Third Sunday in Advent
Text: Zephaniah 3:14-20
Pastor Jean M. Hansen
Who remembers the song, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart?” I admit that I probably have brought this up before on the Third Sunday in Advent when the theme is joy. It’s a song that sounds like its theme; it’s just plain happy.
However, I’m not sure we should sing in today because the interesting thing is that the Gospel does not sound especially joyful. John the Baptist is yelling, “You brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” and proclaiming that the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire. Contrary to the final verse, this does not sound like good news.
So, I turned to the Old Testament prophet Zephaniah and what did I find? JOY! I would have found only joy if I hadn’t read other parts of Zephaniah that are not assigned for today. The fact of the matter is that the rest of Zephaniah is filled with anger, fear and judgment. (That’s what I get for looking at the context.)
It was a dark time when Zephaniah spoke; King Josiah was attempting to bring about reform in ancient Israel, but the people were complacent and faithless, hypocrites and indifferent and while confessing faith in YHWH, worshipped other gods. Listen to his words from the first chapter: “The great day of the Lord is near…. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness…. I will bring such distress upon people that they shall walk like the blind: because they have sinned against the Lord, their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.” (Zephaniah 1: 14-15, 17) Charming!
The storm of punishment called Babylon will break upon Judah, not in spite of God’s intervention, but because of God’s intervention. Dark times must be endured. That’s not good news, but it also is not the end of the story. In spite of these harsh words, God’s purposes are on the side of life and flourishing, not punishment or lament, but joy.
As commentator Scott Hoezee notes, the closing verses of the passage we read today reveal God’s truest purpose by showing us a glimpse into the divine heart. For example, in verse 17, God is almost giddy with glee. “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, as on a day of festival.” That’s joy!
Pastor Hoezee describes God’s desire to take delight in people in this way: “Have you ever seen people waiting at an airport, literally hopping up and down with eagerness to be reunited with someone in whom they take delight? They stand on tiptoes staring into the gate area, they crane their necks, they shake their hands with anticipation. They cannot sit still. And when the loved one appears, the dam breaks and all the love and delight comes gushing out in a spectacle of giggles, tears, laughter – everything all rolled into one big burst of exuberance. (1) That is God in Zephaniah’s prediction of the future restoration of God’s people. God will take delight in them. That’s the true end of the story.
Zephaniah showed people who lived in darkness that God would be for them a pardoning judge, a divine warrior, the ever-present One, the tender shepherd and the one who rejoices over them with gladness. It’s joy that is not subdued or dignified. The Hebrew word that is used describes great jubilation. In every way God will come and restore them.
A happier ending is what Advent is all about. We prepare to celebrate the first happy ending, the birth of Jesus through whom we receive forgiveness and new life. And we anticipate the second happy ending, when Jesus returns in glory. The irony of Advent is that we celebrate the coming of the Messiah while at the same time waiting for the coming of the Messiah. That means our songs will sometimes be sung in a minor key because we are still waiting for the complete fulfillment of God’s promises.
Today we celebrate that in every way God has come, and will come, to restore us. God takes delight in us. For some reason, this description of God’s delight hit home for me, although it is outdated. Now it would be photos on a phone, not in a wallet, but listen to this description of God’s heart. “God will carry little pictures of us in a wallet, eagerly and gladly taking them out to show to anyone who will look. God will brag on us and be thrilled with every encounter with us.” (2)
Maybe that description strikes my heart because I’m so inclined to be critical of photos of myself and cannot imagine being the subject of such eager sharing. God bursts into song at the sight of us! Can you imagine? How often do we imagine God as the one who rejoices, the one who sings? On this third Sunday in Advent the intention is that both God and God’s people are caught up in joy that overflows into song, a joy that springs from loved renewed and relationship restored.
Do you recall the song from 20 or so years ago in which Bette Midler sang, “God is watching us, God is watching us, God is watching us … from a distance?” Guess what? That’s not the case! Instead, God enters into our lives, taking on human flesh in Jesus, and is among us, with us. God sings! God rejoices! Not only do we sing about having the joy, joy, joy, joy down in our hearts as a people redeemed and restored, so does God because of us! We are inexplicably God’s beloved. (3) AMEN
- “Zephaniah 3:14-20 Commentary” by Scott Hoezee, December 13. 2015, www.cepreaching.org
- Same as #1
- “Commentary on Zephaniah 3:14-20” by Kathryn M. Schifferdecker, www.workingpreacher.org