This sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Advent was preached on 12/13/09 at Our Savior. The text is Zephaniah 3:14-17.
Rejoice! The Lord Your God Is With You!
"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" At least, that's what an old song says. But this really is supposed to be a great time of year. There's Christmas shopping and planning for Christmas parties -- and practicing for Christmas programs! There's getting together with family and friends. There's the music and the food of the season. Even the snow outside somehow adds to the joy and happiness. Maybe it really is the most wonderful time of the year!
Or is it? For some, this time of year can be the worst. Seeing family and friends might bring reminders of problems with family and friends -- fractured relationships, fighting, and even death. You might remember who isn't with you this year. All the gift-giving might just bring to mind the things that you don't have; the things you wish you have that just don't ever seem to come. All the happiness and singing and food might just make the fact that you don't feel so happy, that you don't feel like singing, that much harder to bear.
These kinds of feelings are pretty common, of course. Everyone is susceptible to the "winter blues" once in a while. The lack of daylight probably doesn't help matters, either. The question is, how do you snap out of it? How do you not only get out of 
Well, would it help if someone just came to you and said, "Cheer up!"? If someone said, "Come on, get happy! Rejoice!" would you? That's actually kind of the way our text from the book of Zephaniah starts. The words of the prophet very forcefully try to make someone rejoice who is sad; they try to turn sadness and sorrow to singing and gladness.
Listen: "Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!" (Zeph. 3:14) This is way stronger than a "cheer up." He keeps piling on words of joy: sing, shout aloud, be glad, rejoice with all your heart. There's nothing subtle about this. God's Word here isn't looking for someone to feel a little better, it's looking for people to start singing, shouting, and dancing in the streets!
But why? Well, to see why God is saying this, it helps to know who he's talking to. Our text says "daughter of Zion" and "daughter of Jerusalem" are the ones being spoken to. This doesn't just mean "daughters" who lived near Mount Zion or the city of Jerusalem. This was a way of saying all of the people, men and women, in the nation of Judah. Really, it's a way of referring to all of God's people, and could even include God's people of today -- us.
So why did God's people need cheering up? Well, let's just say that if you weren't depressed before you started reading the book of Zephaniah, you would be depressed by the time you got into the third chapter. The majority of this book is filled with doom and gloom, literally. God is going to judge, it says; he's going to sweep away everything that has angered him. Sure, Judah's enemies will be destroyed, but God doesn't stop there. Judah, Jerusalem, they're going down, too. No one will escape on the Day of the Lord.
God's people at the time of Zephaniah had reasons to fear God's wrath. They'd deserted God. They had turned to idols, to their own selfish pleasures, to whatever their heart desired. But they had turned away from God and from following what his heart desired. So it's not too surprising that God would be telling them their days were numbered and that he would bring all his anger, wrath, and judgment on their heads.
But that's a few thousand miles and a few thousand years away from us, right? Idol-worshiping, the wrath of God, the nation of Judah, none of that seems very relevant to us in our lives.
But look closer. I mentioned those winter blues that some of us might get this time of year. When there are problems in our families and our relationships, what is the root of those problems? Sin gets a hold of us. The sinful thoughts, desires, and attitudes of this world infect us, and the people we love, and what-do-you-know, all sorts of problems come flying our way. Even sickness and death are only a part of our lives because sin is a part of our lives.
Those thoughts of wishing for what we don't have, what we can't have…what are those thoughts but sinful desires? And how easily those kinds of thoughts and desires can lead us to blame God for our situation. "Why did you let this happen to me? Why did you put me in this situation in my life right now when things could be so much better?"
And when we're wrapped up in what we want, what we think we need, what we think we deserve, how far up our list do you think God and his ways and his Word are? Not very far. We might not be bowing down to stone idols, friends. But there are plenty of other gods to grab our attention -- whatever it is that takes our focus -- that takes our heart -- away from our God.
And because of that, the wrath promised in the first chapters of Zephaniah is promised to us, too. Anyone who acts like you and I do, anyone who has sinful, ungrateful thoughts, anyone who has the focus only on themselves, deserves that wrath and punishment of God. And don't think for a second that he's bluffing!
But instead of wanting us to hang our heads in shame, God wants us to rejoice. He wants us to sing, to shout aloud, to rejoice and be glad! Why? Our text explains. "The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm." (Zeph. 3:15) The punishment we've deserved has been taken away. The enemy of sin and death that we have struggled with (and a losing struggle at that!)--that enemy has been turned back.
What could have possibly caused such a reversal of our fortunes? God himself came to help us! The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm! This time of year isn't just about Christmas parties and shopping and getting together with friends and family. This time is about celebrating the birth of the King!
God didn't leave us to die in our sins, to suffer the punishment we have justly earned! He himself stepped into our world. God the Son came to this world on the first Christmas. He turned away our punishment because he was punished in our place. On the cross Jesus paid your punishment, and he paid mine. All throughout his life Jesus faced our enemy -- sin, death, and the devil -- and he won! He never sinned! He never fell for the devil's lies and temptations! He couldn't even be held back by death, but he defeated it! He destroyed it forever when he rose again! Rejoice! Be glad! Sing and shout for joy!
"But pastor, how can I?" This world is still full of problems! Just talking about what Jesus did doesn't take away the hurts and pains that we are really feeling in this world. A few words about Jesus aren't going to cure that relationship or fix that problem or ease that hurt. The words of Jesus are good for our eternal life, but what about my life today? I don't know what's going to happen to me. I'm hurting. I'm scared. Where can I turn now?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there are easy answers to the problems of our everyday life. I'm not saying you can "rejoice and sing" as if you can just forget all your problems and skip on your merry way through life without a care in the world.
Yes, we have problems and troubles and struggles. But do we have to be scared of them? Do we have to seriously entertain the idea that these struggles will get the best of us? No! We don't! We never have to be afraid again! Listen to Zephaniah. "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save." (Zeph. 3:16-17)
Our God is the one who created the world. He's the one who made you and me. He's the one who defeated death and the devil. He's the Savior who is the King of the world! If that's the God who is with us, what can't he do? Nothing! The Lord your God is with you! He is mighty to save! He is with us through everything we face, and he is strong enough to bring us through it.
The Apostle Paul put it so well in Romans. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:38-39)
Don't be afraid. Turn your sadness into joy. Sing, shout, and rejoice! And if you still have trouble doing that, think about this: God rejoices over us. We are the ones he should be angry at, we're the ones you'd think he had to put up with. You'd think he'd be rolling his eyes at all our problems and fears and sadness. But no! He longs to comfort us. He rejoices over us. Our text tells us, "He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zeph. 3:17)
Imagine a small child who is hurt and scared. What can you do for that child? You pick him up and hug him. You sing to them. You comfort him with your love. That's how our God treats us. That's how our Savior loves us.
I'm not saying you'll never be sad or scared again. But when you are, look to your Savior. Look what he's done for you. Remember that he's not going anywhere. He will never leave you. Celebrate his birth again this year. Give thanks that God thought you were worth enough to give the life of his Son for. Shout and sing with gladness. Rejoice! The Lord your God is with you!
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