A Playful End ~ Zechariah 8

Metaphors are powerful things. They grab our imaginations and illustrate truth or ideas in vivid ways more powerfully than simple, direct speech. Take a look at some of these visual metaphors. 

Scientists even show us that metaphors impact how we think about and solve problems.

The Hebrew prophets would surely have agreed with Joseph Campbell who said: “If you want to change the world, you have to change the metaphor.”

Our text from Zechariah today offers us just such a world-changing metaphor. His metaphor for God’s end-game is children at play. We’re going to see that the playful end to which we are called is not some distant, scary apocalyptic metaphor, but a present, hopeful vision for our lives personally and corporately as followers of Jesus. Our apocalypse looks like this . . .

And this metaphor of play will actually frame how we think and behave as the church. What might happen if the church anchors itself deeply in an image of play? What if playfulness became our metaphor for the mind of God and the mission we are called to?

Zechariah teaches us that . . .

          1.    To be able to play, the church needs to be reminded of God’s providence. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. ⁵ The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”(Zech. 8:4-5)

In order to play we need to feel free to play. We can play because my fate, your fate, the world’s fate and its end, don’t stand on my shoulders, my efforts, “my” will but God’s will and grace.

The first thing one notices from Zechariah 8 is how often God states that he will accomplish his work.

“I will return . . . and dwell”, vs. 3

“I will save . . .”, vs. 7

“I will bring . . .”, vs. 8

“I will be faithful and righteous to them . . .” vs. 8

“I will save you . . .”, vs. 13

“I have determined . . .”,  vs. 15

In fact, God’s gracious activity, God’s “I will,” on the one hand, helps me to confess that, “I won’t. I can’t.” It allows me to admit my frailty, my brokenness, my failures. But more importantly, God’s “I will” means that we don’t have to. What if the long list of “to dos” that ever seems to swamp us, threatening to drown us in a sea of activity wasn’t fundamentally “ours”? That would mean that I don’t have to pretend to be a pro in the game of life but can by God’s grace recognize that I will always be a beginner in this game, can keep my amateur status. And even when the stakes feel really high and the score seems awfully low, I can hear God’s rhetorical question in 

vs. 6, “Do you really think that this is too good to be true, too difficult for me to do?” The good news of the gospel throughout scripture is God’s, “I will.”

Zechariah’s metaphor for what God’s “I will” is like is a life of leisurely grace. Vss. 4 and 5 offer this amazing image of carefree elderly in the market square and screaming children playing in the streets. This is more than a quaint image. In ancient cultures, there were two fundamental needs of society: to work, which meant to help feed the community, and to fight, to protect people, food and resources. Though the elderly and children find themselves center stage in God’s new city, in God’s economy, they can do neither – neither work nor fight. They don’t contribute to the national prosperity or protection. They play. 

When I was a professor I loved to tease my students by telling them that there was no such thing as “school work”. In line with the thinking of our passage, the ancient Greek word σχολή (Latin “scholae”), which forms our words like “school,” “scholarship”, etc. originally meant “rest or leisure.” Why? Because if you were able to study in the ancient world it meant you neither had to work in the fields nor fight. An apocalyptic image of children at play reminds us that God didn’t make us to serve him. He created us because he thought we would enjoy it. Our identity as a church, as the people of God, is not secured by acquiring some social status or by what we possess. Our status is defined by a God whose “I will” allows us to play.

2.    A church at play fights for justice with joy. ⁹ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong . . . ¹⁶ These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; ¹⁷ do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. (8:9, 16-17)

It’s important to be reminded that God in our midst does not mean grace is a self-absorbed desire to merely entertain ourselves. Recovering a sense of play and celebration does not mean that there are no challenges. The best games are those that demand from us skill and strength.Our text references that there is a fight to be had – “to strengthen your hands” (vss. 9 & 13) is a biblical idiom for fighting courageously (c.f. Judges 7:11; 2 Sam. 2:7, 16:21). 

But the metaphor of play helps illustrate both what we fight for and how we fight. We fight for justice with joy. Just consider Jesus. 

Our gospel reading from Luke 7 shows us that though Jesus worked hard and certainly called out unrighteousness, he performed his ministry of justice in a spirit of playful joy. He had only three and a half years of pastoral ministry but chose to spend a whole week celebrating at a wedding (that’s often how long they traditionally lasted). When the wine ran out, Jesus performed his first miracle – a “party miracle”. He told silly stories, acted irreverently and celebrated often enough that he was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard and defined that playful work– restoring people to God, to others and themselves – as justice work. 

Jesus would agree with a leading environmentalist who said: “I hate environmentalists who are always grouchy. They forget the joy of making a difference.” When we play we remember that justice work isn’t about grouchiness but joy.

Did you notice that justice (God’s restorative work) in this passage is defined in two ways: one is not surprisingly God’s work of restoring creation – vs. 12 speaks The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things . . . It’s about the earth being made whole. God undoing the sin that harms the earth. It’s about God giving joyfully. 

And the second element of justice is not about punishing others, shaming them, or calling them out (though I’m not suggesting that there isn’t a place for that). It’s first and foremost about disciplining ourselves (not others) to be fair, truthful, and kind (vss. 16-17). Justice is about focusing on how we treat each other because justice, according to God, is about joyfully restoring right relationships between us and God, us and others, and between us and all of creation. Justice is about learning to play with others.

You can’t play with others or create justice by yelling at them or trafficking in shame– “So help me you’d better play or you’re gonna get it!” or “You’re awful and wicked and nasty and horrible, would you like to play with me?!” So we need to stop defining God’s justice like a first-person shooter video game where we imagine that God or we should pick off our adversaries with military like precision. If the metaphor we think with is children playing in the streets then justice should be done with joy and laughter because the goal of God’s game is not to slay the opponent but to make them a friend. God’s end game is fundamentally about belonging. And that brings me to my final point – the goal of the game.

3.    A church at play understands that the goal of the game is clinging to Jesus and helping others grab his robe. ²⁰ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, ²¹ and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ ²²And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.”²³ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”(Zech. 8:20-23)

It’s worth asking if anyone outside of the church would have a reason to act out vss. 20-23 in our midst? Would anyone want to belong with us, demand that we take them with us? The polls aren’t looking so good. They tell us that the unchurched associate us precisely with anti-invitation, contra-belonging impulses of hatred, discrimination, shame and fear rather than joy and play. 

But there’s hope even here. This “one Jew” in vs. 23 is none other than God himself in Jesus Christ who was born, taught us about God and God’s love, suffered on a Roman cross, and rose from the dead. Our end is God’s gracious, hilarious, bold, welcome and invitation through Jesus Christ. He is Emmanuel – “God with us.” He is the one who became for us vs. 13 “our curse” and “blessing.” And so I want to invite you this morning – if you haven’t grabbed a hold of him – to do so. It demands no more or less from you than that.

For most of us, clinging to Jesus happened because someone grabbed us, loved on us and helped us belong. Who grabbed you? Who helped you belong?

I recently saw the documentary film about Mr. Rogers called “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” The film ended by sharing how he concluded most of his graduation speeches. He would say:

From the time you were very little, you've had people who have smiled you into smiling, people who have talked you into talking, sung you into singing, loved you into loving. So, on this extra special day, let's take some time to think of those extra special people. Some of them may be right here, some may be far away. Some may even be in heaven. No matter where they are, deep down you know they've always wanted what was best for you. They've always cared about you beyond measure and have encouraged you to be true to the best within you. Let's just take a minute of silence to think about those people now.

Friends, who invited you to belong and to play? Who lead you to God? Take a whole minute to remember and be thankful for them.