Zephaniah 3 — Sermon by Rev. Canon Bryan Biba

Let us pray.

Lord, may my speech and my message not

be plausible words of human wisdom, but

a demonstration of the spirit and of

power, so that our faith may not rest in

the wisdom of men, but in the power of

the living God. We ask this in the name

of the Father and the Son and the Holy

Spirit. Amen. You may be seated.

Every generation has their definitive

Christmas album.

You probably know right away what yours

is. Maybe it's Christmas Songs by Frank

Sinatra. Anyone?

Or maybe it's Merry Christmas by Being

Crosby or The White Christmas Album.

Maybe it's Elvis's Christmas album. That

was my father-in-law's favorite. Also,

the the Beach Boys Christmas album,

close second.

Or maybe uh you want something a little

more recent like Merry Christmas by

Mariah Carey.

For my generation, the millennial

generation, one of the definitive

Christmas albums is Songs for Christmas

by Sufjan Stevens.

And as soon as the calendar turns to

December, this album is played nearly

non-stop in my home. So much so that I

think my kids will grow up feeling sick

of it. If you haven't heard it, it's a

little weird. There's a lot of stuff

going on, but in the midst of the

weirdness, there's a few profound

moments. And one of those profound

moments is during my favorite song, Only

at Christmas time. Here's how the chorus

goes.

He brings us peace.

He brings us joy. He brings all thoughts

to destroy.

only at Christmas time.

Now, Sufjan is a Christian and this song

I think captures one of the beautiful

paradoxes at the heart of the Advent

Christmas season. They're two sides of

the same coin. These two seasons go

together.

The first coming of Jesus, the Messiah

in humility as a child in Bethlehem

indeed brings us peace and joy.

The incarnation of the son of God has

fundamentally changed the world. And yet

this joy, while real and true, is still

partial and incomplete.

We await the fullness of joy when true

peace and true joy comes when Christ

returns again with all thoughts to

destroy.

Indeed, perfect peace and unending joy

is only possible when all that is wrong

in the world is made right. When the

darkness of sin and death is finally and

totally completed.

This, friends, is the message of the

prophet Zephaniah.

Our passage for the third Sunday of

Advent is one of the most joyous and

celebratory of all of the Old Testament.

Yet, we cannot take this portion of

Zephaniah chapter 3 isolated on its own

Zephaniah 3 · chapter mention

out of context, lest we misunderstand

the true nature of joy. So, we'll spend

some time this morning looking at this

minor prophet. Open up with me to

Zephaniah,

not Zachchariah.

Zephaniah is between Habachok and Hagi,

the very end of the Old Testament.

It's three short chapters, but there is

a lot of joy and beauty here.

Zephaniah begins in verse one of chapter

1 with a genealogy, which is very

strange. The prophets don't generally

have genealogies. And here we have one

of the longest in prophetic literature.

First, let's start with his name. The

word of the Lord came to Zephaniah.

Zephaniah means Yahweh will hide or

Yahweh will protect.

His father Kushi trusted that the Lord

would hide and protect his son in the

midst of the chaos in the tumult of the

world. And indeed, Zephaniah prophesied

in a very difficult time in Judah's

history.

We learn that Zephaniah was the son of

Hezekiah.

Hezekiah, of course, one of the great

good kings of the book of Kings, the

14th king of Judah. 2 Kings chapter 18

2 Kings 18 · chapter mention

says that Hezekiah was a godly king who

led Judah through the Assyrian invasion

and he reformed temple worship turning

the people of God back away from

paganism to the worship of Yahweh.

So Zephaniah is not near merely a

prophet. He's also a prince. He's from a

royal line.

But this is not the time of King

Hezekiah. This is in the days of Josiah,

son of Ammon, king of Judah.

See, after good King Hezekiah's death,

Judah was ruled by two evil kings, King

Manasseh and King Ammon. And these two

kings, Zephaniah's grandfather and

father, basically undid all the reforms

of Hezekiah. They turned Judah back to

the worship of paganism. They perverted

the worship of God and led to all kinds

of corruption.

