We continue our sermon series Elpis, which is
a Greek word for hope, finding hope in Advent.
And we find ourselves in a familiar place now,
this third week of Advent, in the book of Zephaniah.
If you remember in this past year, we were in
a sermon series where we covered the entirety
of that minor... prophet Zephaniah or Zephi as
I called him then and will call him today where
Zephaniah brings us a surprise this morning and
again only the Holy Spirit can tie this all together
having us sing for the offertory hark the herald
angels sing that is the surprise that Zephaniah
brings us into Because if you read the book of
Zephaniah, and if you do it this afternoon, it
may take you through halftime of the Bears game,
right? Hopefully in a positive way as you lead
into that. But by halftime, you should be done
with it. It's a small book. But singing... Is
that surprise? Zephaniah brings a judgment. He
brings warning. He talks about justice. Zephaniah,
as we talked about, it's almost like a little
mini book of Revelation there, that gem in the
minor prophets of the Old Testament, a world
shaken because of sin. But like the dawn breaking
through that last hour of night, Zephaniah ends
with an unexpected sound. He ends with singing.
A beautiful kind of understanding, regardless
of how well you can sing or you think you can
sing. Again, it's a joyful noise to the Lord.
And that is where Zephaniah is going to bring
us. And I think it's appropriate today that that's
what the sermon, in a lot of ways, is going to
be done through our kids. They're going to sing
the sermon over us, along with their different
speaking parts. Because the thing that we need
to understand this morning, as we've looked at
this understanding of hope for the last couple
weeks, is that God is a God who restores. And
when something needs restoration, that usually
means something's been broken down, in need of
fixing. I know we have some people that have
restored cars or other pieces of machinery in
their life, and it's because a change is needed.
What Zephaniah is telling the people and us today
is when we are broken down, when as a people
we are wrought with sin or judgment, that restoration
is needed. And that's where we find the hope
that the Messiah isn't going to just refine us,
as we talked about last week. He's also going
to restore us. And that's where hope is important.
Hope is not only something God gives. But hope
is something that God sings over his people.
And today our kids are going to do that. So let's
jump in to Zephaniah chapter 3. We're going to
be first in verses 14 and 15. And I entitled
this section, Hope from the Past. God restores
the remnant. To me, one of the most important
words in all of scripture is that word remnant.
We're not going to dive into it too much today,
but go back to the sermon series on Zephaniah.
We talk about it a lot, starting with verse 14.
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O Israel.
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter
of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away the judgments
against you. He has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst.
You shall never again fear evil. I love how Zephaniah
starts that. Sing aloud and rejoice. The Lord
has taken away the judgments against you. When
are some times, and if you're new to Munster
Church, I do like to engage a little bit. We
ask questions, get some responses. I never know
what you guys are going to say. I don't plant
people to answer certain ways. But when in times
do we sing in life? When are just some times
in your life, you know, in a normal day to day,
when do you find yourself singing? Let's just
get the shower and in the car out of there, right?
Like we do that, that's totally fine. We don't
need to talk about that. It has nothing to do
with my sermon, okay? But what else do we do?
Happy birthday, absolutely, happy birthday. Whether
perfect harmonies or absolutely tone deaf, we
sing it and we love it, right? When else do we
sing? Wow, we need to sing more as a church then,
right? If it's just happy birthday, wow. When?
Weddings and funerals. Well, that took a turn.
Okay, very good. Yeah, so weddings. Yeah, invite
Mike to your wedding if you want someone to sing,
right? The rest of you might not, but he will.
So that's exciting. We sing weddings. We do sing,
right, worship services or funeral services.
Absolutely. What else do we sing? Yeah. Along
with the radio, absolutely, yeah, or at least
we try, right? We sing our songs, all of that.
I'm at an age now where my boys don't appreciate
that when I sing in the car. They wish I didn't,
but I will still do it and just give them AirPods
or headphones. What else do we sing? What? Sports
events, we all know that hopefully in about four
and a half, five hours, we're all going to sing
Bear Down, Chicago Bears, right? Okay, wow. Wake
up, all right? Gosh. So sports events, definitely,
right? Definitely. IU fans, definitely singing
the IU fight song as of late. No one cares. But
understand, when else do we sing in life? I heard
pregnant. No, I don't think that's it. Christmas.
I heard prison. Let's just move on. God says,
and he sings over us, whether you're in prison
or pregnant, I have removed your shame. I have
taken away your enemies. I am in your midst.
