Pastor Slaughter

December 15, 2024

Advent 3

There is a Reason to Rejoice

Zephaniah 3:14-17

What are some occasions that give you a reason to rejoice? Is it an upcoming date, a night away from your children? Is it special event or activity you get to participate in? Is it time spent with family that you have not seen in quite some time? Or maybe it’s something that you are going to get like a new car or a new home? There are certain things that happen in our lives that just make us happy and give us a reason to rejoice.

But there are times in our lives where we find it difficult to rejoice. Where the situation or circumstances in life make it almost impossible for us to rejoice. Examples: maybe someone you love died. Maybe you find out some terrible news like you have cancer or you lost your job. Maybe you are in a situation that is high stressed at work, at home or school. What would you say to me if I told you to rejoice? You would probably give me this look of utter disgust, and think I am crazier than I already am. What would you say to me, if I said in the midst of the hardest time in your life, “There is a Reason to Rejoice?”

I wonder what the nation of Israel thought as they heard Zephaniah’s prophecy. Zephaniah was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Nahum, who were constantly calling the nation of Israel to repentance for worshiping false gods. When the nation did not turn back to the Lord, their message turned to a pronouncement of judgment and what the Lord was going to do to them. When you read through the book of Zephaniah, you hear God’s judgment against Judah, against foreign nations. However, in the last chapter, Zephaniah tells the people to rejoice!

I can only imagine what the people who he was prophesying to and those who looked back when they were in captivity in Babylon thought as they heard what he said. Rejoice?! Even though they were taken away from their homes! Rejoice?! Even though they were in captivity! Rejoice?! Even though they felt the consequence of their sins. What’s there to rejoice about?

Have you ever felt that way before? Found yourself in difficulty and a situation where you struggle to find anything to rejoice about? The nation of Israel did. Yet Zephaniah says to them and to us, “Sing out, Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, you Daughter of Jerusalem.”

Sing out, Shout aloud, be glad, rejoice with all your heart, with all of your being. Is that even possible? The answer is Yes. Zephaniah gives the first reason why we can rejoice, “The LORD has removed the judgment against you. He has turned back your enemy. Israel’s king, the LORD is in your midst! You no longer need to fear disaster.” To a people who were feeling the consequences of their sins, Zephaniah reminds them to look ahead to what God is going to do for them. How he is going to send the Messiah to remove God’s judgment against them.

Think about what that would mean for them. They would feel the consequence of sin as captives in Babylon. As they lived in a foreign land that probably served as constant reminder of sin and would fill them the guilt. Zephaniah is saying to them that God has removed the judgment, the punishment from them.

What is the punishment for sin? “The wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23, “The soul who sins is the one who will die” Ezekiel 18:4. God’s judgment for sin is death, it is hell. God did not just say about our sin. No big deal!  He removed his judgment from us by placing it on Jesus. Isaiah 53:5, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed.”

Have you felt the guilt of your sins like Israel did? Maybe you have done something in the past and you still feel the consequences of it. Broken relationships, losing a job, a physical ailment, and they serve as a reminder of the sin we committed. When we are reminded of the sin, we feel the guilt of the sin. We may even go so far as to say God is still punishing us for our sins. But Jesus took the punishment for our sins, the sting of death on the cross. but we still may feel the consequences for our sins. There is a reason to rejoice! Because Jesus took the judgment/punishment for our sins, and he gives to us forgiveness. With this forgiveness, the punishment for our sins, death and hell are no longer a threat to those who cling to Christ in faith. Rejoice for the forgiveness of your sins!

Now that we have this forgiveness, now that sin is removed, God is present in the midst of his people. Sin separated us from God. But when sin is forgiven, and its guilt has been removed by Christ there is no reason why the Lord must stay separated from his people any longer. So Zephaniah says, “Israel’s king, the LORD, is in your midst!” Rejoice that you are not alone!

Think about what that means for the nation of Israel. The nation would be taken away into exile, taken away from the Temple of God and are now in the midst of a foreign nation, exiled from their homes and the middle of one of their darkest hours and God gives them a ray of light a promise that because he forgives them that he will be in their midst that he will be with them! Giving them a reason to rejoice

When we are at that low point in our lives and we feel discouraged by past sins, when we may even begin to feel afraid, but we can rejoice because “The LORD your God is with you as a hero who will save you.” When doubts arise about what whether God is with you or not, and believe me those doubts will come. For the nation of Israel, it was their captivity. For you and me, it may be different. When we are at those darkest times, it is precisely then that we need to be reminded of our reason to rejoice. That our God of free and faithful love is with his people to save them, to take away their punishment. That promise is what brings about rejoicing!

I simply love Zephaniah’s words describing God’s attitude towards us, “Do not be afraid, O Zion. Do not give up. The LORD your God is with you as a hero who will save you. He takes great delight in you. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.” Sometimes I like to insert my own name in passages. (Insert my name in the passage) Why would God delight in me? Why would God quiet my anxious soul with his love? Why would God rejoice over me? And don’t you think it is because I am a pastor and therefore am more holy or something like that. Because I live at the foot of the cross every day of my life for the mistakes I have done, the sin O have committed. The worry and anxiety that’s in my heart. Why would God rejoice over me?

It is not because I have deserved it. It because our God is the God of free and faithful love who chose to keep his promises! His promise to save. His promise to send Jesus! His promise to forgive. His promise to be with us no matter what struggles or hardships we endure. Why because he delights in you, because he rejoices over you with singing!

My family in Christ, isn’t that reason enough to rejoice? Because of how God looks at you!  God is not making us a promise to save us from every bad thing in this world that is caused by sin. God is not telling us that Christians are happy all the time always singing always rejoicing. But in the midst of the darkness in this world there is a light that shines forth that gives us a reason to rejoice. That light is what we prepare our hearts for during this advent season. That light which shines forth in a manger, on a cross, on an empty tomb. A light that we can look to no matter how dark it is around us and gives us reason to rejoice.

So this advent season let us rejoice as we wait to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Let us rejoice as turn to his word and see the light of his promises. Let us rejoice as we come together to the house of our Lord and sing his praise! Amen.