C, Advent 3 - Zephaniah 3:14–20 "On that Day, At that Time"
On
that day, at that time, God has made a promise to you.
What
is the promise? What is the time? What is the day?
Zephaniah
announced these things, to Judah and Jerusalem, when the Assyrians had been the
dominant force in the world. The
northern kingdom of Israel had long been carried off by the Assyrians into
captivity. Israel and their kings no
longer existed.
Judah
and Jerusalem with all other nations were under oppression from their
captors. So powerful were the Assyrians
they had captured southern centres far into the interior of Egypt. Under their influence, King Manasseh, and
then his son, King Amon, led Judah in practises of shameful proportions. Child sacrifice, fortune telling, mediums and
talking with the dead were commonplace along with Baal and Asherah worship.
These
were the darkest of times for Judah. The
twelve tribes of Israel were all but gone.
God promised to act, on that day, at that time! On God’s behalf, Zephaniah announces
judgement on Judah and the king for what they had done.
And on the day of the LORD’s
sacrifice — “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array
themselves in foreign attire. On that
day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill
their master’s house with violence and fraud. At that time I will
search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those
who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’ Their goods shall be plundered, and their
houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.”
(Zephaniah 1: 8–9, 12–13 ESV)
The
people of Judah responded against the violence, blood, and sins of King
Manasseh and his succeeding son, King Amon.
King Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed him and place
Josiah on the throne of Judah at the tender age of eight. This boy king reigned thirty-one years in
Jerusalem in a renaissance of peace, rebuilding the temple and the worship life
of Jerusalem.
Zephaniah
prophecies not just the restoration of Jerusalem and Judah but he promises the renewal
of Israel. He says, “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!”(Zephaniah 3:14 ESV)
At
that time, God overthrew the Assyrian empire by the hand of the
Babylonians. However, the peace of Judah
was not to survive, and the Jews were exiled to Babylon for seventy years. In Psalm one hundred and thirty-seven we
hear of the bitter anguish of God’s people struggling under God’s judgement.
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and
wept, when we remembered Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign
land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let
my right hand forget its skill! Let my
tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set
Jerusalem above my highest joy! O
daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock! (Psalm 137:1,4-6, 8-9 ESV)
Zephaniah’s
prophecy stood partially fulfilled and stayed that way till the coming of
Christ Jesus some five hundred plus years later. On that day, at that time,
God fulfilled the prophecy of Zephaniah.
Yet,
on this day at this time, we seem to be in the same predicament as that
of the Jews. Apathy and testing on a
global scale are fragmenting God’s people into fault and failure.
Many
are departing from the faith because God seems to be not conforming to their
day, and he seems to have not acted in their time. Am I guilty, are you guilty, are we culpable
for seeking to nail God to our time frame?
Equally,
we in the church have forced others out, through our judgement, because they
have not conformed in our day, and at the time, of our desires and
expectations. Are you and I called to
repentance for not allowing God to work in his day and in his time?
And
with our idols of expectation, how are we using ourselves, our times, and
our possessions in the service of furthering God’s kingdom as we wait for
the return of our Saviour? I fail
dismally, just as the Jews failed, and as we all do in God’s church.
It
is the day, and it is the time, to weep and repent because many of God’s
baptised children are choosing not to remember Zion! Are you one of them? Is God no longer your highest joy? Would you rather bless and weep over Babylon
and her little ones, rather than remember Jerusalem?
In
that day, at that time, John the Baptist proclaimed, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to
yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from
these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the
root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:8-9 ESV)
And
of the Christ, John the Baptist prophesies, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to
gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable
fire.” (Luke 3:17 ESV)
So,
what does that mean for us in this day, at this time? What does this mean for your guilt or for
your lack of it?
On
that day, at that time, you were baptised into the Holy Spirit and the fire
of Jesus’ baptism, perfect life, death, descent into hell, and resurrection
from death and the grave. On this day, at this time, believe your guilt
is forgiven!
The
crowd, the tax collectors, and the soldiers, at the hearing of John the
Baptist, were cut by his words and asked, “What then are we to do?” Your guilt or a disturbing lack of it might
make you ask the same.
The
answer is given by Jesus himself, “Do not
work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his
seal.” Then they (the crowd) said to him, “What must we do, to be doing
the works of God?” Jesus answered them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John
6:27–29 ESV)
And
he also says, “Whoever believes and is
baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
(Mark 16:16 ESV)
On that day, at that time, Jesus has come, and he
will come again. On that day, at that
time, he has given you the Holy Spirit in baptism. On that day, at that time, you were
baptised into three pm Good Friday and are baptised into your Easter Sunday resurrection from the
dead. But you also have been baptised into eternal
life with Jesus that continues on this day and at this time.
Despite
all the difficulties, even though we struggle to sing the Lord’s song in a
strange land, we wait for the day and the time of Jesus coming to take
us home. On that day, at that time,
God’s eternal love will be completely realised.
Let his love of forgiveness, quieten you now on this day, at this
time!
“On this day at this time, the LORD has taken away the judgments
against you; he has cleared away your enemies.” The King of Israel, the LORD,
is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.” (Zephaniah 3:15 ESV)
In
confession and absolution, we say or sing, “I
will confess my sins to the Lord. Then
he forgave the guilt of my sin.”
So,
let us confess! Then, let us believe! God is forgiving our iniquities and will
remember our sin no more! (Jeremiah 31:34 ESV)
Let God clear the enemy from
within you. Your old Adam, and his human
spirit, your human spirit, is your greatest enemy. Christ has conquered him though! And has removed all judgements and blame against
you.
Therefore, as Paul says to
the Philippians, I say to you, on this day, at this time, “Rejoice in
the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” That is, let the reflection of Jesus, from within
you, be known, to everyone!
“The Lord is at hand;
do not be anxious about anything.” That is, do not be double faced about anything because Jesus is with
you! “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God.
And this is the promise, that, the peace of
God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
Amen.
