BY Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé
Recently, Pastor Ger Jones of Vintage Church LA in Santa Monica, California, preached on “How Do We Tell Others About Jesus?” Many churches across the world chose this or a similar topic on this Lord’s Day, but I wonder how many approached it so powerfully. Pastor Ger began with the startling statement that “Everyone present can do this.” The body language of the congregation was such that it was clear that there were some present who were less than convinced that they could even begin to effectively go about sharing the Gospel with another. And then Pastor Ger told us how 100% of those new to the faith, as well as seasoned Christians alike, could accomplish this:
“Broken Person A comes alongside Broken Person B.
Are you as broken as I am?
Shall we look at Jesus together?”
What then, was the foundation of this Pastor’s message? It was twofold: That no one wants to be told anything by people who act like they know everything and, more importantly, that one STARTS SMALL in the process of building relationships with those with whom he or she is sharing the Gospel.
Starting small…There is a verse about this with which this blog will begin and end. It is from Zechariah 4:10 NIV, and reads as follows:
“Do not despise the day of small things.”
Every journey, no matter how long, begins with one small step and every spiritual relationship is built one constructive act of love at a time. As preached in the aforementioned sermon, sometimes it is a reconstructive situation, one that involves brokenness. Broken people didn’t start out broken. It is rebuilding what is broken and starting small to do it that is the subject of this blog.
Michael is the true author of this week’s blog. With regard to Pastor Ger’s sermon, he summed up its compelling message in his usual compelling way: “It’s about rekindling the light.” He said that, after a spiritual diminishing or even a destruction or spiritual void altogether, it’s about “reigniting the passion you have for God when you’re lit.”
Our belief is that all who have followed the Lord for awhile know well what that initial enthusiasm for God is like. In Christian parlance, you’re “on fire,” for Him. In today’s secular verbiage, you’re “all in.” In whatever vernacular, it’s a committed state of mind, one that admits few doubts and has no impediments. As it has been said, it is a spiritual high, and, “There is no high like the Most High.” It is an attribute, the loss of which, is so egregious that Jesus decried it in Revelation 2:4, when he complained about the once vibrant church at Ephesus, stating that, “You have forsaken the love you had at first.” It’s the spiritual all-at-sea, the divine doldrums.
In dealing with such a spiritual reversal, what is the antidote, how does one find a cure? Surely, Scripture is not silent on this subject. There are many parts of the Bible that answer this question, but, perhaps, none more relevant than the tucked-away Minor Prophet Book of Zechariah. The Introduction of the Life Application Bible describes this Book as solidly Messianic in its foreshadowing of Jesus. For Michael’s and my purposes, it provides the answer to how a person rekindles that “lit” state of mind that excites mankind and greatly pleases God.
In the Book of Zechariah, the setting was Jerusalem, after the Babylonian exile. A remnant of Jews had earlier returned to their homeland to find the magnificent Temple of the pre-exile years, destroyed. Words cannot describe the grief and lament that followed their discovery. The most significant players of our section of this Bible Book are Zechariah, God’s prophet to these Jews, and Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, born during the exile and now the Governor of Judah, post-exile. (“Who was Zerrubbabel in the Bible?” from “Got Questions?”)
According to the Commentary of The Life Application Bible,
“God had given the Jews the assignment to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem when they returned from captivity. After fifteen years, they still had not completed it. They were more concerned about building their own houses than finishing God’s work.”
In a sense, they had left their first love – God and His Temple project:
“When the exiles first returned from Babylon, they had set about rebuilding the Temple right away. Although they began with great attitudes, they slipped back into wrong behavior, and the work came to a standstill.”
