Not by Strength
There is a story in scripture that is full of strange imagery and symbolism. It is one that would be easy to simply overlook, yet it contains a frequently quoted passage. Many of us quote this one line without consideration of the entire context. However, for those of us who love the church and are committed to her healing and restoration, it is this frequently quoted passage’s context that makes it so important. For this reason, for the month of June, we are inviting you into a deep dive of this obscure story found in the book of Zechariah. Each week we will send a devotional thought to help us all work for the health of the church in truly transformative and restorative ways. So, without further ado, Zechariah 4:
The angelic messenger who had been speaking with me then returned and woke me, as a person is wakened from sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top. There are seven lamps at the top, with seven pipes going to the lamps. There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the receptacle and the other on the left.”Then I asked the messenger who spoke with me, “What are these, sir?” He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” So I responded, “No, sir.” Therefore he told me, “This is the Lord’s message to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“What are you, you great mountain? Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ because of this.” Moreover, the Lord’s message came to me as follows: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sent me to you. For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes will joyfully look on the tin tablet in Zerubbabel’s hand. These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.”
Next I asked the messenger, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the menorah?” Before he could reply I asked again, “What are these two extensions of the olive trees, which are emptying out the golden oil through the two golden pipes?” He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” And I said, “No, sir.” So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
I warned you it was a strange passage, one filled with lots of cryptic symbolism and imagery. Did you recognize any of it? Many of us know Zechariah 4:6, “Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” In fact, I have this verse memorized and it came to me as I was praying in preparation for our spring Restor(y) board meeting. I realized at that moment that I truly didn’t know the context of the scripture, so I looked it up and was drawn into this strange story and its obvious connections to the work we are doing. This is a passage of promise and instruction about the restoration of the temple. It is a hopeful story and one to which those of us who desire to see the restoration of the church ought to pay attention. Let’s start by looking at the verse most of us know:
“Not by strength and not by power…”
We’re going to simply look at these 7 words today for they hold much instruction as well as some encouragement for us. Where is the answer to church health and restoration found? This verse begins by telling us where not to look. We are not to look to strength and to power when seeking to bring healing to the church. For many of us who have been paying attention to stories of brokenness within the church, this push against strength and power may seem obvious. Often abuses of power and strength are what cause the wounding seen in our churches. The reminder that it is not by strength and not by power that restoration comes to the people of God should cause us to celebrate and be encouraged. For what led us here is not what will lead us out. Yet, while this may seem obvious, the truth is avoiding the temptation to depend on strength and power is more difficult than we may want to believe.
Often when we deeply care about a problem we want to see it solved, and preferably as quickly as possible. Sometimes in our zeal to mend what is broken we can seek to depend on things within our control. Enter - strength and power. Out of our best intentions come attempts to muscle our way towards healing. Strength and power can look like many things: new strategies, well articulated vision and mission statements, better organizational charts, new ministry endeavors, etc. None of these are bad on their own. However, when they are the answer we present to the healing of the church, they will at best prove insufficient and, at worst, cause more damage. The desire to see our churches healed and restored is holy and good, seeking to strategize our way to health is destructive, regardless of our intentions.
As we begin this journey through Zechariah 4, today I want to simply invite all of us to honestly evaluate where we may be seeking to depend on strength and power in our pursuit of church health? Are there ways we are seeking to muscle our way through the restoration process? Is our desire for healing leading us to depend on the very things that led us to our current condition in the first place? Take a moment to place this question honestly before God. Allow the Holy Spirit to show you anywhere that you may be seeking to rely on strength and power. Surrender those areas to the Lord and invite him to teach you a better way, for as we will discover next week, God does not merely tell us what not to rely on, but what we can, and must, look to if we desire true healing.
