When We Sin - Part 1 (The Vision & Attitude of Zechariah)

In Zechariah 3 we read...

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.  The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.  The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”
 Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.
 The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua:  “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.
 “‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.  See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
 “‘In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

This is the word of the Lord...Amen.

What do you do, what can you do, when you stumble and fall?  Do you give up?  Do you throw in the towel and come to the conclusion that this Christian Way is not something you can live up to?  Do you wallow in guilt and shame?  Are you paralyzed by the judgmental tone in other peoples voices...or that same judgmental voice in your mind that tells you you're unworthy?

If you've ever felt this way, or been made to feel this way, read Zech 3 again.

God's grace is unmerited favor...

God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense. 

He does not measure you up to see if you're worthy of His love, deserving of His gifts, or, meriting His call.  He simply loves you, and calls you, perpetually and despite your flaws. 

And when you stumble and fall, God is not shocked nor does He feel betrayed.  He fully expects that to happen and His death on the cross covered it before it even took place.  He is not there brow-beating you and shaming you (that's coming from another source).  He is there holding out His hand, to lift you up out of the dust.  And He isn't satisfied with simply brushing off the dirt and miry clay that has attached itself to you.  Instead, He gives you  new clothes, reminds you (and the devil) that you are plucked from the fire, chosen, and that He will PERPETUALLY CHOOSE YOU.  Then, He reminds you of the challenge before you....to strive to live in obedience to His call.  It is in the striving to live in that obedience (not in the achieving of it) that we find grace, healing and ministry.

God said to Zechariah, that "...I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
^10 'In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,’.

If God can remove the sins of a nation in a single day, and enable a stubborn, adulterous nation to minister to it's neighbors and share in its prosperity....can He not do the same for us as individuals?

I have always been taken by the fact that Zechariah, in his excitement and passion in witnessing the grace of God, steps into his own vision and declares, “Put a clean turban on his head.” and the angels do so.  Is this not an example for us as believers, as to how we ought to react when fellow believers are caught up in sin? 

Let us not be found, as Satan is, sitting in the seat of scoffers, clicking our tongues and wagging our fingers in judgment and accusation.  When we point fingers we only invite God's rebuke, not His blessing.   Instead, let us be as Zechariah and be cheerleaders and enablers of God's grace.  Let us be like the angels, cleaning, clothing and encouraging our fallen one's.  That they might find His grace and be, as He intended them to be, ministers of His blessings and sharing His goodness with their neighbors.

So, when we sin....what is our reaction to be? 

Will we side with the prosecution (satan) and stand in accusation, in shock, in judgment? 

Or, will we be found as Zechariah was, in the cheering section, enabling God's grace and mercy and rescue our fallen ones from the miry clay? 

The choice is ours.

One final word of caution...

Many are those who will stand in the crowds with the Chief Prosecutor (satan) and they will not understand how one caught in sin can, in the next moment, be standing clean before God and able to serve Him.  They cannot fathom His grace and unmerited favor.  It is NOT your task to convince them.  Simply continue on in obedience, in grace, in humility and service and let God deal with them.   This is not easy when that judgment and finger pointing comes from those we love and live with, from those closest to us.  It is difficult not to get defensive, even angry when they demand a form of shame and despair from you in keeping with how they would deal with guilt and shame.  In those moments, it is best to simply say that you are sorry for your faults, to make amends where necessary and if possible, then carry on and let the Holy Spirit work to bring them the understanding of grace.

God go with you all.