Zechariah 1:4-6 (ESV)

[4] Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. [5] Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? [6] But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”

Zachariah doesn’t pull any punches here. He reminds the People of God that their ancestors refused to listen to God’s warnings through his prophets. That generation is gone. Their prophets are gone. But the word of God stands. God’s warnings were not heeded. God’s judgments were experienced. God’s people eventually repented in response to his judgment. People come and go. Prophets, preachers, and ministers of God come and go. God’s word stands.

There are several applications here. 1. Heed God’s warnings now, before it is too late. 2. Learn from the past failures of those who have gone before us. 3. Pay attention when God speaks. 4. Don’t get enamored with the prophet, preacher, or presenter of the message. Get enamored with the word of God. It is this fourth application that catches my attention.

Too often congregations are focused on their pastor. Some live in the past, remembering a former pastor’s influence in their lives. Some live in the future, waiting for God to send a “good” pastor so their church can move forward. Some give up on their church because they don’t see eye-to-eye with their pastor or their pastor’s family, or are somehow offended by them. Some are looking for the perfect pastor. Here is a hint, he doesn’t exist. Some are waiting their pastor out so that when he leaves they can do what they think should be done in the church. We could go on and on with this, but the point is that no pastor is here forever. Pastors come and go. Pastors live, grow, get old, and die. And by the way, so do congregations. No hope, no biblical church, no ministry rests on the shoulders of the pastor or the congregation.

Pastors need to get over themselves too. They need to remember that they will not be here forever. Their goal is not to be important, or to build a great work. Their purpose is to point people to God through his word. It is only his word that abides forever. Too often people and pastors make too much of themselves. Isaiah 40:8 reminds us that, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Jeremiah would echo that thought with these words, your ancestors die, your prophets pass away, but the word of our God will stand forever. Let us not put our hope in our pastors or our congregations, but in God’s word alone. That is the only thing that lasts forever. God’s word stands.