The Park Forum

May 21, 2026May 19, 2026

Fitting Garments of Grace

Links for today’s readings:

May 21 Read: Zechariah 3 Listen: (1:48) Read: Luke 12 Listen: (7:42)

Scripture Focus: Zechariah 3.1-8

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”

Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”

5 Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.

6 The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: 7 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.

8 “ ‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.

Reflection: Fitting Garments of Grace

By John Tillman

Clothing is one of God’s first gifts to sinful humans. On shows like Naked and Afraid, survivalists endure harsh conditions without clothing, but even they aren’t completely naked. They wear a bag that doesn’t cover body parts but holds tools, food, and other items. Even without clothes, we need pockets.

Clothes give us more than pockets. They give us privacy, protection, comfort, and utility. Clothes express things about us, both intentional and unintentional. We want clothes to fit us and fit the situation.

Have you ever arrived with clothes that didn’t fit the setting or were improper for the activity? Swimsuits and business suits are not appropriate for the same events. Worn and dirt-stained gardening clothes work for tending a garden, but not attending a garden party. Even perfect outfits can be ruined by a catastrophe with your coffee or a slip in the mud.

It is awkward to be improperly clothed. It is distressing to wear filthy or damaged clothing in an important situation or in front of an important person. In Zechariah’s vision, the new high priest, Joshua, needed a change of clothes.

Joshua was not dressed properly to stand before God. Satan, the accuser, stood there, condemning Joshua for his sins, visualized as filthy clothing. Yet, in this court, Joshua found mercy.

The Lord described Joshua as a burning stick, snatched from the fire. He ordered the filthy garments removed and new, clean garments put on him. These garments were not his by right and he didn’t earn them—they were a gift. These garments of grace were not only clean but appropriate to the ministry and work Joshua was called before God to be commissioned in.

Zechariah’s visions (like most prophetic writings) blend our reality with heavenly reality. The vision of Joshua is a sign of things to come, including for us.

How are you clothed before God? Are you trying to clean or dress up your filthy clothes? Are you ashamed of nakedness and need? Do you hear the accuser’s voice and the scorn of those who see you as improper, damaged, burned, and broken? There is more than just grace for you in Jesus. There are garments fitted for you, fitted for your calling, to bring you honor and gift you for service.

Put on fitting garments of grace from Jesus. Raise your head. Raise your arms. And raise your voice. Get to work.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks to his holy Name. — Psalm 97.12

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Welcoming Walls

Links for today’s readings:

May 20 Read: Zechariah 2 Listen: (1:41) Read: Luke 11 Listen: (7:33)

Scripture Focus: Zechariah 2.2-5, 10-11

2 I asked, “Where are you going?”
He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”
3 While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. 5 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’

10 “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.

Reflection: Welcoming Walls

By John Tillman

One generation’s trauma affects the next. I didn’t see the Berlin Wall built, but I saw it fall. It was a day of joy and tears.

The Berlin Wall stood for less than thirty years. Only ninety-six miles long, it divided a city, a nation, and the entire world. It was one of many generational traumas of the Cold War. When the wall was torn down, there was joy and celebration. But there were also tears for the years of separation and mourning for those who did not live to see the day or had died trying to cross.

Returning from exile must have been a similar emotional rollercoaster. No wall was demolished in their escape, but when they arrived at Jerusalem, there was a wall to repair.

Jerusalem was an abandoned rubble pile, defenseless, vulnerable, and marked by tragedy. The rubble was a physical representation of the emotional scars from their seventy-year exile. Zephaniah encouraged the people that it was time to rebuild.

“Measure twice, cut once,” goes the truism.

Measuring is important to rebuilding. To rebuild Jerusalem, the walls and many other things would need to be measured. These measurements were vital to gather sufficient material and organize and complete the work. However, when a young man in Zechariah’s vision set off to measure the width and length of Jerusalem, an angel ran after him to say, “Don’t bother.”

New Jerusalem will be measureless. Innumerable people from every nation and ethnicity will live inside it. The city’s only limit will be the presence of God, envisioned as a wall of protective and purifying fire.

The Brandenburg Gate’s original name meant “Peace Gate.” But the Berlin Wall enclosed it in the “death zone” where those attempting to escape would be shot by East German guards. The wall around New Jerusalem has no “death zone” but it does have a Peace Gate. Jesus Christ is the gate through whom all may enter to find peace with God in his city.

