Zephaniah 3:14-20 Every Lutheran pastor wants to make sure that the Law is
preached in such a way that even the most upright person recognizes the
futility of trusting in their own righteousness for salvation and the Gospel is
preached in such a way that even the worst of sinners knows that they are loved
and forgiven by God.
This way of preaching the Law and the Gospel is not a Lutheran
peculiarity—it is the way God speaks to us in the Bible. In the first two chapters of Zephaniah we
hear some of the strongest Law in the whole Bible. Through the prophet Zephaniah God says:
“I
will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth.” “I
will bring distress on mankind so that their blood will be poured out like dust… Neither their silver nor their gold shall be
able to deliver them on the day of wrath…”
Zephaniah spoke about the judgment to befall Judah at the hands
of the Babylonians but his message was universal—applying to people in every
place and time because the judgment upon
Judah—as terrible as it would be—was still only a picture, a sign—of what would
befall the whole world on the great and terrible Day of the Lord.
And so why was there this unrelentingly harsh message of
judgment and condemnation from Zephaniah?
It was because of Judah’s
sin and the sin of all people. That is
important for us to recognize. The
charges that Zephaniah brought against them were not just their sins-- but condemned all people. God said:
“You
have turned back from following me…you do not seek my face or inquire of me.” “You listen to no voice and accept no
correction.”
These words of judgment and law are spoken to us too. We have not always followed the Lord as we
should. We have not always sought his
will first before our own. We do not
always offer our plans to him in prayer and seek his direction. We have adopted many of the ways of the
unbelieving world around us. When we
hear the preaching of the Law, we do not always amend our lives in any
meaningful or lasting way.
And that is a very dangerous place to be spiritually! The great
tragedy of what happened to Judah was that right up until the day the
Babylonians appeared outside the walls of Jerusalem they kept on saying of
God’s judgment: it will never happen to
us.
But it did—and it will. The
flood of Noah’s day- and the fall of Jerusalem in Zephaniah’s day- and the
destruction of the temple in the apostles’ day (as terrible as they were)--were
still merely signs of what will happen to the whole world and all people on the
Last Day.
That is the message of God’s Law in Zephaniah and it is meant
for all people in every place and time—including us here tonight. But what is also meant for every person in
every place and time is God’s Good News of the Gospel.
The people who heard Zephaniah preach these words of the Law must
have thought that there was no hope for them such was the fierceness of God’s
judgment upon their sin. At times we
feel as if there is no hope when we fall again and again to some sin
But the Lord is a God of love who does not desire to see a
single person separated from him and so he has made a way to escape his
wrath. That Gospel message of the Mighty
One who saves is what we hear tonight.
God says:
Sing aloud, O
daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O
daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has
taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies.
God
did not promise to relent from his judgment like some modern parent who is lax
in their discipline. What he promised to
do was to personally take it away and
clear away our enemies.
Judah had to look
forward to that in faith-- but we know and believe it as an accomplished fact
of history.
The righteous judgment
of God fell upon Jesus. Taking our place
at the cross, God’s righteous verdict of “guilty” was pronounced upon him and
he suffered the wrath of God that we deserve.
His blood has cleared away the enemies of our sins and his resurrection
has cleared away the power of death and the devil over our lives.
What better reason
can there be to sing and shout and rejoice and exult with all our heart for
what God has done for us in his Son? For
not only have our enemies been destroyed, but a right relationship between us
and God has been accomplished so that now:
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in our midst; we shall never again fear
evil.
The fellowship that
God intended between himself and us—has been restored. God the Father is with us wherever we go: into
the hospital bed or nursing home or dorm room.
God the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts. And God the Son speaks to us in his Word and
makes himself present to us with his body and blood under bread and wine.
Because the Triune
God is with us—we never again have to fear evil. When we face physical evil such as sickness
or drought the Lord promises that he will cause all things to work for the good
of those who love him.
When we face
personal evil in the form of the devil and his angels the Lord promises that
the One who dwells in us is greater by far than he who is in the world.
And when we face
the moral evil of our own sins the Lord promises that we have an advocate in
Jesus who has atoned for our sins and for the sins of the world and so he
remembers our sin no more.
This Good News of
God’s deliverance changes everything for us—not just eternally—but in our daily
lives here and now. The Gospel sets us
free and empowers us to serve. God says:
“Fear not, O Zion; let not your
hands grow weak.
When
the Law shows our sins, we may be tempted to throw up our hands in defeat and
quit. But the Gospel Good News of Jesus is
not only forgiveness—it is the power to fill up our hands with good
works that serve God and our neighbor.
The biblical
picture of one redeemed by the Messiah is someone who is busily and joyfully
engaged in the lives of those around them:
caring for the poor and sick—loving those in their family and
church—reaching out to those who do not yet know what God has done for the
world in Christ.
That’s the rich,
active life of a child of God who is loved by their heavenly Father. He says that he rejoices over us with gladness; quiets us by his love; and exults over us
with loud singing.
In those dark days
when Zephaniah preached, just imagine what it meant to the know that (1) God
was with them—even as they were carried off into exile—that (2) there was
God-pleasing work for them to do even though they would be far from home—(3) that
God loved them and rejoiced over them even as he loved and rejoiced over his
own Son.
These words are Good
News for us too! We live in dark
days. Judgment Day is closer now than
ever. But we have nothing to fear
because we are children of the heavenly Father and he rejoices over us like the
father of the prodigal son who was glad to have his boy back home—and loves us
with an everlasting love no matter what happens to us in this life—and exults
over us with singing until the day we stand in his presence and join our voice
to that of the heavenly choir. God says:
I will gather those
of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer
reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors. And I will
save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth. At that
time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will
make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I
restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.
The lives of God’s
people in Zephaniah’s day may be far removed from us in space and time—but they
are remarkably similar.
Christians
throughout the world—and more and more in our own country—suffer the reproach
of their fellow citizens and outright oppression from unbelievers. We are not immune from the effects of living
in a broken world. We suffer the same
hardships and illnesses as everyone else.
There is more and more distance between ourselves and a godless culture.
But this valley of
sorrow and death will not endure forever!
Our Lord’s return in glory will be a day of judgment and punishment for
those who have not trusted in the Lord and have oppressed his people. But it will also be a glad day of deliverance
for his children when God will gather us together at his right hand to bring us
into our heavenly home.
On that day, everything
that we have lost in this broken world and everything that we have forsaken for
Christ will be restored to us. And the
tears and sorrows of this life will fade away before the unending joys of
heaven and the new life we will live in the presence of the Mighty One who has
saved us. Amen.
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