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I want to talk today about guilt. You've no doubt all felt it
from time to time. Some probably more than others. It's one of the two great
motivators of our modern life. Just look at the ads you see on TV. If you
analyse them you'll find that most of them use either greed, in one of it's
many forms, or guilt. You may have seen that ad for a new cleaning cloth,
where you're shown a day in the life of a dishcloth. It's used to wipe up
the milk on the bench, a spill on the floor, the cat jumps up on the bench
and licks off some food that's been left behind, then the dishcloth is used
to wipe away what's left, then to your horror you see the same cloth being
used to wipe down the baby's high chair! Don't you feel guilty when you
realise that this has been depicting the sort of thing that happens in your
kitchen! You'd better go out straight away and buy the new anti-germ dish
cloth that they're advertising! |
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But of course
the problem of guilt isn't just what we have thrust upon us by advertising.
We see the results of it in so many areas of life. People suffering from
low-self-esteem, who think that they're failures, who feel guilty because
they can't do what others expect of them, or what they expect of themselves.
People who are workaholics as they try to make up for their shortcomings.
People who suffer from stress related illnesses. People who are perfectionists.
Others who give up and simply fall into self-indulgence rather than fight
it. (a spiral) I read somewhere recently, a psychologist saying that most
of his patients could be cured if he could convince them that the guilt
they felt wasn't real. So we live in a world where one of the greatest problems,
one of the most powerful forces we feel, is guilt. So what do we, as Christians,
have to say to this situation? What does the Bible have to say? |
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Well, that's where
we come to, today, in our series on Zechariah. "Then he showed me the
high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing
at his right hand to accuse him." (Zech 3:1) We've had the call to
return to the Lord, to learn from their past experience (ch1). We've read
the promise of God to restore the fortunes of Jerusalem (ch 2), and now
we come to a vision of God's courtroom, as we prepare to discover how God
will bring this restoration to be. |
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Stand Before
the Lord. |
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What we find is
Joshua the high priest, the same man Ezra refers to as Jeshua (Ezra 2:2),
standing before God, with Satan accusing him. So what is he being accused
of? Well, it may be that he stands there as the representative of the priests
of Israel who have led the people astray and have defiled the worship of
God. On the other hand as the high priest he stands as the representative
of the people, so perhaps the accusation has to do with the way the nation
has turned away from worshipping God to idols. Let me read you the account
in 2 Chronicles 36:13-16, of the final state of Israel before the Babylonians
captured the city: "Zedekiah also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar,
who had made him swear by God; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart
against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. 14All the leading
priests and the people also were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the
abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the LORD that
he had consecrated in Jerusalem. 15The LORD, the God of their
ancestors, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion
on his people and on his dwelling place; 16but they kept mocking
the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets,
until the wrath of the LORD against his people became so great that there
was no remedy." So there was plenty for Satan to accuse him of wasn't
there? (mocking, etc) |
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What we see here
is something that we all experience from time to time. Satan comes and accuses
us of disobeying God. The trouble is, too often we get confused between
what's real guilt and what's false guilt. All too often we fell guilty for
things that don't really entail guilt. I remember getting on the tram one
day several years ago and discovering that I was wearing brown shoes with
gray trousers and a blue shirt and being incredibly embarrassed that I could
be so poorly colour co-ordinated. But you know I still haven't found the
commandment about being colour co-ordinated. Or not wearing stripes with
checks, or not wearing socks with sandals. But we feel incredibly guilty
if someone points out some faux pas like that, don't we? Some people feel
guilty if their house is untidy, or if the lawn isn't mown. And Satan takes
delight in accusing us of these trivial things, because he knows how much
they distract us from the important things in our lives. |
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So how do we work
out whether the guilt we're feeling is real or not? Well, clearly our conscience
isn't always a good guide. At times it'll convince us that something is
wrong just because the latest TV ad tells us so. So how will we know? Only
by going to God's word and asking him. You see, as we'll see in a moment,
