When God Interrupts

Transcript

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[0:00] Now our sermon text comes today from Zephaniah 3, verses 14 to 20. Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you. At last your troubles will be over, and you will never again fear disaster.

[0:35] On that day, the announcement to Jerusalem will be, Cheer up, Zion. Don't be afraid. For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. I will gather you whom? For the appointed festivals. You will be disgraced no more. And I will deal severely with all who have oppressed you. I will save the weak and the helpless ones. I will bring together those who were chased away. I will give glory and fame to my former exiles, wherever they have been mocked and shamed. On that day, I will gather you together and I will bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction among all the nations. I will give you the name of the Lord, the Lord of the nations of the earth. As I restore your fortunes before your very eyes, I the Lord have spoken.

[1:35] Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word and we ask for your blessing upon it and for your spirit to work in our minds and our hearts this morning. These things we pray in Jesus name. Amen. So the world had spiraled into corruption and violence. So the world had spiraled into corruption and violence. Again. And it was almost impossible to tell the difference between the nations of the world and Israel, who were supposed to be a nation of God's people.

[2:11] God's people had become complacent. They thought that they had achieved on their own all that they needed to succeed. Further, they'd forgotten the role that God had in their lives. The power and success that they had, they felt as though they had won for themselves.

[2:29] God, in their minds, had no power to do anything. He'd become nothing more than maybe a good luck charm. If that. He was no longer personal to them, no longer powerful, no longer important. And sure, there were probably ceremonies and there was worship of sorts.

[2:53] But it didn't mean anything anymore. It was something that people did. It was something that people did as a community. Or something people maybe did to look like they were upstanding people of God. But their hearts weren't in the right place. And so they went about their daily lives. And it didn't seem to have any consequence.

[3:14] They lived by their own power, their own authority, and their own success. And if that meant that they had to cheat others or use violence to get their way, then they did it. And if that meant that they had to cheat others or use violence to get their way, then they did it. If God was powerless, then there would be no consequence. If God was powerless, then there would be no consequence. And so they lived for themselves. And so they lived for themselves. They worshiped the idols that they had thought could benefit them. But then one day God interrupted.

[3:44] The prophet Zephaniah tells about the coming day of the Lord. He predicts the destruction of Israel. The destruction that will come at the hands of Babylon. The destruction that will come at the hands of Babylon. The destruction that will come at the hands of Babylon. The destruction that will come at the hands of Babylon. who's going to do this because that was unimportant. The fact that the perpetrator was left out of the prophecy actually speaks volumes because it doesn't matter who is going to destroy this nation, it only matters that the action is God-ordained. The nation had long forgotten God's power and authority and now they had to realize that God was Almighty in power over all of the nations. You've noticed our readings for today, the one from Luke, you brood of vipers, it sounds judgmental, it sounds harsh, it sounds difficult, and then our reading from Zephaniah is so joyful it's almost hard to see where the two come together.

[4:52] But there needed to be judgment. There was judgment in Zephaniah before there was this joyful rejoicing. God had not been detached. God had not been indifferent to their daily lives as they had grown to believe. And so they lived their lives as though God was not involved at all. But then this prophecy came. And it must have been an enormous wake-up call that God had been active. and he had been involved and waiting for them to reunite with him. He had known their hearts and their minds. He had seen their corruption and their violence and their complacency. Even those who thought they were living righteously, but were actually living with apathy and disinterest toward the world around them and toward the things of God, he saw all of that.

[5:50] What would it look like if God took you by surprise and interrupted your life right now, making his presence known? How would you feel? How would you respond? And what change would God's presence bring? Would you be prepared for his interruption? Would you welcome his interruption and greet him as an old and dear friend? Would you grow uncomfortable and wish that he had interrupted at a better time?

[6:25] Or is there a part of your life that you would rather he not see or not interrupt? God's own people had grown unused to God's power and authority over the world and forgotten who he was. And so their lifestyles and the things that they did and the way that they acted no longer aligned with their own. They were just not familiar with his character because they just didn't know who he was.

[6:53] And so his interruption came as more of a shock to them. I like to think that God tries to interrupt our daily lives all the time. And sometimes we're aware of it and sometimes we push him out and we're not aware of it.

