Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
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Prayer
Unto you, O Lord, do we lift up our voices!
You are the God of peace, and we are a people of turmoil.
Send out your peace, that it might flow through your church to the nations.
Pour out your spirit like water, and let the rivers flow.
May we find that living water today and may we be known as a people of peace.
Teach us to speak words that build up, encourage and bring health to the soul.
Give us peace in body and soul, give us peace in our communities.
We have become so angry and rude; restless and critical.
Help us to sit calmly under our own vine and under our own fig tree.
Fill us with your spirit that we might truly walk in love and joy, peace and patience.
Calm our restless hearts.
Heal our wounds with the balm that only you can provide.
We pray that you would give the authorities in Sacramento wisdom and insight into this mass shooting, that justice would be done.
Give comfort to the families of the victims.
Give healing to the injured.
Lord we beg of you that you would restrain violence, for if you do not restrain violence, there is nothing we can do.
There will be no police force big enough, no laws strong enough, no strength powerful enough – if you do not restrain.
For the sake of your bride on earth, Lord, restrain.
May we know what it is to walk on the streets and night safely, to discuss ideas safely, to disagree safely.
You are the God of peace – but we are so restless and angry.
Forgive us, Lord.
Heal the nations by the gospel of peace.
Deliver us from false prophets.
Deliver us from the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life.
Deliver us from ruthless and violent men.
Give peace to our community.
Give food to the hungry.
Give shelter to those with none.
Deliver the captive – deliver those in bondage to sin.
Bring the wandering ones back home.
Thank you for healing and for health care – thank you for hearing our prayers for Gary and Roger, for Naomi and Bud.
And continue to heal.
Heal Susan from her infection.
Give healing to Victor.
For those who are still waiting for tests and test results, we pray that you would open the door and speed the care that is needed.
When we see so much death and senseless destruction, we get scared.
We know that the devil uses that fear to drive even more death and destruction.
Teach us to respond instead how Jesus responded.
Teach us to boast in weakness, rather than strength.
Teach us to wait on you for perfect justice.
Teach us to turn the other cheek.
Teach us to use the strength and power that you give us to do good, speak justly and love kindness – but all the while walking humbly with you, relying on your strength alone.
And when we are weak and can do nothing, hear our cries.
Sit us gently on your lap and hold us in your arms and remind us that you are coming in strength, in justice and every wrong will be made right and every tear will be dried.
Until that day, may we hold firmly to you even when we don’t understand,
Bless the reading and preaching of your word this morning.
Guide my lips and give us ears to hear.
And together,
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Text
Sermon
I approach this passage with fear and trembling.
As I was studying this chapter, I came across this quote by Martin Luther:
"Here, in this chapter, I give up.
For I am not sure what the prophet is talking about.”
That has a way of making me feel much better.
The commentaries, almost without exception, put all of this into the end times - with a great final battle and then God comes in judgment.
But there are difficulties there.
The first one that strikes me is that the first verse seems to have more immanent fulfillment.
This was fulfilled literally in the days of Antiochus, as well as in the days of Titus after Jesus came into the world.
This is fulfilled again and again in the church.
Even in our day, the church in Sudan, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, India, suffer tremendously.
So rather than turning this into an “end times” prophecy.
I would like to start with a more immediate question.
Why does God allow the nations to rage and win against the church?
The description shows a church that is weak - so weak that the enemies who plunder her divide the spoils right there in front of her.
The description of an invading army - there is no resistance, no help, the enemy does as he pleases, takes what he wants, and there is no one to say, “NO!”
In our day, we praise strength.
Arms.
Weapons.
When God calls Deborah to judge Israel, we say, “You see.
There weren’t any strong men.”
You read repeatedly - God calls strong men to defend and when they don’t, this is what happens.
But there is no hint of this in our text.
God doesn’t even speak of chastening them.
He calls them his people.
He talks of delivering them from their enemies.
And when you think of brutal armies dividing spoil, you can’t help but think of Jesus hanging on the cross while the Roman soldiers threw dice for the only property he had - his clothing.
What hopelessness and shame and helplessness!
What cruelty!
To play games while your victim is in indescribably agony.
The salvation of the world, of society, of the family, of everything - isn’t in strength.
It is in weakness.
Therefore God hath given him a name
Jesus was victorious because he was weak, and his weakness was his strength.
He took upon himself the form of a servant break the bonds of death.
It was in his weakness that he destroyed Satan
Is Zechariah speaking of a final battle?
Maybe.
It just isn’t clear.
But it definitely applies to that which the church suffers in every age.
Whenever the gospel is preached, men and women are united to Christ - flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone.
And this always means that they will suffer as Christ suffered.
Why does God allow such horrible sufferings?
First, we know that God is still sovereign.
“I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem”.
He gathers them together.
The enemies of God war against the church and God allows it which is really really hard to process.
It will never do to say that God is out of control of history, or is it is powerless to stop suffering.
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