Sermon in Minneapolis 29.06.2014

Let's begin our evening services with opening prayer.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Today is the third Sunday after Pentecost Sunday. As we heard this morning, the theme for today is the call into God's kingdom. We heard this morning from today's epistle text. So I thought this evening I would take a text from this Sunday's Old Testament prophet, which is from Prophet Zechariah. Actually, it's 3 through 6, but I'll begin from verse 1 through verse 6. And we will pause to hear these words as follows in Jesus' name.

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, who was the son of Berachiah, and Berachiah was the son of Edo, the prophet. And the word came, saying, The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Therefore, say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts. And I will turn unto you, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings. But they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants, the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? And they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. Amen.

The prophet Zechariah was one of the last prophets of the Old Testament era. Remember that the people of Israel had lived in captivity and Babylonian imprisonment for 70 years. And maybe 20,000, one-fourth of the total population that was in Israel at the time when Nebuchadnezzar attacked Israel or Judah, they brought 20,000, or one-fourth of the population to Babylon, where they lived in captivity for 70 years. And during the course of 70 years, these 20,000 people, they got married, they had families, their numbers multiplied, and 70 years later, 20,000 was now one million.

And at that time, then, Babylon was overtaken by the next superpower, Persia, and the ruler of Persia, Cyrus, allowed the people of Israel to return. But of those one million Israelites who now lived in Babylon, only 50,000 decided to return back to their homeland. The others had taken root in that foreign land, so they decided to remain there in that new land, the land which had become their new homeland.

And so, little by little, group by group, the Israelites that wished to return to their homeland began the long, arduous journey, those thousands of miles, to eventually come back to that original promised land. The first group was led by a man called Zerubbabel. And the first ones that reached their homeland, the land of Israel, and Jerusalem, they, first of all, rebuilt the altar that had been destroyed. They laid down the foundation for the temple that would need to be rebuilt. But they experienced opposition. And some of the prophets said that they worked carrying a sword in one hand and a tool in the other hand. We know that the so-called Samaritans were there constantly oppressing them, but there was also some tension between those that had been brought into captivity and now returned and those that had always remained there in the country of Israel.

And so when this work of rebuilding began, then God sent two prophets to encourage them in this work of rebuilding their homeland. And the two prophets that God sent were contemporaries to each other and they were prophet Haggai and the portion that we read for this evening was from the other prophet and his name was prophet Zechariah.

This word or name Zechariah and names have much significance in the biblical times. The word Zechariah means the one whom the Lord remembers. Now this was a very common name in the Bible. It is stated that there are 27 other people with this same name Zechariah. So it was a common name like Joseph or John or Mary or Rebecca. Zechariah was this prophet's name. But it was a very fitting name because the work that he had at hand was very challenging and very difficult during those years.

Jesus also mentions about this prophet Zechariah that he was one of those who were slain or murdered there while doing their work in the temple area there in the area of Jerusalem. Who was this Zechariah? He was a man with a priestly background, priest, similar to the prophet Ezekiel. So on the one hand he was a priest, but simultaneously he was also a prophet, a trumpet of the Lord. And so he was, we could say, a sequel or one who followed the work of prophet Haggai. Actually, they were working at the same time. And historians have stated that the prophecy of Zechariah happened between prophet Haggai's second prophecy and prophet Haggai's third prophecy. So basically we could say that they were working and they were prophesying there in Israel and the city of Jerusalem simultaneously at the same time.

So this book of the prophet Zechariah is one of the minor prophets. And of the twelve minor prophets, his book is the longest of the twelve minor prophets. And it's a very, in many ways, a very challenging, a very deep and profound book. And many times very difficult to understand. For immediately after this red portion, he begins telling about different visions and using different illustrations and pictures trying to bring forth his message. So it's very apocalyptic in nature, meaning referring to the end of times. But also this book of the prophet Zechariah is very messianic in nature, meaning it has many prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, the eventual birth of our Lord and Savior here on this earth.

