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Do Not Despise the Day of Small Things
March 7, 2010
Pastor Mike Evans
 
“Do Not Despise the Day of Small Things”
March 7, 2010
Zechariah 4:6-10
4:1 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
“These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
I originally preached this message on Sunday, September 7, 2003 on this very piece of land under the shelter of a 30 X 90 foot tent that had been used the day before to have an auction, in which we managed to net $10,000. We had everything from serious antiques to a signed Michael Jordan basketball, to a set of chickens that was sold and resold about ten times.
Little did I know then or have any idea that from the time of that auction until the day we would hold our first service in this new building on Christmas Eve 2005, 845 days and nights would pass by.
I have several memories that stick out from the day of the auction: First, it was a catalyst that united the 70 or so faithful people of Crossroad Church (at that time) in a way that couldn’t have happened if someone had just written a check for the same amount. Every single person rolled up their sleeves, and pitched in wherever help was needed.
Second, this was the day that I met Jeff and Drew Atwood for the first time. He signed up on a card saying that he was interested in finding out more about the church. I called him up the next week. And now he and Janet are faithful and fruitful members of this church.
Third, I will never forget the Mennonite man in his straw hat who, upon entering this once barren field where we now comfortably sit, removed his boots and walked around barefooted for the duration of the auction. When asked why, he responded, “This is holy ground….there’s going to be a church building on this ground one day and it needs to be treated as special.”
The occasion was an historic one because six and a half years ago, the first ever corporate worship service took place on this piece of property underneath a huge tent. I can still remember Justin LaVan standing in the back gently bouncing Faith who was just a baby at the time.
Today also marks the sixteenth anniversary of Crossroad Church’s first public worship service. Our mother church, Valley E. Free in West Des Moines, is celebrating their 20th anniversary today. They asked me to come. Instead of being there in person I stopped in a couple weeks ago and made a video greeting that they will play in their service today. In my greeting I thanked Valley for supporting the planting of Crossroad Church.
Having a good sense of one’s history is important, both for families and churches alike. Today I intend to give you who are newer that sense and you who are long timers a reminder from whence we have come.
So I encourage you to let yourself be transported back in time six and a half years ago on a perfect late summer morning back in September 2003. If you weren’t even alive six and a half years ago I don’t expect that it will be possible. “Mom, dad, where was I before I was born?”
Today is an historic day. This Lord’s Day marks the first Sunday morning service ever held on this land, the land that the good hand of the Lord has provided for us in due time. As we gather under this thirty by ninety-foot tent today we also mark the end of one important phase of this whole building process.
Because of the hard work of our building committee and our builder we have a building design and cost estimates. These specifics will be made known soon and you will have opportunities to offer your opinions and suggestions.
After we have all had an opportunity for input into the building design as it currently sits we will be faced with some important decisions. Namely, what next? What level of finances must be in place before we break ground? All? Half? Three-fourths? How much future monies pledged? These are all questions which have answers, but they are answers which we do not yet know with certainty.
There are as many ideas about this building and financing it as there are people in the church. However, I am convinced that God will cause these individual streams of ideas, opinions, and convictions to merge into one majestic river that runs its course with certainty. And with the Lord’s help I believe a building will one day sit on this very ground… just a bunch of dirt until God’s people arrive on this spot, and then it becomes holy ground.
Since we are here at our land site for today I wanted to preach a special message related to our current situation as a church body. As I studied for my message on Revelation Chapter 1 last week I came across a text which caught my attention like no other verse has done in years. I believe God led me to a very special verse and I believe that the words I speak to you this day, in as much as my words are true to this divine text, are God’s words for us as well.
So I ask each of you to listen carefully today, not to a man’s, but to God’s voice speaking through the proclamation of His Word. My human words are not God’s words. But in so much as I faithfully proclaim God’s Word to you, the words you hear are indeed God’s words for you this day. This is but one good way to define biblical preaching as opposed to contemporary pep talks interspersed with video clips from the latest movies that is all the rage in these days.
I expect those of you who are here week after week, year after year to listen to the Word proclaimed and then to go out and do something about it! Otherwise we are no different than the man whom James writes about who is a hearer of the Word and not a doer of the Word. This man looks at himself in a mirror, turns away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”
With this exhortation in mind we begin our look at today’s text from Zechariah Chapter 4:10, a book from which I have never before preached a single message (until last week that is). Zechariah is a rich book that clearly points forward to Jesus Christ. Before I read this verse let me set the stage just a bit so that we might understand the context of the Prophet Zechariah’s words and the characters involved in today’s message.
