Sunday Worship Service December 8, 2024

Prelude
Call to Worship Romans 12:16
Lighting of the Advent Candle (Peace)
Hymn JBC # 149 Veni, veni Emmanuel
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 301 Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
Confession of Faith
Offering
Scripture Zechariah 6:9～15
Prayer
Sermon [There will be harmony between the two]
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 330 Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude

Today is the 2nd Sunday of the Advent period (about 4 weeks before Christmas) before Christmas to commemorate, give thanks and to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The second Advent candle was lit at the beginning of the worship service.
The 2nd candle of Advent is filled with the meaning and wish for “Peace”. Today, let us together listen to God’s words of peace from a passage in the [book of Zechariah] of the Old Testament.
It is written in verse 9 in the beginning of today’s passage [The word of the Lord came to me] This word “me” refers to the prophet named Zechariah.

Zechariah was a prophet of the era where the Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem at the end of the Babylonian Captivity (an event where countless Israelites were taken to Babylon when the nation was overthrown by the Babylonian Empire)
The Babylonian Captivity lasted for about 70 years. Due to the Babylonian Empire that overthrew Israel being overthrown by the Persian Empire, the Israelites that were exiled to Babylon were at length allowed to return to their country.
The beginning of the [the book of Ezra] is written as follows.

Ezra 1:1～4
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.
4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

The bible says that the Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem from Babylon for God the Lord has moved the heart of Cyrus the king of Persia.
It says that the Israelites could return to their own country, so then were also allowed to rebuild the temple that was once destructed by Babylon because God has moved the heart of Cyrus the king of Persia.
Meaning, the end of the Babylonian Captivity was God’s grace and was not an event that the Israelites could accomplish with their own strength.
When we get across such a message of the bible, we come to know that the good things that we receive even to this day are all gifts and blessings from God.

When we think we get something good by our own effort and strength, and think that we have accomplished it, we are led to a humbling experience that “everything is given to us as God’s grace”, by His message through the bible.
Let us always continue to be grateful keeping in mind that the source of all blessings is the Lord God.
The reconstruction of the temple that was destroyed by Babylon has begun in Jerusalem. However, the temple reconstruction is obstructed by other inhabitants that were against its reconstruction by the Israelites (that matter is written in the book of Ezra chap. 4)
Hence, the temple reconstruction was suspended. But, written as follows in the beginning of the [book of Ezra] chap. 5, the temple reconstruction is resumed.

Ezra 5:1～2
1 Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

By conveying the words of God to the people by Haggai and Zechariah who were prophets, the people rose and could once again start the temple reconstruction.
The words of God encourage us human beings, it gives us courage, hope and strength when one time we had setback or are about to begin something new from now on.
Even as this, we listen to and share God’s Word together through the weekly worship service because we are living beings that receive spiritual strength and spiritual food through worship.
It is through the Word of God that we receive true life and can live. By firstly listening and sharing the Word of God in the worship service, we learn that it is God’s Word that strengthens us and makes live, let the Word of God be as our strength.

What is the reason that we are to listen to this passage of the book of Zechariah (chap. 6:9～15) today, the 2nd Sunday of Advent?
　It’s because the words of today’s passage, though it is an incident that happened hundreds of years (about 600 years ago) before Jesus Christ was born, the event of today’s passage is one that predicts the coming of the yet to be born Jesus Christ.

Verse 11 to 12 says as follows

11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak. 12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.

Through the words of Zechariah, the command [set a crown on the head (make this man king) of this man (refers to Joshua the high priest)] is conveyed here.
And it is written that that man who is to be king is [the Branch] It says that that man is a small Branch, king that is like a freshly growing young branch.
He is not a man of strong image as of a large tree, but his figure is one who resembles a small young branch. A man like sprout that has just sprouted from the ground. That is exactly, our Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that Jesus Christ was born to Mary and Joseph as a Son of man (an infant) on Christmas.
A newly born human baby cannot live not even a single day without a guardian’s protection and care, a weak existence indeed.

It is unbelievable that the One who is God was born to this world in such a figure. But it was the Lord God’s plan.
Let us welcome as our King, the Lord who is coming to us in a figure as a little infant, just like a newly growing sprout, and let us offer Him the crown.

We hold the sin of being self-centered. In other words, we are the king of our self.
With Jesus Christ that the bible conveys as our King, let us cast off our own crown and return the crown of that Worthy King, to Christ the King.

And today’s passage says that (v.12), that King will [build the temple] The reality is, this temple refers to the temple of Jerusalem that was destructed by the Babylonian Empire.
However, in terms of faith, here, the temple that that King builds refers to each one of us believers. It’s because Christ our King is the One who builds us as His temple.
Each one of us is God’s temple. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 of the New Testament is written as follows.

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

Christ our King, will again build each one of us believers, and our church as well as the Lord’s temple.
I believe for some reasons, that there are times when we ourselves seem like to be broken, we no longer believe in the things (or our own self) that we believed until then, and completely lose self-confidence.
There must be even a time when having failed on something, we feel despair that we can only think, “I can no longer recover, and hopeless for my life ahead”.
To my idea, there is also a time when we don’t know where to go. However, our Lord came to this world as the One who rebuilds us as His temple.
Therefore, though we fail many times or fall, let us trust God’s Word of the bible that Christ the Lord God as our King will rebuild us.
And let us never give up, and live having hope from God’s Word of the bible.

Let me read verse 13.

13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony (*peace) between the two.’
Christ builds the temple which is us the believers, and He reigns over us as our King.

It is written that [beside that throne is a (one person) high priest], and to my understanding this refers to Christ as King, and this fulfills His work as the High Priest connecting God and man.
Christ as the King as well as the High Priest leads and rules over us.
And when we are ruled by Christ, “peace” (translated “harmony” in English) arises between us people that time.
When Christ rules over us and we worship Him as our True King, listen to, obey His Word and live, true Peace (Shalom in Hebrew) arises between us humans.
In that sense, ahead of Christmas which commemorates the birth of Christ, His coming who is the True King of Peace, let us now once again give back all the glory to Christ the King.
Let us offer a heartfelt thanksgiving to the Lord remembering the Lord God giving us Himself and the One who brings us Peace even to this day.