And so here in the first verse it is trying to give us a timeline of when and where this prophet was working and functioning. So in the opening chapter it says in the eighth month in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah. So he wasn't on his own mission. He wasn't proclaiming his own words. And as the prophets throughout the Old Testament time and time again establish the authority of their mission and the basis and the authority of the words that they were proclaiming. It was a divine mission and they were the words of God. And likewise the prophet Zechariah here testifies and the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah. So he was bringing forth and proclaiming God's message. He was a trumpet, a mouthpiece for God himself.

And so then it goes on to say Zechariah who was the son of Berechiah and when Jesus mentions that Zechariah was murdered, well how do we know that this is the same man in question because the Bible mentions 27 Zechariahs in total in the Bible. Well Jesus says that Zechariah was murdered who was the son of Berechiah. So from this we can see that it was one and the same person. And then it also goes on to say that who was his grandfather and his father was the son of Edo the prophet.

And so the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Zechariah and this is what he said. So the Lord has been sore displeased or very displeased with your fathers. And so the prophet Zechariah is referring back to the earlier years to the time before the Babylonian captivity and going back to the reasons for why the people of Israel were removed from their homeland and brought into captivity. And it is because the Lord had been very displeased with your father. Or another way of saying it is God was full of wrath or full of anger. And this phrase has been used by other Old Testament authors.

We remember when Naaman of Syria was a leper and he was wishing to be cleansed. And he made that long journey from his homeland to the land of Canaan because that made that he had brought back as a slave who lived in his house gave him instructions that go to Israel and you will find a help for your leprosy. So first of all he goes to the king and the king of course didn't have the right help for his illness of leprosy. And then he remembered that he should go talk or he was instructed eventually to come to talk to Elisha the prophet.

And so when Elisha the prophet came out to give him a simple instruction in what to do and how to become cured from his sickness illness of leprosy this simple instruction was too simple for Naaman and it said that he rent his clothes and he became filled with anger and he turned around and stomped off and went on his way.

So herein we can see that he was filled with anger he was very displeased with that simple instruction that was given unto him and so the same thought and the same ideas here in this verse that we read that the Lord had been sore displeased or filled with anger and filled with wrath regarding or toward your fathers.

And so the prophets leading up to the time of the Babylonian captivity gave instruction after instruction warning after warning admonition after admonition trying to exhort them that turn from your ways and things will not go in this bad way as we are prophesying and predicting or the people at that time had been living in the sin of idolatry there had been many who had been fornicators and murderers and covenant breakers and false witnesses and the list goes on and on.

And it is for this reason that now God had given many warnings and now his cup was now being fulfilled or filled. It was just like during the time of Noah that the patience of God doesn't last forever and it came to that point that then God decided to destroy the first world with water and so likewise it happened in this case with the people of Israel leading up to the Babylonian captivity.

And so the official verse that was supposed to be the start of the text for this evening I read the first two verses instead of starting with verse 3 but now we come to verse 3 and now the word of the Lord through the prophet Zechariah continues saying in this way therefore say unto them thus says the Lord of hosts.

So it's kind of interesting this term this phrase this title Lord of hosts it's actually a military term and it pictures a battalion leader like a general of an army or a captain of a platoon or whatever title or leader it was in a certain situation leading a group of soldiers in the army that they were the director they were the leader they were the ones to lead and direct and guide the group of soldiers that they were in control of.

So herein is the picture of this term of a military leader called out to battle and this is the term being used again and again and again and you can see that in these short few red verses this term lord of hosts is repeated many times and of course this term lord of hosts is referring to God our heavenly father the creator of heaven and earth he is the general of the army the army that has been called out to battle to fight the evil in this world that we live in the battle against the threefold enemy.

So therefore say unto them that this is who has sent you thus says the lord of hosts or thus says God Almighty or thus says the creator of heaven and earth even though the prophet Zachariah was the mouthpiece the message was coming from God our heavenly father himself.

And what was the message that he was telling to those fathers earlier now we're still referring back to the fathers before they were led into captivity that turn unto me or repent from your ways thus says the lord of hosts he repeats and I will turn unto you or I will become as your father and you would be as my children.

