Sermon on Zechariah 13 – The Lord Is Our God! of their hands. Prophets who pointed them to the Promised Savior who was coming soon. With their hopes restored and their work revitalized, things got “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to done! Because of the Promised Savior, their future was looking bright, even me!” declares the LORD Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will though there would be many dark days ahead. be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. In the whole land,” declares the LORD , “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet The book of Zechariah contains prophecies of good and bad days yet to one-third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine come. Maybe you’re familiar with the words, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the is our God.’” foal of a donkey.” That prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. In our text for today, we hear another prophecy It was a movement that we heard a lot about during the last presidential fulfilled by Jesus later that week. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be campaign. People protesting against what they felt to be social and economic scattered.” Jesus spoke these words on the night he was betrayed. inequality. “We are the 99%!” was their rally cry. Whether or not you agreed He told his disciples, “You will all fall away on account of me...for it is with them, the country in which we live gives them the right to protest in a written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” peaceful manner. We live in a country where political decisions are made by Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never the majority. For the most part, people want to be in the majority, because the disown you.” All the others said the same. They say talk is cheap and when majority makes the decisions, and the majority controls the power. push came to shove, all the disciples deserted him and fled. They couldn’t even stay awake with him when he told them to watch and pray. But there is one majority we can be thankful we are not part of. The majority Scripture had been perfectly fulfilled by Christ and Scripture would continue of the people living in this world who do not know and believe in Jesus as to be perfectly fulfilled by Christ. their Savior. This majority is heading down the road to hell. Jesus tells us, “enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road In our text, we hear the words, “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and against the man who is close to me!” declares the LORD Almighty. narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Jesus wants all It’s ironic that God would use sinful men as his sword of justice against the people to be on that narrow road to heaven, but many reject Jesus as the only sins of men. God’s justice demands that sin be punished. God says, “the soul way that leads there. By some estimates, only a third of all people living in who sins is the one who will die, and all have sinned and fall short of the this world are on the road to heaven. Even in our country, it’s believed that glory of God.” No matter where you fall in the 99% or 1% tax brackets, there 70% of all people don’t have a church home. I often wonder if that number is is one place where the 99% and the 1% are equal. From the prostitutes and higher based on the number of cars I see on the road on Sunday mornings. drug dealers in the streets to the billionaires living on easy street. For those who fail to love God and their neighbors perfectly. For those who fail to put In our text for today, the Lord, speaking through the prophet Zechariah, in an honest days work for an honest days wages. Whether you’re part of the brings out that one third to two thirds believers to unbelievers ratio. 99% or the 1%, 100% are sinful and deserving of God’s wrath and Zechariah was both a prophet and a priest. He came at a time of hope and punishment in hell. opportunity, yet also a time of apathy and frustration. After seventy years of living in captivity, God’s people were finally free to go home. But when they returned home, all they found was ruins and destruction. The grand city of Jerusalem and the glorious Temple had been reduced to rubble. They tried to rebuild, but their efforts met constant obstacles and delays. They were discouraged and wanted to throw in the towel until God sent prophets like Haggai and Zechariah. Prophets who encouraged them to take up the work of rebuilding. Prophets who pointed them to God’s promises to bless the work But God didn’t want that for us. That’s why he sent Jesus to be our Savior. God once told the prophet Ezekiel, “with one blow I am about to take away That’s why the Father offered up his One and Only Son. That’s why the from you the delight of your eyes.” That same evening his wife died. It was a Father awakens the sword, representing an instrument of death. In Jesus’ vivid object lesson for God’s people because God’s people were guilty of case, it would be a cross of wood. The prophet Isaiah picks up this picture honoring him with their lips while their hearts were far from him. The day when he writes, “we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and was coming when he would take away the delight of their eyes. He would afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our take away their temple and their city and deliver them over into the hands of iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his their enemies. He did this so that they would turn from their wicked ways wounds we are healed.” In Jesus, the Shepherd becomes the substitute for and return to him. He told them, “I take no pleasure in the death of the the sheep. A lenten hymn tells us, “what punishment so strange is suffered wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” yonder! The Shepherd dies for sheep that loved to wander; the Master pays the debt his servants owe him, who would not know him.” Jesus died for all Nothing is to be loved more than God. For those who love earthly things people. We call this Objective Justification. If Jesus died for all people, why more than God, those earthly things can be taken away. God does this won’t all people be with him in heaven? Because many reject what Jesus has because he loves us. He doesn’t want anything to separate us from his love. done for them. The fact that we believe it is all due to the grace of God and Even though it might burn at times, these things are done to prevent us from the power of the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacrament in our falling under His judgment to face the burning fires of hell. Passing through lives. Through faith in Jesus, we can say that we are lambs and sheep of the the trials and tribulations of life, God’s people come out of the flames purer Good Shepherd. We call this Subjective Justification. In our text, God tells and stronger. That’s the way it works with gold and silver. That’s the way it us, “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my works with Christian faith too. As God’s people come out of the flames, they hand against the little ones.” I know that probably sounds a little strange at call on His name. first, but the Hebrew language paints the picture of God turning his hand towards the sheep in the sense that he reaches out to save them. You could As one commentator writes, “The fires of life simply teach us more and more say, with one hand, he strikes the Shepherd. With the other hand, he saves to say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ Only he can save me through this fire. the sheep. The Lord is my God. Only he can be so concerned about the good and bad in me. The Lord is my God. He wants to do this so that I become more and It might not sound like it when God says, “this third I will bring into the fire; more like him in thought and being. The Lord is my God. How can I be I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my impure if the Lord is my God? How can I think of trying to escape the fire of name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will purification if the Lord is my God? And when faith grows weak and flickers say, ‘The LORD is our God.’” God’s gift of salvation is free, but there was a dimly on the walls of our hearts, we say, ‘The Lord is our God!’ When death cost. It wasn’t gold or silver, rather it was the holy precious blood and comes, and we step into that lonely valley of the shadow, we will say, innocent suffering and death of his One and Only Son. The Son who tells us ‘The Lord Is Our God!’” that being his disciple involves carrying the cross and counting the cost. Life isn’t easy. You can count on trials and tribulations. Even these serve a Dear friends in Christ, whether or not you can say that you are the 1% or the purpose. Peter writes, “These have come so that your faith – of greater worth 99%, give thanks to God that you can say, “The Lord is our God!” By the than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved grace of God through faith in Jesus, you can also say, “we are the one third.” genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is By the strength He provides, we also have a mission to reach out to the two revealed.” The fire that sometimes leaves us feeling burned or burned out is thirds to let them know that Jesus is their Savior too. actually the fire that makes us stronger. Not to punish, but rather to purify. Not to break, but rather to make. Amen.