JOY!

[This was shared during worship with the people and friends of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio, yesterday morning.]

Zephaniah 3:14-20

The theme for this Third Sunday of Advent is Joy. And there may be no better Old Testament lesson to focus us on this theme than Zephaniah 3:14-20.

The passage is chock-full of joy, brimming with joy, running over with joy! 

• It begins with the prophet calling the people of God to sing and shout with joy in anticipation of the fulfillment of the promises that God was giving to them, promises God was giving to them despite their past idolatries and other sins. 
• In verse 17, the prophet says that there will come a time when God Himself will be so filled with joy that He will “rejoice over [them] with singing.” (To hear God sing must be something amazing!) 
• And it culminates with the joy all of God’s people will experience when God brings them home to Him. 

Joy fills every word of this lesson!

What’s all this joy about anyway? 

To answer that question, a little background is needed.

Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah, who became the king of Judah as a boy and went on to become one of Judah’s greatest kings, not because of his military prowess, but because of his faithfulness to God. Josiah instituted reforms in Judah that encouraged the people to turn back to God. Josiah did this after he’d become a man and taken control of the kingdom. And some people believe, Josiah was encouraged in these reforms by prophets like Zephaniah.

But when Zephaniah began prophesying somewhere around 640 BC, Judah was mired in idol worship of all kinds. 

And, as always happens when people turn to anything or anyone other than god to be of ultimate importance in their lives, sin became rife among God’s people. 

They were prosperous but refused to acknowledge that their ability to amass wealth came from God. 

They were unjust to the very people God says His people are to treat with love and care--viewing them in Martin Luther’s phrase “like little Christs”: widows, orphans, the poor, the lame, the migrant. 

Because the people of Judah were descendants of Abraham and Sarah, they thought they were safe from God’s condemnation for their sins, just as today, some Christians figure they’re good with God simply because they’re baptized and confirmed and have a place on some congregation’s roster, even though they refuse to live in their baptismal covenants and make gods of themselves, or their money, or their status, or their pleasure.

Judah wasn’t the only nation that God warned of His impending punishment for constant, unrepentant sin through Zephaniah. 

That's why Zephaniah's book that ends with the joy that we see in our first lesson today begins with the words, 

• “'I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,'” declares the Lord. I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea—and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.'” (Zephaniah 1:1-3) 
• “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.” (Zephaniah 1:17-18)

If we insist on unrepentantly violating God’s will--failing to trust in God, failing to love our neighbor, there are consequences. “The wages of sin is death,” Paul reminds us in Romans 6:23. 

But God’s Word also reminds us (in many places) that He is “compassionate and gracious...slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). In Ezekiel 18:23, we’re given God’s attitude of love for us: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways [that is, repent and trust in God] and live?”

God sent prophets like Zephaniah to call all the people of the world to turn to Him and live (Isaiah 45:22, Joel 2:12, Zechariah 1:3, Amos 5:4). 

When we turn to the God now revealed to we non-Jews (we Gentiles) as well as to Jews through Jesus Christ, it doesn’t mean that all the bad stuff of this world will go away. But there will still be reason for joy. 

Take a look at our lesson then, Zephaniah 3:14-20.

It begins: “Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Whenever an Old Testament prophet spoke, his words spoke to multiple situations, their words telescoping multiple times. Through Zephaniah, God addressed three audiences:

• (1) Here, Zephaniah speaks to his own people in the seventh-century BC who were looking for a Messiah Who would bring forgiveness of sins and restoration. 
• (2) He speaks also to the New Testament Church which witnessed Jesus the Messiah’s death for human sin and His resurrection bringing forgiveness and new life to all who believe in Jesus. But that first-century church still waited, often impatiently, for the final restoration of God’s reign over His people on Jesus’ return. 
• (3) Finally, Zephaniah speaks also to us--to you and me, as we wrestle with this life’s often hard realities: sin (our own and others’), disease, death, relational discord, wars, and hardships. Through the prophet, God speaks to us today and He says, “Don’t be overwhelmed by the things of this world because I have overcome it all--sin and death, suffering and disappointment.” 

Twice in the first few verses of this passage from Zephaniah, those who trust in God are told: “The Lord, your God, is with you!”

We might have reason to doubt that promise if it weren’t for Jesus. 

When “the Word,” God the Son, “became flesh and lived among us,” He demonstrated the lengths God is willing to go to be with us. 

When God the Son, truly God, became simultaneously, truly human, He was born in a cave kept for cattle. 

Jesus grew up in poverty and early on, made His living by manual labor, while later He and His band of disciples lived off the contributions of some who craved His teaching. (Even then, some of the contributions were raked off the top by Judas.) 

Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life beyond condemnation. 

Yet the whole world, Jews and Gentiles, condemned Him, beating Him savagely, nailing Him to a cross, and watching while He suffered and died. 

God has drunk from the cup of human experience and human suffering to the full. Jesus’ life and death is the guarantee that God’s promise to be with us is the most reliable promise we can receive, one Jesus reiterated following His resurrection and before His ascension, He told His disciples, including you and me, “I am with you always even to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

But God is more than an understanding Friend. This God Who is with us is also, the first verses of our lesson tell us, “the Mighty Warrior who saves.” In Holy Baptism, the apostle Peter tells us, we are saved. And the apostle Paul writes, “If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

A friend once asked me, “Saved from what?” 