Like the exiles, we are called to escape the empires that claim us or that we claim. We are called to return to, rebuild, and repair, not a worldly city or political entity, but the city of God. We don’t need to measure (or even build) walls to divide. The walls of the heavenly city are welcoming to all who will pass through Jesus, the Peace Gate.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

How sweet are your words to my taste! They are sweeter than honey to my mouth. — Psalm 119.103

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Who Stands Among Us?

Links for today’s readings:

May 19 Read: Zechariah 1 Listen: (3:37) Read: Luke 10 Listen: (5:40)

Scripture Focus: Zechariah 1.12-16

12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” 13 So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.

14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, 15 and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’

16 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.

Reflection: Who Stands Among Us?

By John Tillman

Zechariah records a strange nighttime vision. A man on a red horse waits among a stand of myrtle trees.

The mysterious figure of the man among the myrtles is also called “the angel of the Lord.” The angel of the Lord is a hard character to pin down in scripture.

Sometimes, as with the man among the myrtles, the angel of the Lord speaks for God, in the third person: “This is what the Lord says…” Is he just one of many angels who speak for God, like Gabriel or others?

At other times, the angel of the Lord speaks as God, in the first person: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob…” (Exodus 3.6) Is he a Theophany, an embodied presence of God or a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ?

One of the unique characteristics of this particular appearance of the angel of the Lord is that he speaks to God on behalf of humans. “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem…?” (Zechariah 1.12) This rarely happens with other angels and is the strongest indicator in the text that the mysterious figure might be Jesus, our mediator, the third person of the Trinity. But it is still inconclusive.

We needn’t be too concerned that we can’t quite identify this Jesus-like figure in the myrtle trees when the disciples couldn’t identify Jesus on the Emmaus road. Just keep walking and listen…

Jesus is the perfect representation of God and the Holy Spirit is among us to show him to us. We have a more complete picture of what God is like than even prophets, like Zechariah, who saw dreams and visions of him.

To Zechariah, the man in the myrtles was a powerful and mysterious presence who announced a time of mercy and rebuilding. We too are connected to a powerful and mysterious presence. Today, mercy and rebuilding are announced not by a mysterious horseman but by the Holy Spirit who stands not among myrtles but among us. The Holy Spirit speaks as God, for God, and to God on our behalf.

Let us proclaim the message the Spirit will pass on through us. When we are in step with the Spirit, we too will announce mercy to those who seek God and rebuilding of all that sin has broken.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

You are my God, and I will thank you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. — Psalm 119.113

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Consider Supporting Our Work

Please consider becoming a donor. Support ad-free content that brings biblical devotionals to inboxes across the world.

Supporting our Work

May 18, 2026May 16, 2026

Do the Work of Repair

Links for today’s readings:

May 18 Read: Haggai 2 Listen: (3:49) Read: Luke 9 Listen: (8:05)

Scripture Focus: Haggai 2.2-9

2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’

6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Reflection: Do the Work of Repair

By John Tillman

The returning exiles began to rebuild the temple but stopped to work on other things. They rebuilt their own houses instead of God’s house. Haggai challenged them to reorient their priorities. He told them their sufferings were God’s punishments for diverting from their purpose.

However, God’s word through Haggai was not harsh. He encouraged these struggling post-exile survivors. Yes, they had misplaced their priorities. However, God seemed to understand their many obstacles. They faced enemies. They lacked resources. And they were intimidated by the scale of what they had lost. Haggai asked if any of them recalled the glory of the first temple and acknowledged that their efforts so far seemed hopelessly inadequate. Like nothing at all.

Have you ever lost something so dear to you that you could barely stand to replace it? Maybe an heirloom? Maybe a house? Maybe a sentimental car, book, or item of clothing from a loved one? Losing the thing itself is bad enough. Replacing or rebuilding can remind us of the trauma of the loss.

Rebuilding or replacing beloved things is harder when you still bear the scars of that loss. How could the people replace or rebuild something so treasured as the temple David designed and Solomon built?

When a large or intimidating problem lies ahead, don’t we often find ourselves diverting to another task? Instead of doing the difficult thing, we go to the grocery store, or fold that laundry we’ve been putting off, or dive into that closet we’ve been meaning to reorganize.

God is sensitive to us in our losses and diversions. He understands when we feel intimidated and vulnerable. But when it is time to rebuild he calls us to be strong. When it is time to repair, he stands with us, holding the spiritual tools and emotional resources we need. When we mourn lost glory, he promises greater glory to come if we rebuild with him.

Rebuilding can remind us of past trauma, but rebuilding also connects us to future hopes. Countries, organizations, churches, communities, and families can face the difficulty of needing to rebuild and repair lost things.

