Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Day 345 – Zephaniah 1, Psalm 130, Mark 8
In the next three days we will read the short book of Zephaniah. If you’re like me, you will want to read it all today so you aren’t depressed the rest of the day. All we hear today in Chapter One is gloom and doom: “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth…I will cut off humanity from the face of the earth… that day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness…”
We only hear from this book of Zephaniah once in our three year cycle of Sundays, and it did come up for us last year in Advent - Year C. However, even then, we do not hear the doom and gloom. Rather, we hear Chapter 3, which contains the resolution to the destruction proposed in the earlier verses: “I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes…(3:20b).” Now that’s a kindlier and gentler Christmas Card, isn’t it?
We can lose a lot when we do not look at these messages in their total context. Just as the doom and gloom can lead to despair if not considered only as a prelude to the possibility of God’s redemption, so too the glory of redemption can lead to complacency if not considered in the context of what life will be without God. Zephaniah’s age was one in which the people could relate to both sides of the equation. There was the doom and gloom that Hezekiah had recently lost 45 cities to Sennacherib, and more recently, with further kings losing power to Assyrian influence, the religious life of the people had correspondingly suffered. However, there was now emerging the hope of redemption, since Assyria is now declining, and restoration and reform seem to be a possibility.
So maybe today is a good day to look at the context of our own life story. Is not that the opportunity that the season of Advent provides us? To understand that the doom and glooms in my own life can only be fully understood and appreciated in the light of God’s redemption of me, and conversely the full appreciation of God’s redemption of me can only take place within the context of my fuller understanding of how gloomy life is without God in it.
To get to that full understanding requires a lot of Advent patience. And a lot of that patience has to do with understanding who Jesus is and what his plan for the Kingdom is, which is exactly what Peter struggles with in Mark 8 today. It is not unlike the situation with John the Baptist questioning Jesus from his jail cell that we heard just this past Sunday.
Need reassurance that patience will pay off? Let Zephaniah 1 soak in a bit, but before you get depressed skip to Zephaniah 3. Let the reality of the cross soak in a bit as you read Mark 8, but before you despair and stop walking with Jesus, skip to Mark 16. By keeping the life of the Gospel and our living into it in context, our resulting attitude can be like that of the author of today’s Psalm 130: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem (Psalm 130:5-7)”.
- Marty Zlatic
Day 345 – Zephaniah 1, Psalm 130, Mark 8
In the next three days we will read the short book of Zephaniah. If you’re like me, you will want to read it all today so you aren’t depressed the rest of the day. All we hear today in Chapter One is gloom and doom: “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth…I will cut off humanity from the face of the earth… that day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness…”
We only hear from this book of Zephaniah once in our three year cycle of Sundays, and it did come up for us last year in Advent - Year C. However, even then, we do not hear the doom and gloom. Rather, we hear Chapter 3, which contains the resolution to the destruction proposed in the earlier verses: “I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes…(3:20b).” Now that’s a kindlier and gentler Christmas Card, isn’t it?
We can lose a lot when we do not look at these messages in their total context. Just as the doom and gloom can lead to despair if not considered only as a prelude to the possibility of God’s redemption, so too the glory of redemption can lead to complacency if not considered in the context of what life will be without God. Zephaniah’s age was one in which the people could relate to both sides of the equation. There was the doom and gloom that Hezekiah had recently lost 45 cities to Sennacherib, and more recently, with further kings losing power to Assyrian influence, the religious life of the people had correspondingly suffered. However, there was now emerging the hope of redemption, since Assyria is now declining, and restoration and reform seem to be a possibility.
So maybe today is a good day to look at the context of our own life story. Is not that the opportunity that the season of Advent provides us? To understand that the doom and glooms in my own life can only be fully understood and appreciated in the light of God’s redemption of me, and conversely the full appreciation of God’s redemption of me can only take place within the context of my fuller understanding of how gloomy life is without God in it.
To get to that full understanding requires a lot of Advent patience. And a lot of that patience has to do with understanding who Jesus is and what his plan for the Kingdom is, which is exactly what Peter struggles with in Mark 8 today. It is not unlike the situation with John the Baptist questioning Jesus from his jail cell that we heard just this past Sunday.
Need reassurance that patience will pay off? Let Zephaniah 1 soak in a bit, but before you get depressed skip to Zephaniah 3. Let the reality of the cross soak in a bit as you read Mark 8, but before you despair and stop walking with Jesus, skip to Mark 16. By keeping the life of the Gospel and our living into it in context, our resulting attitude can be like that of the author of today’s Psalm 130: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem (Psalm 130:5-7)”.
- Marty Zlatic
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