the gospel we would be confronted by Jesus with the fulfillment of this promise. He said, “I AM is the vine and YOU ARE branches. Unless you are grafted into the vine, the ability to bear fruit unto eternal life is not possible. If you are not bearing fruit, then you will be cut away and cast into the fire.” Was this not the intention of the enemies of Israel? Did they not intend to “cut off” the branches from the vine, Jerusalem and the Temple, which represented the enduring presence of God’s fruitfulness? For some of those in exile, grafting did happen but into the cultures and climates of their captors both foreign and domestic. However, God was not limited to that “physical” expression of being grafted in. He most certainly was not a fan of racial and cultural intermarriage. His call to remain pure and intact as the descendants of Abraham, the Father of nations, was a call to obedience and remaining chaste to God’s will. They were called to serve Him and Him alone and not the passions of their flesh to satisfy the longing in their soul for community intimately and socially. They were intended to be the witnesses to the world of spiritual fidelity. It is a difficult call and a profound purpose even today. Yet, the bottom line for what God intended and then demonstrated in His act of reconciliation to the lost of Israel and to the rest of the world was “in spirit and in truth.” The story of Ruth and Rahab serve as reminders of this call to spiritual fidelity. In the course of Israel’s understanding these two women would have been considered “dead” to them. Yet, God favored them and their decision to be faithful to God.

Yes, they had a choice to be grafted in where the tree and the vine had no choice (apart from Jesus as the true vine and the fruitful tree). So do we have that same choice not only to remain faithful to God but to then extend the metaphor to others. Hear again what God said to Zechariah, Joshua and those who were a part of their spiritual community. “On that day then I will restore and therefore you will gather the neighbor to rest under your vine [growing as an arbor over your resting place] and your fig tree [which now were grafted with fruit-bearing branches].” Still not resonating? Then let me try to explain it this way from both the Old and the New Testament expressions of God’s perfect will:

(Old Testament) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Go further than that and love the neighbor as you yourself have been loved.

(New Testament) These are the great commands: Love God and love your neighbor; but I say to you a new command- love one another as by this the world will know that you are My disciples.

Mighty ones of God, we have a choice to submit to the steward’s hand as branches to be pruned and grafted into the vine and the fig tree. The choice is to confess our sin, profess Jesus as the Christ, to believe that He is indeed the resurrection and the life and to go into all the world recreating the effect of so great a love as this that we would lay down our lives for another as He Himself gave His life as an atonement for our sins so that we may come to Father in spirit and in truth. Shalom,

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.