3rd Sunday in Advent - December 13, 2009

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

“Awake, my heart, with gladness! See what today is done; Now, after gloom and sadness, Comes forth the glorious sun. My Savior there was laid Where our bed must be made When to the realms of light Our spirit wings its flight.”

This is a sight that gladdens – What peace it does impart! Now nothing ever saddens The joy within my heart. No gloom shall ever shake, No foe shall ever take The hope which God’s own Son In love for me has won.”

(CW #156(1,3) – “Awake, My Heart, with Gladness”)

Those words were penned by Paul Gerhardt. Now, for those of you who came to September’s Paul Gerhardt hymn festival, you are familiar with his life - its troubles, hardships and heartaches. But for those of you who weren’t here, let me briefly fill you in. Paul Gerhardt was a Lutheran pastor who was faced with death all his life. When he was a young child, first his father and then his mother died. At the age of 11, the thirty years war broke out, with armies criss-crossing Germany, destroying everything in their paths, killing and burning, and spreading disease, including the plague. With little income and the population so drastically diminished, Paul Gerhardt didn’t marry until he was 48. Within 10 years, he and his wife had had 5 children, but four of them were already dead, having been taken by disease when they were small. Then, after those ten years of marriage, his dear wife also died after a lengthy illness, leaving him alone with his 6 year old son. What a testimony to the triumph of Christian faith that Paul Gerhardt could rejoice when you consider the unusually sorrowful life he lived. He knew that Jesus had come to be his Savior. He knew that Jesus had suffered the punishment for sin. He knew that Jesus had risen from the grave, and the promise of his and his wife’s and his children’s resurrection and eternal life kept him going. He clung to passages like the one before us this morning:

Zephaniah 3:14-17 - Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! ¹⁵The 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. ¹⁶On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. ¹⁷The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

So, in light of these words of our God, let us sing and be glad – for our punishment has been taken away and God is present in our midst.

Today we celebrate the 3^rd Sunday in Advent. Since the last time we met we find ourselves one week closer to observing the birth of our Savior. We light another candle on the Advent wreath, and this time a pink one – the candle of joy. Yet, if we were to take the time to read the first 41 verses of Zephaniah, you might very well wonder why a text is taken from this book on a Sunday where the theme revolves around joy. Like so many of God’s Old Testament prophets Zephaniah was sent to God’s people with a warning. The main message was the Day of the Lord is coming; the day of wrath is approaching. God’s judgments were coming and would be brought against certain individuals and nations, while at the same time announcing the coming of the Lord’s final day of judgment upon all the earth.

Still, in the middle of this message of doom and gloom Zephaniah breaks into a song of praise and calls for the people of God to join him. He does so by calling the “Daughters of Zion, the Daughters of Jerusalem and Israel,” that is, the believers, to sing and be glad. Why? Because their punishment has been taken away. The reason is simple and yet very compelling. “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.”

Scripture tells us in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death.” It also reminds us in Ezekiel 18:4, “The soul who sins is the soul who will die.” Now, I’m sure these passages come as no surprise to you. We’ve heard them before, haven’t we? In fact, you’ve heard them from this very pulpit; from this very preacher; and from pastors before me. For that very reason, it is easy isn’t it, to let them go in one ear and out the other. To let them roll right off our backs. Never really letting them sink in. Never really letting them bring us to our knees. These words, we might think, are necessary for other people, but you and me, aren’t they overdoing it a little.

After all, none of us have probably ever made a protest sign and went on strike against God. I can’t imagine any of us have ever burned our baptismal certificate in open defiance against God. Yet how many of us have sat in church Sunday after Sunday, but cannot remember much of the service shortly thereafter? None of us have probably ever bowed down to a Buddha statue or worshiped an image out of melted down gold. Yet, how often haven’t the cares of this world taken over the main focus of our lives? How many of us have adjusted our offerings around December and January so we could fit into the budget the gifts we want? How easily the attitude comes, I’ll have time for the Lord after…you fill in the earthly reason. I think I can safely say that none of us have ever gone to a temple prostitute, as in the days of the Old Testament, and pretended that it was worship. Yet, the simple question isn’t that, but this: how many of us have done our own thing instead of the Lord’s will?

Romans 6:23 and its words, “The wages of sin is death,” as well as Ezekiel 18:4, “The soul who sins is the soul who will die” have great meaning for us don’t they? We do well to remember James 2:10 which reminds us, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” This is not something we can afford to slip off our backs, go through one ear and out the other, or sleep through during service. The first 41 verses of Zephaniah, although we don’t have time to read them all, are timeless for us. We have been unfaithful to our God. We have defied him and angered him. We deserve the just Day of the Lord that Zephaniah speaks of, a day of wrath and judgment; of punishment by death in hell; consumed by his righteous wrath; condemned from his presence forever with no second chance.

