The prophet Zechariah is mentioned in passing in Ezra 5:1. Both he and the prophet Haggai were part of the generation that returned to the land of their ancestors after the King Cyrus of Persia released the exiles. They went to Jerusalem to settle and rebuild the city and the Temple of the Lord.

A small number of the people who traveled were part of the exiled generation. The majority, though, were the descendants of people who experienced the destruction of the city, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and the Temple. We may marvel at the courage involved in going to a place they have never seen and starting life anew. The nagging question on everyone’s mind had to be what will we do when we get there? They would rebuild, live, be the people of God again were among those answers. But what do we rebuild first? Do we build our own houses, the Temple, or the city walls? How should we live when we are settled? Haggai will argue that the people need to complete the Temple. Zechariah will say, “We need to do what God is doing.” What does God want?

Our text says God wants this new generation to do community life better than the previous one did. These verses in Zechariah 7 repeat the teaching of the prophets of those earlier generations. We should live honestly and never mistreat another person. While we may desire to leave the lesson there, Zechariah names the people whom he saw as the most vulnerable. He wants his readers to ask, “How are we treating orphans, widows, aliens, and the poor?” He suggests the key is to ask how are we treating another person? Are we devising evil against someone else? Are we excusing our attitudes by the unholy imagination that someone is planning to do us harm? Is our golden rule, do unto others before they do unto you?

The people of Zechariah’s day probably responded by saying their situation was more desperate than the times of their ancestors. They may have claimed that they would never act like their ancestors did. People living in our time would say, “This is not who we are.”

The fact is Zechariah knows his neighbors. He knows himself. And he knows everyone experiences the temptation to be dishonest in their actions and their relationships with others. This is who we are. Zechariah and the other people who returned know they did not release themselves. It was the grace of God working through the Persian emperor. The prophet seeks to remind his neighbors of that fact.

When we ask what the Lord requires, we acknowledge we are saved by grace and not works. This is the truth we rely on when we fail to do what is right. That truth also means we know better and should work to be examples as citizens of Heaven. People should acknowledge their need for grace. We should also know God gives grace to other people. We cannot mistreat someone without God knowing it.

This devotion was written by Don Jones and read by Jim Stovall.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

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First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.