Zechariah 9:9-12
Proper 9 (14) - Year A
"Zechariah was a major factor in recovering the magnificence from the ruins of a degrading exile. Zechariah reinvigorated their imaginations with his visions and messages. The visions provided images of a sovereign God that worked their way into the lives of the people, countering the long ordeal of debasement and ridicule. The messages forged a fresh vocabulary that gave energy and credibility to the long-term purposes of God being worked out in their lives.
"But that isn't the end of it. Zechariah's enigmatic visions, working at multiple levels, and his poetically charged messages are at work still, like time capsules in the lives of God's people, continuing to release insight and hope and clarity for the people whom God is using to work out [God's] purposes in a world that has no language for God and the purposes of God." [The Message by Eugene Peterson]
If you were in exile (and aren't you?) how glad you would be to hear:
Come home, hope-filled prisoners! - The Message
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope.... NRSV
Come back to the fortress, you prisoners waiting in hope. NJB
The prisoners who wait in expectation will return to you, O Zion. CCB
Come back to the Citadel, you captives waiting in hope. REB
Zechariah's focus is on the rebuilding of a people who have endured humiliation and exile. To complicate the problem, the people are apathetic about their task of facing a new world and indifferent to the call to life renewed. Does that sound like our situation? Yep. You already know renewal is not easy and takes place in the midst of great pain. You also already know this is a task we can but take our place within.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/july2002.html
Zechariah 9:9-12 or Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
A marriage broker, a midwife, a messiah. All are key transition figures from promise to reality. Folks are espoused, babies are born, wars are dismantled.
As you look around, what needs a facilitator of a desired future? That which you see is the arena of your call. Between everything that has gone before and that which is to follow, you are at the right place at the right time to see that better living occurs. Will it take your life? Well, of course. That doesn't mean that you will die on the job, teeth still gritted. It does mean that your heart and head and hands and health will be harnessed toward a better end.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/july2005.html
Zechariah 9:9-12 or Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Psalm 45:10-17 or Song of Solomon 2:8-13 or Psalm 145:8-14
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
A first or most recent glance at a beloved calls forth action. A first or most recent whisper of a beloved calls forth action. Whether from or toward a beloved, we are called beyond sitting and theorizing/creedalizing/speculizing.
Even with the threat of messing up, of mistaking a dream of a beloved for a beloved, there is no real option (though lots of unreal ones) for following a heartbeat that resonates with one's own. There are no guarantees where such action will lead, simply a prayer that love will find its way.
Such love is our birthright. It is G*D's way that we re-image. It is a source of thanks that eases our journey through life.
- - -
stamp your foot
play your flute
throw your tantrum
there is no getting around
a wisdom of deeds
lived into and through
eventually we all
arise and come away
to a beloved space
in such wise
prisoners are freed
from dryness unto death
in such wise
prisoners are made
of restored hope