Zephaniah
3:14-20
Announcing
The Year of the Lord's Favor
Some of you have heard of my
e-devotions. Many of you have also heard
of the gaffs and catachrestical errors which are regularly committed in
them. It was about three weeks ago that I
was writing about Zephaniah. My error
that day was to assign Zephaniah placement as the last book in the Old
Testament. I know that spot is reserved
for Malachi. My quick look at the indexes
of my bible was too quick to realize I was not looking at their order, but at an
alphabetical listing.
The mistake was so enormous, I
worried it prevented readers from hearing the point I was trying to make. Like Malachi, Zephaniah does much to set the
table for what happens when the New Testament story does begin. Zephaniah lifts a promise and an assurance
which we have come to see was realized in Bethlehem of Judea. Zephaniah tells all of Israel to sing and
shout! “Rejoice and exult with all of
your heart!” The fortunes of Jerusalem
are about to change – the king of Israel, the Lord, your God is soon to be found
in your midst!
This is the story of
Christmas. The good news that God will
no longer consider the heavens His abode.
In Jesus, God takes on our flesh.
We do not look to the skies in order to find God; we look at one who
shares our meal and shares his love.
If we want to talk about mistakes
or errors, forgive something as simple as getting the books of the bible in the
wrong order. Let’s call attention to the
mistake of thinking we are living as in the days before Bethlehem. Let’s call attention to the mistake of
failing to see God as one who is constantly and continually in our midst.
Look back at those verses from
Zephaniah. Note how many references are
made to flesh and blood concerns. He
speaks of hands that do not grow weak, of oppressors experiencing God’s rebuttal. Look particularly at the verses at the top of
Page 7 in our bulletin: “I will save the
lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and
renown in all the earth.” When God
is “in our midst,” life here becomes different.
The life lived by God’s people reflects the presence of our God.
This is the life we are
living. We live in the time of which
Zephaniah speaks. We live on this side
of the birth in Bethlehem. The arrival
of our Lord means the changes of which Zephaniah spoke have come to pass.
Or have they?
Has the reality of what happened in
Bethlehem sunk in? Or maybe it sunk in
for a while and then the luster wore off.
It sure seems as if too little of our religious life is a celebration of
the marvelous thing God has already done, and too much of our attention is
looking for God to do something else, something more.
This is the story of
Christmas. The good news that God will
no longer consider the heavens His abode.
In Jesus, God takes on our flesh.
We do not look to the skies in order to find God; we look at one who
shares our meal and shares his love.
If we want to talk about mistakes
or errors, forgive something as simple as getting the books of the bible in the
wrong order. Let’s call attention to the
mistake of thinking we are living in the days before Bethlehem, to the mistake
of failing to see God as one who is constantly and continually in our midst.
When God is in our midst, we live
differently. We don’t have to be anxious
about what we will eat or what we will wear.
When God is in our midst, we think
differently. We don’t have to wonder if
we are loved and accepted. We do not need
to compare ourselves to others – to find others lacking and ourselves excelling.
When God is in our midst, we start
to ask “What then shall we do?”
This is the question they asked of
John, and we just read what he told them.
If you have two coats, share with
another who has none.
When collecting money from others,
collect only that which is fair.
When God is in our midst, life is
different. It is peaceful. There is great contentment. And satisfaction. And joy.
And happiness.
We too often make the mistake of
forgetting that we live on this side of the events in Bethlehem. We read the words of Zephaniah as if they
remain a distant hope rather than a realized reality. Allow the good news of the birth of Jesus to
sink and never let the luster wear off.
Live your life aware that Messiah
has come; and that the Lord, our God, is in our midst.
Amen.
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