New Year's Message

 

Shout Aloud this 2012 Season

1.    But only if you are guilty

2.    But only if you are afraid

3.    But only if you have work to do

Date:  31, December 2011

Text:  Zephaniah 3:14-17

from the series Watch Night service

Scripture

Let us Read Zephaniah 3:14-17

14 Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel!

Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!

15 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.

16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem,

“Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.

17 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.” 

Introduction

In Jesus’ name, dear fellow redeemed,

I always look forward to attend children new year services. I enjoy listening to them tell the Biblical story. I especially enjoy watching the three year olds and four year olds in our preschool and Sunday School. But not just when they are singing and reciting! Some of the most interesting times are when they are supposed to be sitting there quietly, and our teachers are doing everything within their power to hold in check the pent-up energy that is in little children just before Christmas and the new year. A quieting hand here and there. “Shhh! Shhh!” It is hard to keep excited children quiet.

There is something we can learn from these little children. They are excited at Christmas and the new year time! Their excitement may not be based solely on the deep spiritual significance of Christmas or the New year. But they are excited. And not a few of them want to shout aloud when their time to recite finally comes.

Sermon

Let’s learn from them. Let’s also

SHOUT ALOUD THIS 2012 SEASON.

But I’m offering this encouragement only to those of you who are guilty, who are fearful, and who have lots of work to do. Only you have reason to shout aloud this New Year season.

Let me take you back to the time of the prophet Zephaniah to explain why the invitation to shout aloud is limited to the guilty, the fearful and the busy.

Zephaniah prophesied about 620 years before the birth of Christ during the reign of Josiah, the last good king of the nation of Judah. He prophesied at a time when outwardly things seemed to be going quite well. The world power of that day was Assyria. But its power was fading. And perhaps a new day of power and prestige was about to begin for Judah.

But along comes the prophet Zephaniah with a negative message. He warns of the great day of the Lord, a day of judgment. Turn with me to Zephaniah 1:14-18 to hear his description of that day:

14 “The great day of the LORD is near—near and coming quickly.

Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter,

the shouting of the warrior there.

15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish,

a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and blackness,

16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities

and against the corner towers.

17 I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men,

because they have sinned against the LORD.

Their blood will be poured out like dust

and their entrails like filth.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them

on the day of the LORD’s wrath.

In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed,

for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.” 

Zephaniah foretold a day of wrath. That wrath would come on the people of Judah. It would come in the form of battle and distress. But it would not be limited to Judah. Zephaniah looked beyond the day of Judah’s defeat to the end of the world. “In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed.” The great day of the Lord is ultimately Judgment Day.

Why would that day come? “Because they have sinned against the Lord.” This description of the great day of the LORD is meant to make us all shudder. The LORD is a jealous God. And his ability to punish is terrifying. Who can stand on that judgment day?

If the prophet has this terrifying message of judgment, then why does he tell God’s people in our Old Testament lesson for today, “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem.” Why should we shout aloud? Because “the LORD has taken away your punishment.”

The Hebrew for “punishment” is actually “judgments.” The LORD has taken away the judgments against you. Only if you recognize that the LORD has made a judgment against you, will you have reason to shout aloud and sing this new year season.

That’s why I said that only “the guilty” are invited to shout aloud this new year season. Paul said it this way in 1 Timothy 1:15: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.”

That’s one of the reasons why I implore you to read God’s Word every day. If you are reading James 3-5 today. Just open up to those pages and skim through it. “No man can tame the tongue…Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be…You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.” Why do we read God’s Word? One of the reasons is so that we recognize—we are the guilty. We are the ones against whom God speaks the judgment, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law” (Galatians 3:10). Only when we see that we are the guilty do we have reason to shout aloud this 2012 season. Our God has come. “The LORD has taken away the judgments against you.”

2. Shout Aloud this 2012Season—An Invitation to the Fearful

In the same way, only the fearful have reason to shout aloud at the new year. “The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm,” that is, any evil (Zephaniah 3:15). 

The people of Zephaniah’s day had reason to be afraid. He foretold war and destruction, not only for them, but for the surrounding nations. You and I also have reason to be afraid. There is so much that is beyond our control. We can’t control the war on terror. Today we enjoy good news—Osama  has been captured. But we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We can’t control our health. Today we may enjoy good health, tomorrow we may be in the hospital. We can’t control the day of our death. The more we realize our limitations, the more we will appreciate that “the LORD, the King of Israel, is with” us. If the LORD is here, you and I have no reason to fear.

Now, the LORD is always present. But at new year time we have a special reason to shout aloud, for the LORD, the King of Israel came to be present with us in a special way. He is called “Immanuel,” which means, “God with us.” God came to this earth to save us. The King of Israel has come like a mighty warrior to protect us from our ultimate enemy—death, not just physical but eternal death. The King of Israel came to be with us so that he could conquer death not only for himself but for us also.

3. Shout Aloud this 2012 Season—An Invitation to those with work to do

Finally, he came for people who can’t afford to let their hands hang limp in despair. “On that day they will say to Jerusalem, ‘Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp’” (Zephaniah 3:17). Hands hang limp at our sides when we are convinced there is nothing that we do that will make any difference. But if our God is with us, we don’t have to be discouraged. Think of 1 Corinthians 15:58. At the end of that great chapter defending Jesus’ resurrection and our own, the Holy Spirit moved Paul to write: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Each of us has work to do in the Lord’s kingdom. Some of you have been called to function publicly for the congregation as a Sunday School teacher or officer or committee member. All of us has work to do in our personal ministries. If you are parent, you have the call to share the love of Christ with your children. If you are a student, you have the call to let your love for the Lord show in your relationships with your teachers and classmates. If you are a friend, you have work to do—to let your friend see God’s love reflected in your life. Yes, only those with work to do have reason to shout aloud this new year season. And dear Christian, that includes you. Shout aloud, because your labor will not be in vain.

And when you are afraid that you will make a mistake, and especially when you see that you have sinned against God and your fellow man, take special comfort in the last verse of our text.

“The LORD your God … will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Not only does our God promise that he has taken away the judgments against us. Not only has he told us that as the King he will be with us and we never have to be afraid. Not only does he assure us that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. He even sings over us. He pictures himself as a bridegroom rejoicing over his bride. The Lord delights in you. Wow! He loves me! He quiets you with his love. Everything will be okay! He sings about me.

If that’s how God feels about me, then I also have reason to shout aloud this 2012 season. Amen.

 

--
The Rev. Lenin Kumar
The Potter's Home International Church
The Christian Living
www.pottershomeinternational.in

Theology   Character   Fire