Thursday, June 23, 2005
Turn to the book of. . . Zephaniah?
The PCA general assembly was in session last week, leaving our pastor out of the office for most of the week, so he called in a guest preacher to deliver the sermon to us last Sunday, Father's Day. I usually don't enjoy special speakers, because they always seem to try so hard to and make jokes that elicit half-laughs, many times out of sympathy, and they either think they know or try to know the congregation in a brief hour (or "as the Spirit leads" if you're of the Baptist persuasion).
To be quite honest, my initial reaction to our speaker Sunday was *scratch*, *yawn*, *start thinking about what in my fridge could possibly serve as lunch*....these sort of thoughts and feelings are normal for me when a pastor opens a sermon with the warming phrase "If you have your Bible with you today..." Well, I'm sitting in a not-so-comfortable pew, I just put some money in a incredibly gaudy silver plate and a man in a suit is standing and talking while everyone else is seated facing him...seems like the time to have a Bible.
But just as I was getting good and settled in my sarcastic nature, he finished his opening phrase with "turn to the book of Zephaniah." I literally had to control myself from letting out a long "yeeeeessssss" and turning to high-five my 14-year-old sister Rebekah, who was visiting me for the weekend. Ephesians I've come to expect. The Gospels are a close second, and maybe, on the rare occasion, someone will be brave and tell exactly what the book of Revelation means, but Zephaniah?! People up in these Tennessee hills don't even use that name for their children anymore! Sometimes I wonder if it could be removed from the Canon without anyone noticing...a better version of Richie Cunningham's older brother Chuck vanishing from the show Happy Days after its first season.
The usual 10-15 second sound of a flurry of turning pages was replaced by a good 45-second period...and much to my amusement longer for a few embarrassed individuals. Some discreatlyu leaned over to their "neighbor" to ask where the book could be found, while others quickly started for the table of contents page and the truly desperate leaned over to their "neighbor" to ask where the tables of contents page could be found. I confess, it took me at least 30 seconds to find Zechariah and then another 10 to figure out which way to turn to find the other "Z" book.
Instead of the typical sermon for Father's Day though, which the speaker candidly noted was probably a day created by Hallmark, the fatherly love of God was the topic, specifically how God rejoices in his children despite their sin. It struck me that I don't think of God in those terms, and I'd take a guess that most people feel the same way. We can confess and trust God for eternal salvation, but still, somewhere deep in the heart is a nagging dependence on our own unbelief that God isn't who he says he is.
While having an intimate relationship with someone you can't see or hear audibly isn't an easy concept, we don't do ourselves any favors by taking the gift of salvation but refusing the benefits that come along with such a great sacrifice. It has the effect of turning salvation into a handout or a business proposition, and the fact is that it's far more personal than that. If we approach salvation as either a handout or a business deal, we end up perverting the truth. In the case of the handout, we feel like we don't deserve it but we know we need it, so we'll humbly accept the Father's love as a one-time gift, solving the problem of eternal damnation, but then well live a life of mediocrity, knowing we're not going to Hell but also failing to live abundantly. On the flip side, in the business deal equation, we'll realize that God has something that we need, deny that the gift is anything more than an impersonal agreement, and then seek to make compensation while blindly ignoring the fact that we can't compensate. The only compensation for a life saved is to save the other person's life, and the last time I checked God wasn't looking for a lifeboat.
While, the original readers and hearers of Zephaniah's words may have had a little more reason for doubt, we have none, and the only threat in believing is the danger that we might have to actually change our view of God and how he views each of his children. What Zephaniah says God will one day do has already been done. We have only to act on the promises therein.
Maybe a daily prayer to see ourselves as God sees us isn't such a bad idea?
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
~ Zephaniah 3:14-17
The PCA general assembly was in session last week, leaving our pastor out of the office for most of the week, so he called in a guest preacher to deliver the sermon to us last Sunday, Father's Day. I usually don't enjoy special speakers, because they always seem to try so hard to and make jokes that elicit half-laughs, many times out of sympathy, and they either think they know or try to know the congregation in a brief hour (or "as the Spirit leads" if you're of the Baptist persuasion).
To be quite honest, my initial reaction to our speaker Sunday was *scratch*, *yawn*, *start thinking about what in my fridge could possibly serve as lunch*....these sort of thoughts and feelings are normal for me when a pastor opens a sermon with the warming phrase "If you have your Bible with you today..." Well, I'm sitting in a not-so-comfortable pew, I just put some money in a incredibly gaudy silver plate and a man in a suit is standing and talking while everyone else is seated facing him...seems like the time to have a Bible.
But just as I was getting good and settled in my sarcastic nature, he finished his opening phrase with "turn to the book of Zephaniah." I literally had to control myself from letting out a long "yeeeeessssss" and turning to high-five my 14-year-old sister Rebekah, who was visiting me for the weekend. Ephesians I've come to expect. The Gospels are a close second, and maybe, on the rare occasion, someone will be brave and tell exactly what the book of Revelation means, but Zephaniah?! People up in these Tennessee hills don't even use that name for their children anymore! Sometimes I wonder if it could be removed from the Canon without anyone noticing...a better version of Richie Cunningham's older brother Chuck vanishing from the show Happy Days after its first season.
The usual 10-15 second sound of a flurry of turning pages was replaced by a good 45-second period...and much to my amusement longer for a few embarrassed individuals. Some discreatlyu leaned over to their "neighbor" to ask where the book could be found, while others quickly started for the table of contents page and the truly desperate leaned over to their "neighbor" to ask where the tables of contents page could be found. I confess, it took me at least 30 seconds to find Zechariah and then another 10 to figure out which way to turn to find the other "Z" book.
Instead of the typical sermon for Father's Day though, which the speaker candidly noted was probably a day created by Hallmark, the fatherly love of God was the topic, specifically how God rejoices in his children despite their sin. It struck me that I don't think of God in those terms, and I'd take a guess that most people feel the same way. We can confess and trust God for eternal salvation, but still, somewhere deep in the heart is a nagging dependence on our own unbelief that God isn't who he says he is.
While having an intimate relationship with someone you can't see or hear audibly isn't an easy concept, we don't do ourselves any favors by taking the gift of salvation but refusing the benefits that come along with such a great sacrifice. It has the effect of turning salvation into a handout or a business proposition, and the fact is that it's far more personal than that. If we approach salvation as either a handout or a business deal, we end up perverting the truth. In the case of the handout, we feel like we don't deserve it but we know we need it, so we'll humbly accept the Father's love as a one-time gift, solving the problem of eternal damnation, but then well live a life of mediocrity, knowing we're not going to Hell but also failing to live abundantly. On the flip side, in the business deal equation, we'll realize that God has something that we need, deny that the gift is anything more than an impersonal agreement, and then seek to make compensation while blindly ignoring the fact that we can't compensate. The only compensation for a life saved is to save the other person's life, and the last time I checked God wasn't looking for a lifeboat.
While, the original readers and hearers of Zephaniah's words may have had a little more reason for doubt, we have none, and the only threat in believing is the danger that we might have to actually change our view of God and how he views each of his children. What Zephaniah says God will one day do has already been done. We have only to act on the promises therein.
Maybe a daily prayer to see ourselves as God sees us isn't such a bad idea?
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
~ Zephaniah 3:14-17
posted by Matthew David Williams at 7:36 AM
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