Perhaps you are beginning to wonder why Zephaniah calls the people to rejoice. They had been unfaithful. They had worshiped the false god Baal. They had turned their backs from following the Lord. One may wonder why is it we light a specific candle of joy this Sunday. How can we be joyful with our sins before us, knowing that our just punishment cannot be argued against; that our guilt condemns us?

We can rejoice because the words before us this morning still come with a glorious Advent message. In just 11 days we will gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But it isn’t just the birth of a boy we celebrate, is it? The baby is the Son of God. He came to live our life and die our death, so that the punishment and penalty of sin would be gone forever. That’s why Zephaniah rejoices, looking forward to the Advent of our Savior, the coming of Christ – to our punishment being taken away.

If punishment is gone, if that great enemy, death, has been removed and what remains for the believer is simply a sleep of the body until the resurrection, then the sin and guilt associated with it before God must be gone as well. That’s exactly what happened. Isaiah writes, “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” (53:5). The punishment our sins deserve has been placed on Christ. Concerning this new promise Jeremiah recorded what God said, “I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more” (31:34). Zephaniah can speak the way he does because the Lord in his mercy has taken away the sins of the world. We can rejoice because the Lord in his mercy has taken away our sins. They are removed, and the terrible consequences of sin have been removed as well. Death and hell are no longer a threat to the one who clings to Christ in faith. Those enemies have been removed. And not just for now, but forever.

We’ve heard this before too, haven’t we? And in the same way that we cannot let the enormity of our sins go in one ear and out the other; we can not let the enormity of God’s grace become ho-hum. We can not let it be drowned out by the commercialism of the Christmas season. We can not let it be set aside in order that we might take care of the things of this life. Listen to the Advent advertising of the past; listen to Zephaniah shout out like the newspaper boy, “Extra, Extra, read all about it!” Take note of God’s Word as you do the ring tone on your cell-phone. Eagerly open it like you do that Christmas card from Uncle Frank. Our punishment has been taken away.

Yet, there is more. There is a second consequence to the removal of our sin. God is present in the midst of his people with his protecting power. The prophet Isaiah says in the 59^th chapter, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). The holy God hates sin. He will not dwell among a sinful people. That’s why Isaiah speaks as he does. 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. That is why Zephaniah can say, “The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

When it comes right down to it, you and I have everything that counts. Still, many times we find ourselves walking around with our heads hanging down and our faces wrinkled with a frown. The problems, deadlines, tasks, and toils of day-to-day living can so easily take the joy out of life and lead us to forget that we have a reason to smile and be happy for eternity. Just think, we know that there is no pit so deep, where God’s love is not deeper still. There is no place so far, where God’s presence cannot reach us. When we walk into a hospital room to find a loved one lying flat on their back, remember, yes with joy, the good news of God’s love in Christ. When we ourselves are wheeled into the emergency room to be pocked and to be prodded, remember the victory Christ won for you on the cross and be glad. When the burdens of life, its many cares, and the weight of anxieties are increasing their oppression, remember, yes with song, the final defeat Christ gave our enemies with his resurrection from the dead. And, when the Lord closes the eyes of a dearly loved believer for the last time, remember, that is victory - not defeat, that’s joy - not sadness.

We need not fear, we have everything that really counts. Just think how that encouragement is intimately connected with Christmas and Easter. For it was angels on Christmas morning who said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). It was angels on Easter morning who declared, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said” (Matthew 28:5,6). He is mighty and has saved us. So when Satan comes with past sins and throws them in your face, causing guilt to rise and make us wonder “Am I really a Christian? – When going through an extra trying time and Satan wants us to question “Does God really care?” – We have his words, “do not be afraid.” “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord.” “Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen.”

The theme of the book of Zephaniah is the Day of the Lord; the day of wrath is approaching. Yet, at the very same time, there is equal assurance of ultimate safety for all believers. Our punishment has been taken away by Christ and God is present in our midst. Is it any wonder then, as we continue to light a candle each week on our Advent wreath to symbolize the approach of the birthday of Jesus, the Light of the world, we light one today that stands for joy?!?! Dear Christian friends, in light of Christ’s Advent, sing and be glad. Amen.

CW#37(1,2,4,6) – “Once Again My Heart Rejoices”