A sermon based on Zephaniah 3: 14-20
By Charles J. Tomlin, DMin
3rd Sunday in Advent , Dec.
12th, 2021,
Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership
Series: The Royal Names of Jesus Christ
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with
all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
15 The
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.
16 On
that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your
hands grow weak.
17 The
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 18 as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19 I
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. 20 At 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):
When Seminary
Professor Clement Moore wrote The Night Before Christmas and read it to his
family on Christmas Eve in 1822, he changed how Americans think of St. Nicholas
forever. He took an ancient, slender,
compassionate, Christian bishop of Myra, who lived in about 200 AD and was
compassionate toward children and made him grow into that fat and jolly man as
we know him today.
While the new
Saint Nick can be a wonderful joy for children to ponder at Christmastime, he
still can’t compare to the one Christmas truly is all about. Even ‘Father Christmas’, as he is called,
ultimately bows before the ‘Everlasting Father’ who has inspired Him.
Through the
royal prophecy we are considering from Isaiah, Jesus gained the name
‘Everlasting Father’ because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever and
has been given the name that is above all other names. The gifts Jesus gives are forever and the
costs has already been paid—no bills coming due in January. As Isaiah 9:6 says: For to us a child is
born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he
will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father...
Literally, Everlasting
Father, (Heb. Avi-ad) means the “the one who possesses or
produces eternity, ”. As John’s
gospel begins, ‘In the beginning was with God and the Word was God.’ (1:1). Jesus is God from the very beginning because,
as John goes on to say,: the Word became flesh and lived among
us,...full of grace and truth’ (1:14).
Beautiful, astounding, and incredible ideas, but what does this mean and
matter for us to say that Jesus is the Everlasting Father?
To keep this
from becoming a mere lesson in theological metaphysics, I want to turn to
today’s lectionary text from the almost unknown prophet, Zephaniah. He preached in one of the darkest moments in
Israel’s political history. This hopeful
text, which comes at the conclusion of his dark prophecy, indirectly points us
to what it means that God is revealed an eternal, everlasting Father who’s love
never ends.
FEAR NO MORE (15)
When you read
the prophecy of Zephaniah from the beginning, its opening message, doesn’t
sound very ‘fatherly’. As it begins God
says: I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, says
the Lord. (1:2–7). Keep reading and
you will find a powerful, negative, overpowering images of judgement and
catastrophe released upon the world in the ultimate coming of ‘the day of
the Lord’.
Now, that
doesn’t sound very fatherly, does it?
Unless of course, you had a vengeful, angry, or excessively demanding
father. Unfortunately, for some, maybe
even for too many, that is the painful and problematic image that comes to mind
when they think of a father— angry, demanding, rigid and maybe even cruel or
destructive. The idea of God as Father,
or Jesus who is ‘one with the Father’ and taught us to pray to God as ‘Our
Father, who is in heaven, can bring to mind conflictive and
complicated memories. Their own
relationship with an earthly father was difficult, abusive, or even maybe even
absent and makes it difficult to imagine or relate to God as a loving Father.
The late Fred
Craddock, who died just a few years ago, once told of going back one summer to
Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to take a short vacation with his wife. One night they
found a quiet little restaurant where they looked forward to a private
meal--just the two of them.
While they were
waiting for their meal they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man
moving from table to table, visiting guests. Craddock whispered to his wife,
"I hope he doesn’t come over here." He didn’t want the man to intrude
on their privacy. But the man did come
by his table.
"Where you
folks from?" he asked amicably.
"Oklahoma."
"Splendid
state, I hear, although I’ve never been there. What do you do for a living?”
Fred Craddock
welcomed that question, for whenever a stranger found out he was a preacher,
they’d often excuse themselves shortly thereafter. "I teach homiletics at
the graduate seminary of Phillips University."
"Oh, so you
teach preachers, do you. Well, I’ve got a story I want to tell you." And
with that he pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with Craddock and his
wife. Dr. Craddock groaned inwardly: Oh
no, here comes another preacher story. It seems everyone has one.
The man stuck
out his hand. "I’m Ben Hooper. I was born not far from here across the
mountains. My mother wasn’t married when I was born so I had a hard time. When
I started to school my classmates had a name for me, and it wasn’t a very nice
name. I used to go off by myself at recess and during lunchtime because the
taunts of my playmates cut so deeply.
"What was worse was going downtown on Saturday afternoon
and feeling every eye burning a hole through you. They were all wondering just
who my real father was.
