"Gathering Together For Worship" (Zechariah 8:20-23)

Introduction

How much do we value our worship?

Worshipping together is a key component in being an effective and Spirit-led Church. We are dispersed most of the time, both in everyday life, and in various expressions of mission within the community, so we need the worship gathering – to maintain and grow our spiritual health. We also need our corporate worship gathering so we can draw on each other’s strength, be encouraged, and develop in our gifts.

Gathering together for worship keeps us focussed, builds our faith, and helps us appreciate how the Holy Spirit is moving in and around us. This is so that we can be fully centred in God and know best how to follow Jesus ... rather than being easily diverted. Our grounding for life is found in our worship – through praise, prayer and communion ... all best done in the company of each other … participating together with enthusiasm.

And the benefit of this goes way beyond our current number, toward all those among the “nations” that God wants to bless and form a relationship with. It is through sincere, authentic, enthusiastic and life-changing worship, that the world will change and the Kingdom will grow.

‘Worship’ is a contraction of the old English word ‘worth-ship’. It’s about recognising what is worth most. The worshipper’s key question (from Psalm 116:12) is, What shall I return to the Lord, for all his goodness to me? Worship is THE appropriate response to our loving Creator and Redeemer. And, besides, God actually desires that his people gather in worship!

Worship is not just something we do, but rather something we experience – as God is present … and seeking to lead us and bless us and change us. Thus, we don’t just praise God … the way we praise human achievement, and we don’t just thank God … the way we would thank someone for a birthday gift – we are engaging with something vital and dynamic, and thereby committing ourselves to a very particular cause!

Worship in Israel

As we study the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), we see there how God’s people of ancient times were centred around their worship. We see this in the psalms. We also see this in their deep sense of loss, when they felt unable to worship. This happened when, in times of exile, these people were away from their spiritual heartland. Whenever the people of Israel found themselves physically and spiritually detached from their temple worship, they felt particularly bereft. This in itself shows the importance of worship to the human spirit!

When they found themselves in exile in foreign nations, far from their spiritual home, these people would fondly remember those days past when they attended the temple in Jerusalem; and they longed to be able to return to such times of worship. We know that, sometimes, people don't fully value what they've got, until they don’t have it anymore. For some in ancient Israel, there was also a sense of awakening for them in this – that the reason they found themselves in exile under the control of a foreign conqueror, was because of how much they had taken their relationship with God and their worship … for granted. Their worship, though given some priority, may actually have only been skin deep.

Sometimes we know that something like worship is important, but find ways of allowing it to slip to the back-burner, or don’t fully engage with it (with the depths of our whole being). People can allow their worship to become sterile, rigid and thin … rather than active and meaningful. Sometimes worship becomes a pretence, while the rest of people’s lives tend to ignore God’s ways and the needs of other people. This all means that they would naturally drift in the practice of their faith, be easily diverted in other directions, and ultimately be defeated.

So it is, that true worship, is, necessarily, at the heart of our faith!!

Returning to Worship

We can go back and consider what was happening in Zechariah’s time (26 centuries ago). Having conquered the Babylonian empire, King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Hebrew people to return home from their time of exile. Having been destroyed decades earlier, the temple in Jerusalem would need to be re-built, a project that was progressively attempted. Upon completion there would be a re-dedication ceremony.

Fortunately, for God's people in Israel, and despite deserving their times of exile, God never forgot them or stopped loving them, and still had designs on how they would bless the other nations. They should have learnt from their times in foreign lands, and God’s call upon them to live with integrity wherever they found themselves. Having repented from whatever had disrupted their relationship with God, and then grown in their faith, they should be ready to engage in true worship again.

Zechariah, a Hebrew prophet (during this sixth century BCE) was involved in the re-building of the temple in Jerusalem, and was clearly excited about the possibilities of collective worship (when this was complete). These words (contained in chapter 8 verses 20 to 23) form the climax of part one of this book, and I was gripped by them. The authenticity of the people's faith in God would soon be seen in their gathering together in worship. The fact that a lost opportunity had been regained, should bring forth great excitement and momentum. The fact that God still loved them, and still called them His people, was most comforting and encouraging! One could imagine one person asking another … about whether they would see them there!!