Despair and distraction are tempting. They say, “Nothing can be fixed. Nothing can be improved.” But God stands ready to shake heaven and earth to rebuild broken things and restore hope in place of trauma. He will help us do the work of repair.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Jesus taught us, saying: “No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth to an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine into fresh skins!” — Mark 2.21–22

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

To Celebrate or Lament?

Links for today’s readings:

May 15 Read: Zephaniah 2 Listen: (2:44) Read: Luke 6 Listen: (6:46)
May 16 Read: Zephaniah 3 Listen: (3:38) Read: Luke 7 Listen: (7:14)
May 17 Read: Haggai 1 Listen: (2:39) Read: Luke 8 Listen: (8:09)

Scripture Focus: Zephaniah 2.13-15

13 He will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,
leaving Nineveh utterly desolate
and dry as the desert.
14 Flocks and herds will lie down there,
creatures of every kind.
The desert owl and the screech owl
will roost on her columns.
Their hooting will echo through the windows,
rubble will fill the doorways,
the beams of cedar will be exposed.
15 This is the city of revelry
that lived in safety.
She said to herself,
“I am the one! And there is none besides me.”
What a ruin she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
All who pass by her scoff
and shake their fists.

Reflection: To Celebrate or Lament?

By John Tillman

Should we be happy about judgment?

It is good news when enemies are defeated; however, God’s people can misuse or misinterpret scripture’s descriptions of judgment on enemies.

Some happily copy and paste the names of our enemies over Israel’s enemies in scripture. Assyria becomes an enemy nation. Cush becomes a feared people group. Philistia becomes a hated political party. This is a dangerous way to read scripture. It is unwise to assign modern identities to ancient people groups in prophetic judgments. This smuggles in our prejudices, hatreds, and worldly allegiances and puts them in God’s mouth. This is how partisan politics becomes sanctified idolatry. This is how racialized oppression gets baptized as “rightly ordered loves.” This is how genocides get whitewashed as holy wars. God will not ignore such blasphemies for long.

We should celebrate God’s victories that save his people. The Egyptian exodus is the prototype. Many events echo its pattern. That’s not what is happening in many prophetic judgments, including today’s reading from Zephaniah 2.

In Zephaniah, God’s people are being judged, not rescued. Jerusalem will be destroyed (Zeph 1.4-6). The nations are being judged for pridefully mocking Judah or participating in violence against them.

Every nation (and person) is responsible for their own wickedness. No one can blame others for their sins. However, only one nation and people are called to bring light to all the others. Ancient Israel and today’s church share that calling. In a few, isolated moments Israel succeeded in this calling. Other nations partnered with them and built God’s temple, learned of God’s wisdom, and worshiped his glory.

Successful moments were few. Failures were frequent. When Judah preyed on their poor, violated their covenant, and praised idol statues, these were betrayals of their national calling (Gen 18.18, 22.18; Ex 19.5-6; Deut 4.5-8; Is 49.6). They could have done otherwise.

What if Jonah wasn’t a solo act bringing short-term revival to Nineveh? What if Israel and Judah’s kings set righteous examples for the nations instead of mimicking their decadence and abuses and grasping for power? What if we did those things now?

The church’s true enemies are not flesh and blood or political and cultural. (Eph 6.12) Everyone with a heartbeat is a potential spiritual sibling. If they fall without accepting the gospel, mourning a sibling’s loss is better than cheering an enemy’s death.

When God’s people are saved, we celebrate. When they are judged, even if their enemies also fall, we lament and repent.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Righteousness shall go before him, and peace shall be a pathway for his feet. — Psalm 85.13

Posts

Fitting Garments of Grace

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Zechariah 3.1-8

Reflection: Fitting Garments of Grace

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Read more: Friendly Neighborhood Christians

Read more: Christ, the True Hero

Welcoming Walls

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Zechariah 2.2-5, 10-11

Reflection: Welcoming Walls

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Read more: Cultivating Daily Bread

Read more: The Urban Sprawl of the City of God

Who Stands Among Us?

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Zechariah 1.12-16

Reflection: Who Stands Among Us?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Read more: A Prayer of Harvesters — Guided Prayer

Consider Supporting Our Work

Do the Work of Repair

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Haggai 2.2-9

Reflection: Do the Work of Repair

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Read more: Give Careful Thought

Read more: Rebuke for Hotheads

To Celebrate or Lament?

Links for today’s readings:

Scripture Focus: Zephaniah 2.13-15

Reflection: To Celebrate or Lament?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Read more: Blessings and Woes — Guided Prayer

Read more: City of Revelry