Zechariah 1:1-6: a reflection

1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the LORD’s word came to the prophet Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying, 2“The LORD was very displeased with your fathers. 3Therefore tell them, the LORD of Armies says: ‘Return to me,’ says the LORD of Armies, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD of Armies. 4Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: The LORD of Armies says, ‘Return now from your evil ways and from your evil doings;’ but they didn’t hear nor listen to me, says the LORD. 5Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.’”

Zechariah's prophecy opens with a tender call from God to a people just returned from exile: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you. God does not begin with condemnation but with an invitation: turn back to me, and I will turn back to you. He urges them not to be like their fathers, who would not listen to the prophets' call to repent, and he reminds them that God's words, unlike the generations that passed away, endure and are always fulfilled. The whole opening is a gracious appeal to return.

Notice the reciprocal promise: Return to me, and I will return to you. God's call to repentance carries a promise of grace: if the people turn back to him, he will turn back to them, meeting their return with his own presence and favor. This is the heart of God toward those who have wandered: not a reluctant, grudging reception, but a ready turning toward those who turn to him. The one step we take back toward God is met by his step toward us.

That gracious promise is for us whenever we have drifted from God. When we have wandered, sinned, grown distant, we may fear that returning to God will be met with coldness or rejection. But God's word is, Return to me, and I will return to you. Our return is met by his; the God we turn back to turns toward us with grace. If you have drifted from God, do not hesitate to return, fearing his reception. Hear his gracious invitation: return to me, and I will return to you. Take the step back toward God, and find him already turning toward you, ready to receive the one who returns.

Lord, to your people you gave the tender call, return to me, and I will return to you, meeting their return with your own presence and grace. Thank you that your call to repentance carries a promise: that if I turn back to you, you will turn back to me. When I have drifted, sinned, or grown distant, I may fear that returning to you will be met with coldness or rejection. But your word is gracious: return to me, and I will return to you. Help me not to hesitate to return, but to take the step back toward you, trusting that you are already turning toward me, ready to receive the one who returns. Draw me back whenever I wander, and meet my return with your grace. I return to you; turn to me.