Reading Zachariah 7 this week something leapt off the page at me. This was the familiarity of the message. I must confess that this is an area of the Bible which I have possibly never read (or at least only briefly and not taken any great time over it). This is part of the reason why I chose it for out study sessions. Even so, something about this was very familiar.
What is it that the word of the Lord says?
Be true to your word, show kindness and mercy, do not oppress the poor or vulnerable, do not devise evil in your hearts towards each other.
It’s not a new message!
This is what the Word of the Lord always says. This was what the Word of the Lord said before through previous prophets. This is what the Word of the Lord says still today. Why does God keep banging on about this? Because, if we manage it, we change the world. I really believe that it is that black and white.
Be true to your word.
If we are true to our word then we can be trusted by others. We have integrity and our words carry weight. If one person does this then they stand out from the crowd. People know who they are and know that they can be trusted. If large groups of people were like this; as Jesus put it, let their yes be their yes and their no be their no, then imagine the impact it would have.
Show kindness and mercy.
If we show kindness and mercy imagine how our world situations are transformed. We are not just talking about being kind to your friends; as Jesus pointed out, even the ‘sinners’ do that. God wants us to show kindness, full stop! Yes, it’s the same old message. Yes, it’s hard to do in the face of people who p*ss you off. But imagine the impact it would have.
Meet peoples needs.
If we do not oppress the poor; those in need, then think of the suffering that is lifted. It’s quite fashionable at the moment to “Make Poverty History†and all that. This is important work and much needed. Us rich westerners will be held to account for what we are doing with our riches. But there are ways, much closer to home, where this Word of the Lord should be making a difference. Are we welcoming to strangers, do we visit the sick, do we comfort the bereaved, do we speak out against injustice at work, or wherever we are, when the need arises? Or even do we cause people to feel oppressed, small, weak, because it makes us feel better? Yes, it’s difficult to not want to promote ourselves. It can be a pain to visit the sick, and awkward to comfort bereaved. But imagine the impact it would have.
Love thy neighbour.
If we do not plot against each other then think how the world would be different. This is something, of course, most of us would never do. This really is the work of evil people. But bringing it closer to home, why would people plot? Because the outcome would fulfil a desire that is often selfish. A trivial example is of a clever child who thinks to rearrange the order of sweets in a packet so as to be seen to share them out, but to make sure they still got their favourite one. Trivial yes, but an example of how we are all capable of such plotting. We, quite naturally, want the best for ourselves and our families and I’m not saying that that is wrong. But, if instead of plotting, we played the game life by Gods rules, if we loved our neighbour as ourselves, imagine the impact it would have.
This is not a new message. And yet, for some reason, we just don’t live it. However, even now, as we once again let this Word of the Lord wash over us, there is a stark warning at the end of this chapter.
“Just as when I called, they would not hear, so, when they call, I would not hearâ€.
Is time running out?
We like to think that we have God on demand. That He is always waiting for us to sort ourselves out and that He will welcome us back with open arms after unlimited chances to get it right. We hold on to stories such as the prodigal son very tightly, and base our whole think about God around them. I wonder if this is a dangerous game to play. I wonder if this is only part of the picture. I wonder if time is running out for us to finally get this message.