And then he says the third time again thus says the lord of hosts but then he here continues that be not as your fathers unto whom the former prophets have cried.

So now he's speaking to his contemporaries after they have now returned from Babylonian captivity now living again in that desolate land they had been living now for 18 years since their return they had begun the work of rebuilding the temple but things had come to a stop for 18 years nothing had happened even though they had completed the altar the temple was only begun and then it was left in disrepair.

We can imagine that still there were piles of rubble and it was a desolate country and no work was now being done.

So now he is speaking to his contemporaries the people who are living in that country after the 70 years of Babylonian captivity but then reminding them of what happened earlier to their fathers and what led up to this point that their country their city their temple was destroyed and he's warning them or admonishing them or instructing them that please please do not fall into the same trap or do not go along the same pathway or live the same kind of life and lifestyle that your fathers lived.

And then he says unto whom the former prophets cried out and warned many of the former prophets prophet Jeremiah prophet Amos prophet Joel and the list could go on and on how they spoke to them they warned them they instructed them but their instructions weren't heeded and eventually the armies of the general Nebuchadnezzar came and then destroyed their land and brought the people into captivity.

And so be not as your own fathers unto whom the former prophets many of whom I just mentioned they had cried and they had said unto your fathers in this way thus says the Lord of hosts turn now from your evil ways and from your evil doings but they did not hear nor did they hearken unto me thus said the Lord of hosts.

So the former prophet had preached this is what the Lord is instructing this is what he is teaching you but again and again the prophets had to lament and say that they did not hearken unto the instruction unto the voice unto the teaching of the prophets.

And so then it goes on to say that your fathers where are they well we know that when the people of Israel were led out of their homeland into captivity they had that long long journey from Israel all the way to Babylon and we can imagine that along the journey many passed away and died so their graves were here and there and many different places along that path between Israel and Babylon.

And during the 70 years there in captivity many of the fathers and mothers passed away one by one and their graves were there in that foreign land.

It was always the hope and the wish of any Israelite that their gravesite their body their bones would be buried in the promised land.

We remember when Jacob as an elderly man there in the foreign land of Egypt he instructed his children that when I pass on please bring the remains of my body bring my bones back to Israel the promised land and so Joseph his son heeded instruction of the father Jacob and eventually the body of Jacob was returned back to the promised land and they're buried.

So if a person was to go to Israel even today you could go and outside of the eastern gate and along the valley of Kidron and up the hillside going up to the Mount of Olives you can see graveside after graveside after graveside one huge cemetery.

So this was the hope this is the wish this was the desire of every Israelite that their body would be buried there for they had this notion this idea that when the Messiah returns the second time this is where his appearing would be this is where it would happen at this site at this location.

And for this reason they wanted to be buried at that location but we know that this isn't true we know that when as Paul writes to the Thessalonians and he speaks about the return of Christ that the sea will give up its own the graves will give up its own and we will then rise up to meet the Lord and be taken up into the wind and the clouds to be with the Lord forever.

So it is actually immaterial where we are buried where our bodily remains are put into the ground.

So here it says that your fathers where are they and so referring to where are the graves of your fathers who have passed on and are no longer with us.

And the prophets do they live forever your fathers heard the speaking and the prophecies of these many former prophets Amos Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Joel and so on and so forth but they are no longer with us their voices have been stilled and they have passed on.

But nevertheless even though a believer a prophet a minister a father or mother or any one of us we will not live here forever we are mortal human beings we are like the grass of the field we are like flowers of the pasture eventually the wind will blow over the grass turns brown the flower will fade but there is one thing which is immortal which is imperishable and this is what the prophet Zachariah is now here referring to.

But my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants and the prophets did they not take hold of your fathers so the word took effect in the fathers and it says and they returned or they repented and they said like as the Lord of hosts to do unto us according to our ways and according to our doings so that he dealt with us.

