Today’s readings: Zechariah 1, Psalm 102
Zechariah 1:1-6
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”
Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful. Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; and abounding in steadfast love. There are several liturgical chants that have stuck with me through the years. That is one of them. Sung between the second lesson and the Gospel during Lent, it has a rich message and a singable melody. That one and the post-communion canticle, Thank the Lord and Sing His Praise — either intonation — are two of my favorites.
I had to think of the former when I read this from Zechariah: “Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.” I notice how repeatedly Zechariah attributes this invitation to the LORD of hosts. It’s like I like to say, “I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.” Get it?
God certainly wants his people to get the message. There should be no doubt that he wants them to come back to him. And he issues not only an invitation, but also a promise: Return to me, and I will return to you.
It’s challenging to think that God would forsake his people. We don’t want to think that he would do to us what he did to Jesus on the cross. Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He was praying the words of Psalm 22. There on the cross Jesus endured the abandonment and judgment our sin deserves.
Zechariah recounts how their fathers had refused to listen to the prophets who called them to repentance. They had abandoned God in so many ways. God had allowed them to be taken into captivity and the temple to be desecrated. Now, however, God was inviting them to return. And he promised to return to them.
It’s not that they would never sin again. Sin offerings were a regular part of temple worship. But they were being called to return to God in repentance and faith. Their fathers had abandoned that relationship. God was inviting them back into his grace.
It’s the same for us. It’s not that we never sin. We admit it every Sunday: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” But it doesn’t end there: “If we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
That’s what the LORD of hosts was offering the people of Zechariah’s day. It’s what he offers us daily. God’s invitation to return to him is not a one-time invitation. It is the daily rhythm of repentance and faith.
And we return knowing that God has already turned toward us in Jesus. He bore our sin and forsakenness on the cross and rose again so that we might be reconciled to God. So we return again and again to the God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love — until Jesus returns and we know the fullness of his grace in the life of the world to come.
Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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