Zechariah was a prophet of God who foretold the future of God’s people Israel. He was a special messenger from God to be God’s literal mouth piece. As I said last week Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai, the prophet which precedes Zechariah in the Old Testament.
They both prophesied in 520 B.C. (68 years after the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians). Israel had been conquered and most of its inhabitants carried off into captivity by the Babylonians. They were lost, dying, wandering in a foreign land where there was no living water. Now, in the late sixth century B.C. more than 50,000 Jews returned to Jerusalem with God’s temple in ruins.
Of course the temple was at the center of all of Jewish life and worship. For the temple to be in ruins was a travesty. This situation went on for sixteen years after the exiles returned. Why? Laziness, faithlessness, and mild opposition are the top three excuses.
Zerubbabel is mentioned in Zechariah 4:10. He was the governor of Judah and a good man who was faithful to the Lord. From the description given, it sounds like he also knew how to swing a hammer and use a plumb bob. He worked in earnest to see that the temple of the Lord was rebuilt. But he too was discouraged by the lethargic people who called themselves Israelites.
In Zechariah Chapter Four, a divine message comes to Zechariah, specifically for Zerubbabel that served as an encouragement to him that God was indeed with him and would strengthen him for the task at hand. The Lord gave Zechariah a vision of a lampstand (like in Rev. Ch. 1) of pure gold (menorah). It had seven lamps on it with seven spouts on the top. Two olive trees were by it, one on the right and one on the left. Zechariah also asked the angel who was speaking what it meant.
The angel acted surprised and responded to Zechariah by saying, (in Zech. 4:6) “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’” The angel continues on by saying, “What are you, O Great Mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”
You see Zechariah didn’t understand what this imagery meant…the lampstand and two olive trees…one at each end, that continuously fed the lamps. What God was showing Zechariah, with a specific encouragement to Zerubbabel, was that even though he lacked the resources to get the temple rebuilt, God would provide. Even though Zerubbabel had very limited resources in terms of “power and might”, and even though there were huge obstacles to overcome, nevertheless, God was going to show him just how large and in charge He really was, and is!
That’s why the angel said that His work would be completed, but “Not by (human) might, nor by (human) power says the Lord, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts (army of warring angels).” No matter how difficult or huge the mountains may seem, God’s work done in His ways, in His power, will succeed. Things that seem like mountains will be leveled before our very eyes.
This must have been an enormous encouragement to Zerubbabel when he needed it most, to be assured that God’s inexhaustible resources, coupled with the Spirit’s power working itself out in time and space, in the lives of real men and women, would guarantee the successful completion of the temple, for this was God’s will for Israel to accomplish!
This is not to say that human effort is not required. It is! We are co-laborers with God. Honest, humble, God besotted effort is necessary! In our own project many of us have absolutely no idea how many hours have been put in by the building committee, and certainly not just in meetings, but in extra research and information gathering. All of these sincere and honest efforts are pleasing in God’s sight. But if it’s left strictly to us we will fail. And that’s what faces us in these days, a mountain that is climbable “only by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts.”
Next, in verse eight, Zechariah says, “Also the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the days of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel- these are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
Who has despised the day of small things? This is the question I want to pose to each of us this beautiful morning (of September 2003). Who has despised the day of small things? This is certainly a rhetorical question with God’s answer implied, “Certainly not I says the Lord.”
What does the prophet mean to say by asking this question? There almost certainly were some among God’s chosen people Israel who thought the rebuilding of the temple was “no big deal,” a “small thing.” You can almost see it with your mind’s eye…There was little enthusiasm for it. Some of the workers involved in the reconstruction project probably abandoned the work. Still others made forward progress difficult because all they could do was talk about (i.e. complain about) their inadequate resources to complete the task.
Who has despised the day of small things? Not God! With Zerubbabel’s skillful hands leading the way the temple would indeed be rebuilt, with the gentle presence of the Holy Spirit providing more help than anyone could know.
Who has despised the day of small things? Why is it that we humans tend to despise the small things? We tend to honor only those who do great and mighty things? We all tend to be overly impressed with big houses or fancy cars. If a man runs a small business some will look down on him because it is not a bigger business.
One pastor may, in his heart, look down on another pastor because while pastor number one shepherds a large, growing church in a city, pastor number two is the pastor of a small church in a small town. It’s fallen human nature to despise the small things and desire the bigger things.
I would like to insert one warning against this thing called “spiritual envy.” I gleaned the following quote from the Blazing Center Blog, by Mark Altrogge and his son Steven…who together have written what I consider to be some of the very best modern choruses and hymns.