"When I was
about 12 years old a new preacher came to our church. I would always go in late
and slip out early. But one day the preacher said the benediction so fast I got
caught and had to walk out with the crowd. I could feel every eye in church on
me. Just about the time I got to the door I felt a big hand on my shoulder. I
looked up and the preacher was looking right at me.
"Who are
you, son? Whose boy are you?’
I felt the old
weight come on me with that question.
It was like a big black cloud. Now, it seemed like even the preacher was
putting me down. But as he looked down
at me, studying my face, he began to smile a big smile of recognition.
"Wait a
minute," he said, "I know who you are. I see the family resemblance.
You are a son of God. God is your Daddy"
With that he
slapped me across the back and said, "Boy you’ve got a great inheritance.
Now, Go and claim it, because you got a daddy.
God is your daddy.
After the story
ended, the old man looked across the table at Fred Craddock and said,
"That was the most important single sentence ever said to me." With
that he smiled, shook the hands of Craddock and his wife, and moved on to
another table to greet old friends.
Then suddenly,
Fred Craddock remembered that on two occasions the people of Tennessee had
elected an illegitimate child to be their governor. One of them was this man, Ben Hooper.
The truth that
‘God is Your Daddy, changed Ben Hooper’s life.
But this didn’t start as good news.
Did you hear? When he was leaving church, the preacher put his hand on
his shoulder and asked: ‘Who’s Your Daddy, boy?
It was like a dark cloud, he said, like the preacher was putting him
down, just like other people did, because he was an illegitimate child?
Still, the
promise of God as a loving father got through to Ben Hooper and it turned the
disadvantages of his life into a motivating factor, giving him an edge work
hard and to achieve and accomplish much.
When you read
the prophecy of Zephaniah it certainly begins like God is angry and is hovering
over the earth like a dark cloud ready to pour down his wrath. But we must understand that these were some
of the darkest days of Israel’s history full of idols and false gods. Being a jealous God, God was like a hurt
Father, angry and threatening but not because he hates, but because he
loves.
For when you get
to the concluding lines of this prophecy, our text for today, the whole mood
and demeanor changes. The prophet moves
from speaking of destruction and judgement to speaking of transformation,
cleansing and overwhelming and total joy.
And it’s not
just the people’s joy, but God is rejoicing over his people telling them that
judgement is now taken away. There will
be no more destruction. They have nothing to fear. This is now time for singing and rejoicing—
no more doom and gloom. This is a time
of feasting and festivities. The Lord is
their now their warrior and gives them victory and rejoices with them.
Without any
direct reference, this is what it means to have an Everlasting Father. Amid
human sinfulness and rebellion, God comes---the day of the Lord comes even in
judgement, but this judgment is not to destroy but to save, to protect, and to
redeem God’s people from their slavery to falsehood and sinfulness.
This is what a
true, eternal Father does. He uses his
strength, power, and authority to help his children overcome their self-destructiveness
and their fear. That’s why the people
are being called to ‘Sing ...shout, ...Rejoice... The Lord has taken away
the judgments..., He has turned away enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster
no more.
Now, you know,
exactly what was behind the angels of Christmas singing to the Shepherds ‘good
news of great joy for all people. In
Jesus Christ, we don’t have to fear disaster any more. The Lord has taken away his judgments. He is our eternal and everlasting Father,
a warrior who gives us victory over that which can destroy
us. Now, God rejoices with us and
God rejoices over us with great gladness.
WILL RENEW YOU IN LOVE (17)
At the heart of Zephaniah’s
message God’s day comes, but instead of judgement against us, the Lord we know
as Everlasting Father renews us in his great love for us (17).
This is what the Christian
gospel is about, isn’t it? In Jesus
Christ, the Eternal Word was made flesh and lived among us, and for
us. This Jesus is one with the Father
and the one to whom the Father has given all judgement. Final judgement comes to the world in the
life and death of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
This is God’s final judgement against all that is against us, renewing
us in love rather than allowing all that opposes God to destroy us.
This judgement of love is
exactly what the gospel of John is getting at in the detailed discussion of
this most intimate gospel. Right after
Jesus healed the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, asking him whether
he ‘wants to get well’ (5:6), Jesus then informs that ‘the father is
working and I am working’ (5:17). After
that Jesus announces that ‘just as the Father gives life, so does the Son’
(5:21) and then adds these astounding, arresting words:
The Father judges no one but
has given all judgment to the Son (5:22).
Did you get that? Being one with the Everlasting Father
Jesus becomes the fleshly, earthly judge who is given all judgement through his
life, teachings, death and resurrection.
Now, Jesus says, Truly, anyone who hears my word and believes
him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has
passed from death to life (5:24).
