Zephaniah
is not the best known of the prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, maybe even Jonah… well, we know a little about them. But the
oracles of Zephania ben Cushi remain on the sidelines.
From
the geneaology we are given in the earliest part of his work and the linguistic roots of his name, he seems to have been a
descendant of King Hezekiah who also had an African heritage. He addresses the nation at the time King Josiah is on the throne,
who was setting about reforming the nation.
The
bulk of Zephaniah’s message has to do with avoiding the sins of the surrounding nations and for the people to seek the
Lord, for to not do so meant things (which weren’t that good right then) would only get worse.
However
our passage dealt with only his final words, which are in stark contrast to the rest of his prophecy. His concluding words
are not ones of doom and gloom but of joy and victory for those who belong to God.
Central
to this proclamation of joy is the idea of God as “The Mighty One” (or as it is translated in some versions, “The
Warrior”), the powerful one who will save the people from their enemies, deal with their oppressors, and bring them
home.
Our
third candle for Advent was a candle for Joy. As it was lit we heard of Mary rejoicing in the birth of Jesus. The thought
was expressed that the joy of Jesus Christ may be born in people’s hearts during this Christmas season through the service
that we offer, through organizations such as The Carpenter’s Corner.
We
are familiar with the idea of Jesus being the one who offers joy, but less familiar with the picture that Zephaniah gives
us. A picture of God, the God of the Old Testament, being not simply the ‘Judge and Law Giver’, but also the’Joy
Bringer’.
Maybe
we’ve watched too many Hollywood Bible productions in which God is the one speaking out of burning bushes, thundering
commands from clouds and raining down fire and brimstone on evil ones. We are sometimes left with the impression that the
God of the Old Testament is a fearsome and terrifying Ogre before whom all must quake and sacrifice animals in order just
to get near!
We
don’t expect to hear that same God described as exuberantly singing songs of joy over those He calls His children. But
that’s precisely the picture that Zephaniah ben Cushi places before us. I would particularly draw your attention to
verse 17:
The
LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will
rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)
What
tremendous words of promise these are to consider as we travel through the Advent season.
Let me just deal with this particular verse.
The LORD your God is with you.
What
an amazing encouragement this can be when we are traveling through hard times. To know that we do not walk alone, but God
walks with us. Of course that doesn’t mean that we always sense or feel God’s presence. It doesn’t means
there does not come to us days when things get all out of place and don’t seem to go according to any plan be it divine
or human.
But
just to know, God is with us, can make all the difference. Such knowledge can change the most mundane tasks into Divine appointments.
Such is a promise to claim, to speak to our souls. It’s not a sign of going crazy to speak to yourself! Sometimes we
need to offer ourselves encouraging words and say to ourselves, that despite evidence that suggests the opposite, the truth
is that the Lord our God is with us. More than just with us…
He is mighty to save.
To
me salvation is a whole lot more than just being able to affirm belief in God. I realize that some Christian traditions put
a tremendous emphasis on persuading people to confess Jesus Christ so that they can be saved and there’s nothing wrong
in that; moments of commitment and claiming our inheritance in Christ are important. But salvation is a whole lot more than
any individual personal confession of faith.
The
very word salvation derives from a root word that means healing, a word from which we construe the English word salve, meaning something that soothes or restores. It’s a word to do with wholeness and fullness and equally
applicable to communities as it is to individuals. It’s a word that conveys well-being and safety.
Zephania
ben Cushi pictures God as One who walks with us and in a warrior like fashion, battles on our behalf that we may be safe.
A God who ultimately reigns victorious over all that would destroy and decimate life. Again, we may not sense the results
of God’s victory immediately applying to the situations we walk through, but it will come, in God’s time, in God’s
way, as we put our trust in God. Why? Because He is mighty to save! And there’s more.
He will take great delight in you.
The
way we sometimes speak about God must surely give the impression that God is constantly mad at the world. Some speak so much of God’s wrath and judgment that the thought that God might actually be on our
side becomes lost, and the notion that God may actually take great delight in us, all but obscured.
Maybe
we need to go back to those early chapters of Genesis in which we are told that God created man, looked upon the man and woman
and thought, “Yep, It’s good!”
Not
that everything man does is good, nor that man is not a sinful creature that constantly makes the wrong choices, but just
to reaffirm that God is actually incredibly, head over heels in love, with humanity, (rather than out to get the world), can
be a liberating thought.
We
know so well that verse John 3:16, but tend to skip straight to the bit about God giving or Jesus dieing, to the neglect of
the first few words that tell us “God so loved”. Hold your head up high. God loves you! God delights in you! Jesus
was not born in a stable in Bethlehem to start a campaign of God’s
anger, but to demonstrate through words actions and deeds that God is crazy madly in love with God’s creation! The next
part informs us there is a purpose to such love.
He will quiet you with His love.
In
this crazy world we can be just churning up inside. Worries can overwhelm us. What if? How come? When will? How can? Concerns about everything; money, people, situations, wars and rumors of wars, getting
through the day, flu jabs, sickness, bills to pay, things we have to do… the list can be endless and can completely
stress us out.
The
purpose to God’s mighty initiative to save? “He will quiet you with His love.” “Be still oh my soul, be still.” To our churning worrying hearts God comes and offers assurance
that He walks with us, that He has our best interests at heart, and that we can rest in His love, for His love is strong and
his purposes do not fail. Can there be any greater security in life than knowing our lives are in the hands of a loving God?
What
can give greater security than that? To know Jesus Christ! Money can’t give us that security. Friends can’t do
it. Even the church can’t do it. A prayer I came across expressed it: “Lord our hearts remain restless until they
find their rest in thee!” He will quiet you with His love. And from out of that quiet place, in time there will come
little trickles of joy that may even swell to full blown streams of rejoicing. Now don’t miss the last part of this
verse!
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Our
God is a singing God! When we worship, when we sing our hymns and carols, our psalms and spiritual songs, we are giving expression
to values and ideas that orientate our hearts towards God. Music and singing is an expression of our deepest feelings and
thoughts to God. Music can sometimes touch is in a way that words and images fail to do. We are moved. We are stirred. We
are taken somewhere else.
Sometimes,
when I’ve been doing youth work up at Bluestone during the summer, in the fun time I’ve made up songs for some
of the kids in the group, and they always seem to get a laugh out of it. It’s quite a thing to have somebody write a
song that calls you by name.
This
verse tells us that God has composed a song that has our name in it, that it’s a love song and He sings it over us.
“He will rejoice over you with singing”.
During
this Christmas season when we hear some of the great and uplifting music, reflect for a moment on the thought that God sings
a love song for you. Such may well lift any Christmas blues and put a joyful spring in your shoes!
The
message of Zephania ben Cushi.. “Joy to the World” – God is on our side, God walks with us and desires the
best for our life, God is mighty to save and rejoices over us with singing. Now that sounds like Good News to me! The sort
of Good News that Jesus came to bring at the very first Christmas.
Let us seek for the “Good News that brings great joy”
to be born in our lives this day.
AMEN.
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt
