3rd Sunday in Advent 12/13/09 Text: Zephaniah 3:14-20 Title: Do not be afraid.
3rd Sunday in Advent
12/13/09
Text: Zephaniah 3:14-20
Title: Do not be afraid!
Last week I read a review of a play written by playwright Tracey Letts. It was titled “August: Osage County”. It is about a dysfunctional family, and when I say dysfunctional, I mean dysfunctional. There is alcoholism, prescription drug abuse, adultery, and sexual misbehavior, along with an unforgiving spirit. Truly they are a broken family who is brought together on the occasion of the father just walking off one day never to be heard from again.
The family has gathered together to help mom get through the unexplained disappearance of her husband. Of course they have brought with them all the problems in their own lives. It is quite a depressing play, but there is one line that caught my attention. The mother proclaims for all to hear, “Thank God we can’t know the future, or we’d never get out of bed.”
That line reflects the pervasive fear and grim resignation of so many people, even Christians, in our time. I would wager that at some time or other we have thought the same thing.
In his time Zephaniah and the people of God lived a similar life, in that they were a dysfunctional nation. They were dysfunctional because they were estranged from God and their lives were a mess. Arrogance and immorality had produced disaster, reproach, and shame. Thank goodness that Zephaniah through the work of the Holy Spirit knew of the future, the Good News of redemption.
Before we can fully realize the good news that God was proclaiming through Zephaniah we need to know a little about the circumstances they people were living in. Zephaniah prophesied from 640 to 609 BCE during the reign of King Josiah of Judah one of the last great kings of Judah. Zephaniah’s prophecies seem to be written before the conquest of Judah by the Babylonians, for earlier in the book he has prophesied terrible destruction will take place because the nation had fallen away from God.
In our reading for today Zephaniah looks beyond punishment to restoration. This cycle of punishment and restoration is key to God’s relationship with his people. From the beginning in Genesis down to the present day God will always restore. That is good news for Zephaniah’s day and our day too.
Zephaniah is promising an end to their fear and shame. And that is where God’s Word speaks to us today. We, like the people of Zephaniah’s day, have our own challenges and fears and shames. If God can restore the fortunes of a nation beaten down by the evil powers of world that dragged them into slavery, then God can also banish our challenges and fears and shames.
This promise of God, as wonderful as it is, is hard for us as Americans to comprehend. First, for the most part we don’t feel the need for restoration because we, even the poorest among us, live a pretty cozy life, as compared to the rest of the world. Our poorest citizens rank among the top 10% of the wealthiest in the world. Most of us will never experience extreme contempt, or shame, or fear for that matter, but we are aware of the plight of so many in the world who suffer greatly because of their Christian faith. And because we are aware of their plight we join our prayers in solidarity with them because we recognize that God’s promise of restoration is also God’s promise to us.
In God’s messianic kingdom there will be no oppressed for there will be no oppressors. And because there will be no oppressed or oppressors all that are lame and outcast will be restored. There will be no in group or out group. There will be no favored nations and un-favored nations. There will be no more scattered people of God, for all of God’s people will be brought together.
Zephaniah told the people “Do not fear”. A message that is as applicable today as when he uttered the words. “Do not fear.” It is not a plea, but a declaration by God. Zephaniah is not the only one to utter those words of comfort. Luke records that the angel said to Zechariah, “Do not be afraid.” An angel told Mary, “Do not be afraid.” On Christmas Eve we will hear the angels proclaim to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid……I am bringing you good news of great joy.” And in the Gospel of Matthew we read in its closing verses, “Do not be afraid….. He is not here, for he has risen.”
We need to hear “Do not be afraid” for over and over again since we are actually fearful of so many things. We fear that God is not in our midst and the enemies of God and all that is good are winning. We fear that we are too weak and powerless to do what needs to be done. We fear how insignificant we are in the universe. We fear we will be crushed by events taking place around us. We fear political defeat and natural disasters. We fear shame and reproach, if anyone were to find out who we really are. We fear we do not have enough or ever will have enough. Why we even fear that God might do something powerful in our lives upsetting what is familiar to us. We are a fearful people and we need to recognize it, for without our admitting that we are fearful we can never truly rejoice as we should in the Lord’s love.
Today we lit the rose colored candle which represents joy. Actually this Sunday the word that best describes our worship is rejoice. Rejoice is appropriate for today because that is what all of our readings are about. Especially our Epistle where we read, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
It is my prayer that in this short time we have looked at Zephaniah’s text you have come to recognize the similarities of your own fears and those of the people of Zephaniah’s day because then you will know without a doubt that God will banish your fears as well. But wait, there is more, the Good News of the Messiah is more than a promise of better lives lived without fear and shame. It is about being restored to a right relationship with God.
And when you are restored in a right relationship with God you will be restored to a right relationship with each other. That is God’s promise, a promise not based on our own wisdom, might, or strength, but on God’s promise.
Just like the prophets of old, my duty as your pastor is to proclaim God’s Word to you. Sometimes like Zephaniah I have to speak hard words of judgment by God if someone is purposively living a life of unrepentant sin. I have to do that because without the Law of God bearing down there is no need for God’s forgiveness. It is a hard thing to do, but we all need to be reminded of our sinfulness, our fears, and shame.
Without the preaching of the law there is no need to preach God’s love and forgiveness, for to preach God’s love and forgiveness to those who think of themselves as being righteous before God because of their own righteousness is to mislead them into false sense of security.
Do not fear, for our God is dwelling among us right now nourishing us through his Word and Sacraments so that we are prepared for his Second Advent. Thank God we know the future. Come quickly Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
12/13/09
Text: Zephaniah 3:14-20
Title: Do not be afraid!
Last week I read a review of a play written by playwright Tracey Letts. It was titled “August: Osage County”. It is about a dysfunctional family, and when I say dysfunctional, I mean dysfunctional. There is alcoholism, prescription drug abuse, adultery, and sexual misbehavior, along with an unforgiving spirit. Truly they are a broken family who is brought together on the occasion of the father just walking off one day never to be heard from again.
The family has gathered together to help mom get through the unexplained disappearance of her husband. Of course they have brought with them all the problems in their own lives. It is quite a depressing play, but there is one line that caught my attention. The mother proclaims for all to hear, “Thank God we can’t know the future, or we’d never get out of bed.”
That line reflects the pervasive fear and grim resignation of so many people, even Christians, in our time. I would wager that at some time or other we have thought the same thing.
In his time Zephaniah and the people of God lived a similar life, in that they were a dysfunctional nation. They were dysfunctional because they were estranged from God and their lives were a mess. Arrogance and immorality had produced disaster, reproach, and shame. Thank goodness that Zephaniah through the work of the Holy Spirit knew of the future, the Good News of redemption.
Before we can fully realize the good news that God was proclaiming through Zephaniah we need to know a little about the circumstances they people were living in. Zephaniah prophesied from 640 to 609 BCE during the reign of King Josiah of Judah one of the last great kings of Judah. Zephaniah’s prophecies seem to be written before the conquest of Judah by the Babylonians, for earlier in the book he has prophesied terrible destruction will take place because the nation had fallen away from God.
In our reading for today Zephaniah looks beyond punishment to restoration. This cycle of punishment and restoration is key to God’s relationship with his people. From the beginning in Genesis down to the present day God will always restore. That is good news for Zephaniah’s day and our day too.
Zephaniah is promising an end to their fear and shame. And that is where God’s Word speaks to us today. We, like the people of Zephaniah’s day, have our own challenges and fears and shames. If God can restore the fortunes of a nation beaten down by the evil powers of world that dragged them into slavery, then God can also banish our challenges and fears and shames.
This promise of God, as wonderful as it is, is hard for us as Americans to comprehend. First, for the most part we don’t feel the need for restoration because we, even the poorest among us, live a pretty cozy life, as compared to the rest of the world. Our poorest citizens rank among the top 10% of the wealthiest in the world. Most of us will never experience extreme contempt, or shame, or fear for that matter, but we are aware of the plight of so many in the world who suffer greatly because of their Christian faith. And because we are aware of their plight we join our prayers in solidarity with them because we recognize that God’s promise of restoration is also God’s promise to us.
In God’s messianic kingdom there will be no oppressed for there will be no oppressors. And because there will be no oppressed or oppressors all that are lame and outcast will be restored. There will be no in group or out group. There will be no favored nations and un-favored nations. There will be no more scattered people of God, for all of God’s people will be brought together.
Zephaniah told the people “Do not fear”. A message that is as applicable today as when he uttered the words. “Do not fear.” It is not a plea, but a declaration by God. Zephaniah is not the only one to utter those words of comfort. Luke records that the angel said to Zechariah, “Do not be afraid.” An angel told Mary, “Do not be afraid.” On Christmas Eve we will hear the angels proclaim to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid……I am bringing you good news of great joy.” And in the Gospel of Matthew we read in its closing verses, “Do not be afraid….. He is not here, for he has risen.”
We need to hear “Do not be afraid” for over and over again since we are actually fearful of so many things. We fear that God is not in our midst and the enemies of God and all that is good are winning. We fear that we are too weak and powerless to do what needs to be done. We fear how insignificant we are in the universe. We fear we will be crushed by events taking place around us. We fear political defeat and natural disasters. We fear shame and reproach, if anyone were to find out who we really are. We fear we do not have enough or ever will have enough. Why we even fear that God might do something powerful in our lives upsetting what is familiar to us. We are a fearful people and we need to recognize it, for without our admitting that we are fearful we can never truly rejoice as we should in the Lord’s love.
Today we lit the rose colored candle which represents joy. Actually this Sunday the word that best describes our worship is rejoice. Rejoice is appropriate for today because that is what all of our readings are about. Especially our Epistle where we read, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
It is my prayer that in this short time we have looked at Zephaniah’s text you have come to recognize the similarities of your own fears and those of the people of Zephaniah’s day because then you will know without a doubt that God will banish your fears as well. But wait, there is more, the Good News of the Messiah is more than a promise of better lives lived without fear and shame. It is about being restored to a right relationship with God.
And when you are restored in a right relationship with God you will be restored to a right relationship with each other. That is God’s promise, a promise not based on our own wisdom, might, or strength, but on God’s promise.
Just like the prophets of old, my duty as your pastor is to proclaim God’s Word to you. Sometimes like Zephaniah I have to speak hard words of judgment by God if someone is purposively living a life of unrepentant sin. I have to do that because without the Law of God bearing down there is no need for God’s forgiveness. It is a hard thing to do, but we all need to be reminded of our sinfulness, our fears, and shame.
Without the preaching of the law there is no need to preach God’s love and forgiveness, for to preach God’s love and forgiveness to those who think of themselves as being righteous before God because of their own righteousness is to mislead them into false sense of security.
Do not fear, for our God is dwelling among us right now nourishing us through his Word and Sacraments so that we are prepared for his Second Advent. Thank God we know the future. Come quickly Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 12:04 PM
|
0 comments
