14Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! 15The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. 16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. 17The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing 18as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. 19I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; 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. Zephaniah 3:14 - 20 (NRSV)
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7John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” 15As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. Luke 3:7 - 18 (NRSV)
Things can be vastly different, depending upon which angle you look at them. A middle-aged man was distraught over his wife’s stubborn refusal to admit she had a hearing problem. One day he asked his family doctor for advice how to convince his wife that she has this problem. The doctor promptly told him that when he got home he was to confirm the problem by opening the front door and, from there, asking his wife what’s for dinner...if she doesn’t answer, move closer to the kitchen. Repeat the question again, and if she still doesn’t answer, move right up to her ear and whisper in it, what’s for dinner, honey? In this way, the doctor assured him, she’ll have to admit she has the problem.
So the man raced home with joy in his heart and opened the front door. “What’s for dinner, honey?” he asked. When there was no reply he moved closer to the kitchen and asked again. “What’s for dinner, honey?” Silence! When he looked into the kitchen, sure enough, she was there, stirring a pot. So he tiptoed over to her and whispered in her ear, what’s for dinner, honey? Immediately she turned and looked straight at him: For the fourth time, I said, we’re having Spaghetti! [1]
When you look at the two texts for this morning you are tempted to think the two prophets, Zephaniah and John the Baptist, would have a knock-down, drag-out brawl if they met on the street. Seemingly, they could not be further apart in what they say about how we ought to be thinking about God. Zephaniah says God is singing our praises, while the Baptist calls us a family of snakes! We want to say, make up your minds, boys – is it singing, celebration and joy or is it woe, despair and agony on me?
The truth is – it’s both! The prophets may look like they’re wrestling; in reality it’s just that strange dance we call Advent!
How Could It Be Both?
In the same way that pain precedes parenthood (particularly for the Mom), judgment and joy are part of the same process in the Advent story of Jesus coming to earth. Dark always comes before dawn; they’re entirely different, but they literally define each other. Humility comes before honor in the sense that (in spiritual matters) the cross always comes before the crown.
The “wrestling prophets” aren’t really even in the same ring. They are telling two different parts of the same story. John the Baptist shows us the agony in Advent – the humiliation and condescension of Jesus; Zephaniah shows us the glory of the Second Advent, the majesty of God’s gathering of the faithful for the Christmas party.
Advent is a time for looking back to the first coming – but you can hardly do that without looking forward to the second coming. That is the natural tension of God’s plan of redemption; our salvation is not yet complete.
And so, we wait! And we think about Judgment and Joy…
John’s Jolt of Judgment
In Luke’s account of the people, including the religious snobs – Pharisees, are coming to John for baptism – judgment literally pours out of the Baptist’s mouth: you brood of vipers; don’t just stand there you heathens – REPENT! You’d better repent and prove you’re serious by changing your ways!
The people say: what should we do?
The relentless Baptist preacher says: show God you’re serious by being fair with people, being generous with people, and quit your bullying when you’re stronger than someone else...or…
The people: or, what…
The Baptist: Have you ever heard of Hell?
At that point, Luke tells us that with a lot of other words the Baptist preached the “Good News” to them. Good News? Well, it certainly depends upon which side of this line you happen to stand. But it is Good news, nonetheless! The “good” in it is that God’s judgment addresses all that’s upside down about this world. If there is no judgment for sin, there is also no justice for wrong.
And so the Baptist’s hard sermon of judgment for sin and separation of sinners into hellfire is really good news – but you have to know that you must break some eggs to make THAT omelet!
Let’s face it; hell is not an easy sell to today’s generation. But that doesn’t negate the reality of hell; it only displays the necessity of it.
God does not “send” anyone to hell. Heaven is a place where God will be worshipped without interruption or exception. The only people who wind up in hell are those who refuse to worship the LORD. Just as He does not send anyone to hell, He does not force anyone to go to heaven. But – He will not have any part of hell in heaven!
The way to wind up in heaven is to want to worship God, and to accept going there on God’s terms – by way of Calvary! You place your faith in Jesus Christ, and what He did for you on the cross, and He makes you a part of the forever family, eternally worshiping God!
John the Baptist didn’t blur the line here – you can get to hell without doing anything – just forget about giving God first place in your life and you have a reservation. To go to heaven requires a different kind of reservation; you have to give God His glory!
Zephaniah’s Party Prediction
Zephaniah’s picture is that gathering we also see in Matthew and Revelation – the eschatological banquet hall. God is in the midst of his people; He’s rejoicing. No – that word “rejoicing” is just too tame. God is shouting and dancing all over heaven because
• His family is finally all together,
• and healed
• and filled with joy
• and never going to leave or die….forever!
• and God has wiped away every tear and righted every wrong.
Now THAT sounds a little more like Christmas, doesn’t it? Maybe so – especially these days when all the emphasis is on tinsel, lights and parties. After all, it’s kind of an annoying “buzz kill” to hear about sacrifice and judgment with all those presents under the tree. But that’s just the issue – we need both.
We need to have these two prophets wrestling in this dance with joy and judgment. Heaven doesn’t make any sense without hell, and this earth doesn’t make any sense without judgment.
The question
It’s a little confusing, but go ahead and ask:
Where do I go with all this? Where am I supposed to stand?
The answer
You stand with the Baptist AND Zephaniah; stand where judgment and joy meet – you stand at the foot of Calvary’s cross!
What’s with the shells?
A symbol we’re accustomed to seeing at Easter is the colored egg. Only today I have asked you to bring just the shells. If you’ve got two halves, name one “John” and the other “Baptist”.
The egg used to contain the makings of a being. The shell is the evidence of those beginnings – but also a prison of sorts. Until the moment of birth the shell holds it all together. The Baptist preached about the repentance that brings life. These broken shells represent what is left behind when a life is transformed – out of the shell of mere existence into the eternal living family of God. Some of us feel like broken shells today. God always is willing to mend our brokenness.
This altar represents to us the place of Zephaniah’s party; Advent, the song of God. An altar is always a place where something is brought and offered up. And when you leave there is a difference.
There are some of us here today who need a difference; you may have tried everything there is to get some change, a little relief – and still you’re left with just the shells.
How about leaving the brokenness and the old stuff behind? There’s a party going on at this altar.
Prayer
Gracious Father – You have taught us in your word that when we draw near to You, You will draw near to us. We learned today that you’re ready to sing and shout when your children come near. Jesus, may it be that we begin to hear the music now!
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ENDNOTES
[1] Christian Cheong on SermonCentral.com, adapted