[7:14] God made himself known so that the Israelites couldn't ignore this interruption. In fact, it came as mass destruction. But Israel wasn't alone. They were lumped together with the surrounding nations. Verse 8 of chapter 3 says that God would gather up all the nations and pour out his burning indignation on them. They had all been acting violently and with corruption. One nation could not be distinguished from another in his name. And so God was able to see through his eyes, not even his own chosen people. And that's important for two reasons. It's important because it shows just how difficult the Israelites had become. It shows just how hard-hearted toward God they had become. That they couldn't be distinguished from the world around them even though they were God's chosen people. And it also shows something else. That God was lumping the nations together because his judgment is not reserved for one people. And his power and authority is not reserved just for Israel. Suddenly, Israel being lumped together with the rest of the nations showed that God was rooting for, judging, caring, involved, and active with not just Israel but the whole world.

[8:45] So Zephaniah isn't a long book. It's only three chapters. And the first two and a half chapters are filled with wrath and judgment. So how do we get to the rejoicing of today's passage? Here's the key. The burning indignation is not just aimed at the destruction of Israel. In fact, that's not the ultimate goal at all. And it's not aimed at the destruction of the other nations either. But it's aimed at their purification. And I think if we look back at that text in Luke, we can see that John's anger and John's preaching wasn't aimed at destruction either.

[9:33] In fact, everything he says about Jesus is aimed at judgment that will ultimately bring healing. And that's the goal. It's not destruction but healing and wellness. So the judgment was always meant to bring about wholeness. There cannot be wholeness or justice when there is violence and cruelty. So God's judgment must come so that there can be a new creation of wellness and peace.

[10:02] God's peace is true peace. It's shalom. It's all-encompassing. It's a promise of unification. In verses 9 and 10, we see that the nations are unified into one family. So they were judged as one group. But after that judgment, there's unification as one family, one group. One nation is not distinguished over another nation.

[10:29] And that's a promise that has always been part of God's plan. We see that way back in Genesis 12. That God promised that the nations would be unified. He promised Abraham that the nations would be blessed through him. The whole world has been humbled and transformed, first by God's judgment but then by his mercy in taking that wrath from them when there's been repentance. So in this new restored community, we see that shalom is completed again. And then God dwells among them.

[11:08] And that's when God interrupts again. This time, though, they're prepared for his interruption. Because their lives have been transformed by relationship with him. They walk humbly with their God. They live out his justice and mercy. They know his character because they walk with him and they know what he wants.

[11:31] They sing and they worship him in peace as he's desired for them all along. So his interruption looks like a prayer. But it's different. Verses 17 and 18 say, For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. I will gather you who mourn. For the appointed festivals you will be disgraced no more.

[12:05] This time he interrupts with, With singing over his beloved. So we often talk about worship and our role within worship. We talk about how we sing in joy and celebration of our God. And that's easy for us to grasp.

[12:25] Because next to God, who are we? All of who he is and all of what he does causes us to want to sing from the mountaintops. Our joy is in the Lord. And this book of Psalms, The book of Zephaniah explains why. Because when we deserved judgment and punishment, God stepped in and purified us.

[12:47] And then gave us mercy. And in Christ has taken the punishment we deserved in order to count us as righteous. And all that so that we could dwell with him in restored relationship. Our God did all of that just so that he could be with us. We don't deserve it at all. And so of course our souls want to ring out in praise and worship to him. We want to come before him and sing over him.

[13:21] But here it is not just the people of God who are singing to God. It is God who is singing over his people. He's singing over his children. And I really want to highlight what's happening here. God is not just standing back with a quiet satisfied pride. And he's not just looking over his people with a gentle controlled smile on his face. God is basically whooping and jumping in delight. The word in Hebrew that is used describes great jubilation. It's the same word that's used when David lost all control of his life. He lost all control of his joy and he danced and sang with the return of the Ark of the Covenant.

[14:11] But what's more shocking is this one. In Job 38 the morning stars had this kind of joy at the very creation of the world. That's immense, incredible, almost beyond comprehension joy. And that's a big deal.

[14:33] It's a joy that cannot be contained. It bursts out of your very soul like fireworks. And that is the kind of joy that God has while he sings and celebrates over his people. That's the kind of joy that God has as he celebrates over you when your life is interrupted by him and you receive it with joy and praise.

