The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

 Zechariah 4: 1 – 10
Small Beginnings
“…whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice”, says our reading for today.  I’m part way through reading Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things – and one of the themes of that book is of course that the small things are not really small at all.  Small, or apparently small things can be really significant.  It’s often the little things that stand out and make a difference to our day.  Perhaps whether someone smiled at us or said hello at the beginning of the day.  A card in the post or a phone call.
Our reading today, which I have to admit is a little obscure, describes a vision given by God to the prophet Zechariah in around 520 – 518 BC.  This was when the people of Israel had been allowed to return from exile and start to rebuild the Temple which was central to their faith.  The vision was given to encourage Zerubbabel who was in charge of the rebuilding.  He had laid the foundations and made a start, but it was hard going, and some people were critical of what he was doing, thinking that the building was too small.  But God says that those people will change their minds and rejoice when they see the result of the small beginnings. Things which may seem small to begin with can end up being really significant.
So what does this have to say to us?  Well, this is our first tea service.  It’s a new venture for us at Hampstead Parish Church. Together with you we’re building something new as we meet.  We’re starting quite small.  We hope to grow and that we shall come to know one another better, be able to support one another and enjoy our time together.  From our small beginnings we’re encouraged to think that with God’s help something wonderful will grow. 
The picture in our reading is of a rather strange oil lamp.  Imagine a big gold lampstand with a bowl on the top which is full of oil.  Around the edge of the bowl are seven more bowls.  Imagine perhaps a punch bowl with the glasses set out around the edge – or a bowl with a set of teacups around it! Each of the smaller bowls – or the teacups – has a place for seven wicks around the edge.  So that makes an enormous oil lamp with 7 times 7 making forty nine wicks.      This lamp is being directly fed by the oil from two olive trees planted on either side of it.       
The oil symbolises the spirit of God which feeds the lamp.  And God says “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit.”  We may not be many, we may not feel strong, but God’s Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, will sustain us.  He will be with us as we meet together. 
More than this, God is with us all the time.  The small things that each of us can give or receive each day really do make a difference.  We can know too that God’s Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus will sustain us in all that we face each day. May we know this in our hearts today.
Amen