In the years toward the end of the Babylonian exile for the Jews, Zechariah the prophet was approached by some Jewish leaders and asked if the people who had been exiled for nearly 70 years should continue mourning the destruction of the Jerusalem temple as they had been doing “for so many years.” (Zechariah 7:4).
Zechariah responded that the mourning and fasting that had been done by most had actually been insincere. When spiritual festivals had occurred, the people had been thinking about their stomachs, not their spirits, the prophet said.
Check out the way the people should have responded:
“Then this message came to Zechariah from the Lord: “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.” (vv. 8-10).
Yes, there are things in our faith life that we wish had turned out differently, particularly if our congregation’s attendance and community popularity falls short of other congregations that don’t have our same set of challenges.
Moaning over what used to be does us no good, though.
Ministering to people in need is FAR more important to God than is how beautiful our church building used to be or how filled the parking lot was or how large of a budget surplus we used to have.
Let’s focus on what’s important to God now.
Let’s do what Zechariah said.
Humble service is always the better path.
As always, I love you
Martin