[14:57] So God interrupts again when he gathers up the oppressed and the outcasts. And he sets them in a place of peace. And he sets them in a place of honor. And this time his interruption isn't as difficult as it was in the first two chapters. Though the end goal of his justice is the same. Because God's people are now on the same page as him. So the interruption is not so much an interruption as a natural progression.

[15:24] God's joy has tangible outcomes for the broken people of God. The people who have been scattered will be brought back home. Once they were subject to shame. And now they will enjoy fame. This vision of restoration will not be relegated to a distant future.

[15:44] It's going to come true before their very eyes, the scripture says. If it's not already in sight, it will come true very soon. So this God is nothing like the God they thought he was. He's not indifferent to human affairs. This God is moved and is deeply affected by human attitudes and actions. This God does not watch from a distance. But enters into the life of the world. This God enters not just into life of the world. But he enters himself into actual human flesh. In the mystery and wonder of the incarnation.

[16:28] What would happen if God interrupted us? What in our world would change? What fears would be dispelled? What injustices overturned? In our church calendar, this is the third Sunday of Advent. Which is known as Gaudete Sunday.

[16:52] Because of the words, Gaudete in domino semper. Or rejoice in the Lord always. And some of you I hope recognize, rejoice in the Lord always. As coming from Philippians 4. You probably noticed the candle that we lit this morning. Was pink instead of the traditional blue or purple of Advent. And that is so that we can always remember to rejoice in the Lord. So that we can always remember the delight of Christmas. During the otherwise solemn and kind of, I think of Advent. Advent is somber and solemn and deeply reflective.

[17:37] But this Sunday we speak of joy. The joy of a people redeemed and restored. But also the joy of God who is deeply invested in the life of the world. God sings. God shouts. God rejoices. And we who are wondrously and inexplicably God's beloved. Get to join with him in celebration.

[18:06] So this is how we're going to end our time together today. I want to hear from you. I want to hear what has you rejoicing right now. Where has God been at work in your life? What words might God be singing over you right now? Share with us the praises that are on the tip of your tongue. And again if you're joining us on the chat. Then go ahead and enter into the chat your praises and your celebrations in life.

[18:40] We already have one from Laney. And she says praise God for the gift of her grandson Otis. Who celebrates his first birthday today. That's a big praise. That's a good one to start us off with. Yeah. Zach says praise God for family.

[19:10] Praise God for the generosity of his people providing for children in Liberia through Kiara's gift. Absolutely. Karen says praise God for the generosity of his people providing for the children in Liberia through Kiara's gift.

[19:27] Praise God for wonderful examples like the enlightenment of the dead. Praise God for the life of Ona. Yes. Pam says praise God for wonderful examples like the life of Ona. Those saints who have gone before us.

[19:46] Hans-Erik says praise God for a puppy that has melted their hearts. Well I want to praise God that I'm still here. I had one more infusion this week which was a difficult day for me or three days for me. But you know every indication is that everything is going along as smoothly as possible. And so I'm just really grateful that the Lord provided an insightful doctor that saw the importance of timing in all of this. I think that's just really crucial in terms of a more hopeful outcome rather than a pointy one. So I'm grateful for that. I think we're all grateful that you're still with us. So Marian says praise God that she's still with us and a praise for insightful and good care from her medical team that God has provided.

[20:55] Thank you. Yeah. Ryan Clint says praise God that Isabel's mom is here with them. Praise God for vaccines. Yes. Divya says praise God for vaccines. Yes. That's been an incredible praise. And along with that, praise God we're here in person. We're seeing each other day to day from here. Yes. Ellen says praise God we're here in person seeing each other face to face this year. That's huge.

[21:34] Barbara Tom has a similar one. Praise God for our online services. And Wendy says praise God for our large and crazy family. All right. Are there any others? Well, I think that is a great way to end our service today. And I think we can take those praises and turn them into songs of worship. But first, let's pray.

[22:13] God, thank you for all the joy that you have given us. Joy that in many ways we don't deserve. But God, you have given us. You stepped in and purified us and brought us mercy so that we could celebrate not just you, but we could celebrate with you too. God, thank you for the gift of joy and the gift of Christ this season. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.