Believing in Compassion

Introduction/Scripture

Intro. Believing Together. I am so excited about everything God is doing in our church.

Pray.

Marriage is funny. Well it actually really stinking difficult. Like any deep relationship it does not just require work…it requires transformation.

Right now we are in this crazy rhythm. Lauren just started teaching 4th grade here. She has been home with the kids for a few years and now we are in this new rhythm of kids and life where every moment is planned it feels like. I stay home on my day off with the younger two and the other day to try and invest in our life a little, I decided to try and clean the house. I did not know anything. Where the cleaning stuff was. How to work this mop that lauren has…the kids laundry good grief. I was holding clothes up to Rylie…is this Luke’s or Jame’s.

Then I cooked dinner. And when momma got home I remember feeling this thing in me waiting for her to make mention at what I had done. Dont leave me alone up here.

Here is the thing….10 years in, one of the things that makes marriage miserable is when it is transactional and intermittent.

Context

The Book of Zechariah was written to the Israelites who had recently returned from exile in Babylon and were now resettling in Jerusalem. The temple, central to their worship and identity as God’s people, lay in ruins when they returned. Under the leadership of prophets like Zechariah and Haggai, the people were called to rebuild the temple and renew their covenant relationship with God. Zechariah’s role was to encourage them and to keep their focus on a future of hope, with God’s kingdom restored.

In chapter 7, the people come to Zechariah with a question about religious practices. They had been observing fasts to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem during the exile. Now that they were back in Jerusalem and the temple was being rebuilt, they wondered if they should continue fasting. Instead of directly answering, God uses Zechariah to challenge their motives and heart condition. He asks if their fasting had truly been for Him or merely a self-centered ritual. God emphasizes that true worship is not just about religious observance but about living in a way that reflects His values—justice, mercy, and compassion.

This context sets the stage for Zechariah 7:4-10. God’s response shifts the focus from religious ritual to genuine, ethical living. He instructs them to "show mercy and compassion" and avoid oppressing the marginalized. In essence, God is teaching that true faith involves a heart for others and a commitment to justice. The people’s return from exile was not merely a physical relocation but a call to spiritual renewal and a reminder of their mission to be a light to the nations.

So God, through the prophet, ask three rhetorical questions here that frame some needed correction. This line of questioning presses the people of Israel to remember their true purpose.

First Rhetorical:

Zechariah 7:5 NIV

“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?

So here is what is happening. There is structure in the OT for the people on the proper way to mourn. There is a routine and the people have been going through this for 70 years now since the destruction of the temple. Now that things are being rebuilt, they are asking themselves if they can stop now, since they got what they needed.

Do you come to church for God or for yourself?

The question God is asking…. was do you come to me only when you need something?

It is a fundamental challenge of their faith. The people had not really fasted for YHWH. Rather, they fasted for themselves; they fasted to get YHWH to act on their behalf.

This is indictment #1 for us. We can reduce our devotion, attention, worship to transactional. It is like the person desperate for God during a fight with cancer and when healed they go back to their business.

When we come to God, we get what we need but that cannot be fundamental.

2nd Rhetorical:

Zechariah 7:6 NIV

And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?

This one is a slightly more subtle to us.

Is Church the only place that is for God?

Now God is not only accusing them of being transactional, now he is identifying their compartmentalization of faith. God was reserved for the temple times. He was not a part of their feasts or their ordinary moments.

Discipleship….

Rowan Williams: (Anglican Bishop and theologian)

“Discipleship, is a state of being. Discipleship is about how we live; not just the decisions we make, not just the things we believe, but a state of being.”

3rd Rhetorical:

Zechariah 7:7 NIV

Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’ ”

What has changed?

Nothing….

What God is doing here is two-fold:

nothing has changed in our relationship

Nothing has changed in your ability to jack it up

He says as much at the beginning of the book....

Zechariah 1:4–5 NIV

Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever?

Movement of compassion

In Zechariah God is challenging the heart of authentic worship and I want you to notice something… it leads somewhere. Authentic worship that is in transactional and not compartmentalized… the end result is not happy people or safe people but people that administering justice in the world. That is showing mercy and compassion.

That are participating in the kingdom by rebuilding what is broken.

I want to introduce you to the Templet’s. They experienced this compassion from the church in a critical time of their lives. And I have seen their faith move towards what God is asking for in Zechariah. Because of that, they know they are called out…

(Roll the video.)

Believing Together is about surrendering our lives to the holy one because we know he is worthy. It is about establishing another outpost for the kingdom of God right here. It is about administering justice, compassion, and mercy.

I want to prepare us for next week for just a moment. Next week is our Believing Together Commitment Sunday. I want to challenge you to prepare and to be here with us for this historic day.

Preparation for Commitment Sunday

I am excited to share that God is moving in this initiative in a powerful way. We shared a couple of weeks ago that we have received a $1M lead gift. That gift is to honor the legacy of Gerri R. Snider, a longtime servant of this church. Her family, wanted to make a sacrifice to make a generational impact and honor Gerri’s legacy. We have had many of the leaders of this church step forward to engage in this vision and I am thrilled to share that we are over 50% towards our goal of 5M. Our total is $2,557,730. We need everyone for Believing Together to respond to this calling from God.

1- This is a spiritual decision and a spiritual process. And I totally get it, the cynicism in our world runs high, and you might feel like, “Yeah, it’s actually a money decision, and that’s what we’re talking about. And yes, there is a financial commitment. But it’s much more deeply a spiritual process and decision. And what I’ve been praying for, and talking with you about is that my hope is that every person and every household who calls First Methodist Conroe and The Woodlands Hills Community Church their church home would engage in a prayerful, spiritual catalytic encounter with God as it pertains to where our money and our treasure is. Many of you have already gone through a moment like that and you get it, you have been forever changed from it. And that’s what the Spirit is doing in my heart again through this process.

Lauren and I have been praying for two years about this….

2- It will take all of us. Big and small Gifts alike. But the reason isn’t just to fund a project, it’s to build resilient disciples which requires life on life investment, and to reach our community with the gospel which requires us to use our own circle of influence which is uniquely yours.

3- If you hear a voice in the back of your head that says, “My contribution to this campaign is insignificant and unimportant.” I want to encourage you to not listen to that voice. You might say, $5 Million!!!!!.... that’s a huge about of money, I’m not a heavy hitter. Mine could only be a drop in the bucket. That’s not true for two reasons. Even on the simplest level, financially. Even a single light bulb that will be installed is going to shine on somebody. Every patch of flooring in our Kids wing is going to be tread on by some child, who may hear the Gospel or that they are loved for the first time. Every cushion or chair in our Cafe will be sat on for meaningful, potentially life transforming conversation. But more importantly, there is no way this process can be insignificant to your relationship with God.

So next Sunday is commitment Sunday, it’s a massive moment in the story that God is writing in our Believing Together journey. I hope you will come. The easy work will be filling out the commitment card. The hard work will be the prayer and discernment process with the Lord.

To give you a sense of what this will look like. Next week we will fill out our card and bring them forward and put them in boxes in the front which we will pray over and dedicate to the Lord. Don’t be intimidated by that, these are not legal contracts, these are commitments before the Lord that we are making.

Brothers and Sisters, this is a bold endeavor. One that without God is impossible. And that is why I am grateful we are saying yes. That is the journey of faith. And together, surrendered to God, we will administer justice, be bearers of compassion and mercy to a broken world.