Dear people, this is the
beautiful, joy-filled message Christmas sings:
“He
rules the world with truth and grace,
and
makes the nations prove, the glories of His righteousness.
And wonders of his love,
wonders of his love and wonders, wonders of his love’.
Listen
close to this verse, Issac Watts is exactly right. In Jesus Christ, the Father isn’t removing
all judgment and destruction from the world, but he has given all judgement to
the Son, so that through the truth, righteous love becomes the judgment by which
we are redeemed and renewed.
The impressive PBS Masterpiece
series, Mercy Street, which is based memoirs and letters of actual
doctors and female nurse volunteers at Mansion House Hospital located in
Alexandria Virginia during the Civil War.
This was a real, make-shift Union military hospital set up in what was
still occupied, confederate territory.
At the center of this story are
wounded soldiers on both sides, who were injured, maimed, cared for, and dying
in this hospital. The judgment coming
down on them all made no distinction.
But what you also observe, is how in that tragic war, ‘his truth
keeps marching on’. As the tide of
war continues to turn toward what is right and against what is wrong, the nation
is proving the glories of his righteousness.
The truth that marches on does not remove the costs of war and wrong, but this is a truth of renewing love that must
not resist that Christ’s judgment is just. As the Battle Song of the Republic goes, and
those diaries suggested: God is sifting out the hearts Before
His judgement seat;
Oh, be swift, my
soul, to answer Him; Be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
That terrible time in American history
should have taught us, once and for all, that the judgment of the Eternal
Father has become the judgment of the true spirit of Jesus Christ. When we go with Christ’s Spirit and hear his
voice, the dead are raised to life and we do not come under judgment, but when we
reject the truth of Christ, especially the truth that in Christ, there is neither
Jew nor Greek, male or female, slave or free, truth will march again in judgement
and death.
It was the prophet Zephaniah,
even way back then, who said: ‘The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior
who gives victory... In verse 19, the
says, the Lord, whom we know as the Everlasting Father of all, and for all
people, in Jesus Christ, who will fully and finally deal with the oppressors,…
will save the lame, and will gather the outcast, and change their shame
into praise and renown in all the earth.
Christ comes to renew us in love, but you must not end up on the wrong
side of this God who comes to love and judges where life and the future will
go.
I WILL BRING YOU HOME
This
brings us to the final image of the Everlasting Fatherhood of God, revealed
to us once and for all, in the life of Jesus Christ. For, as Zephaniah foresees, one day, the Lord
will ‘bring’ his people ‘home, and gather’ them, making them known
and praised among all peoples of the earth...’ (20).
That’s
a very big promise, isn’t it? It’s the
kind of promise only an Everlasting, eternal Father of unending love
and undying hope can give and fulfill.
In the world of foster children and adoption,
there are many difficult stories; some that end with hope and fulfillment, but
others than don’t turn out so well, because the scars of what happens to these
children can’t be overcome so easily.
But in the midst of the stories of the orphans and displaced children,
comes the great hope of finding their one, true, ‘forever family’.
That’s
what Zephaniah envisions, a Father who one day, through the difficult and dark
days that can come to us as human beings, is willing to accept us, to adopt us,
and bring us home.
I’ll
never forget, the day we adopted our daughter.
First, we had to bring her home, only for a day or so. Then we had to give her back, at least until
final decisions and evaluations could be made.
When we met the social worker in the parking lot of a shopping center, I
broke down. I could not help but cry. Something in me said, this child, like every
child, and ever human too, deserves to have a home, where they never have to
leave. We all deserve, need, and even
long for, that ‘forever family’ and that forever love.
This
is what Jesus came to be---the Everlasting Father for us all. Jesus and
the Father are one, who says to us, like he said to his disciples: “In my
Father’s house are many rooms”. Jesus
also tells us about the lost son, where God is the Father, waiting for the child
to come home. The Father is always ready
to ‘bring’ or ‘give’ his child home. But
finally, it is in the book of Revelation, where Jesus comes to the worst of all
churches of the Revelation. Jesus isn’t a waiting father, but Jesus goes
and stands at the door of the human heart and knocks. Jesus not only the Everlasting Father who helps
us overcome our fears, or renews with his love, but Jesus as the Everlasting
Father, is the Father who will not stop waiting and will not stop knocking on
the door of the heart, until every child opens the door and comes home (Rev. 3:
20). It is this kind of fatherly,
everlasting, and unending love and care that comes into the world through Jesus
Christ, that makes Christmas what Christmas is supposed to be. Amen.
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