Reflections on "A Flying Scroll" Zechariah 5: 1-4

I decided to add a change of pace to the sermon on Sunday on the belief that the congregation had heard enough historical background information.  The change of pace as having a PowerPoint presentation with each of the visions enumerated in the sermon.  It worked pretty well in the Sanctuary service.  If nothing else, it engaged a different part of the listeners' senses.  In the Chapel, however, we do not have the technology to do the PowerPoint.  I thought it would not be too bad, but it became clear that it was too much information being dumped on the listeners!

The text below is not as close to what was preached as most weeks.  I kept adjusting and shifting how things were said, and even the order in which they were said.  I can't really remember the changes well enough to correct the text (just assume that it was better than how you read it!).  I did not hit the "cognitive minority" point that Gowan makes very hard in the sermon.  That would be a very interesting topic for a future sermon.

“A Flying Scroll” FPC, Troy; 8/9/15; Minor prophet series; Zechariah 5: 1-4

Introduction: Minor prophets; late 6^th century; Persia now the world power; Persia's policy was to treat the exiles kindly, and all ow some to move back to their homelands in order to exert control and generate revenue

Zechariah colleague of Haggai writing during the time when the exiles are returning to Jerusalem – Ezra always mentions both together.

Zechariah is actually two different prophets prophesying at different times. First Zechariah (Chapters 1-8) and Second Zechariah (Chapters 9-14).

Move 1: Jerusalem and the Temple continue to be the focal point.

a. as you have surely noticed, all of the minor prophets and their prophecies have revolved around the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple.

1. Initially, the threat to Jerusalem.
2. Then the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple. This event becomes to that generation and future generations what the what the Exodus story had been for earlier generations.

3. In our own context: American revolution or 9/11.

4. In the modern world for Judaism, the Holocaust.

5. We also are reading Psalm 137, which expresses the Israelite perspective on how it felt to be in exile.

6. Gowan suggests that the plight of the Jewish exiles fits Peter Berger's, a sociologist of religion, concept of a "cognitive minority," which is "a group of people whose view of the world differs significantly from the one generally taken for granted in their society" (Gowan, Theology of the Prophetic Books: The Death and Resurrection of Israel, 145).He notes that the Babylonian cities were dominated by giant temple towers, which made it hard for the exiles to see any relevance to their worship of Yahweh, who apparently could not protect the Temple in Jerusalem or save the exiles (Gowan, 145).

7. how do they claim their faith?

8. what can they say about their God given the evidence around them in the world?

b. Zechariah prophesies from the time when exile is becoming the time of return and restoration.

1. new questions arise – is this the fulfillment that the prophets had been talking about?

2. Rosalind Banbury, “god Tames the Waters,” The Presbyterian Outlook, 8/3/2015, 27: “In the crucible of exile, Jews searched sacred texts and the words of the prophets. They came to realize that it was they who had brought the exile on themselves. ...Out of this soul-searching came a renewed commitment to be God's faithful people and an astonishing theological affirmation that God, not the Babylonian god Marduk, was the creator of the heavens and the earth.                                                                                                                                               3. Incredible statement that Zechariah addresses in his prophecy.

Move 2: Content of Zechariah

a. First half is visions

1. The images make Zechariah feel a bit like Revelation. In fact, Revelation makes a good parallel for another reason -- in both instances, the one sharing the prophecy is part of a minority group, which may be why the vivid imagery is used. From a minority perspective, you cannot call out the ones who rule, so cryptic images are used to represent the prevailing powers.

2. First vision: fantastic figure of horses at the intersection of heaven and earth – in the midst of chaos the angel rides in to bring order (deep goes back to Genesis?); God will return to restore order

3. Second vision: Four nations that are Israel's enemies will be dealt with by God

4. Third vision: measure Jerusalem; holy city; Jerusalem is bursting at the seams; notice that God controls all the world

5. fourth vision: Satan accuses Joshua, but God cleanses

6. Fifth vision: lamp stand and two olive trees: God will work through the governor Zerubbabel and high priest Joshua

7. Sixth vision: flying scroll – thirty feet long and fifteen feed wide; the whole world will be judged by the word of God.

8. Seventh vision: Woman in a basket being carried away – Woman who personifies wickedness and has a corollary in the Mesopotamian gods is sent back to the land Shinar.
9. Eight vision: four chariots announcing God to the ends of the earth; completes the cycle as it takes us back to the first vision.

b. Second half of Zechariah look at what post-exilic life might be like.

1. Is there more to come than the return and restoration of the Temple? Chapter 9 suggests that.
2. There is still a future hope. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem. Lo, your king come to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of donkey (9:9)
3. We know this passage because the Gospels of Matthew and John quote it 9: 9 as part of the Palm Sunday story.
4. Even as Jerusalem and the Temple are rebuilt, there is more to come.
5. Donkey vs. horse? Clue that they still do not have it right?
6. Is there conflict in the post-exilic community? The bad shepherd in Chapter 11 would suggest that..

7. Everything should be good after the return to Jerusalem, right? Well, maybe not.

Move 3: How do we claim Zechariah?

a. We obviously are not embattled people in exile. Nor are we returning to rebuild.

b. But, we know the question – is God at work in the world around us.

1. Someone in my office just this week asking me if I thought what was going on in the world was the part of the signs we read in Revelation. Are we at the beginning of the end?

2. Someone will be right one day!

3. If we believe God is at work in our world, then it's a fair questions to ask where and align ourselves in the places we see God.

b. Changing context does not move us outside of God.

1. As they see the fall of Jerusalem coming, they see God.

2. In exile they discover God.

3. In the return and restoration they affirm God.

4. Reminder to us that God is in the mix.

Conclusion: I had a mentor who used to say that we keep baptizing as a sign of hope and our belief that God is still present among us.

The community of believers still exists with a future in front of it, or there would be no need to baptize an infant and expect the community of faith to be a part of her future.

We baptize today and lay claim to the future God has for us.

Note: I consulted quite heavily the The New Interpreter's Bible and the study notes found in The New Interpreter's Study Bible. While I have not quoted directly in most instances, their comments have greatly guided my preparation of this sermon.