Restored by the Messiah | Finding Hope in Advent

We continue our sermon series Elpis, which is

a Greek word for hope, finding hope in Advent.

And we find ourselves in a familiar place now,

this third week of Advent, in the book of Zephaniah.

If you remember in this past year, we were in

a sermon series where we covered the entirety

of that minor... prophet Zephaniah or Zephi as

I called him then and will call him today where

Zephaniah brings us a surprise this morning and

again only the Holy Spirit can tie this all together

having us sing for the offertory hark the herald

angels sing that is the surprise that Zephaniah

brings us into Because if you read the book of

Zephaniah, and if you do it this afternoon, it

may take you through halftime of the Bears game,

right? Hopefully in a positive way as you lead

into that. But by halftime, you should be done

with it. It's a small book. But singing... Is

that surprise? Zephaniah brings a judgment. He

brings warning. He talks about justice. Zephaniah,

as we talked about, it's almost like a little

mini book of Revelation there, that gem in the

minor prophets of the Old Testament, a world

shaken because of sin. But like the dawn breaking

through that last hour of night, Zephaniah ends

with an unexpected sound. He ends with singing.

A beautiful kind of understanding, regardless

of how well you can sing or you think you can

sing. Again, it's a joyful noise to the Lord.

And that is where Zephaniah is going to bring

us. And I think it's appropriate today that that's

what the sermon, in a lot of ways, is going to

be done through our kids. They're going to sing

the sermon over us, along with their different

speaking parts. Because the thing that we need

to understand this morning, as we've looked at

this understanding of hope for the last couple

weeks, is that God is a God who restores. And

when something needs restoration, that usually

means something's been broken down, in need of

fixing. I know we have some people that have

restored cars or other pieces of machinery in

their life, and it's because a change is needed.

What Zephaniah is telling the people and us today

is when we are broken down, when as a people

we are wrought with sin or judgment, that restoration

is needed. And that's where we find the hope

that the Messiah isn't going to just refine us,

as we talked about last week. He's also going

to restore us. And that's where hope is important.

Hope is not only something God gives. But hope

is something that God sings over his people.

And today our kids are going to do that. So let's

jump in to Zephaniah chapter 3. We're going to

Zephaniah 3 · chapter mention

be first in verses 14 and 15. And I entitled

this section, Hope from the Past. God restores

the remnant. To me, one of the most important

words in all of scripture is that word remnant.

We're not going to dive into it too much today,

but go back to the sermon series on Zephaniah.

We talk about it a lot, starting with verse 14.

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.

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst.

You shall never again fear evil. I love how Zephaniah

starts that. Sing aloud and rejoice. The Lord

has taken away the judgments against you. When

are some times, and if you're new to Munster

Church, I do like to engage a little bit. We

ask questions, get some responses. I never know

what you guys are going to say. I don't plant

people to answer certain ways. But when in times

do we sing in life? When are just some times

in your life, you know, in a normal day to day,

when do you find yourself singing? Let's just

get the shower and in the car out of there, right?

Like we do that, that's totally fine. We don't

need to talk about that. It has nothing to do

with my sermon, okay? But what else do we do?

Happy birthday, absolutely, happy birthday. Whether

perfect harmonies or absolutely tone deaf, we

sing it and we love it, right? When else do we

sing? Wow, we need to sing more as a church then,

right? If it's just happy birthday, wow. When?

Weddings and funerals. Well, that took a turn.

Okay, very good. Yeah, so weddings. Yeah, invite

Mike to your wedding if you want someone to sing,

right? The rest of you might not, but he will.

So that's exciting. We sing weddings. We do sing,

right, worship services or funeral services.

Absolutely. What else do we sing? Yeah. Along

with the radio, absolutely, yeah, or at least

we try, right? We sing our songs, all of that.

I'm at an age now where my boys don't appreciate

that when I sing in the car. They wish I didn't,

but I will still do it and just give them AirPods

or headphones. What else do we sing? What? Sports

events, we all know that hopefully in about four

and a half, five hours, we're all going to sing

Bear Down, Chicago Bears, right? Okay, wow. Wake

up, all right? Gosh. So sports events, definitely,

right? Definitely. IU fans, definitely singing

the IU fight song as of late. No one cares. But

understand, when else do we sing in life? I heard

pregnant. No, I don't think that's it. Christmas.

I heard prison. Let's just move on. God says,

and he sings over us, whether you're in prison

or pregnant, I have removed your shame. I have

taken away your enemies. I am in your midst.

