December 12, 2015

The Lord Takes Action and We Rejoice!

3rd Sunday in Advent, 12/13/15
Zephaniah 3:14-17


The Lord Takes Action and We Rejoice!
I. He removes our punishment.
II. He conquers our enemy.
III. Our God is with us.


As far as irritations go, in reality it ranked low. But for those of us who had to endure it for the first 16 years of our church’s existence on this piece of property, it was more than an inconvenience. It was irritating. To get on to our property, you had use Norwich Lane. It was the only entrance. The City of Centerville would not allow us access to Alex Bell Road since it was only two lanes wide and the city wanted to limit points of access. During those years countless people called the office number because they couldn’t figure out how to get into our parking lot. So, when the day came that our paved driveway to Alex Bell Road was in place, those of us who were here literally rejoiced. Finally something had been done to fix our problem!

It’s that way with so many issues in life. There’s a problem, an issue, an inconvenience, a potentially dangerous situation and for various reasons it lingers on and on. Finally someone does something about it and you feel like partying. The problem is solved! The aggravation is gone! It’s the best thing that has happened to you in a long while. So you rejoice.

You’re aware that we’re in the season of Advent. Among other things, it’s the season in which we’re reminded that our God does something about what’s bothering us, something that is potentially deadly forever. Here are just a few of the devastating tragedies that face us: our sins and the punishment they deserve, the fact that Satan is on the prowl 24-7-365 in order to murder us spiritually, and the fact our sins separate us from God and there isn’t a single thing we can do about it.

Those are the very tragedies that our God addresses through his prophet Zephaniah in his words before us this morning. The good news is our God in his divine love for us didn’t allow those potentially deadly issues to linger. He acted. And that fills us with joy. The Lord takes action and we rejoice! May our Lord fill our hearts with Advent joy as we watch our Lord take action.

Part I.

There’s an epidemic occurring in our modern US culture. Maybe that statement doesn’t surprise you. You’re all too aware that we have some serious problems. The one I’m referring to is the obliteration of right from wrong. That hard moral line has been replaced by individual, subjective pragmatism and expediency. If it works for me in this situation today, then I’m good with it.

The only true God blasts that relativistic thinking. He wants one and all to know the truth—that he is absolutely holy and he is absolutely just. As the holy God he cannot and will not tolerate sin. He won’t change his mind about it. He refuses to bend the rules. And since he’s absolutely just, he must punish sin. He grants no clemency.

But instead of making us deal with our sins, he deals with them. Listen to the opening words of our text, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment.” Sin isn’t simply a mistake that needs correction; it’s a violation of divine, holy law and demands punishment. What soothing good news to hear that our God takes that punishment away! That’s what Jesus came to do when he came to this earth the first time. Jesus wasn’t here on earth primarily to right social injustices. He wasn’t here primarily to show us how to treat other people. He was here to take the punishment of the world’s sins upon himself.

The world scoffs at that truth now. But it won’t when Jesus returns. One of the things Jesus will do on the Last Day is to proclaim before all the world that you are one of his own people. You belong to him by faith in him. Your sins don’t separate you from him. Instead, you will live with him eternally. Your eternal tragedy has been solved.

The Lord takes action and we rejoice! He removes our punishment.

Our worship theme encourages us to rejoice today, but I’m not wearing rose-colored glasses. We have plenty of reasons to be more than just spiritually concerned. Take a look at all the evil in our world. There are people who would like nothing more than to wipe Christians off the face of the earth. Heinous crimes aren’t so startling anymore; we hear about them all the time. And then there are the messes we’ve made of our lives. They weren’t just poor choices; they were sinful choices, and now we’re suffering the consequences. Truth be told, we have plenty of reasons to be spiritually concerned. But we have even more reasons to rejoice! There is no better news than this: Jesus removes the punishment for our sins. All the sinful messes we’ve made are wiped up by Jesus and now it’s as if they never happened. Zephaniah reminds us, “The Lord has taken away your punishment.” The Lord takes action and we rejoice!

Part II.

A few weeks ago it was reported in the media that activity by scam artists is on the rise. The elderly were particularly getting hit hard. Some scammers were posing as IRS agents. Others were offering deals that sounded solid. Many pose as caring people who are trying to help others. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. They simply want to take advantage of naïve people.

You have an enemy far worse than all scammers put together. It’s the old evil foe named Satan. What makes him so deadly is that his lies sound so believable. How many times has Satan caused you to believe that going against what God says will be a good thing for you? I’ve done it countless times and I’ve been burned every time.

Worse yet, his goal is to devour you eternally. He’s not content with simply using sin to ruin your relationship with the Lord; he wants you to suffer with him forever. We can’t imagine such wickedness and hatred. And we fall victim to him every day! It’s depressing!

But there’s reason to rejoice. Listen to Zephaniah, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD…has turned back your enemy.” The prophet was speaking prophetically here. The next 100 years would be miserable for God’s Old Testament people. Defeat, destruction and exile awaited them. But the Lord would defeat their enemies and restore them.

That’s a picture of what the Lord has done for every sinner in defeating our greatest enemy. We confess in the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus descended into hell. He didn’t do that to suffer some more for our sins. He went there as the risen Savior on Easter morning to shove his victory into the devil’s face. His victory is your victory.

The Lord takes action and we rejoice! He conquers our enemy.

One way of viewing each day is that it’s a 24-hour battle. You fight each day just to get through it. And at the end of the day, you’re disappointed. You didn’t accomplish what you wanted to. Worse yet, you failed to be the person you want to be, the child of God that your God made you. Another day of letting our God and our loved ones down! It would appear our Enemy has won. But the Lord has “turned back your enemy.” Satan cringed when Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” And he huddled in a corner of hell when Jesus came bursting forth from the tomb. He cowered in defeat when Jesus marched through hell. Victory! The Lord takes action and we rejoice.

Part III.

There are times in a young child’s life when the only person that can comfort her or him is Mommy. What father hasn’t admitted defeat in comforting his child by handing that sobbing child to its mother, and then watching as the sobs slowly subside? For the child, being right there with its mother makes all things well.

Listen to Zephaniah’s comforting words, “The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you. The LORD your God is with you.” Your God is here, right here with you. So what does that mean for you? “Never again will you fear any harm.” Even in the face of a violent death, we’re still in the safety of our God’s divine arms. No matter what happens to us here, our eternal future rests secure. Your Savior has a room ready for you in his Father’s house. So rejoice!

Even more amazing, take to heart these words, “He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” That’s astounding! We often wonder what God thinks of us. Wonder no more! He delights in you. In fact, you are a source of joy to him. That boggles the sinful mind!

So what’s left for us to do? “Do not let your hands hang limp.” That’s a backhanded way of saying, “Put your hands into service.” Find things to do which serve your Lord and your neighbor. Do them out of gratitude to God because of what he’s done for you and the fact that he delights in you. Those truths fill our hearts with joy, and joyful hearts naturally serve the Lord.

The Lord takes action and we rejoice. Our God is with us.

So often we hope and pray that our God takes action in some aspect of our lives. There are times he does. There are times he doesn’t do what we ask because he knows best. But never doubt his love for you! He is with us! That’s what Jesus is all about—Immanuel, God with us! That’s his purpose for sharing his word and sacrament with us—so that he can be with us in ever greater measure. You can’t leave home without him. You can’t go anywhere without him. What comfort! What strength! The Lord takes action and we rejoice! May your heart be filled with Advent joy! Amen.