Our text today involves a conversation between Zechariah and an angel sent by God. In it, we learn of the need of a rekindling of light and a reconstruction project unrivaled in Scripture – the rebuilding of the Temple. This passage is written in the first person by Zechariah:
“Then the angel that talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep.” (Zachariah 4:1) NIV
Indeed, it was a wake up call and this becomes even clearer as the conversation progresses. The angel said to Zechariah,
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” (Zachariah 4:6) NIV
For this falling away, there was a necessity of rekindling a passion for reconstructing the Temple and, as in all rekindlings, in all wake up calls, there is a single force to bring it about – the work of the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at The Message as to this verse and the ones that follow:
“Then he said, ‘This is God’s message to Zerubbabel:’ ‘You can’t force these things. They only come about with My Spirit,’ says God-of-the-Angel-Armies. So, big mountain, who do you think you are? Next to Zerubbabel, you’re nothing but a molehill. He’ll proceed to set the Cornerstone in place, accompanied by cheers: Yes! Yes! Do it.” (Zechariah 4:5-7)
What a paragraph this is! Let’s look closely at it. “You can’t force these things.” What a theologically loaded statement! What the angel was trying to accomplish was a rekindling, the rebuilding of the Temple. What Ger Jones was preaching about was a rekindling – broken person A, who needs rekindling, comes alongside broken person B, who is in the same condition and has the same need.
What is the derivation of Michael’s word – rekindling? The root word is kindling or “small pieces of wood to use in order to start a fire,” my phone dictionary app tells me. I remember my Mother starting fires in the fireplace, using kindling to get the flame to ignite. Igniting is what this blog is all about, specifically, reigniting. As Michael said, “What is our passion for God like when we’re lit!” This is why God sent an angel to Zechariah – to reignite a People to rebuild the Temple. This is what happens when both A and B persons are broken – they both get rebuilt, their brokenness mended by Jesus and his rescue of mankind.
Let’s return for a moment to Zechariah 4:5-7, quoted above. The angel also told Zechariah that, with regard to rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel will “proceed to set the Cornerstone in place.” The dictionary definition of a cornerstone is “the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All the other stones are placed in reference to the orienting location of the cornerstone of the building.” Here, Scripture is speaking of the then present reconstruction of the Temple as well as speaking in Messianic terms of Jesus coming to Earth.
“But he (Jesus), looked directly at them and asked, ‘What is the meaning of that which was written:
‘…the stone the builders rejected
had become the cornerstone?”
Of course, the angel is speaking of Jesus, “the Cornerstone.” He is the one around which everyone and everything else finds its orientation. He is True North, our moral compass, our model in all. There is the Messianic nature of this, nonetheless, very practical passage.
As earlier noted, the angel stated, “You can’t force these things.” This statement bears yet another look. Once again, the direct thought was about rebuilding the Temple. Implicit in this, however, is a broader implication. To those who have attempted to talk to others about Jesus, these words ring true in many cases. Certainly, one can’t force things. Mutually beneficial conversations, as well as the Temple project, “ only come about through My Spirit.” Where does the Holy Spirit reside? He lives in yet another temple, our own bodies, “ the temple of the Holy Spirit.” (1Corinthians 6:19) NIV. In the process of rekindling temple construction of this sort, we are entirely dependent on the One who indwells us. And how does this work? The next verses from Zechariah are illuminating.
“Then the word of the Lord came to me. The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of the Temple; his hands will also complete it. WHO DARES DESPISE THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS…” (emphasis added) Zechariah 4:8-10) NIV
How does a person rekindle and, in Michael’s words, reignite their passion for God or for God’s mission for a rebuilt temple, whether of a physical dimension or the one that is in our bodies? It is through the Holy Spirit, a Spirit Who does not despise small things – small kindnesses, baby steps of evangelism, small spiritual development. These will eventually light a fire under a soul, whatever its present stage in the theological scheme of things – from atheist to devoted believer in the Gospel.
Pastor Ger Jones preached about this in his sermon. He said that, in Roman times, after there had been a great Roman victory, the “Gospel” was sent back, a good news proclamation that Rome had been victorious. Therefore, when the Early Church used this very word, Gospel, it announced that there was truly “ Good News,” because Jesus, the Savior of the world had died vicariously for mankind’s sins. All were victorious by this Gospel. In so doing, they were following what these last-cited verses advocate – using a single small word , Gospel, a word with the infinite meaning of eternal life.
The angel said to Zechariah, “Does anyone dare despise the day of small beginnings?” ( Zechariah 4:10) The Message. The Holy Spirit empowers, starting in small ways, to reignite all that is broken. He will renew passion for God, leaving us “lit,” passionate for the God of light who always honors baby steps, steps so small, so heaven bound.