Zeph3v14-17, Third
Sunday of Advent, December 16, 2018
Life in Christ
Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN
14Sing
aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your
heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15The Lord has taken away the
judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel,
the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. 16On
that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands
grow weak. 17The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who
will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his
love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:14-17 (ESV)
Grace and peace to
you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Rejoice! Actually today is called “Rejoice Sunday!” That’s
why today we light the pink candle in the advent wreath. Today is a day of
rejoicing. But, Pastor we’ve been rejoicing already. We’ve been Christmas
shopping. We’ve been attending parties. We’ve been setting up the Christmas
tree. After all, ‘tis the season to be jolly! We are happy that
Christmas is coming! And so, we are… and so we should be.
That’s what this text is talking about. Sing aloud!
It says, shout, rejoice and exult. (I’m not sure the last time I
‘exulted’ but I’m sure it was fun! It means ‘leap for joy’). Finally, we’re
getting to the part of the season before Christmas we really enjoy. But what is
there really to be happy about. All told, the season is really a stressful
time. On top of all our regular problems, paying bills, meeting work
obligations, taking care of our families, running here and there for the kids,
and on and on… we’ve got all those extra Christmas things to deal with.
Extra cooking, extra cleaning, extra traveling, extra cards and letters to
write, extra shopping, and even more… It’s easy to say we should be rejoicing
in the Christmas spirit but everyone really knows how hard it is.
The Prophet Zephaniah knew what you are going through. Well,
not precisely you, but he knew about people just like you. When he was
preaching to the Jews, things were beginning to look very bad. The political
situation was becoming increasingly dangerous; one of Israel’s favorite kings
had been killed in battle. It was becoming very clear that they were minor
pawns on the world stage of nations. More and more, there was less and less to rejoice
about. Added on to the regular problems of living in their day and age,
there were all these extra things to worry about. They were loaded down with
the things of life, overwhelmed with trouble.
And most of Zephaniah’s message really didn’t help. The
first part of his book didn’t leave much doubt as to what was going to happen.
God’s judgment was coming. There was going to be lots more trouble. There was
going to be foreign armies at the gates and their cities were going to burn.
There was going to be punishment from God for forgetting the special
relationship they had with the God who rescued them from slavery in Egypt.
There wasn’t much to rejoice about. And still Zephaniah says rejoice. And there
was reason to rejoice. It’s because of something that’s repeated in Zephaniah’s
message; one phrase that makes all the difference for God’s people. The King
of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. And The Lord your God, is in your
midst. You see, no matter how bad it was going to be, Zephaniah gave God’s
promise that God would be with His people, right there in the middle of them,
right there while they were bearing the worst of it, God was going to be there.
And that… was really a reason for joy… a reason for rejoicing. It is in fact
such a strong promise that Zephaniah gives them the words that they will be
saying. He says, “Look it’s going to be so good when all this is over your
going to want to start rejoicing right now!”
A father knocks on his daughter door. She is crying on her
bed because she has received punishment for disobeying. “Can I come in honey?”
he says. Quietly he enters and sits beside her on the bed. He folds her into
his arms. “It’s ok, your mother and I still love you. It won’t be long, and
your grounding will be over. You can start rejoicing right now!”
But in Zephaniah’s case its even more than that. The Lord
has taken away the judgments against you. And he is not just talking about
small claims court here, or the end of a period of grounding. He’s talking about the death sentence. He is
saying that you deserve death, but God is going to set aside the verdict. He is
going to take care of you, so you will not be punished. It is going to happen
for you. And it is so sure that you may as well begin the celebration right
now!
A father went to tuck his excited children in bed. They were
having a hard time getting to sleep because they were so excited. You see,
tomorrow they were going to the zoo. It was a trip they had been expecting for
a long time. They knew how much fun they were going to have. Dad sat gently
tucking in the blankets around them, recounting all they were going to do…
“Will we see lions?” “Of course, a great many I suppose.” “How about tigers?”
“Yes, tigers too! Now please try to go to sleep.” “But Dad, I can’t sleep, I’m
just too excited.” One of the boys said, fidgeting under the covers. The older
clutched his pillow and looked up at his father. “Dad,” he said, “I just want
to thank you for tomorrow.” That’s what Zephaniah was talking about. Thanking
God for his presence now and thanking God for what He will do tomorrow.
But you see, that’s exactly what Christmas is. God in our
midst, God with us, right in the middle of our messy lives. He is a mighty
one who will save, Zephaniah says. And he’s not just talking to long dead
people in the Middle East. He’s talking to you and me. Christmas is the holiday
where we celebrate the fact that God did actually, physically come right into
our messy world. He showed up right in our midst, in the middle of our messed
up families and broken dreams. God became flesh, that is, He took on a human
body and soul, a whole human life; Birth and death, sorrow and pain, joy and
laughter. He was as real, as flesh-and-blood, as the person sitting next to
you. He breathed the world’s air, with all its foul smells as well as its sweet
smells. He experienced human life, in the same way that you do. Right in the
middle of depressed people with broken families and insecurity just like yours.
God in your midst. Jesus didn’t just come to be close to you. But he came to
rescue you from the very thing that separates you from God in the first place.
Jesus Christ, God and man, lived, died, and rose again, to save you from sin.
Sin is what keeps you apart from God. That’s because sin is really humans pushing
God away; people wanting God to be as far away as possible, out of sight out of
mind. Sin is people rejecting the God who created them and loves for them. And
the punishment that that deserves is taken up by Jesus Christ and nailed to the
cross with Him. Your punishment paid for by the living-in-your- midst Jesus
Christ. And all that pain and suffering, all that sorrow and separation, comes
to you because of sin was laid upon Jesus. That’s the real joy of the season.
You see, God belongs right were He says He’ll be, in your midst to save you.
Ah, you say, but I still have all this suffering, my family
is still broken, I’m still apart from my loved ones, and this year’s holiday
depression is worse than ever. And all that’s true, the world is still a messy
place, it’s still a broken place because of sin. But there’s more to Jesus in
your midst than His death on the cross. His death is not the end. Jesus rose
again. He lives and reigns now today. And what’s more, He lives and reigns in
our midst today, right now, right here. He’s sitting with you in your dark room
telling you that even though things are bad they won’t last forever. He’s right
there sitting beside you telling you how great it’s going to be when all this
trouble is past, because His resurrection is His sure promise to you that all
of this pain and suffering are done away with. He has taken them into His
grave, so that your grave isn’t the end for you but only the beginning. So you
can begin your rejoicing right now.
Because right now, He hasn’t left you alone to deal with
your pain. He comes in your midst, H come to you in very real ways. Not in just
some invisible, intangible, un-sensible, way… but He is with you in ways that
you can actually hear, and see, and taste and feel. Pick up a bible, read God’s
Word and Jesus is right there in your midst. Gather in church where “two or
three are gathered in His name,” and Jesus is right there in your midst.
Approach His table and take His body and blood given and shed for you, and
Jesus is right there in your midst; in the midst of your depression; in the
midst of your pain; in the midst of your insecurity. Now that’s real reason for
rejoicing. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your
heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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