Now Zephaniah's cousin, King Josiah's on

the throne, and like their

great-grandfather Hezekiah, he is

seeking to turn Judah back to

faithfulness to undo the sins of their

grandfather and their father.

So what's the point of all this

genealogy?

It helps us understand Zephaniah's

prophetic burden. Like his cousin, King

Josiah, Zephaniah stands in the long

shadow of his father's failures.

And yet, the prophet is seeking to

reclaim the faith that his family has

lost,

which raised an important question for

us this morning and today. How do you

practice faith when those who were meant

to model it for you have failed you?

Zephaniah's response is, "Be faithful to

the word of God, even if it's a hard

word." And indeed, this book is a hard

word. It begins in verse two,

I will utterly sweep away everything

from the face of the earth, declares the

Lord. I will sweep away man and beast. I

will sweep away birds of the heavens,

the fish of the sea, the rubble with the

wicked. I will cut off mankind from the

face of the earth. I will stretch out my

hand against Judah and against all the

inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off

from this place the remnant of Bal in

the name of the adult idolatrous priests

along with the priests.

God has decided to judge Judah for their

unfaithfulness.

God is judging Judah for the

unfaithfulness of Zephaniah's parents.

Often times we reap what our parents

sowed whether we want to or not.

And yet in the midst of darkness, in the

midst of the day of the Lord,

there is a flicker of hope. Chapter 2,

verse one. Gather together. Yes. Gather,

oh shameless nation, before the decree

takes effect. Before the day passes away

like chaff, before there comes upon you

the burning anger of the Lord, before

there comes upon you the day of the

anger of the Lord.

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the

land who do his just commandments. Seek

righteousness.

Seek humility. Perhaps you may be hidden

on the day of the anger of the Lord.

Yes, friends, judgment will come for

God's people. And yet, God has decided

to spare a remnant, a faithful remnant,

a small group of people who have stayed

humble, who've obeyed God's

commandments, who have sought

righteousness amidst all the corruption.

So, if God has decided to judge his

people, does that mean their enemies

will triumph? No. We learn God will

judge Israel's enemies as well. Verse 5,

the Cherites, the Philistines.

Verse 8, the Moabites. Verse 12, the

Kushites. Verse 13, the Assyrians.

It seems that all nations stand equally

under the judgment of God. both the

pagans and God's own people.

There's no one nation or people that's

better than another.

And just to emphasize the point in

chapter 3, Zephaniah is clear. Judgment

will come even to the holy city to

Jerusalem. Verse one, woe to her who is

rebellious and defiled, the oppressing

city. She listens to no voice. She

accepts no correction. She does not

trust in the Lord. She does not draw

near to her God. Her officials within

her are roaring lions. Her judges are

evening wolves that leave nothing to the

morning. Her prophets are fickle,

treacherous men. Her priests profane

what is holy. They do violence to the

law.

This is a picture, friends, of total

corruption.

In David's city, in Solomon's city,

every level of society, every level of

leadership is corrupted.

Judah's shepherds have sought to enrich

and benefit themselves at the expense of

their sheep.

It's a tale as old as time.

And for this reason, the righteous and

holy Lord must act. Notice, he's not

abandoned his people. In fact, he is in

the midst of them. Verse 5, the Lord

within her is righteous. He does no

injustice. Every morning he shows forth

justice. Each dawn he does not fail. But

the unjust knows no shame.

Right there we have a hint at what has

caused the corruption of Jerusalem.

God's people have no shame.

As he says in verse 7, "Surely you will

fear me. You will accept correction.

Then your dwelling will not be cut off

to all that I have appointed against

you."

People of God, it seems, do not fear the

Lord. They have no shame. And this is

what led to their selfishness, to their

failures.