Joshua is standing in the right place to face Satan's accusations. He's
standing before the Lord. If you want to know whether the guilt you're feeling
is real or not, then bring it to the Lord for his examination. Only God
can say whether something is wrong or not. Satan can accuse, but he can't
condemn. So here's the first answer we find to the problem of guilt: Stand
before the Lord. |
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Know God's
Choice |
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As he stands before
the Lord, and as Satan brings his accusation, what happens? The LORD says:
"The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke
you! Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?" Satan is rebuked,
not because his accusations are without foundation. As we just saw, his
accusations are well-founded. No, he's rebuked because he fails to understand
the call, the choice, of God. And notice what that choice is. The Lord has
chosen Jerusalem. Satan thought he was on solid ground accusing Joshua,
as a representative of Israel, for all the sins that had led to the downfall
of Jerusalem, but in fact he's misread the situation. Far from his rejection
of Jerusalem being final, God has again chosen it and with it Joshua and
the people of God, despite their sin. It's his gracious choice that's what
matters here you see? |
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So what about
Joshua's guilt? Is God just going to ignore it? Well, we'll see what happens
to that in a moment. But first let's think again about our own day. How
do we read this today? Well, we're in a similar situation aren't we? We
too are faced with Satan's accusations. Yet we too are the objects of God's
choice. You might like to keep one finger in this passage while you turn
to Rom 8:28. There we read: "We know that all things work together
for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed
to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within
a large family. 30And those whom he predestined he also called;
and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified
he also glorified. 31What then are we to say about these things?
If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not withhold
his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give
us everything else? 33Who will bring any charge against God's
elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn?" (NRSV) |
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You see, it matters
a lot that God has chosen you. If he's chosen you and sent his son to die
for you, none of Satan's accusations will carry any weight, will they? |
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So when you're
faced by feelings of guilt, first stand before the Lord, and second, know
God's choice of you. |
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Receive God's
Forgiveness |
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But of course
it isn't enough to simply know God's choice of us, we also need to experience
God's forgiveness. "3Now Joshua was dressed with filthy
clothes as he stood before the angel. 4The angel said to those
who were standing before him, 'Take off his filthy clothes.'" |
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I want you to
notice two things about what happens here. First of all, his clothes really
are filthy. That is, his sin is real. The word that's used actually means
dung-spattered. Our translation has sanitised it for us. The result is that
as high priest Joshua is unable to serve. Nothing unclean was allowed anywhere
near the Sanctuary, so the result of his sin is that he's unable to act
as high priest, and as a result it means that the people have no way of
being made right with God. So as is often the case, this sin, this uncleanness,
has wide-reaching ramifications. But secondly, notice that the sin is portrayed
as being like an outer garment. It's something that can be removed, It can
be cleansed. Joshua can be made acceptable to God again. The sin isn't part
of who he is. Do you ever find yourself saying something like: "Oh
I'm a terrible person. I can never do anything right." Generalising
statements that move from what you do, to what you are. Telling yourself
that sin is what you are, rather than what you put on. Now I know that "Clothes
make the man!" but please remember that sin doesn't make the person.
No-one is irredeemable. Our sin doesn't stop us from being in the image
of God, it simply soils that image. What did we discover earlier this year
as we were studying 1 John? "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful
and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
(1 John 1:9 NRSV) That's all unrighteousness. Even that sin you'd
rather no-one knew about. Even that sin that you find yourself doing over
and over again. There's a story of a time Martin Luther had a dream of Satan
reading a long scroll with all his sins on it. Finally Luther jumped up
and said 'It's all true, Satan, and there are many more sins that only God
knows about; but write at the bottom of your list, "the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son cleanses us from all sin"' and at that Satan fled.
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Before we move
on, notice that the removal of sin is done at God's behest, not Joshua's.
