"Seek Righteousness…seek Humility”

Sackcloth and ashes. Fasting and weeping. Tearing clothes and pulling out hair. Lying face down in the dirt. Those are some powerful pictures of repentance, wouldn’t you agree? And what were Old Testament believers saying with these traditions? Wearing clothes made from rough material and showering oneself in dust and ashes was a way of showing God how sorry you were for your sins. It also served as a physical reminder for the sinner of how rough and dirty sin makes a person in God’s eyes. In a similar way going without food and shedding tears heightened a person’s awareness of their disobedience to God and revealed how upset their sins against God made them. Although I would agree that it may seem like an extreme thing to do a person tearing their clothes and pulling out their hair would have been showing the extreme emotions a person had from disappointing God by our actions. And finally, throwing oneself down to the ground is a visible sign of a person’s humility. Lying prostrate in front of God implies not only a recognition of how sign makes us unworthy but it also shows a deep desire for mercy from God.

Other than perhaps fasting it seems as though most of these outward signs of repentance have gone away among believers. We live in a different culture and a very different time in the world’s history. But then how do we show repentance and sorrow over our sins? God doesn’t tell us how to outwardly show what is going on our heart. In Christian freedom our contrition (that is feeling sorry over our sins) may look different for each of us. We may kneel, bow, and perhaps fast. God doesn’t command or even expect any of those things from us. But there is one thing connected to repentance that God desires from each of us. That is a change of mind and heart. But those things too he must work in us. And then, through his Holy Spirit working in us through the Word and Sacraments we empowered to live a renewed life of love and service to God.

In the Word of God that we will consider in our sermon together this morning the Prophet Zephaniah reminds of us what believers do when they are repentant. We hear him say:

“SEEK RIGHTEOUSNESS…SEEK HUMILITY”

I. In your heart and mind

II. In your words and actions

The name “Zephaniah” means “the LORD hides” or perhaps “the LORD has hidden.” The prophet Zephaniah was evidently a person of considerable social standing in Judah and appears to have been related to the royal family. According to 1:1, Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 B.C.), making him a contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah, Nahum, and perhaps Habakkuk. He is one of the so called “Minor Prophets. That doesn’t mean he was under the age of 18 or that he worked in a mine. The 12 Minor Prophets just have shorter prophecies when compared to the “Major Prophets.” They are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.

Like the other Minor Prophets Zephaniah was sent by God to call his people to repentance and to announce the coming whirlwind of his judgment. In particular, Zephaniah focused on the coming of the day of the LORD, when God promised to severely punish the nations, including apostate, or unbelieving, Judah. The prophet portrays the stark horror of that ordeal with the same graphic imagery found elsewhere in the prophets. But he also makes it clear that God will still be merciful toward his people; like many other prophets, he ends his pronouncements of doom on the positive note of Judah’s restoration. When God calls people to repentance some will repent and reflect that repentance in their lives. He called on his countrymen to seek righteousness and humility.

I.

Once again, let’s go back to our Old Testament Lesson for this Sunday. “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.” I have a quick question for you. If that was the Lord’s message to the people of Judah what stood in the way of a complete repentance by every person in the nation? Wouldn’t every person hear that and say, “You’re right Zephaniah. We need to humble ourselves and seek righteousness!” This is where we can’t blame God or the Word he spoke through his prophet. The people stubbornly rejected God’s call to repentance. So, it would seem like only a few did what the prophet told them to do.

Now, let’s ask that question of ourselves. What stands in the way of repentance in our lives. We have the Word of God spoken through Zephaniah. In fact, we have it translated into our own language. We can read it and review it any time in paper format or electronic format. But like the majority of those who rejected God’s call to repentance we too have a stubborn sinful nature that wants to ignore what God says. Thankfully, God has had mercy on us. He has overcome our sinful nature. He has crucified it with Christ. Do we still need to hear the warnings found in God’s call to repent? Yes, as long as we live our Satan, our sinful nature, and the world in which we live will try to pull as back into unbelief. So Zephaniah warns us, “On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from you your arrogant boasters. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill.” When God’s judgement came upon Jerusalem he would wipe out those who remained unrepentant. But he would have mercy and those who were repentant. The LORD continued his message through Zephaniah. “But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the LORD. 13 They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.” Although our thoughts probably go immediately to Judgment Day Bible scholars point to the fact that the Judah was likely under threat of invasion at that time. And, yes, in the not too distant future the Babylonians would invade and destroy Judah. The vast majority of the people would be deported to Babylon leaving just the poor of the land behind. So this prophecy would be fulfilled—at least in part. The final fulfillment of all the warnings in the Bible about judgement will, of course, come on Judgement Day.