And this is where the prophet the prophetical portion for this evening then comes to a conclusion so he is here saying that your fathers many of them were able to repent they were able to turn from their ways and receive the grace of repentance.

So what does that mean for us today there has been much history and background information about the prophet and his times but what does that have to do with us today and how does that apply to us in the situation which we are now living today.

The theme of today is the call into God's kingdom and I would assume that all of us this evening are believers are children of God we have been able to heed that call or we have been able to remain in this kingdom many of us from childhood have been preserved in childhood faith but perhaps there are some even here this evening who at some point or another in their life were led astray by the cunning deceits and trickery of the enemy of souls they were overcome by sin and led into the darkness of this world.

We remember the story or the parable about the prodigal son for example how he asked for his allotted portion from his father and left the father's house and went into that far away country probably hoping to enjoy the pleasures of this world for a season he wasted all of the goods his inheritance that he had received from his father and pretty soon he was penniless he was homeless and he wasn't happy he went from pigsty to pigsty trying to find some sort of work any place or any means or method by which he could earn some money to get food to feed himself and he couldn't even find food to eat so he ate that food that even pigs wouldn't eat.

So in the eyes of a Jew he had gone down so low lower than anyone here in this world could ever go deeper than anyone could ever travel but then the prodigal son in that faraway land in that faraway country without money without home without friends we can imagine remembered his father's home he remembered how good it was to be there with his father in the father's home and care and so he then began to direct his footsteps back toward the father's home.

And as we recall from the parable that on his way then the father came out to meet him and those in the world with great emotion tried to state that it was there on the way when the father gave him a kiss that the prodigal son was converted received the grace of repentance but this kiss was the love that drew this lost son even more strongly back to the father's house.

And so then the father the heavenly father the father of the house then told his servants and this is how God's means of grace occurs and takes place here in this world today.

So God has servants and these are his ambassadors these are his messengers so God doesn't come down directly from heaven to preach the gospel but he uses pardoned sinners who are his messengers here upon this earth those who have received their forgiveness of their sins those who have the authority through the power of the Holy Ghost.

And so the servants were sent to prepare that feast or that festival for the lost one who is returning and the prodigal son everything went above and beyond all expectations I'm sure he was thinking that when I return maybe I will be able to live out in that house where the slaves live or maybe I'll be able to sneak in and come and stand and be in the entryway of the door of my father's house but everything went above and beyond all expectations.

He was brought back and what does it mean to repent to turn to become converted his filthy rags a filthy garment was undressed from him and a new garment a wedding garment a robe of righteousness was dressed upon him shoes were put on his feet a ring was put on his finger and then all of the friends were gathered together and they began to sing and rejoice my son was lost the prodigal son is now found my son who was dead spiritually dead he wasn't physically dead he was alive the entire time but spiritually he was lost and dead he is now alive again.

So just like it happened with king David king David who committed those grievous sins and lost his precious faith but then God sent again a servant a prophet by the name of Nathan who came and humbly and meekly we can imagine spoke to king David and through the means of a parable opened up David's eyes to for him to realize his situation and David simply stated I have sinned against my lord and David simply said unto him your sins are forgiven unto you and David was able to receive the forgiveness of all of his sins.

There was one preacher brother who was traveling and apparently had a heavy foot and the police pulled him over and he said that you were speeding and you broke the law and as a result I have to give you a ticket.

Well during the course of the discussion it came out that this man who was driving the car was a preacher he was a minister and the policeman was a little bit what would you say a little bit too sheepish and they said well I guess you still broke the law and when the law is broken there is a penalty you were going ten miles over and at that time it's one dollar for every mile you go over the speed limit so in our eyes today it's a very small penalty but his ticket was ten dollars and the policeman then said that well I have compassion on you and he pulled out his own wallet and he took a ten dollar bill and he attached it to the ticket and he said the ticket is paid for you can go on your way.

So this is what the law states you break the law you suffer the consequences but what does grace mean grace means of the love of Christ someone has paid that penalty on our behalf and this is what happened in a concrete way in that situation in life.