Joshua could no more cleanse himself than we can. Someone had to take the
filthy clothes from him, and that someone is God himself, through his Son
Jesus Christ. |
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So when you're
worried by guilt, stand before God, know God's choice, and receive God's
forgiveness. |
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Receive God's
Acceptance |
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But look at what
happens now. "to Joshua he said, "See, I have taken your guilt
away from you, and I will clothe you with festal apparel." 5And
I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put
a clean turban on his head and clothed him with the apparel; and the angel
of the LORD was standing by." |
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Not only is Joshua
cleansed from sin, but now as a sign of God's acceptance he's clothed with
rich apparel and a clean turban is put on his head. The turban is part of
his high priestly outfit. It had a plaque on the front of it that read 'Holy
to the Lord' as a sign that the high priest was set apart for the task of
bringing sacrifices for the sins of the people. So Joshua not only has his
sins forgiven, he's also reinstated as the high priest. So can you see that
for the people this is a twofold remedy. As their representative, his sins
being forgiven also signifies their sins being forgiven, but his reinstatement
also means that their access to God is now restored. |
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This idea of putting
on new clothes as a sign of acceptance is an idea that, you may remember,
Jesus uses in the parable of the prodigal son. It's not just that we're
forgiven, you see, but that God accepts us back. That he restores us to
where we were before. Here's how Paul puts it in 2 Cor 5:20-21 "So
we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us;
we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For
our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God." God has not only taken away my sin
and your sin, he's replaced it with something else. What is it? 'so that
in him we might become the righteousness of God.' He's clothed us with the
righteousness of God. So when you're faced with feelings of guilt, stand
before the Lord, know God's choice, receive God's forgiveness, and just
as important, receive God's acceptance. Know that he's made you righteous
in his sight. |
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Know Jesus
Christ |
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Well, having seen
this vision, we're now given an insight into how it's to come about. "Then
the angel of the LORD assured Joshua, saying 7'Thus says the
LORD of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then
you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you
the right of access among those who are standing here. 8Now listen,
Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you! For they
are an omen of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch.
9For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single
stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the LORD of
hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day. 10On
that day, says the LORD of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under
your vine and fig tree.'" Suddenly we discover that Joshua and his
colleagues are an omen or a symbol of what's to come. Yes, God is about
to restore Jerusalem as his dwelling place, but he has a far more glorious
plan in mind. |
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From a vision
of Joshua the high priest being reinstated we jump to a series of references
that can only point to the coming Messiah. He's 'my servant,' a term that's
used some 20 times in Isaiah alone to refer to the Messiah. He's the Branch,
that is, the one through whom all the promises of God to David would be
fulfilled. So as the branch he'll be a king from the line of David. |
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But then there's
this reference to a stone with 7 facets. This might literally be the stone
that will form the foundation of the temple that Joshua is helping build,
but the stone is also an idea that is used to refer to the coming Messiah:
(Isa 28:16 NRSV) "therefore thus says the Lord GOD, See, I am laying
in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation: "One who trusts will not panic."" So this stone
with seven facets, a sign of perfection, is again a pointer to something,
someone, that is yet to come, who will remove the guilt of the land in a
single day. Well, you don't have to be too clever, this side of the cross
at least, to work out that he's referring to Jesus Christ, do you? What
we've seen take place in the vision, is a foretaste of what God would do
on that first Easter day. For Joshua, the cleansing is contingent on him
and the people walking in God's way and keeping his requirements. But now
the cleansing that Jesus brings is final. On that one day, his death and
resurrection have removed our guilt. They've paved the way for us to enjoy
God's presence with us forever, which is the meaning of each of us inviting
the other to come under our vine and fig tree. It's a picture of living
a life where we enjoy God's blessing. |
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So what we find
here, not for the last time, I might add, is that the promises made through
Zechariah point us forward to the things that God will do through Jesus
Christ. What we discover here is the gospel of Jesus Christ in fact. More
specifically, we find the freedom that that gospel brings. Freedom from
guilt, freedom from the pressures f those around us, freedom from our over
strict consciences, freedom to serve God, knowing that he's forgiven our
sins, that he's accepted us for who we are, that he's clothed us with his
righteousness, and that he now enables us to serve him freely. How will
you respond, next time you're feeling guilty? Stand before the Lord, let
him examine you; know that he has chosen you to be one of his people; know
the forgiveness that he offers; know his acceptance of you; know Jesus Christ. |
