Living Higher

The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do (Zechariah 1:6) In The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment (1954 - https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/073-02_055.pdf), CS Lewis argues that the only way to safely punish someone was because they deserved it. It is typical of Lewis - brilliantly insightful and prophetic in its longevity - but it has sadly failed to sway the culture. Being right doesn't always win people over. We don't even talk of punishment any more in school but of 'consequences', and certainly don't think of it as deserved but rather as useful to change behaviour. There is much good in this, especially for teachers, some of whom seemed to enjoy meeting out discipline - at least that's my recollection - but it creates a culture where it is seen as wrong to punish and where no one (well except for the 'monsters' of some 'red-top' newspapers) deserves to suffer for their actio...

Then they repented (Zechariah 1:6) Here's the great hope for humanity and the church - 'then they repented'. John brought a 'baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins'. Jesus told his hearers to 'repent and believe the good news'. Peter told the crowds to 'repent and be baptised, every one of you'. Paul writes that 'the goodness of God leads you to repentance'.  Without repentance there is no good news but without bad news there is no repentance. No one can turn from their rebellion against God unless they become aware that they are a rebel, and how will they become aware? By the inner convection of the Spirit, for sure, but also by the outward knowledge of their sin too. But what does the modern world say the best way to deal with our wayward minds and failed lives? To face up to our own sinfulness? Of course not. The modern world offers a gospel of salvation without sin and repentance. Accept yourself as you really are, it says, and...

And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors? (Zechariah 1:5-6) I missed this at first. Why does God remind them that the prophets are gone just like their ancestors? I think it is because it is God's words that 'overtook' - like a racing tsunami - their ancestors not the prophets. It is God and His word that lasts, that did the damage, for the prophets are gone. God did it, by His word. I have been confused and surprised recently by how easily our leaders have been deceived. They seem to be wilfully acting contrary to God's plain decrees, and yet be confident, almost proud, of their wisdom. How can that be? But there it was, written in plain sight: 'wilfully'. Our first step if we wish to know the mind of Christ is to align our will with His words, not to try and align His words with our will. Whatever is the plain teaching of scripture, we must choose to accept,...

Where are your ancestors now? (Zechariah 1:5) Well, dead, really. I mean what else can we say. Two certainties in life are death and taxes, as one whit wrote. But I don't think that what he means. It is more like, where are the results of their lives? What is their legacy? And the answer is: lying in dust and ashes. The nation they built has been decimated and desecrated. All they did is gone. I wonder if, after all the hype and hope of the leaders of the Church of England, this will be the prophetic word to them in 30 years time. All churches that have taken a similar decision, all those leaders that have taken their flock down this route, all, worldwide, are, slowly but surely, disappearing.  Congregations shrinking, buildings closing, some due to inherited wealth holding on, others less fortunate going faster. Maybe someone has already come to a them and said 'Where are your ancestors now?' If not, don't hold your breath.

But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the  Lord . (Zechariah 1:4) I know how he feels. I taught teenagers for a while and even the best of teachers wonders occasionally if anyone is listening. As I wouldn't pretend to be among the best of teachers, I know more than a little of how God feels. And somehow that matters. When others ignore us, or reject us, or simply overlook us, it hurts, but there is this one compensation: for a brief moment we have a vague hint of what it is like for God when we ignore, reject or overlook Him. And we do it all the time. His great song of love to his creation is not just a song of hope but a song of sorrow. 'Where are you?' He calls, but all too often we're just not listening. 

But they would not listen (Zechariah 1:4) I am reading the biography of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot. If you haven't heard of Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur then you probably should - she was one if the great missionary figures of the late 19th century, dedicating her life to the Lord and to the gospel to the exclusion of all personal interest.  As I read I am struck by the effectiveness of her ministry. From her first stumbling attempts among the factory girls of Cumbria to her even more stumbling attempts with the 10-day week workers in Japan, people seem to flock to her meetings. And she does nothing clever, no tricks to get them in, just a personal invitation, some good choruses and a clear bible-based gospel message. With Amy they would listen. So why does it seem that with us they won't.  Have we forgotten to trust solely in the power of God to save? As Amy puts it "We have no time to toy with souls like this. It is not by ceremonial teamaking and flower arranging...

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices." (Zechariah 1:4) I've been doing some reading. I recommend it. The author, Martin Davie, argues that modern morality has two strands. Strand one is authenticity of life. In other words, the modern mind thinks that to be moral is to act out fully the person that you perceive yourself to be - to be fully you. Strand two is authentication. In other words, the moral responsibility of institutions is to validate the person I perceive myself to be. As a confused oldie, this makes a lot of sense. It explains why my children are horrified when I deign to disagree with their approach to their friends ever more confusing sex lives. I am not being irrational, I am being immoral. There is no room for argument. If I disagree with a person's lifestyle choices then I am rejecting them as a person,  I am failing in my moral duty to bless their choices. My only avenue of critique is to complain that th...

Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed (Zechariah 1:4) I wonder if he was thinking of his grandfather? Certainly it suggests a degree of self-awareness that what he was writing was prophecy. How then did he maintain any degree of humility? I imagine him waking up in the morning, looking in the mirror and going 'I am a prophet. Coo.' Pride is such a wheedling sin. The way it gets in just when you think you've got it licked. As soon as you think you might be humble you know in that very thought that you are not.  It requires both a complete self-forgetfulness and a careful self-awareness at one and the same time. Just today, I caught myself telling people of all the Lord had done among us, without telling of all the Lord had done among us. I would love to think that it was accidental, but I suspect pride had crept in and I felt that insidious need to big myself up a bit in front of an important  audience. Sorrow, followed by sorry is the only ...

Do not be like your ancestors. (Zechariah 1:4) When listening to current affairs occasionally you get those moments that make you gasp. Mine was on hearing a statistic from the Pregnant then Screwed childcare pressure group. Their research found that among the 1600 women surveyed, 6 in 10 said childcare costs were a factor in their decision to have an abortion during a wanted pregnancy, while 1 in 5 said it was the key reason for their decision.  I am trying to think of any time in the history of this country when unbearable financial pressure forced people to discard their offspring in quite such a terrible way and I have to go back a long way. It is one area where we really don't want to be like our ancestors so though I doubt the solution is easy and I know that passing blame won't help, something has to change and soon. 

Declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you' (Zechariah 1:3) Nay, run to meet you, if Jesus' parable of the lost son (or the two sons) is anything to go by. He presents a picture of God as father standing on his roof terrace staring out at the desert road waiting for his son to come back. So God waits for our return, eagerly, ready with the feast. I wonder how this relates to our dealing with enemies, with those who have turned their back on us, be it family, or friends, or even other nations. Do we wait eagerly for their return, or do we stand in a grump, back turned, hoping that they will really grovel so we can really gloat. Yes, they must turn around, even just a tiny bit, but when they do will they see us with arms open wide? I wonder.

Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord  Almighty says: ‘Return  to me’ (Zechariah 1:3) 'Return' is a word with such resonance. A return ticket means that you expect to come home, and soon, so different from a single, just as au revoir feels so   much less final than goodbye. Come back to me, says the Lord, your old bed is waiting and I have your chair by the hearth ready. There is a longing there, a wistfulness about things undone, time together lost. But there is also a need to turn around. Just as the NT word for repent, metanoeō, is to change direction of thought, so here the Hebrew is simply turn-you (shubu). Spin around, you're going the wrong way. The change of heart required is not simply an improvement in attitude by a radical alteration of direction. Wrong way go back, says the Lord, and not just to the Hebrews but also to us.  Turn around and show me your face, for I love you, says the Lord. Return to Me.

The LORD was very angry with your forefathers (Zechariah 1v2) It seems it is the LORD we need to deal with, not our ancestors. They were held responsible for their own actions and we are responsible for ours. To start making reparations for the actions of our predecessors is stepping into God's territory, mistaken at best, at worse pride and folly. It is far too easy to be alert to the sins of the past and entirely blind to the sins of the present.  I am willing to bet that those who gave money to the Church that was earned by slavery thought that they were doing a good thing, and had a blind spot to their own sins, as a result of their own society. Instead of trying to make good their mistake, maybe we should be looking at ourselves and asking what is our blind spot, where are we caught up by culture. Where are we following the crowd rather than listening to God?

Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo. (Zechariah 1v1) There's something wonderful about having a good heritage. CH Spurgeon writes with great affection of his grandfather, whose preaching was also of great renown, just locally not globally. Zechariah likewise was grateful for his ancestry. His grandfather was a prophet like him - though the Book of Iddo is sadly lost to us.  It is worth asking if this works the other way. Gratitude for a fine ancestry is one thing, but shame for a poor one is another. My distant cousin was responsible for the British armed forces in the Boer War, and thus for the internment camps that led to so many deaths. Should I feel shame?  Well, it's a good question. I am obviously not responsible for his choices, but maybe I have some responsibility for making good on his actions? Personally I don't think so. I very much doubt that there is any possible chain of logic that could link a specific harm of his to a specific person today, so it make...

The word of the Lord came (Zechariah 1v1) It seems that Zechariah had little choice over his calling. The Lord spoke to him, he didn't go out seeking. This is another feature of true prophecy. The message is not irresistible, for sure, but it does come with some force. It is not a force of violence - it feels more like loving persistence, a kind of pressure of a hand that is very, very strong but is also gentle - infinitely gentle - like being woken up from a dream by a kind parent - but you just have to get up to catch the flight or ferry, so you will wake up. 'Say this' says the Lord, and you do, and the world changes.

In the eighth month of the second year of Darius (Zechariah 1v1) Time matters when it comes to prophecy. Or, more accurately, the date of the prophecy matters. Actually, even more accurately, numbers matter more generally. It seems that God wants us to know that he is not distant and general, but right in there with the detail. I think this may be so we know that prophecy, real prophecy that is, real prophecy when it is God who is speaking that is, can be tested against what really happens.  When God speaks it is not some general waffle that can have so many meanings it will always be true for some value of true. When God speaks we know it is God speaking because it is clear that we will know for sure when it happens that this thing God spoke about has happened, and that it was God that did it.