• In Jesus, God saves us from sin, death, futility. He saves us from shame and self-recrimination. 
• He saves us from worry over our eternal destiny. 
• He saves us from the arrogance, pride, and thoughtlessness that lead us away from God into the very sins that caused Judah so much pain and cause so much pain even today. 
• As you’ve heard me before, Jesus, above all, saves us from ourselves! 

Without Him, we are lost, as a funeral with any unbelieving family will prove.

Our lesson continues: “‘I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame. At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,’ says the Lord.”

Did you notice the change of narrators? In the first part of the lesspm, Zephaniah speaks on behalf of God, conveying God’s promises to those who turn from sin and turn to Him for life. But here, God speaks to us personally, intimately. He speaks to you. 

And He gives seven promises. God promises He will: remove the sorrow over our idolatries; deal with all who have hurt us (dealing with them is His job, not ours, after all); rescue the lame; give dignity and a place with Him to those who have trusted in Him; gather us to Himself; bring us home (remember that Jesus says that He has gone to prepare a place for us with God); and restore our fortunes, by which I think God means He will restore to us our intended places as heirs of His grace, just like the father in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son.

This passage is filled with joy, with the certainty that God can turn disciples’ “mourning into dancing” (Psalm 30:11) and that in God’s consummated kingdom, God “will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things [will have] passed away.” (Revelation 21:4) 

It’s to make all of this possible that Jesus was born at Christmas. 

In light of this comforting reality, is it any wonder that Zephaniah, at the outset of today’s lesson tells us to sing? What else is there to do in consideration of God’s grace and salvation but to sing? So, today, instead of the Nicene Creed, I invite you to confess your joyful faith in these words, sung to the melody of Joy to the World:

We Sing in Joy Made Full
Zephaniah 3:14-20
(sung to Antioch, the melody of Joy to the World)

Sing to the Lord, rejoice, shout praise
Our God has met our need

The King of all creation
Chooses with us to be

And comes to set us free

And comes to set us free

And comes, and comes, to set us free

This mighty God Who dies to save
Now with His people lives

Rejoicing over us
His promises He gives

And through His grace forgives

And through His grace forgives

And through, and through, His grace forgives

Gathered by God, we mourn no more
For sin’s reproach is gone
The lame, oppressed, outcast
Live under the new dawn

Of Christ, God’s only Son

Of Christ, God’s only Son
Of Christ, of Christ, God’s only Son

From every land, disciples come
Made new, forever whole
At home with our King,

Restorer of the soul

We sing in joy made full

We sing in joy made full

We sing, we sing, in joy made full!

[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Righteous AND humble?

[This is the journal entry for my quiet time with God this morning. In my quiet time, I follow a format of stop, look, listen, respond. You can see more about this approach to being with God here.]

[UPDATE: Over on Twitter, @pudicat11 (Steve Martin) raises an interesting point on this post. Here's what he said: "Nice job, Mark. 

"But I certainly would never want to rely upon the genuineness (is that a word??) of ‘my repentance’.

"I know myself all too well. What I do, won’t do, and the awful thoughts I often have.

"I’m trusting in His working repentance in me. And in His forgiveness."

Great point! This post could create the wrong impression and a "new law" for salvation. But no law can save. So, here's what I wrote in response to Steve's important caution:

"Well put. I suppose what I mean by that phrase is one's intentions. Even our intentions are never pure, of course. But it's as with the Apostle's Creed: I feel sometimes that I should say, "I want to believe..." God takes that turning, I think, and turns it into faith we can't muster or manufacture, only receive."

I added: "What I meant by authentic repentance was the place of brokenness to which God takes us, inciting us to turn to [Him] in powerlessness rather than in the manner of a transaction. Think: Saul's 'repentance' versus David's; or, Peter's 'repentance' versus that of Judas."]

Look: “Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zephaniah 2:3)

I’m preaching on Zephaniah tomorrow and ordinarily, I would avoid focusing during quiet time on a book from which I’m preaching, to avoid being utilitarian. Quiet time is meant to be a time when I commune with God, not a time for studying a book in pursuit of professional ends. But I missed reading Zephaniah earlier in the year when its three chapters were assigned. Because Zephaniah is one of what’s called “the minor prophets” (and sometimes, “ twelve”) in the Old Testament, with whom I’ve been spending a lot of time in my teaching and preaching this Advent season, I decided to read Zephaniah’s three chapters. I also decided to ask God to show me a truth He wanted me to notice today in a verse outside of the lesson appointed for tomorrow, something that He wanted me to see in my quiet time with Him.

He did.

The first thing that struck me about the words of Zephaniah 2:3 are their similarity words of repentance seen in the books of the other minor prophets.

When Jonah reluctantly proclaimed God’s Word to the people of Nineveh, the Ninevite king called his people, who had been foreign to ancient Israel’s God: “Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence,” the king said. “Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." (Jonah 3:8-9)

And in Amos 5:15, the prophet, speaking for God, tells the people of Israel, facing judgment: “Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.”

