August 9, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears.” (Zechariah 7.11)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I am wondering if I actually need to describe what seems very obvious. Do I? There are many times when we read the Bible that it creates its own context for our understanding. This is one of those verses. As scholars of literature, any kind of literature, we know that our best understanding of what is written comes from knowing the context in which it was written. But what of those writings where the understanding of it comes out of a context which we are familiar with in our own lives? Those familiar with the teachings of Jesus know this experience is “parabolic.” Jesus taught in parables so that the people could relate and more easily understand the descriptive language of the Kingdom of God. He created mirror images of things from the world that aligned with the teachings of righteousness so that people who knew of them could actually see them, hear them, understand them and then make a decision on how to respond to them. In Matthew 13, Jesus is asked why He used the literary device called “a parable.” He plainly answered, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you [the disciples], but not to them [those who came to listen hoping to gain some advantage for themselves]. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.” He went on to explain using the descriptor from the prophet Isaiah, “They have ears to hear but do not understand and eyes to see but refuse to acknowledge.” (Isaiah 6.9) The question from the disciples followed a parable which set up a series of teachings (chapter 13) and culminated in an experiential teachable moment in chapter 14: The Feeding of the Five Thousand. It will be interesting to note that the disciples themselves will end up in that teachable moment experiencing the similarity to the very people He said the disciples were actually different from…but often weren’t. The lesson for us in all of this, and as we can draw from Zechariah 7, is that we are called to be different from the others but many times are not. If you don’t believe me, then reflect back to the very first thing I asked: Do I need to explain something that is actually very obvious?

How many said “No you don’t” but still have no idea what I am reflecting upon? How many said “No you don’t” and had no intention of listening any further? How many said “No you don’t” and relating to that single verse in Zechariah was ready to explore all the connected points that lay in direct proportion to a straight line truth from Heaven to earth based on a fixed point which is the word of God? Without getting all mathematically philosophical, let me simply claim “that is a parabolic teaching.” (I didn’t do well in math when in came to the quadratic formula and parabolas but the definition is true nonetheless.) So some of you will answer the previous question with “Yes, help me see the tree and not get lost in the forest.” Let your tree be a known experience for you which could be defined by Zechariah 7.11 (oh, that lucky seven-eleven…beware this is a sure bet!) Have you ever experienced someone who stubbornly refused to listen to you so much that they turned their backs on you (so they couldn’t see you) and covered their ears (so they couldn’t hear you) and refused to accept the simple logic of redirection which would have kept them from the consequences of a bad decision? Of course, you have and I have…we all have. We may have even done it ourselves, right? We have that scenario pictured clearly in our mind from either a personal experience or one that we have had brought to our attention such as a conversation between a child and their parent. We are probably laughing nervously because the vividness of the picture in our mind is challenging us to dare to accept the “What next” we are anticipating. That “what next” is evaluating whether or not we learned anything from the previous experience which will inform us with what is confronting us in the moment. To use the words of Jesus borrowing from Isaiah, “Will we have eyes to see and perceive the truth? Will we have ears to hear the truth and actually listen, understand and make a good decision?”

This is what God was presenting to Zechariah but not to Zechariah alone. We cannot forget that in the midst of this “conversation” is an audience of Joshua and his fellow servants who are being commissioned to lead the effort in Jerusalem for rebuilding the Temple. It is being explained to each of them how this happened, how it can be avoided and the consequences of living out the simple understanding of the truth in practical and realized terms as they were happening in their context of the returning exiles. It is because their ancestors, their forefathers, the fellow countrymen across every spectrum of life really didn’t believe the call to be “obedient to God.” This was the last very of the previous chapter. Truth can be stranger than fiction…it does actually happen to us. That truth garners our attention. How will we respond when something has our attention? The hope is that we will not make the same mistake again. The hope is that we will learn from our mistakes and make better decisions. Sometimes we have done that and still bad things happen, right? It is still true that good things happen to bad people and most certainly bad things happen to good people. However, ultimately in the grand scheme of life as it is all finally played out: bad things happen to bad people and good things will happen to good people and there will be no question or change in that pattern. What is the sense of that? Could it be that bad things happen to demonstrate there are dire consequences for making wrong decisions? Even when we do something right, or even mostly right, something bad may happen to us because someone else didn’t. Not fair? Did we consider what may have happened to someone else when the wrong decision we made (and thought we got away with it) was acted out? Do we actually consider that the other dominoes didn’t fall when we tapped the first one? Now remembering Newton’s law: for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction, we can see that good things happen (even if it is the absence of a bad thing we most certainly deserved). There are rewards and blessings which occur because of the good we do. We may not immediately see them because there is a pause in the giving of the blessing. It still happens. It may even happen to someone else who is connected to us in a string of events. We may say “It isn’t fair” on one side or the other. The truth is still the truth: good things done for the right reason will result in a beneficial consequence. Of course, we know the “other” truth, too: bad things done for any reason will result in a devastating consequence to us ultimately and to others as collateral damage. Just because we may not see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, didn’t happen or won’t happen. Now we have a context by which to better understand “mercy and grace.” All of that because we have shared a similar experience, though in a variety of historical contexts, that “there are those who stubbornly refused to listen to reason turning their backs on the truth and closing their minds on the reality of that truth.”

The question given to us in that very thought is this: Will we decide to make a difference in what we do based on what has been done? How will Zechariah respond to the visions given to him? How will Joshua and his colleagues respond to the commission given to them? How will the exiles respond to the grace that has been granted in letting them return home? How will those who were domestic exiles-in-place respond to opportunity to be restored to a common vision of “one people, one way, one promise”? Ultimately, the question is this: How will we respond to the lesson their experiences are teaching us? Look at Matthew 13 which begins with the “Parable of the Sower” and start to plot what points Jesus is making for the disciples from the beginning of the chapter to the end. Then read Matthew 14 and watch what happens when Jesus and the disciples were confronted with a tremendous crowd “hungering and thirsting for righteousness.” Did the disciples learn from the previous experience how best to understand and handle the situation? Or was it only when someone “outside” the circle had grasped the lesson and respond in a manner of faith which “moved a mountain” of people? Do we have working eyes and ears today? Are we learning and putting into practice those things which are intended to fulfill our meaning and purpose in life? Test time isn’t coming, mighty ones of God. Test time is here!

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 in order that others 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 so we would know we are Your people and 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.