They quoted the Puritan Thomas Manton: “There is in each of us an envy; O how hard a matter it is to rejoice in the gifts, graces, and labours of others, and be content in circumstances, when God casts us by as unworthy, and uses others to glorify his name! We are troubled if others glorify God and not us or more than us, or if they are more holy, more useful, or more serious…We should be content to be abased and obscure provided Christ is honored and exalted.” – Thomas Manton
Steven or Mark then states: “At times I envy others more gifted than me. I’ve envied pastors who are more ‘successful’ or can preach better than me. I’ve been jealous of other song writers. This is sick. It reveals a fundamental defect in my motives – I’m living for my glory, not God’s. If all I cared about was the glory of Christ I would rejoice when he gifts others or uses them in greater ways than me. Do you ever struggle with spiritual envy? How do you fight it?”
Just consider for a moment just how foolish it is to despise the day of small things! I look at the majestic 120 year-old oak and maple trees in my front yard and I must knock myself in the head to remember that it started from just a tiny seed. I see a climaxed oak forest and must remind myself that it started as an acorn.
I go to the zoo and look at the largest elephants and I have to work to make myself believe the truth that this huge animal was once but a microscopic zygote in his mother’s womb.
I look at Crossroad Church, less than ten years old [in 2003] (now 16 years old), and I am reminded of people who have been touched through the ministry of this church and its people throughout several different continents around the world, and in our own back yards…and I have to remind myself that it started out with a few faithful people. (Six couples began meeting together in the summer of 1993 for a Bible study. But the first official public meeting would not occur until the second Sunday of March, 1994.)
I look at God’s building of an entire people for His own possession and I stand in awe of God’s power and might! From nothing He created a people for Himself when He established a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Even though they were few in number, just 70 when they went down to Egypt to be with Joseph, nevertheless God sovereignly built them into a nation of several million people over the next four hundred years of slavery under Pharaoh’s hand.
If you think you know what God is doing in your life guess again. We have little more than a clue of what God is really doing in our lives at any one time. This is a good place to be because it keeps us humble and dependent! Israel was almost nothing and yet God made them into a mighty nation to the praise of His everlasting glory! Do not despise the day of small things!
Look at the mustard seed. It is one of the smallest seeds known to mankind, and yet it produces a massive plant. One who was not familiar with seeds would never guess that such a tiny seed could produce such a massive fruit! We dare not despise the small things. God doesn’t!
In Matthew 18:1-4 we see the disciples of Christ coming to their Teacher and asking, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And Jesus did what? He called a little child to Himself and set him before them and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus was not telling the disciples that they needed to have a childish faith. What He was essentially saying was this: “You disciples…you who have walked with me and seen me perform miracles…you despise the day of small things, for you have not understood that the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is the one who has a heartfelt trust in Jesus and an honest humility, like a precious little child to her parents.”
Jesus told his disciples to change! He called them to be converted from their arrogance in thinking they could figure everything out and to become more like a humble little child. Do not despise the day of small things! God’s greatest people never despise the small things. We don’t really know for sure what “small things” God might want to increase in stature and influence for His great name’s sake.
In verse 10 we see that “the seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.” The “seven” here represents the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth.” This is a clear illustration of God’s absolute sovereignty over His creation.
The all seeing eye of God is more than just an eye. God is willing and able and absolutely promises to help His faithful people succeed in doing the things that honor Him. Do you see the promise of verse 7 where God promises that Zerubbabel will in fact bring forth the top stone, the final stone of the Temple, to its proper place?
Then in verse nine, the angel reminds Zechariah that the hands of Zerubbabel have “laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.”
If you have ever been a part of something that simply could not have happened without the Lord’s direct intervention then you know what this verse is talking about. If you have ever seen God’s hand move in such a way that the results could not be explained in any other way other than the fact that “God did it” then you know what these verses are speaking about.
So many have prayed so faithfully and earnestly for years about the present and future of this church. We have sought the Lord and His blessing every inch of the way. We believe He is leading us to construct a building, and so we also believe that He will provide all that we need to see this accomplished. And when it is done we will know, and hopefully everyone within a hundred miles will know, that this is something that God did!
We are trusting that the Holy Spirit, just as He did in Zechariah’s day, will stir up the hearts of God’s people and provide us with all that we need for this huge undertaking, in terms of material needs, physical strength, and the spiritual and emotional strength and encouragement to see this project through to the end, And, like Zerubbabel, we too one day (hopefully soon) will see the mountains before us become plains as we joyously bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” Eight hundred and forty-five days after these words were first spoken God leveled the mountain and allowed us to meet for the first time in this building. Amen.
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