“The Promise of Freedom”

Scripture: Zephaniah 3:14-20

We’ve been considering some of the strange words and concepts that always seem to surround Jesus. His words and calls that were given to the disciples at the Last Supper, the strangeness and abnormal issues related to John the Baptist’s birth. Today, some interesting prophesy from the Old Testament, and now we begin to put them all together as the nature of God revealed in Christ Jesus.
Does that mean that God is strange? Not at all. Strange is always defined by some reference, and unfortunately, we tend to judge the Lord with humanity as the reference. I think that we need to make the Lord our reference, and in that context, it will be us who will be judged as strange!

But the other issue that surrounds “strange” is that it almost always involves a lack of understanding. And when we make every attempt to understand what and who and why God is, I believe that “strangeness” will begin to dissipate.

Read Zephaniah 3:14-17

The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been taken into captivity by Assyria nearly 100 years before the prophet wrote these words to Judah, and while the Southern Kingdom had been quite faithful through many years, they were rapidly going the way of their brothers to the north. King Josiah was trying his best to renew the faith of his people, but things weren’t going all that well. The prophet Zephaniah was called to remind the nation that God was still with them, and that they had to return to his ways.
As we read these words, they almost sound as though their captivity is nearly over, but the truth is that trip to Babylon hadn’t even begun. The first chapter of this book is about condemnation for their sins and the guilt that was obvious in all of the people. And it is also about God’s judgment on them all.
But the last half of chapter 3 is about hope beyond punishment. The prophet proclaims that the sentence has been commuted – it has been taken away – and the nation has been restored in Jehovah’s joy. He writes “The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.” (v.15b) Not only has the sentence been overturned, but the arm of God is no longer raised against Judah - it is now lovingly wrapped around them, embracing them, protecting them.
Captivity doesn’t always involve doors with bars – sometimes it is within our own soul. And freedom isn’t always given by turning a lock – sometimes it is through loving forgiveness.

And the last verse of this passage is an even stronger indication of forgiveness and restoration. The prophet reminds the people that their Lord is not only with them, but he is able to save them from any calamity. And were they facing one now? They certainly were, and it would be the greatest of their lives! They had seen their neighbors to the north begin worshiping false gods, how they would come under attack from the East, that they had been decisively defeated, and lead away into slavery. And they had begun to journey down that same destructive path. Failure in faith is always the beginning of tragedy.
And what must the nation do to avoid the pitfalls that face them? Simple. Just turn back to their Lord and his ways. They are told that the Lord is waiting anxiously and eagerly for their return. “He will take great delight in you”. And when they do, he will rejoice in them once more, and God’s promise of freedom from sin will become a reality.

A bishop by the name of Joseph Ratzinger writes:
The loss of joy does not make the world better - and, conversely, refusing joy for the sake of suffering does not help those who suffer. The contrary is true. The world needs people who discover the good, who rejoice in it and thereby derive the courage and impetus to do good.

We have a new need for that primordial trust which ultimately faith can give. That the world is basically good, that God is there and is good. That it is good to live and be a human being. This results, then, in the courage to rejoice, which in turn becomes commitment to making sure that other people, too, can rejoice and receive good news.

-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Salt of the Earth (Ft. Collins, Colo.: Ignatius Press, 1997), 36-37.

To put this into one short sentence - the Lord’s joy in us gives us reason to be joyful in him!

Read Zephaniah 3:18-20

The first verse of this passage is interesting, isn’t it? It speaks of “sorrows for the appointed feasts”. The feast days were an obligation to reflect and reminisce on a number of great acts of God’s. Zephaniah doesn’t say that the feasts are going to end, but rather that the burdens that come with these days will be removed. All too often, when we remember a time of “release”, we focus on the mess that began our captivity. But when we take time to remember what the Lord has done for us, isn’t that a reason to rejoice? Isn’t that a cause to celebrate and cheer and raise praises to the Almighty? And the prophet tells them of even more things that the Great Jehovah will do for them, and that they should be joyful over these things, too.
He will release the oppressed and deal harshly with their oppressors. He will free the lame from their infirmities, and will bring all who will follow him back together again. He will be a uniting force for his people, and will heap praises and glory on them all. And if I can borrow the concluding praise from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" That, my friends, is the joy that comes in freedom!

This ending to the book of Zephaniah is a glorious call for all to return to the true King of Israel, and as we read it, it is just about as close to a Messianic message as we see anywhere in the Hebrew texts. But we also have to understand the surprises and strangeness that it holds.
For a number of years, the people had been putting more and more distance between themselves and their God. They didn’t see any problem in that, because they were the “chosen” and they could do anything that they wanted. Whatever they did, God would love them just the same. And while that may be true, he was not going to love the things that they continued to do that heaped dis-honor to him. And the prophets had been telling the people in many different ways and for many, many years that he would continue to be patient only a little longer.

People don’t want to hear that message. For thousands of years, humanity has demanded that they have control over their own lives, and that everyone, including the Creator of the heavens and the earth, had better respect their decisions. That is their reference, and the fact that God has a better way just doesn’t make any sense to them. The attitude that predominated the culture 2,500 years ago said that every way was just as good as any other, and just who were these prophets to tell them any different! “The law is obsolete! The prophets were whack jobs! We have a better way!” Sound familiar? Proclaiming that you aren’t a captive, even at the top of your lungs, doesn’t make it so!

Jesus would hear the same things 600 years later, and in his Sermon on the Mount, he tells the people “Blessed are you when people persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12) The early apostles, like Peter, James, John, Paul and many others, would come to know this truth; the reformers of the 15th and 16th century, like Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and others, would come to experience this truth; the evangelists in the 17th and 18th centuries, like the Wesleys, would discover this truth all over again; and the 20th and 21st century churches, such as those in India and China and Russia and other places, would have to live this truth, too. People never have, and never will, be happy when confronted with the plain truth of God, especially when that truth contradicts their own sense of right and wrong, of freedom and imprisonment. And when they are told that the path that they are on will only lead them to failure, they fight against this message to the extent that they will even deny the existence of the Ultimate Giver of Truth and Life, thinking that this will serve to justify their position.

But regardless of how strongly and how vehemently the lies of darkness are proclaimed, the Hope and Freedom that is in Christ is still with us. And the prophet’s words still ring true today. “The Lord, the King of heaven and earth, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.” But before the fear leaves us, we must first acknowledge that this King is truly the King over all! We must confess that the Lord is Lord of all! We must surrender our lives to his way and his plan for all! There is no other option!

And we also have to live and carry the fullness of Christ’s message to the world. We can’t sit back and expect that someone else will do it. We can’t let his message take a back seat to the message of the world because someone won’t like it, and therefore won’t like us! And we can’t let the message of glory be watered down to the point that it becomes meaningless.

Christmas is the time when the church must become bold again. And isn’t that odd – the most humble and submissive Servant of all time is calling us to a boldness that contradicts the concept of servanthood. But ask yourself “Servant of whom?” And the answer must be “To the meek and beautiful Child of Bethlehem, and all who he leads us to love.”

Strangeness and surprise, and FREEDOM, is the glory of Christmas. Don’t’ miss it.