Zechariah foresees people broadly across communities, saying to one another, "Come, let us go to entreat the favour of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts" (v 21). This represents a desire to appreciate, pray and grow in knowledge of their God. And for Zechariah, this was NOT in any sense theoretical – for his next comment was, "I myself am going"! We need to be both personally and publicly excited about going to meet with God. It should be important to us. If we can have a positive attitude, we will no doubt get a lot out of it; and if we are serious about our corporate worship, other people will take notice!! [And they have!!!] Of course, the reverse more negative attitude … also brings an outcome – just NOT a good one!

We can meet with God at other times and in other places, to be sure, indeed in all times and all places, and we should, and this is great – but we cannot escape the biblical call to be God's collective 'Body of Christ' in front of the world! This is where the power to change the world comes from – the collective witness to Jesus (in life and action) with the effectiveness enabled by the Holy Spirit. As John said during communion last week, we have to think of the 'we' more than the 'me'. And where there is integrity and momentum, that ‘we’ can become a larger number.

A Larger Vision

Verse 22 reads like a pleasant surprise, though one we really should have expected. We should be ready for any revival of interest in worshipping God, and if we are not expectant like this, why should it happen! This would often require a big change of mind and heart in people, yet we know this CAN happen. As well, this would require an open (non-judgmental) welcome to newcomers into the spiritual community. We should NOT be like the older brother of the ‘prodigal son’ ... who was unable to accept that people (who are encountered by the radical love of the Father) can change remarkably (refer Luke chapter 15).

Would it be right to say, that any general disinterest in our society, about such a gracious and powerful Gospel message, could be laid at the feet of those who are supposed to be 'salt'? After all, there’s absolutely nothing lacking in the Gospel! Do we ever categorise people as impediments to mission, rather than seeing them … as the mission? This verse gives us a magnificent picture of people coming from everywhere, even some people who we may never have actually considered (represented in this verse 22 … by “strong nations” … who may have been seen to be too self-satisfied to ever be interested). Yet, they are all coming to "entreat" the Lord! And this seems to be as a result of a positive active credible witness to the effectiveness of worship (covered in verse 21).

Verse 23 gives a picture of the Jewish person of old ... who is wholly 'sold out' in their love and service for God, that even people from many different cultures and backgrounds, perhaps even prior enemies, would attach themselves, and respond positively to any invitation – "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you". We could easily sense the ongoing application of this text. There is a “grasping” at this person’s garment, so intent is this other person on going where this worshipper is clearly gaining so much blessing, help and healing. There is something good happening here! Deep within each human is built this need for God, and here God is recognised as present! Of course … people would “grasp” at that!!

Worship now

How great it is for there to be such convincing evidence that God is with someone, with us, and that God is for real … up and around and alive and working – ‘just look at these people’, they say! In all this, Zechariah captures God's eternal mission to connect with all people across the nations. This was Zechariah’s hopeful vision for his own time, focussed on the new temple being built in Jerusalem – seeking to inspire how worship must be central in the lives of God’s people in the generations to come. Yet, this was a vision ultimately activated through the coming of THE ‘Messiah’, and through the cross and resurrection of Jesus; together with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. This is when all the cultural barriers were broken down, and the Gospel was heard in all languages – bringing a witness to Jesus right across the world.

Zechariah also here captures a picture of the culmination of history and how worship will look then; and how worship in the eternal kingdom of heaven will look and feel – diverse, inclusive, engaging, spectacular. Everyone together with a singular focus on the great and gracious Creator. So, between Pentecost and Eternity, each generation of the church has the opportunity (and responsibility) of being this type of people. Indeed, Zechariah has provided a vision of worship for us today. This is worship that changes us; and worship that draws others, because it changes us. This is worship that answers the questions that people are asking – why am I here, and what am I supposed to be doing??

Conclusion

Zechariah foresees great and diverse worship gatherings – where people “seek” the Lord, and ‘find’ the Lord, and receive many blessings. As people gather, others join them. Exciting stuff! Are we as excited about the possibilities of worship as Zechariah was?

What we want to get out of our worship will likely depend upon what we put into it. If we invest our time, gifts and energy into our worship gatherings, we will likely grow in faith, find much encouragement and hope for the future, never doubt the forgiveness and salvation we are receiving, and … experience the Kingdom of God grow right before our very eyes!

We are Jesus people, and we need to worship as Jesus people. This will and should happen 24/7 wherever we travel. Yet, we should claim the power of worshipping together, and see this as our apprenticeship for when the mission is over, and this is all we will have to do, and Jesus is there with us. And thus, together, we revel in the name of Jesus … the beautiful wonderful powerful name of Jesus!