We continue in the third week of our Advent worship series called Christmas Is Coming this week by turning to Zephaniah 3.14-20. Our worship series will be rooted in the Hebrew Bible readings from the lectionary (collection of appointed readings) for this season. We will look back to these ancient writings as we prepare for the coming of Christmas.
Christmas Is Coming Outline
November 29: Jeremiah 33.14-16 (Hope)
December 6: Malachi 3.1-4 (Love)
December 13: Zephaniah 3.14-20 (Joy)
December 20: Micah 5.1-5 (Peace)
5pm & 11pm Candlelight Christmas Eve: Luke 2
This week we turn from love to joy as we move into the third week of Advent. Fredrick Buechner writes, “Happiness turns up more or less where you’d expect it to—a good marriage, a rewarding job, a pleasant vacation. Joy, on the other hand, is as notoriously unpredictable as the one who bequeaths it” (Wishful Thinking).
The book of Zephaniah was likely written around the 7th century BCE at a time when both happiness and joy seem to have gone on a long vacations from the people of God. This short book is really a compilation of judgements set amidst an unjust social and political context. Zephaniah harshly declares judgement against the people of God and announces line by line why the people of God need God’s renewal. Our reading for this week begins as the long list of judgments concludes and joy breaks loose on the scene.
Read Zephaniah 3.14-20.
Deborah Block writes, “Zephaniah reminds us that through prophetic interruptions God offers us glimpses of a hopeful future that goes beyond getting us up in the morning. It frees us from fear and moves us to rejoice” (Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 1: Advent through Transfiguration (Kindle Locations 1844-1852).
Think of a time when you felt an absence of joy in your life and you were freed from fear and moved to rejoice. What was this like for you? How might this shift be related to an interruption of God?