And that... That intentionality is something
we should sing about because we sing normally
when we're happy. We sing normally when things
are going well. That was a huge thing back when
Zephaniah was prophesying and in the days of
Elijah, in the days of Jesus, that that was a
big thing when the nations... conquered other
people. They sang when they were in seasons of
feast. They sang a lot of music and everything
was huge. This is covenant language. A God staying
faithful, even when his people were not faithful
to him, is something worth singing. Now, I don't
know anybody that sings. Lord's Day one of the
Heidelberg Catechism. That'd be great if someone
could make a song on that. I'd sing it. But I
belong, right? It says, I belong body and soul
to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. I don't
know about you, but that's worthy of note. That's
more important than any of the other reasons
we sing, is that we belong to Christ. So past
hope, what Zephaniah is getting us to understand
is, and singing over us, your story, my story,
does not end in judgment. Though we are unfaithful,
it doesn't end in judgment. When we repent, when
we confess and we turn, it ends, our story ends
with mercy. And that is something worth singing
because God sings over us then, God sings over
us now in verse 17. That God sings over you and
me, the Lord your God is in your midst. A mighty
one who will save. He will rejoice over you with
gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will
exalt over you with loud singing. I think another
thing worth singing about in life is that God
is in our midst. Yet we could take that thought,
I could ask ten of you, what do you feel like
knowing that God is in your midst? And I'm sure
it will be a mix of emotions. Some will take
it as relief. Oh, God sees me. He's in the midst
of the junk that I'm into. Some may look at that
with nervousness, like, God's where? God's everywhere?
He knows every nook and cranny. Like, that could
bring some nerves, some anxiety. Or maybe, just
maybe, it's an understanding of how small we
are to how big God is, that God is in our midst.
He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt
over you with singing. I don't know about you,
but this may be one of the most tender verses
in all of Scripture. That not only is God with
his people, but God delights in his people. Because
I don't know about you, I look back at my week
and go, I have done things that I should cry
out like that kid did. Right? That we've done
things that we know God does not delight in.
Yet he makes that way for us to come back to
him. to sit in his presence, to confess our sin.
Why? Because he is faithful and just, will forgive
us our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
He delights in his people. So not only does he
forgive your sin, my sin, he rejoices over your
restoration. And even those of us, like me, that
have been restored, it seems like on a daily
basis at times. I just can't get it right. I
keep stepping in it. I keep falling in it. Not
only does God lift up my shame, God sings louder
over my shame. That God sings over our shame
when we come to him with true repentance. He
sings over our shame. Right? He renews us. And
that is what God is doing right now. In this
present season of life, when we come to God,
he receives us, he forgives us, and he sings
over us. And as the psalmist writes, he remembers
your sins no more. But maybe you haven't made
it to that point yet. Maybe there's so much anxiety
coming before the God of all that you just can't
get a word out. Then ask him to quiet your anxious
heart, to surround you with his love. He is singing
a melody of hope over your exhaustion, hope over
your disappointments, and hope over your fear,
whatever it is. Present hope means you are not
forgotten, you are not abandoned, nor will you
ever be overlooked by your heavenly father. God
is rejoicing over you. Right now. Even if you
feel yourself that big and not worthy of God's
presence. Here's the thing, friend. You don't
get to dictate God's presence. Thanks be to God.
Hope for the future. That we are a gathered,
healed, rejoicing people. Verse 18. I will gather
those of you who mourn for the festival. so that
you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at
that time I will deal with all your oppressors.
I will save the lame and gather the outcast.
I will change their shame into praise and renown
in all the earth. At that time I will bring you
in. At the time when I gather you together, for
I will make you renowned and praised among all
the peoples of the earth. When I restore your
fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord. Friends,
Zephaniah ends with God's promise for the future.
I will deal with all your oppressors. I will
save the lame. I will gather the outcasts. I
will change their shame into praise. And one
of the coolest promises we get in this life,
I will bring you home. This is the heart of the
gospel, and this is the heart of Advent. God
will always finish what he started, even when
we don't. The Messiah brings a future where grief
becomes gladness, shame becomes honor, scattering
becomes gathering, wounds become healing, and
exile out there. Becomes home. In here. This
is our hope. For the second coming. This is Jesus.
Our hope. Will restore all things. Unto himself.
So I don't know about you. But those are promises
that we can take to the bank, and those are the
promises that we can rejoice over, even in those
sleepless nights, even when that relationship
seems done, even when the future looks super,
super scary. Our hope is in Jesus, who will restore
all things unto himself. Did you ever think about
that? He restores it unto himself. He restores
it to perfection. But guess what? Our present
day can't handle that. Our tomorrow on this earth
can't handle that. But the future hope of glory
is what that's all about. So as we prepare for
part two of the message to be brought by our
Lighthouse program. That they continue to show
us the joy of Advent. Because their joy, and
the kid that's going to sing his first song in
front of everybody. The joy of the fifth graders
who are almost done with Lighthouse. The joy
of the families that have kids represented on
the stage. This is the joy of the Advent season.
Because in Advent we sing. We should sing. It
is right that we sing. But we sing of three things
as I close. We sing because we look back and
we remember his mercy. We sing and we look around
and rest in his singing love over us. And we
sing as we look ahead and rejoice in the restoration
still to come. Because here's my last point.
Because the Messiah hasn't come, come just to
save you. He comes always to restore you. Let's
pray. Lord Jesus, our restoring Messiah, thank
you for your love that's stronger than our shame
and louder than our fears. Thank you for being
in our midst, for calming us, yes, even the anxious
parent today, and singing hope over us as we
walk into this week and into the beauty of the
Christmas season. Restore our hearts. Renew our
joy. And gather us close to yourself. Finish
the work you've begun in us. And make us a people
who rejoice in your salvation. In your strong
and saving name we pray. Amen.