The fear of the Lord is one of the

central themes of the Old Testament.

It's the constant refrainane of the book

of Proverbs. The fear of the Lord is the

beginning of wisdom.

The fear of the Lord is reverent and awe

respect for God's holiness. We do we do

not treat God and his commandments

lightly or frivolously. We treat them

with great seriousness.

The fear of the Lord produces humility.

This does not mean we should be afraid

of the Lord. Rather, we should value

God's love, God's glory to such an

extent that we would do nothing to

offend the Lord. That's the fear of the

Lord.

Like Zephaniah, we also live in a world,

in an era that does not fear the Lord.

An era without shame. It seems that

religious people and non-religious

people alike act as if their actions

don't have consequences.

Like Zephaniah's fathers, we often act

without concern how our actions will

affect the lives of our children and our

grandchildren.

The good news of this minor prophet is

that God will judge. He will hold those

in leadership, all of us, to account.

Yahweh comes bringing peace and joy with

all thoughts to destroy.

But

this destruction is not final. Like the

new saplings springing up after a forest

fire, God will bring new life out of

death. We see this in the final chapter,

chapter 3. It begins verse 9. For at

that time I will change the speech of

the peoples to a pure speech, that all

of them may call upon the name of the

Lord and serve him with one accord. From

beyond the rivers of Kush, my

worshippers, the daughters of my

dispersed ones shall bring my offspring.

On that day you shall not be put to

shame because of the deeds which you

have rebelled against me. For I will

remove from your midst your proudly

exaltant ones. You shall no longer

beaughty on my holy mountain.

God is doing a new thing. A new thing

that's only possible because of his

judgment and his destruction. He is

gathering a remnant indeed. But now this

remnant is from all nations, from all

peoples. All those who, as Peter said in

Acts, all those who fear the Lord and

obey his commandments. People as far as

Kush, Africa, the very ends of the

earth. God is forming a new people out

of his dead people.

God will recreate a new faithful Israel

out of the ashes. Verse 12, I will leave

in your midst a people humble and lowly.

They shall seek refuge in the name of

the Lord. And those who are left in

Israel shall do no injustice and speak

no lies. nor shall they be found in

their mouth a deceitful tongue, for they

shall graze and lie down, and none shall

make them afraid.

Because this new people fears the Lord,

they don't have to be afraid of anything

around them.

This brings us to our appointed passage,

Zephaniah 3:14. This passage of great

Zephaniah 3:14

joy. And hopefully now you can see how

beautiful this message is.

Sing aloud, oh daughter of Zion. Shout,

O Israel. Rejoice and exalt with all

your heart, oh daughter of Jerusalem.

The 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.

Yes, friends, God will judge.

And that is good news. But that's only

the first part of the good news.

God's judgment will eventually pass as

the dross of our lives is burned up and

destroyed. We will be purified, refined

as silver is refined.

See friends, God longs to dwell with us,

to be in our midst. But a holy God must

first transform us into a dwelling fit

for himself.

And like the temple in Jerusalem, we

must be purified and cleansed so we

could offer a sacrifice of praise and

thanksgiving.

Verse 17, the Lord your God is in your

midst, a mighty one who will save. He

will rejoice over you with gladness. He

will quiet you with his love. He will

exalt over you with loud singing.

Now we can better understand the true

meaning of joy.

Joy is not happiness.

Joy is not an emotion or a feeling. Joy

may produce a feeling in us. But true

joy is something far more profound.

True joy is the soul's unshakable

confidence in God's favor towards us.

Unshakable confidence in God's favor.

Do you have that kind of joy amidst

everything this world has to offer?

Against what the news says, against

what's going on in your life,

against the rightful judgments the Lord

has against you because of your sin.

Do you know the love of God which

surpasses understanding?

Joy is a deep and steady certainty that

God loves us and that he is for us no

matter what difficulties we face. God's

mercy is unfailing. Like grace, it is a

gift.