And that... That intentionality is something

we should sing about because we sing normally

when we're happy. We sing normally when things

are going well. That was a huge thing back when

Zephaniah was prophesying and in the days of

Elijah, in the days of Jesus, that that was a

big thing when the nations... conquered other

people. They sang when they were in seasons of

feast. They sang a lot of music and everything

was huge. This is covenant language. A God staying

faithful, even when his people were not faithful

to him, is something worth singing. Now, I don't

know anybody that sings. Lord's Day one of the

Heidelberg Catechism. That'd be great if someone

could make a song on that. I'd sing it. But I

belong, right? It says, I belong body and soul

to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. I don't

know about you, but that's worthy of note. That's

more important than any of the other reasons

we sing, is that we belong to Christ. So past

hope, what Zephaniah is getting us to understand

is, and singing over us, your story, my story,

does not end in judgment. Though we are unfaithful,

it doesn't end in judgment. When we repent, when

we confess and we turn, it ends, our story ends

with mercy. And that is something worth singing

because God sings over us then, God sings over

us now in verse 17. That God sings over you and

me, 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 by his love. He will

exalt over you with loud singing. I think another

thing worth singing about in life is that God

is in our midst. Yet we could take that thought,

I could ask ten of you, what do you feel like

knowing that God is in your midst? And I'm sure

it will be a mix of emotions. Some will take

it as relief. Oh, God sees me. He's in the midst

of the junk that I'm into. Some may look at that

with nervousness, like, God's where? God's everywhere?

He knows every nook and cranny. Like, that could

bring some nerves, some anxiety. Or maybe, just

maybe, it's an understanding of how small we

are to how big God is, that God is in our midst.

He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt

over you with singing. I don't know about you,

but this may be one of the most tender verses

in all of Scripture. That not only is God with

his people, but God delights in his people. Because

I don't know about you, I look back at my week

and go, I have done things that I should cry

out like that kid did. Right? That we've done

things that we know God does not delight in.

Yet he makes that way for us to come back to

him. to sit in his presence, to confess our sin.

Why? Because he is faithful and just, will forgive

us our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He delights in his people. So not only does he

forgive your sin, my sin, he rejoices over your

restoration. And even those of us, like me, that

have been restored, it seems like on a daily

basis at times. I just can't get it right. I

keep stepping in it. I keep falling in it. Not

only does God lift up my shame, God sings louder

over my shame. That God sings over our shame

when we come to him with true repentance. He

sings over our shame. Right? He renews us. And

that is what God is doing right now. In this

present season of life, when we come to God,

he receives us, he forgives us, and he sings

over us. And as the psalmist writes, he remembers

your sins no more. But maybe you haven't made

it to that point yet. Maybe there's so much anxiety

coming before the God of all that you just can't

get a word out. Then ask him to quiet your anxious

heart, to surround you with his love. He is singing

a melody of hope over your exhaustion, hope over

your disappointments, and hope over your fear,

whatever it is. Present hope means you are not

forgotten, you are not abandoned, nor will you

ever be overlooked by your heavenly father. God

is rejoicing over you. Right now. Even if you

feel yourself that big and not worthy of God's

presence. Here's the thing, friend. You don't

get to dictate God's presence. Thanks be to God.

Hope for the future. That we are a gathered,

healed, rejoicing people. Verse 18. 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.

I will save the lame and gather the outcast.

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. Friends,

Zephaniah ends with God's promise for the future.

I will deal with all your oppressors. I will

save the lame. I will gather the outcasts. I

will change their shame into praise. And one

of the coolest promises we get in this life,

I will bring you home. This is the heart of the

gospel, and this is the heart of Advent. God

will always finish what he started, even when

we don't. The Messiah brings a future where grief

becomes gladness, shame becomes honor, scattering

becomes gathering, wounds become healing, and

exile out there. Becomes home. In here. This

is our hope. For the second coming. This is Jesus.

Our hope. Will restore all things. Unto himself.

So I don't know about you. But those are promises

that we can take to the bank, and those are the

promises that we can rejoice over, even in those

sleepless nights, even when that relationship

seems done, even when the future looks super,

super scary. Our hope is in Jesus, who will restore

all things unto himself. Did you ever think about

that? He restores it unto himself. He restores

it to perfection. But guess what? Our present

day can't handle that. Our tomorrow on this earth

can't handle that. But the future hope of glory

is what that's all about. So as we prepare for

part two of the message to be brought by our

Lighthouse program. That they continue to show

us the joy of Advent. Because their joy, and

the kid that's going to sing his first song in

front of everybody. The joy of the fifth graders

who are almost done with Lighthouse. The joy

of the families that have kids represented on

the stage. This is the joy of the Advent season.

Because in Advent we sing. We should sing. It

is right that we sing. But we sing of three things

as I close. We sing because we look back and

we remember his mercy. We sing and we look around

and rest in his singing love over us. And we

sing as we look ahead and rejoice in the restoration

still to come. Because here's my last point.

Because the Messiah hasn't come, come just to

save you. He comes always to restore you. Let's

pray. Lord Jesus, our restoring Messiah, thank

you for your love that's stronger than our shame

and louder than our fears. Thank you for being

in our midst, for calming us, yes, even the anxious

parent today, and singing hope over us as we

walk into this week and into the beauty of the

Christmas season. Restore our hearts. Renew our

joy. And gather us close to yourself. Finish

the work you've begun in us. And make us a people

who rejoice in your salvation. In your strong

and saving name we pray. Amen.