In each of these passages, the theme is the same: God calls people to repent for our sins with authenticity, with a true turning back to God. Whether that will spare the repentant from facing the consequences of sin is completely up to God.

To repent then is to value a restored relationship with God so totally that we’re willing to face the wrath we’ve incurred for our sin. We respect God’s sovereignty.

We know that if we must face earthly punishments for our sins, it’s only because God is a loving Father and He truly regards us His children (Hebrews 12:5-7).

We know too that in the resurrection, repentant believers will live perfectly in the “image of God” which God originally intended for all human beings (Revelation 21:1-27).

So, momentary difficulties aren’t to compared to all that God has in mind for us (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17)

This precludes any utilitarian approaches to repentance on our parts. There’s no, “I’ll repent for my sins if God will…” element in true repentance.

The classic example of authentic repentance is King David. David authentically repented for his adultery and murder. But he accepted that there were still consequences to himself, his family, his reign, and his nation that resulted from his sins. (Sometimes there are no discernible consequences. That too must be left in the hands of the sovereign God.)

The believer who is authentically repentant leaves it all to God.

The second thing that struck me about Zephaniah 2:3 today is its call to “seek righteousness, seek humility.” Righteousness and humility are presented poetically in parallel. According to this verse then, to be righteous is to be humble and vice versa.

This doesn’t really comply with the way we ordinarily understand the word righteousness, or words like it: goodness, moral, upright, or even faultless. When we imagine someone who’s righteous, we imagine them being anything but humble.

We’re more likely to see them as arrogant, judgmental. We picture self-righteous prigs (a good word from the UK) who look down their noses at the riff-raff of the world who don’t measure up to their high moral standards.

To hear Jesus tell it, people like this are also hypocrites, people whose repentance and faith in God are inauthentic and therefore worthless for them when they come into God’s presence: I think of Jesus’ story of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14).

When God makes a person righteous--I could as easily say, “When God justifies repentant sinners,” because in the Greek in which the New Testament is written, righteousness is dikaiosune and justify is dikaioo, meaning that when God justifies a sinner, He ‘righteousfies’ us, declaring us innocent of sin despite our sin because all who repent in the name of Jesus are covered by Christ’s righteousness--it doesn’t make that person arrogant. In fact, the opposite is true: We are humbled. (I am humbled!)

Arrogance is precluded for the repentant sinner who has been forgiven and made new--made righteous--by God’s action in Christ: His sacrificial death and resurrection. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

“Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of [good] works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from [good] works of the law.” (Romans 3:27-28 ESV)

Humility and righteousness go together in authentic repentance because we know that only God can make us righteous: right with God, humble before God, humble in our dealings with others, grateful for undeserved grace, open to God and to others.

Listen: Genuine repentance precludes arrogance in dealing with others, even with those who are themselves arrogant.

As a believer, a disciple, a human being, a citizen, a family member, a servant leader, a pastor, and a dean, I am called to make judgments about people and circumstances. But I am not to be judgmental. I may judge that something a person is doing is wrong. I may, out of love, confront them for it. But I am not to judge their eternal salvation in the bargain.

I’m to keep sharing God’s Word of truth, in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2), Law and Gospel, because God’s Law shuts our mouths and excludes our excuses and rationalizations for sin (Romans 3:19) and because the Gospel of Jesus Christ sets sinners free from eternal punishment for their sins (Romans 1:15-16), making us righteous (Romans 5:1, CEB).

I must trust that as I trust in God, entrusting my sins and my life to Him in daily repentance and enduring faith, He will keep imparting Christ’s righteousness to me. Like an alcoholic, I am called to daily surrender to God so that He can replace my sinfulness and arrogance with Christ’s righteousness and humility, my dead ways with His life.

Repentance is essential. I must honestly wrestle with my sins and submit them (and myself) to daily crucifixion. If there is to be a new Mark, it will not be built on my working at being righteous or humble. It will only come through this constant--and often painful because crucifixion is painful--regular submission to the God revealed in Jesus.

How will I know that I’ve become a humble, righteous person? I won’t. If I suspect that I’ve become that kind of person, it will be Exhibit A in evidence against my having become a righteous, humble person.

Does that mean I’m a hopeless case? As long as we keep turning to Jesus, laying my life before Him, I’m filled with hope: He shares His righteousness and humility with me, covering me with them.

I needn’t worry about taking on the project of becoming righteous and humble: As I daily turn to Christ, He’s doing the job (and a huge job it is) for me. I simply have to receive Him as I meet Him in His Word, in congregational worship, in the sacraments, in the fellowship of believers.

Respond: Today, Jesus, I turn to You. Forgive the sins of which I’m aware. Make me aware of the ones I don’t know about so that I can submit them to You. Make me fearless in pursuing the calls You have placed on my life: husband, father, friend, pastor, dean, communicator of Your truth. And, as I turn to You with an unveiled face, transform me, whatever pain is involved, into Your mage (2 Corinthians 3:18). Even when I resist You, fill me with Your righteousness and humility so that people don’t see me, but see You in me. In Your name I pray. Amen