Every fall the following tragedy unfolds across the world. Homes that were built with great effort are obliterated in an instant. Food that was prudently gathered gets scattered and lost to the wind. Parents helplessly watch as their children are run over, while other children are left without parents. It sounds horrible doesn’t it? But you’ll never read about this tragedy in the newspaper although it also happens even right here in Alberta. That’s because it happens to field mice. Mice often take up residence in farmers’ fields thinking it will be a wonderful place to live. The tall wheat stalks provide cover from predators, refuge from the wind, and an ample food supply. So the mice build homes there and gather food thinking that the field belongs to them. They have children and do things that mice do as families, never giving thought to the rumbling of the tractor they hear in the distance. They never suppose that tragedy will overtake them one day and life as they know it will end in an instant with one pass of the harvest combine (John Jeske).
That’s how it will also be at the end of the world, says the Bible. People who have made comfortable lives for themselves thinking that this world belongs to them will be utterly shocked when God appears to claim it and their lives as his own. As we continue our Tweets from Heaven sermon series, we turn our attention to the short Old Testament book of Zephaniah. Through that prophet, God tells us more about Judgment Day or as he calls it: “the Day of the Lord.” God doesn’t hold anything back in his description of that day because he wants us to be smarter than field mice. He wants us to know that this world and our lives do not belong to us to do with as we please; they belong to him who created both this world and us. Listen again to what God said through Zephaniah. “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth… 3 I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea… The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly...That day will be a day of wrath—a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness…17 I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust… 18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth” (Zephaniah 1:2, 3, 14a, 15, 17a, 18).
When you consider that the prophet Zephaniah worked during the life of good King Josiah, God’s dire warning of judgment seems out of place – like a parent telling a child already wearing a snowsuit, tuque and mitts to “Bundle up!” But while King Josiah may have been eagerly doing the Lord’s will, many others in Judah were not. God said: “I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests—5 those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molek, 6 those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him…I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes… 12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’ 13 Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. Though they build houses, they will not live in them; though they plant vineyards, they will not drink the wine” (Zephaniah 1:4-6, 8, 12, 13).
In spite of King Josiah’s efforts to rid the land of Baal worship, priests of that idol continued to flourish. So we’re not startled to hear God say that judgment was coming upon them and on those who worshipped Molek, or who bowed down to the sun, moon, and stars. But why was God upset at the king’s officials who dressed like foreigners? These men must have been more interested in trying to be like the celebrities of the world than trying to be faithful children of God. That continues to be a big temptation for Christians doesn’t it? You probably don’t bow down to an idol every morning, but do you daily, even hourly bow over your smart phone or computer to see what’s going on in the world of movies, sports, fashion, and technology? Are you more eager to learn about these things and to pursue them than learn about your God and pursue his will? If so, you’re starting to act like those clueless field mice and are forgetting that this world is like a farmer’s field just waiting to be harvested and then burned.
Unfortunately many in Zephaniah’s day were acting like field mice. They had become complacent in their faith, no longer bothering to inquire of the Lord or seek his will. In other words they didn’t really pray any more. They also concluded that God was so far removed from them that he wouldn’t bother to intervene in their lives – whether for good or bad. All they wanted to do was to own a home and run a successful business – the Israelite dream! But God warned that while they may be successful in building a house, they wouldn’t get to live in it. Just fifty years after God spoke these words, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. That event served as a picture of the kind of chaos that will take hold on Judgment Day. God said that day will be a day of darkness and gloom (Zeph. 1:15). But don’t think this darkness will make it easy to hide from the Lord. God said that he is going to “light a lamp” and scour the darkest corners for anyone trying to hide from his judgment. And when God finds you, you won’t be able to buy your way out of judgment because God doesn’t accept bribes says Zephaniah.
So is there any way to escape God’s judgment? Listen to what else God proclaimed. “Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, 2 before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you. 3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger” (Zephaniah 2:1-3).
While there is no way to actually escape God’s judgment, there is a way to survive it. God said that his people should humble themselves. Zephaniah used an interesting verb to get that point across. When he urged God’s people to “gather together” he used the same word used for “gathering” stalks of grain. In order to do that you have to stoop down to the ground. In the same way when God’s people gather together before the Lord, like we do here in church, it should never be to stand up tall and boast about what we’ve accomplished during the week, or how we are better than the “sinful” world out there. Rather we should stoop low in humility and acknowledge how we have failed to do God’s will; how we have sought a life of comfort rather than service; and how we have sought man’s approval rather than God’s. Like the people of Zephaniah’s day we’ve been more concerned about keeping up with the world and its latest fads than keeping up with our faith. We’ve also become complacent thinking that God is far removed from us that he really doesn’t know what we’re up to. But God isn’t some clueless teacher who doesn’t know what the kids in the back row of his classroom are doing. He knows and he will punish impenitence.
Can we survive God’s piercing gaze and his holy judgment? Yes, by seeking refuge in him. King David once put it like this: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:12). If you reject God’s Son Jesus, there will be no reprieve from your eternal suffering. However, all those who take refuge in him now by confessing their sins and trusting in him for forgiveness will find salvation and eternal peace and joy. You could say that Jesus is a Judgment Day-proof bomb shelter. The shadow of his cross creates a force field that God’s wrath will not penetrate. Under Jesus we are safe, just as the Israelites were safe when they took refuge under the door posts they had smeared with lamb’s blood on that first Passover.
So are you standing under Jesus and taking refuge in him? I recently met someone who was baptized and confirmed here many years ago. The individual spoke proudly about how his family helped build the original sanctuary. He also spoke highly of the pastor who confirmed him and told me about how faithful his own father had been in his daily devotions – even writing out favorite Bible passages on index cards so he could study them more closely. But what about this individual himself? Where was his walk with the Lord? “Church attendance just kind of stopped,” he said without giving further explanation. Did this individual suppose that because he once had a faith-filled pastor, father, and family that he continues to be safe from the coming judgment? But wouldn’t that be like walking out of a bomb shelter in the middle of an air raid thinking that you’ll be safe from the bombs because, well, your family is still in the bomb shelter?
I don’t know where that individual’s faith is at, but what I do know is that Satan continues to work hard to distract me and you from Jesus. Take this day as an example. Some have been planning for this day for months. They purchased plane tickets and made hotel reservations so they could be in Vancouver to watch the Grey Cup game. Others have simply made an extra trip to the grocery store so they have enough chip dip on hand for their Grey Cup party. But have any of them, have any of us stopped to consider that this also might be the Day of the Lord? That day is coming. “Watch for it!” said Jesus in our Gospel Lesson. “Prepare for it!” said the Lord through Zephaniah. God doesn’t want us to end up like clueless field mice, run over by a combine in a field they thought belonged to them. No, this world and this life is not our own. It belongs to the Lord who wants to spend eternity with us. So humble yourself before him. Seek his will. And keep taking refuge in his Son Jesus. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
What does the opening illustration about field mice have to do with you?
List at least three sins God pointed out in our sermon text. Which of these do you most struggle with?
The coming judgment will be swift and it will be complete. What is the only way to survive it?
So you know and believe in Jesus. Great! What encouragement /warning did the sermon text give regarding that faith?
