Sunday, June 7, 2015

A sermon on Zechariah 3

Zechariah 3
English Standard Version (ESV)

 A Vision of Joshua the High Priest 
  3 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.
  4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
   6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”

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  I have a distinct memory of being in bed in college in the middle of the night and listening to the police bang on my door, asking me to open up with a lot of authority in their voice.  As I lay in bed, I kept wondering what they had found out about…

Now, I don’t have a whole lot in my past that has run afoul of the legal system, other than a lot of underage drinking.  It turns out my mother was trying to get a hold of me to tell me she had missed a flight and a security guard was the only one around to answer the common phone in the dorm.  But the guilt I felt in my soul was deep that night, and that feeling has stuck with me—I had the sense that what I had done in my past was going to affect my future. 

We’ve probably all had that feeling before.  I doubt that I’m the only one who has ever worried that something in my past was going to catch up with me, latch onto me and prevent my future from turning out like I had imagined.  Sometimes, those fears come true, and our future is changed by our past.  Sometimes, we simply live in fear and let those fears or worries haunt us for years, constantly nagged by guilt.

Today’s Scripture reading teaches us about guilt.  It reveals to us the reality of a fouled past, and it tells us something about the future, too, and how God is going to deal with us.

Here we have Joshua, the high priest.  This is a different Joshua than the city of Jericho – this Joshua was a solid high priest, a man of integrity who you would want to be a leader in a religious community.  If there was anyone out there who could stand before God, it would be Joshua.

But here, we see that even Joshua is standing before God clothed in filthy garments, his life tainted by the reality of sin.  Even Joshua is not worthy of standing before God and claiming to be righteous, and look who is right there, ready to accuse, willing to remind God and Joshua of how dirty Joshua is – it’s Satan, the accuser, the one who wants to bring us down, who wants to destroy us, to corrode what good there is in us and prevent God’s kingdom from spreading.  Satan is ready to accuse, and if Joshua was willing to listen to Satan, Joshua would probably be so downtrodden from the reality of the filth that clings to him that he wouldn’t bother attempting to stand before God.

But God intervenes.  Before Satan can say a word, before Joshua can turn in shame, God rebukes Satan for what he is trying to do.  With a word, Satan is rebuked, and God turns his attention to Joshua who, just like you, is a beloved creation and child of God.  Joshua’s filthy garments are removed, and there, in the presence of God, pure vestments are placed upon Joshua.  A clean turban is put on, and Joshua is granted access to the throne room of God if he is willing to walk in God’s ways.  God offers to remove the iniquity of the land, and invites Joshua into a new way of life, one based on the grace and forgiveness of God.

Notice a few things here.  First of all, God rebukes Satan before Satan can say a thing.  God offers grace and forgiveness to Joshua before Joshua speaks.  God acts first, on God’s initiative, pouring out love and peace and mercy on Joshua.  Friends, we worship a gracious God, who is filled with mercy and love.  From before the beginning, from before creation, God has always been acting first, reaching out in love before we can think to ask for it.  God loves you, and wants to see you accept his offer of mercy and forgiveness, and he will always be reaching out long before you think to turn to God.  God is ever ready to forgive.

Second, Satan is always ready to accuse.  We will not be free of his lies until God defeats Satan in the final victory, but we do have a choice.  We do not have to allow his words to guide our hearts.  He will always remind us of the times we have failed and how deeply we have sinned, but focusing our ears upon his words will only separate us from God through guilt.  In Christ, we have been set free from this guilt and allowed to live in the freedom of grace and love and new life, so opting to listen to Christ is declaring that our hearts and lives belong to God, and that the words of Satan will no longer set the course for how we steer our hearts and minds.

Finally, there is a need of Joshua for God’s forgiveness.  Even Joshua, a man of integrity and righteousness, is covered in filth compared to the holiness of God.  Even Joshua cannot claim to be in God’s presence on his own righteousness—he needs the grace of God to wash him clean and make him worthy.  Joshua could not make it on his own merit—he needed God’s help.  In the same way, we cannot hope to stand before God based on our own lives, no matter how clean they may be.  We are guilty and sinful before God, and were it not for the self-sacrifice of Christ, our futures would be filled with despair because of the reality of our past.  But since we have new life in Christ, we have new clothes put on us, as Christ has taken our old, filthy rags from us and clothed us in the pure vestments that belong to him and are his to give.

They are given freely.  Accept the love and forgiveness that comes in Christ, and let the reality of God’s peace transform your life.  Be freed from anxiety.  Let your worry go.  Set your mind not on the things of your past, but focus on the future that God has made available, and live as a forgiven child of God, inviting others to come and experience that peace that comes from not having to worry about the sins of your past, rather being free to grow in your excitement about the future God has in store for you.

Let us pray 

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