It can't be taken away from us. True joy

is always present, always available for

the people of God in every circumstance.

We are the ones who abandon his joy.

We place our confidence and trust in

other things, in idols that promise to

defeat our enemies, that promise to

restore our fortunes. We exchange the

joy of the Lord for anger and fear. We

believe the serpent's age-old lie that

God cannot be trusted.

That we must take matters into our own

hands. That justice belongs to us.

This is why God allows for the judgment

and destruction of Judah.

And this is why God often allows us

Christians to experience suffering.

The Lord must first clear out the idols

of our life,

the lies we have exchanged for truth.

And after this judgment and destruction,

true joy emerges out of the rubble.

In the midst of judgment and

destruction, the people of God should

indeed call out for mercy. We should

pray earnestly for God's salvation. But

the prophet Zephaniah reminds us that

God might not answer our prayer.

God may allow our destruction and our

judgment in order to bring forth the new

life he desires.

God might allow us to be crucified so

that we might experience resurrection

joy.

We see this in the life and ministry of

John the Baptist.

John sought the revival of Israel by

preaching repentance.

You are under judgment now. So turn

around before you are destroyed

yourself.

And this preaching,

this preaching that he believed God

called him to landed him in prison. And

in Matthew 11, we see this picture of

John the Baptist questioning his

ministry. What did I do to deserve this?

I was just trying to do the right thing.

I was just trying to say the word God

told me to say.

Like every prophet before him, John is

doubting his ministry.

And Jesus, his cousin, encourages him by

pointing to the fruits of his ministry.

The blind receive their sight. The lame

walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf

hear, the dead are raised up, the poor

have good news preached to them, and

blessed is the one who is not offended

by me.

The kingdom of God, friends, is indeed

coming into this world, and that is good

news. Yet, in order for it to come in

its fullness, both John and Jesus must

suffer.

Both will bear the judgment for the sins

of God's people like the prophet

Zephaniah before them.

And like John the Baptist, there are

many Christians today praying for

revival.

This is a good prayer.

Yet we often fail to grasp how such

prayers for revival often necessitate

our destruction.

In order to revive us, God must first

judge and destroy all the sinful vices

and desires in us so that we might be

holy temples for his dwelling.

He can't bring us back to life unless we

first die.

Indeed, the witness of the centuries has

proven this essential truth. The great

revivals in this country and in others

always begin with repentance,

with people humbling themselves,

with people acknowledging the judgment

and destruction of the Lord and allowing

him to cleanse us of our sins.

Why?

Because repentance fosters humility and

fear of the Lord.

Repentance is how we submit to the

Lord's judgment so that his joy might be

reborn in us.

In John 15, one of my favorite passages,

Jesus says, "I am the true vine and my

father is the vine dresser. Every branch

in me that does not bear fruit, he takes

away and every branch that does bear

fruit, he prunes that it may bear more

fruit.

This is God's will for us that we would

abide in Christ that we would bear fruit

and when we do bear fruit we will be

pruned or as the book of Hebrews says we

will be disciplined as sons out of God's

great love for us.

So rather than resisting and blaming

others for our suffering, what if we

receive the challenges that we face as

the discipline of the Lord to prune us,

to revive us, to kill us so that we can

be made alive again.

church, the judgment and destruction of

our sin is necessary for us to abide

with Christ and experience true joy

because the only way to Easter is

through the cross.

I want to close by praying our collect

pointed for today, which is a very

fitting collect for Zephaniah for this

message. It's on page five of your

printed order. Let us pray.

Oh Lord Jesus Christ, you sent your

messengers, the prophets, to preach

repentance and prepare the way for our

salvation.

Grant that the ministers and stewards of

your mysteries may likewise make ready

your way by turning the hearts of the

disobedient towards the wisdom of the

just.

that at your second coming to judge the

world, we may be found a people

acceptable in your sight.

For with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

live and reign, one God, now and

forever.

Amen.