There is a certain river in Europe it's called the Rhone River and it begins way up high in the Swiss Alps 5,000 feet high and it goes on its long journey of hundreds of miles 500 miles and eventually descends down and it goes through the country of France and it is what people have stated and I've seen this same phenomenon when I've gone to Alaska that my nephew took me up in an airplane or two nephews actually two brothers Valerie and Brian two boys took me up in a little small airplane and we went flying over the glaciers and over the mountains and they're in the Anchorage area.

And it's interesting to see there as you're flying high over these glaciers and mountains that when the rivers begin they begin from glacier runoff the melting of the glaciers and you can so clearly see that as the glaciers are melting and the water starts from these glaciers it's just dark murky and unclear water it's very unclean looking.

And so this is what I guess it looks like from an aerial view when you're looking at the Rhone River when it begins its journey from the heights of the Swiss Alps so it's very dark and murky and dirty and grubby looking but then as it descends on its way it comes into this one lake and it's called Lake Geneva and a miracle or a transformation takes place as the water comes into this lake all the sediment settles out and then the river that continues at the downside of this lake it's a crystal clear water pure and clear and clean.

And so this is kind of an interesting illustration of you and I on our own part we are sinful we are unworthy we are sin corrupt from the top of our head to the heel of our foot the Bible says there is no one who is good no not one no one who is righteous not a single one all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God there is no one who even seeks after God no not one.

So in this sense in the eyes of God we are but black burned and scorched by the sun we are blacker than the soot in the most remote nooks and crannies and corners there in the depths of hell there is nothing that we can offer on our part on our behalf under God the heavenly father in order to appease him in order to make ourselves heaven acceptable.

But then when by and through faith when we can own Christ Jesus in our hearts a transformation takes place when God looks down from heaven he looks through the binoculars or through the sacrifice through the merit works of his son Jesus Christ and how does he see us he sees us as pure holy and heaven acceptable.

And so Luther has this statement that that and it's what would I say it's something that's incomprehensible to our human mind I'm trying to find the correct fancy term but it's escaping me right now but he says you can believe at the same time you are a sinner but at the same time you're righteous at the same time you're unholy but simultaneously at the same time through the merits of Christ Jesus we are holy.

And so this is where our and as we read or heard read in that scripture portion from the epistle text for today the last verse of the first chapter of the first letter to the Corinthians Paul says in this way and he's referring to Jesus Christ Jesus Christ he is our sanctification he is our righteousness he is our holiness he is our purity what are those four different terms that he uses so our foundation of faith our source of salvation our A and the O the beginning and the end is all in Jesus Christ our Lord.

And so but using this analogy of a stream we experience on the way and the journey that many times sin besets and makes the journey slow and weighs us down but we can go to a trusted brother and sister in faith and open our heart and tell of our worries and concerns and those things that trouble us and we can hear the good speaking voice of the blood of Jesus son and daughter give good cheer your sins are forgiven unto you and they are then drowned into this crystal clear sea of mercy drowned into this sea of grace.

And no matter how much sin is drowned or buried into this stream as Phil remains crystal clear river the prophet Ezekiel was asked to go measure the depth of this river that comes from heaven from the throne of God and the lamb and first he entered into that stream and it went up to his ankles went a little bit further went up to his knees stepped in a little bit further and was up to his waist and pretty soon he was trying to find the bottom of that stream of grace he couldn't find its bottom he was bottomless and this is a picture of the infinite grace and mercy of God our heavenly father toward you and toward all penitent sinners.

So even this evening we may be under burdened under the cares and the concerns and the worries of this life may be tempted and tried by the cunningness of the enemy of souls we may feel the weight of our sin corrupt portion upon our shoulders but the strength and the power is in the gospel the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.

So even now you can cling to these grace promises of God and believe just as you are just as you find yourself sins are forgiven in his name and precious atonement blood you can believe unto peace freedom and joy in Jesus name amen.

The Lord bless us and keep us the Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us the Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us your peace in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost amen.

Turn to North Rick of here.