“8 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.” 9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. 12 For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.” 14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; 17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.” 18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace. 20 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”” (Zec 8:1–23 ESV)

When we don’t feel we have ownership in a person or a movement, when we posit that all’s a game amongst the kids, it can spell a deadly elixir. Jesus was nothing without His people. All life is some yin and yang symbiosis. They need each other and, even though His is the head name on the marquis, everyone top-to-bottom is an invaluable part of the tapestry. You matter. You can move On, can give it a rest before a year has gone nigh and by, and Get to the Bottom of the matter; the weird Ruin spelt by a joking gesture (“it will all be managed by our friend the luminary one”) is a weirdness due to some weird Genius perhaps, but a Failure to be Sincere and get down to business. That is, we say, “I’ll warm to her or to him down the line”, not realizing that the beach ball is impossible quite to palm with one hand, it just keeps getting pushed farther away.

Post-apocalyptic, then, the would-be not Jesus but Saint, has hearkening the End of attention spent, the End of largesse and Influential Posture. And this may be a tragedy, that the times they are a changin’, yet also it is bolstered up to the hilt, that there is Ample and Abundant room for maneuvering. For influence unto an Experience called Conviction, Conversion, Coming Together mightily in Peace.

Blown away by the overwhelming seeming Odds stacked against the would-be Christ, woman or man, the Fact this “other”, she or he has wild levels of artistry and wealth at her or his disposal, and who am I? But the absence of Character, of Education, of Moral Compass, is enhanced, focused upon, and we can only blame the messenger or culprit of evil intent so much: there are Responsible Parties behind her or him. And her or his attempts to Be Christ, to Be maliciously or benignly, be the Head Honcho, is let’s face it a matter for Christology: he or she is claiming to be the Anointed Christ of Scripture.

Enough literalisms, then, in the preaching, and on to the Claim that Christ Came to save us, sinners first of all, then All People. This is a matter for the nation’s security, that mocking Freudian or holiest-of-holies Sanctuaries not be rough-trodden, except in the rough edges so tamed and submitted, of the Soldier who therein kneels, who therein Makes Solemn Confession, who submits as to Patterns Seen and now Emulated: the pattern of a contrite testimony.

I erred. I am embarrassed and ashamed. I seek mightily Discipline, if it is a presenting error, or Forgiveness either way if a one-off Misstep or Trespass. Please leave it at a year. Please drop it off as not Quite the Rumor or Slander or Characterization of my overall Character, but as a fluke, as a error repented of, as a misstep. And do you fancy I grovel a bit? But isn’t this Groveling already? To be able in sanity and humorous Mode, to acknowledge and laugh at myself? Or should it be All Encompassing sadness of heart, bent back and fasted Spirit?

Because—more literalism in the preaching—they fantasize all manner of “sinful lifestyle” in odd incongruities with the Claim to be Forgiven each of us for Christ’s Sake. They say the entire starship, battle ship, is ill, and need be Prayed over and brought patiently “into the family”. Well, good the intent, but as to these, they are Persecuted for the immature and unself-aware aspects of the Ordained Ones. The fright zone, again, of her or him who makes it all out before respectable company, as a game for the kids to play, not a matter crucial to the Holiest of Holies and crucial to the Salvation of the listener’s soul! Each generation need nod Assent to Christ in their era: and today’s opportunity, please do mimic and go franchise the Christ Event: you, too, O Christian, are an emblem and modicum of His Presence: you are Him! Be Him! Repent and be Transformed of all your aberrant and errant pasts, your lacking and gap-filled areas of Education, your treasured One Experience of Being Loved fantastically made-over and ushering in the baptismal waters that drench and alleviate the Sinner! Be made new! Hear, that we easily become those “Jews” whose hearts are for a season hardened: the forgetfulness of what Repentance looks like, that Repentance… it will Be Okay! Cheer, O Soldier of the Cross, that Repentance is now proclaimed in His Name! And share the good news, share the Cross, share the magical Pronouncement of Mercy in His Name!