Joy of Arrival

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Transcript

Well, peace be with you. Let's pray, Father. May your will be done, Jesus. May youy work be proclaimed in spirit. May youy work be accomplished in us.
We pray. Amen. Well, so far in this Advent season, we are now here at the third Sunday of Advent. We have been doing this theme. Maybe you haven't picked up on it, I really haven't pronounced it very much, but we've been doing this Advent theme called arrival, the kind of pair it with the Advent devotional that is back there in the entrance that hopefully you've been enjoying.
The first Sunday of Advent, we looked at Jeremiah 33, and we talked about the promise of arrival, where Jeremiah prophesies that what God has promised will come to fruition. Our second Sunday of Advent. We talked last week about Luke chapter three, and John the Baptist comes onto the scene with this message to prepare us for the arrival of this promised Messiah. And so today we look on this third Sunday of Advent at the joy of arrival and as we have lit in the third candle, the pink one that distinguished from all the others, this joy that we need to embody in this season at this time. But before I get into my sermon, I want to share with you a story that might help illuminate us as we begin to look at the Old Testament reading for today.
As a child, one of the most dreaded objects in my house was a legendary wooden spoon that sat on top of the refrigerator. This wasn't an average kitchen utensil. It was a massive spoon made from solid oak, with a head as big as a grown man's hand. Its handle was long and thick, and its singular purpose was to discipline any child that dared defy the rules of my mother. The spoon became infamous in our house.
My siblings and I feared it, not just because of its ginormous size, but because of how my mom wielded it against our bottoms. It had the power to strike fear into our hearts like nothing else. I'll never forget the dreadful day when my sister and I, in a moment of foolishness, decided to be disobedient. The moment that my mother cried out, bring me the spoon. My heart sank.
I climbed onto the stool, reached up and grabbed the heavy spoon and handed it to my mother. In my hands, it felt like a burden. It seemed as light as a feather in her hands, however, which might explain how swiftly she was able to swing it. The moment of our punishment had arrived. As she raised the spoon, it swooped through the air like an eagle soaring in flight.
When it struck, it made a sound like Trees breaking in a storm. I desired to escape from the pain by trying to imagine myself away from the moment, but nonetheless, I cried out, hoping that my cries would avoid another swing. But then something unexpected happened. I noticed my mother's face. She looked shocked.
The spoon had split in half and shattered in her hand. Then I turned and looked at my sister, and I can see the literal joy flooding in her heart as the broken spoon meant that she wouldn't receive the same punishment I had just endured. The punishment was over for both of us. The spoon was broken, and with it the fear that once stirred our hearts. The wooden spoon will never execute our punishment again, bringing great joy to me and my sister.
It's in the same way that we come to this book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah is a very small book in the minor prophets at the end of the Old Testament, and there's only three chapters. And it begins with something much like what my life began on this infamous day when my mother said, bring me the spoon. You see, in the opening verses of Zephaniah, the people of Israel are giving a prophecy of God's judgment that is coming swiftly for them because of their sin, because of their rebellion, because of their disobedience. The Lord declares in the opening verses of Zephaniah.
I will completely remove all things from the face of the earth, declares the Lord. I will remove man and beast. I will remove birds of the sky and the fish of the sea and the ruins, along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the earth, declares the Lord. So I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
The people of Israel had turned their idols, turned to idols, and rejected God and lived in sin and disobedience. They had broken their covenant and they deserved punishment. And what's the result? God is finally going to deal with their sin. He has had it up to here.
He's over it. His judgment, because of his holiness, because of his justice, is going to be executed as if to say God spoke through Zephaniah to say, bring me the spoon.
But is that what happens? Something unexpected does happen. By the end, you flip the page in Zephaniah and you come to chapter three, which was our Old Testament reading for today. And this is what we find out. Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion.
Shout in triumph, O Israel. Rejoice, Exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away his judgments against you. He has cleared away your enemies, the King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst. You will fear disaster no more.
In that day it will be said to Jerusalem, do not be afraid, O Zion. Do not let your hands fall limp. The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exalt over you with joy. He will be quiet in his love.
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. I will gather those who grieve about the appointment of appointed feasts. They come from you, O Zion. The reproach of exile is a burden on them. Behold, I am going to deal at that time with all your oppressors.
I will save the lame and gather the outcasts, and I will turn their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in even at the time when I gather you together. Indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord. God doesn't give the people their deserved punishment. Instead, he calls them to joy.
He removes their shame and gathers them to himself. He promises to restore them, to deal with their enemies and to bring them back with honor and renown. He promises to rejoice over them, to sing over them joy, and to quiet their fears with his love. What happened?
How did judgment turn into joy? In just a couple of chapters, what moved the people from punishment to singing in a call to joy? Did God just simply decide not to execute his justice? Surely not. He can't deny himself and his own attributes, for he is a just and good God.
