Sermon - Zephaniah 3 v14-20
How hopeful are you for the future? According to a survey of British people at the end of 2014 only 34% of us thought 2015 would be better than 2014 with 42% expecting it to be the same and 18% expecting it to be worse.
How hopeful are you for the future? Maybe the news we watch on TV each day discourages us. We hear of terrorism, desperate refugees, intractable civil wars, flash floods in the UK and overseas caused by unprecedented rainfall probably due to global warming. All of these events caused by mankind. Overall it's not a very hopeful picture.
The situation was not so different in the time of Zephaniah (a prophet who lived in Judah) , 600 years before Jesus was born. Just about a hundred years have gone by since the destruction of Israel, Judah’s sister kingdom to the north, and the ten tribes of Israel had been devastated by the Assyrians. Wiped out, never to appear again on the stage of history. Down in the south, centred around Jerusalem, huddled the two tribes that made up the Kingdom of Judah. Things had not been so good in Judah, either. Idolatry had run rampant. Cult prostitution and child sacrifice had crept in. Criminal activity was everywhere. Merchants cheated their customers. Widows suffered in poverty. Power was abused by those in authority. Everywhere things looked bleak. People were not hopeful.
But listen to what Zephaniah says
Sing, Daughter Zion;
shout aloud, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem! (v14)
It must have seemed strange in these circumstances that Zephaniah tells his listeners and us to rejoice and be glad and shout aloud. Why?
Simply put, Zephaniah offers a profound and lasting hope in a troubled world.
1. Hope of Forgiveness
The LORD has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.(v15a)
The people of Israel had wandered away from their God, they had been attracted by other gods, less demanding and more appealing. They turned to Baal god of storms when they worried that there would not be enough rain to feed their crops rather than turning to God. They built little mounds of earth about 4ft high on which they worshipped him. The Bible calls them high places and many times comments that the leaders of Israel turned a blind eye to these high places rather than forbidding them. They turned to Molek who demanded child sacrifice in the fire, in an attempt to please him so things would go well for them. The bible repeatedly forbids child sacrifice. Corruption had crept in, loan sharks were taking advantage of the poor. The people needed forgiveness for turning away from the living God to worship these idols.
We may not worship Baal or Molek, but we worship other more subtle idols, the gods of consumerism (I want it and want it now) hedonism (my pleasure is what counts) success (look how well I've done). There is still corruption, and oppression of the poor as Gods commands are ignored. These idols only bring illusory hope that fades as soon as we try to grasp hold of it .But they will draw us away from worship of the living God. We too need forgiveness for turning away from God to worship these idols.
God offers forgiveness to us today. For the Christian, we have received that forgiveness, although we continue to fall short and that is why we continue to confess our sins to Him. For the Non-Christian today the offer of full forgiveness in Jesus is there for you to take hold.
But what does that forgiveness look like?
Let me tell you about Maria and her daughter Christina. Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. Discontent with living at home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city. One morning she ran away, breaking her mother’s heart. Her mother knew what life on the streets would be like for her young, attractive daughter, so Maria quickly packed to go find her daughter. On her way to the bus stop, she went to a shop to get one last thing—pictures. She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and spent all the money she could on pictures of herself. With her purse full of small black-and-white photos, she got on the next bus to Rio de Janeiro. Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. Maria began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with the reputation for street walkers or prostitutes. At each place she left her picture--taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, or fastened to a corner phone booth. On the back of each photo she wrote a note. It wasn’t too long before Maria’s money and pictures ran out, and Maria had to go home. The tired mother cried as the bus began its long journey back to her small village. A few weeks later, Christina was coming down the stairs in a seedy hotel. Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her laughter was broken. Her dream had become a nightmare. A thousand times she had longed to trade all those countless beds for her secure pallet. And yet the little village seemed too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother. Christina’s eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back Maria had written this: "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t matter. Please come home." And Christina went home.
God's forgiveness is like that. He offers us unconditional forgiveness and wants us to come home. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done. It doesn’t matter what we’ve become. We can always come home to Him. Maybe today is the day that you decide to come back to him.
2. Hope of Freedom from Fear
The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.(v15b)
Many people today are fearful, as they were at the time of Zephaniah. What's going to happen? Things are looking bad. What if .....? We fear failure and sometimes even fear success and the pressure that might bring to continue to succeed. Fear is harmful to us, it creates stress and damage in us, it saps us of energy and can become overwhelming.
God says 'never again will you fear any harm'. How can that be? The reason Zephaniah provides is simple, we are not alone, because' The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you'. In scripture, these two themes are always linked: 'Do not Fear, because I am with you
This has special significance at Christmas time when we remember Immanuel, God with us, when we celebrate the arrival of Jesus Christ God's only son as a human baby. What is particularly interesting is that Zephaniah prophesy is not about a human Messiah but about God himself coming to the Earth. The earlier prophets such as Isaiah prophesied about a human Messiah (remember that famous verse:The virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son?). But people had witnessed so many evil and corrupt leaders that their faith in a human Messiah had begun to waver. Zephaniah now provides another piece of the jigsaw when he tells us that God himself is going to come. When we put the two pieces of the jigsaw together: a human Messiah is coming and God himself are fulfilled in the arrival of Jesus Christ fully God and fully human.
Fear illustration
We fear when as Christians we fail to remember that God is with us. For those today not yet Christians, God offers his presence with you, if you will invite Him into your life.
3. Hope of Salvation
The LORD your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.(v17a)
In the dreadful floods in Cumbria we have seen pictures of people being saved literally from their flooded houses; being rescued by helicopters and winched up to safety, or carried to lifeboats by rescue workers.
God promises to save all those who turn to him, He will protect us and keep us safe. How can He do this? 'Because He is mighty to save'. The word used here is of a mighty warrior, a very powerful person. Only God is able to save us. He can save us from harm and from judgement that Zephaniah will us with take place when the great day of the Lord comes. No human can do this.
Zephaniah tells his listeners that those who have chosen to follow God will have nothing to fear at the day of the Lord. But those who have refused to listen will have to give account for every sin that they have committed and will remain under judgement.
God offers us the sure and certain hope of salvation.
4. Hope of Love
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”(v17b)
When I read this I was reminded of an incident that happened recently. I was at the very back of the church for the united service at Rusthall URC and it was difficult to hear so I was easily distracted by what was going on around me . I noticed a lady nearby went to a baby carrier and picked up her baby, very gently and carefully. She held her baby in her arms and just looked at her tiny child, eye to eye for quite a while, and I just sensed an incredible love there. Then, she gently brought the baby to her face and kissed the baby on her forehead.
That's the image I have of God looking over us. The word for love here is the love a mother has for her child. He delights in us, his people, He just gazes at us and shows us his great love. He even sings over us, like a parent singing a lullaby to their baby, as they cradle them in their arms. What a powerful picture of God's love for us.
Why does God love us so much, when we are so frail and so often turn away from him? He loves us because He loves us, not because there is anything in us that is lovely but because it is the very nature of God to love. As John says 'God is love'. Do you sense that love and acceptance of God the Father for you today?
Conclusion
How hopeful are you today? When we look around us there are many things that perhaps cause us to lose hope. But when we look at God and his promises to us, there is great hope for the future.
Zechariah has reminded us that God offers to us the hope of complete forgiveness, the hope of freedom from fear by his presence with us, the hope of salvation, the hope of unconditional love.
Christmas time is a time of hope because of Jesus. Because God loved us so much that he came to us and lived amongst us in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the source of hope for our lives and for our future. What is your response?
