 |
spent0504
A
Spirit of Grace and Pleas for Mercy
Text:
Zechariah 12:7-10
Date: Pentecost 5
7/4/04 humax execution
I
have to admit that when I was choosing texts and putting together
sermon titles for this year last summer, I was aware that this Sunday
would immediately precede the 2004 convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod. What I did not know then is that I would also have been elected
the pastoral delegate from our circuit. Knowing at least some of
the important and even crucial issues to be addressed at this convention,
I was drawn to today's Old Testament reading. For the prophet Zechariah
was called to preach to a deeply divided people.
The
past century had seen God's people fall from the really good old
days under Josiah to the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem,
then exile and now foundering attempts at restoration but with different
visions and different voices vying for primacy amidst bitter inner-community
strife. There was little outward evidence that God even cared about
them any more and the community split into hostile parties, each
claiming a special edge or insight into God's favor, always to the
exclusion of everyone else. To such a situation the prophet declared
in clearest tone, “the Lord will give salvation to the tents of
Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory
of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah.”
In other words, when God acts, when God delivers, he will not seek
out royalty or nobility but will come to and deliver the common
folk of the land of Judah first.
This
should not be surprising, as we used to sing in the old hymn, “God
moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.” “Judge not the
Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace.” And then the
last stanza, “Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in
vain; God is His own Interpreter, And He will make it plain” [TLH
514]. Nevertheless, what do we see all around us but frantic unbelief—the
frantic unbelief that whips itself into the fantasy that the Holy
Spirit will perform miraculous signs when and where WE want them;
or the frantic unbelief that is convinced that the preached Word
and the sacraments administered according to Christ's institution
for some reason don't seem to be working and so we need to add something
to them to attract people. It's amazing the parallels with Zechariah's
day.
We
should know better. The Lord gives salvation to the tents of Judah
first. God spoke to Elijah not in a great and strong wind, nor an
earthquake, nor in fire, but “after the fire a still small voice”
[1 Kings 19:11-12 (KJV)]. “And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from
you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel"
[Matthew 2:6 (ESV)]. So the prophets foretold the gift of Christmas.
And here Zechariah announces the gift of the Passion of the Christ,
saying, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when
they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn
for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over
him, as one weeps over a firstborn” [12:10].
If
we didn't listen and get it the first time, maybe we'll get it the
second time. This is how God acts. Not first in the magnificent
regalia of the Davidic court or the sacred splendor of the priests
in the temple, but in the life of a suffering servant. Enthusiasm
(or false doctrine of all stripes) in looking for God in all the
spectacular, impressive signs, automatically dismisses the ordinary,
the mundane, the poor and lowly, and so misses God every time, for
this is precisely where he enters in: in Bethlehem of Judea; to
a lowly virgin; in a stable of all things; the message beamed not
over 24-hour news channels but to common shepherds interrupting
their work in the fields by night. This is where God enters: baptized
by John in the Jordan River; preaching, teaching and healing in
Galilee; whenever a kindness is done “to one of the least of these
my brothers” [Matthew 25:40 (ESV)]; then when Jesus was taken into
custody, condemned by church and state, crucified, pierced in the
side by a soldier to make sure he was dead. “And they shall look
upon him whom they have pierced.” That's what Zechariah said 500
years before it happened. But it happened. And it was one of those
hated centurions, of all people, that first understood, believed,
got it: “Surely, this was the Son of God!”
It
is because we will miss God whenever we get swept away in fantasies
of glory, the quick fix, the triumphalistic way that Jesus stopped
to ask his disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” and then
“BUT who do you say that I am?” He told us before it happened. We
should have known better. “The Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and
be killed, and on the third day be raised” [Luke 9:18-24] because
that's how this God works…out of pure love, burning love, saving,
rescuing, redeeming love, love with flesh and bone on it, love poured
out as the life-blood of atonement and forgiveness.
| |