He's also a holy God. So he couldn't deny his holiness and just let sin go rampant and do what it wants and continue to displease him and his creation. What happened? What took place? Well, I could tell you it's nothing that Israel did for their actions merited the punishment and justice that he rightly told them was about to take place.
But yet, why didn't they receive their punishment and judgment? What took place? I believe it's because of God's mercy, His grace and his love, those other attributes that we're well aware of. That is what I believe takes place. He removed their judgment and placed it on himself.
So he didn't get rid of the judgment. He just says, I'll take the punishment for you. And when he said, bring me the wooden spoon, he would not use it on them. Instead, he would take a wooden cross and punish himself in their stead. God would endure the punishment they deserved so that they would get peace and joy.
See, God has A redemptive plan to satisfy his justice, while at the same time being able to pour out his love. The shift from judgment to joy happens at the cross where both wrath and judgment and justice and holiness meet love, mercy and grace, all at the place of the wooden cross. And this is the work that Jesus has come to do. It is because of Jesus, and it's because of this redemptive plan that you can read Zephaniah chapter 1 with judgment and then flip the page and experience utter joy of God singing over you and gathering him, gathering you to Himself. It's because Jesus has always been the plan.
It's because just punishing the people would wipe them completely off the face of the earth. There would be no creation and creatures left to glorify Him. So. So what he does is he sends His Son and he says, you will endure the wooden cross. All the punishment that they deserve will be on you.
Jesus, the Son of God, took the punishment we deserve. The wooden cross becomes the place of this meeting of justice and wrath, love and mercy. And this is why we read in Isaiah 53, but he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastising of our well being fell upon him.
And by his scourging we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. You see what the shift from judgment to joy that happens is Jesus Christ. And that's how God now sees all those who believe in His Son.
We will never experience the punishment that we rightfully deserve for our disobedience. We will never feel the pain of the wooden cross because Jesus bore it and bore it perfectly and satisfied the wrath and the justice of God upon the cross. And this shift in understanding what we deserve and yet enjoying what we have received in Jesus Christ is what moves us and excites us to joy this Advent season. The joy of the arrival of the Messiah who would bear our punishment that we deserve. And it's for this reason that this morning our call to worship was a song in Isaiah chapter 12.
It's a beautiful song. Now, having understood this of what Zephaniah prophesied over the people, of that impending doom and death and destruction for their rebellion and disobedience and sin can turn into joy by the end of his writing, by the end of his prophecy, all because of the plan of the arrival of the Messiah. And then all of A sudden we go back to what has called us into worship this morning and are able to sing it again. Then you will say, on that day, Isaiah, chapter 12. I will give thanks to you, O Lord.
For although you are angry with me, your anger is turned away, and you comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.
And in that day you will say, give thanks to the Lord. Call on his name. Make known his deeds among the peoples. Make them remember that his name is exalted. Praise the Lord in song, for he has done excellent things.
Let this be known throughout the earth. Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion. For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. Yesterday in our food pantry, there was a gentleman who played How Great Thou Art. It's a song that I remember growing up in the backseat of my mamaw's car, her long maroon Pontiac the size of a boat.
And on our way to church, she would play that song, How Great Thou Art by the Gaithers, over and over and over and over. Wait for it over and over and over. And it just settled in my mind. It was probably one of the first Christian songs and hymns that I knew by heart. And as he began to sing it, it dawned on me for the first time.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee how great Thou art. And I couldn't help but focus on it. Then sings my soul and sings my heart, not sings my mouth, not sings my mind, not even sings my person, but then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee how great Thou art. See, when you are shifted from judgment to joy, you can't help but have your soul seeing the greatness of God. You can't help but to have utter and exciting joy.
In a season where we celebrate the arrival of Messiah in his history, who comes down for us to endure what we deserve so that we can receive the greatness of God, his loving kindness. And even in this song, we're meant to even share this with the world. We need to be singing from our souls. We need to sing this joy to the world. And we will be singing that song before Christmas, I guarantee it.
The great joy we experience in Christ is the song that we are called to share with everyone. And as we continue in this Advent season to celebrate the arrival of the Messiah, who came to turn our mourning into dancing, our sorrow into joy. And it's for this reason that we sing no more let sins and sorrows grow Nor thorns infest the ground he comes to make his blessings flow Far as the curse is found Far as the curse is found Far as the curse is found this is the joy we celebrate in Advent. The joy of the arrival of Jesus Christ, the joy of a Savior who took our punishment so that our souls might sing with joy and know no sorrow. Happy Advent, everyone.
Let's pray.
Jesus, our souls sing to you the joy that you have brought into our lives through the cross. We come and gather here to present ourselves, to worship and to praise you for the very acts of our salvation that you have gifted to us. We continue to journey through this season of Advent, the season of coming, to reflect and to remind ourselves that you were mindful of us and that you came to do what we were so fearing, which is punishment. And you came to endure that punishment for us in exchange judgment for joy. Thank you.
And may your greatness go forth. To all those who are in our area of influence, may we share this joy with our family and friends this season. And we bring honor and glory to your name. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Let's all stand together.