October 1, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“’This is what the Lord my God says: ‘Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. [Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them.] For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.‘” (Zechariah 11.4-6)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

As with almost all of the prophets, the Word of God was to become incarnate in some fashion. By this I mean, they will be acted out by the prophet so that the symbolism of the Word of God could be seen. Of late, I have asked “Why did God send Jesus into the world?” My response to my question is “Because saying the Word was not enough.” We know this to be true from the prologue to the Gospel of John. “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. The Word became flesh to dwell among us.” It makes sense, does it not? We hear further, “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. How? Those who would believe in Him [that He is the Son of the Living God] should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3.16f) We know this to be true in our own lives. It is most definitely one thing for us to say to someone, or someone to say to us, “I love you.” We can too easily bandy those words about in the same fashion that we answer “I am fine” when asked “How are you?” We may or may not be fine, well, good, content, at peace, without quarrel, etc. But without engaging in a dialogue about our mental, physical, social, economical, spiritual welfare condition in the moment, we rely on a trite answer of “I am fine” to suffice, meet the expectation and transition to whatever we are intending to do next. We all do it. If you think this is not the case, I challenge you to stop next time and speak the truth (in love) with your real condition in the moment when asked “How are you doing?” Be prepared for their response! So, words can be easily spoken and as easily so casual they have less meaning than they were created for. It doesn’t mean someone doesn’t “love” us. But saying “I love you” without action and authentic sharing is just “speaking the words” praying it is enough. James 1.23 says this “Do not be deceived by being hearers only of the Word; rather be doers of the Word…and find your blessing.” This paradigm fits what I have just proposed. How can one hear if there is nothing spoken? And hearing is even far too simple a word to be used here. We hear things all the time. We focus on some of what we hear and mostly that which pertains to us personal in some form and fashion. But when we begin to “focus our hearing,” it is there that we actually begin to listen. Our listening becomes a form of action. If you do not believe me, then consider what happens when you start “listening” to a person. Most generally you stop doing what you are doing or reduce it down to what can be done with muscle memory in a fairly autonomic manner. If you do not change the orientation of your body, then you begin to move your eyes in the direction of the speaker and your “ears” will follow. You may well change the orientation of your body so as to orient all your senses in the direction of the speaker (eyes, ears, hands, nose and mouth.) You may also change your posture as well as your posturing. You may take notes or some other kind of physical response. Now you have moved from being a “hearer” only to becoming a “doer” of the Word which is now engaged. God did such a thing in our lives when He sent His Son to be “the Word” which God had been speaking. He did so in order that we may become personally engaged (verbal and non-verbal responses) and not merely personally impacted (as given a gift of some kind like food, money or opportunity.) Love becomes more than a word on the tip of our tongues. Love becomes a “full body” experience as the very gospel of God in Christ exposed into real life. The prophets were called not merely to be hearers and speakers of God’s Word. Prophets are called to be doers of the Word; faith in action.

We see this in the verses for today’s reflection (11.4-6) as the Lord God tells Zechariah to “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.” In short, God is directing Zechariah to focus his attention, orient the speaking and enacting of God’s Word to those mentioned in 11.3, “Listen to the wail of the shepherds [as] their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions [as] the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!” Yes, Zechariah was called to “shepherd” the shepherds and lions of Judah. That is, Zechariah is being called to speak to the rulers of both the Temple and the nation. He is to orient himself and posture himself toward them because they are marked for slaughter. Why? They are marked for slaughter because they have violated the sacred covenant between themselves and God for the position they held and the work they had done to satisfy their own need for survival apart from providing for those under their charge politically and spiritually. In verse 7, we will see Zechariah take two staffs and accomplish this Word which has been given to him to “say and do” with as God pleases. In this regard, we begin to reengage the Messianic presentation of the coming righteous kingdom. The two staffs, which are named “Favor and Union” will be used literally as a “cross to bear” before the flock which God has given Zechariah. A good shepherd will carry two staffs; one short and one long. They are used in the application of their duties to lead, guide and protect the flock. It is not impossible to see how taking the short one and intersecting it with the long can form a cross and give “the sign of the cross.” Its significance may have been simple and even threatening to the “shepherds and lions” of Judah and Israel. For us as mighty ones of God, there is a far more complicated and impactful meaning. We see the cross of Christ, the two staves, which are used to “lead, guide and direct” the flock given to Him to bring into the green pastures and still waters of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven.

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.