From Many Exhortations to Joy (A Homily for Gaudete Sunday)

  

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Philippians 4:4-7

Luke 3:7-18

The Prophecy of Zephaniah begins with a message of horrific judgment upon the surrounding nations of God’s people. In Zephaniah chapter one, the Lord declares:

I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,”I will sweep away both man and beast;I will sweep away the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.
The great day of the Lord is near—near and coming quickly.
....
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—a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.

In the following chapter, chapter two, Zephaniah then tells the people of God to watch and listen carefully to these judgments of God pronounced upon the surrounding nations. He tells the people of God to be humble and to keep seeking the Lord, searching out those things which He has commanded them to do. Zephaniah warns them to seek justice with humility in order to receive shelter on the day when the Lord comes to judge the nations (2:3).

After these instructions to Israel, Zephaniah's message becomes more specific about every thing—more specific  about which nations would receive the Lord's judgment and why they would be judged. We see that God's holy fury is against the wicked nations surrounding His people.

Our attention is first directed to the land of the Philistines with a description of God coming to visit them in his wrath, laying waste to their major cities with their temples and all their false gods (2:4-5):

Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted! Woe to you who live by the sea, you Kerethite people!The word of the Lord is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines!
I will destroy you, and none will be left.

Next, the Lord moves on to other surrounding nations of Israel, to the Moabites and Ammonites, who insult God and His people, boast in the power of their own idols, and threaten to conquer Israel's God, bringing them all under their rule (2:8-11). To that the Lord responds, saying:

I have heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made threats against their land.Therefore, as surely as I live, surely Moab will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a wasteland forever.

The idea, again, is to emphasize their complete destruction as a powerful civilization and nation that had become morally bankrupt.

After this the Lord moves on to the people of Cush and their soon-coming destruction as a nation. Then He moves on to the Assyrian empire, because they were a people who reveled in their safety, making claims about their uniqueness and greatness as an empire. Assyria says to herself, “I am the One! And there is no one besides me!” (2:15) Does that sound like any nation you know of?

This is interesting, and dare I say, damning, because the Lord is truly the one Sovereign and only One. There truly is no Sovereign one beside Him who can compete with Him or defeat Him. Nevertheless, Assyria had grown in its imperial might, wealth, and prestige to the point of thinking so highly of itself, that they considered themselves uniquely mighty. They alone, supposedly, were great. So the Lord declares to them:

I will stretch out My hand against the north and destroy Assyria, leaving Nineveh utterly desolate and dry as the desert.

Flocks and herds will lie down there, creatures of every kind.

The desert owl and the screech owl will roost on her columns.

Their hooting will echo through the windows, rubble will fill the doorways, the beams of cedar will be exposed.

This is the city of revelry that lived in safety.

…What a ruin she has become, a lair for wild beasts!

The feeling that God’s people are supposed to have regarding all of these judgments is fear and awe. Alongside this there is supposed to be a sense of respect for what God promised to do to those wicked nations. From this it's clear that God has never been ignorant or indifferent about evil in the world. God sees how nations and people treat each other. God knows their entertainments, their idols, their indifference to His truth, their boasting against Him, and their persecution of His people. The Lord knew that the Assyrians, the Moabites, and Philistines were a people who would not humble themselves before Him and obey His commands, worshiping Him alone in His holy temple. They would not seek God on a path of humility with the meek and lowly. They were proud of being high and mighty. They would not seek God on a path of justice with the poor and outcasts of society. Instead they paved their own way to success by plundering their neighbors. That is why, on that “Day of the Lord” spoken in the first chapter of Zephaniah, the Lord promised to come and visit those nations and clear a path of holiness for Himself to walk on. If the nations would remain stubborn and rebellious, set on paving their own ways of evil and destruction, the Lord would come and bring destruction upon their cities and all of their evil ways. And it would be terrifying. When we look back at the history of these ancient nations, after the time of Zephaniah, we can see their complete and utter destruction as spoken through the Prophets, and it's not a pretty picture. The Lord most certainly did bring their evil and destructive ways to ruin.

So far, the word of the Lord through Zephaniah is powerful and dreadful. It's a message which, if we were the people to whom the Lord spoke these words, we too ought to be fearful. This is important to keep in mind because it is in light of this dreadful message that we find our lectionary reading for today (3:14-20). Intriguingly, that reading is not about dreadful judgment, but rather, is about rejoicing. However, before we get to the part about rejoicing, we need to remember carefully what the Lord had said to His own people back in chapter two. Recall that brief warning I cited earlier in passing (2:3). Speaking to the people of Jerusalem, Zephaniah said: 

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands.Seek justice. Seek humility.
Then you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.

The reason why I'm stressing that particular warning to God's people is because of what comes next in Zephaniah's prophecy. In order to appreciate the message of great joy pronounced to God’s people, we need to empathize with those people who were willing to seek God with humility.

After denouncing Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Cush, and Assyria, and just before God's people hear the great news of salvation and rejoicing, Zephaniah cries out one more time this way:

Woe to the city of oppressors! The rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one! She accepts no correction!She does not trust the Lord!She does not draw near to her God! Her officials within her are roaring lions!Her rulers are evening wolves who leave nothing for the morning!Her prophets are unprincipled! They are treacherous people!Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the Law! The Lord within her is just.He does no wrong.Morning by morning He dispenses His justice.Every new day he does not fail, yet the unjust know no shame.

For those who are new to the book of Zephaniah and his message, you might be thinking that this message is not surprising at all. It sounds like the same message of justice and judgment, re-hashing the same old news to the surrounding nations. But it's not.

When we look closely at this message, this is the climax of Zephaniah's entire message, and it's not at all directed at the surrounding nations of Israel. It is a message directed at Israel. It's about the people of Jerusalem. When the prophet cries out, "Woe to the city of oppressors! The rebellious and defiled!", that is a woe to the people of God's land. When the Lord describes them as accepting no correction, of having civil rulers who strip their people of sustenance, leaving them in poverty, that's a description of civil rulers in Israel. And when God condemns the people who lie and deceive and use perverse speech to promote greater injustice, God is condemning people who carry His name among them. 

This is not a light matter. The people of God were addressed at the climax of Zephaniah’s message because they were the most peculiar people in the world at that time. They were a peculiar people chosen out of all nations by God, and set apart to be like God—to be Godly. But here, at the climax of Zephaniah’s message, we see that they have become just as ungodly as their surrounding nations.

The Lord continues speaking through Zephaniah, saying:

Of Jerusalem I thought, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept My correction!’ Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my punishments come upon her.

But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did.

Therefore wait for me, for the day I will stand up to testify.

I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms

and to pour out my wrath on them—all my fierce anger.

The whole land will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.

On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from you your arrogant boasters.

Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill. But I will leave within you the meek and humble.

The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the Lord.

They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies.

A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths.

The Lord is coming, Zephaniah says. He is coming to visit the nations surrounding Israel, but He is also coming to visit the city where His name dwells, the city of Jerusalem where both His people and his own house reside. And when he comes, Zephaniah says, the fire of His jealous anger comes with him, consuming “the whole land” because the whole land of Israel had become accustomed to their own defilements, approving of their own evil desires, just like their surrounding nations. A terribly jealous fire comes with the Lord's visitation, but here at the end of Zephaniah’s message we learn that His visitation of fire does much more than destroy cities and their buildings. Above all the things which the fire of God brings, most importantly it brings purification.

When the Lord comes to visit His people, the lips of His people are cleansed so that they can call upon Him with thankfulness, serving Him without defiled offerings of speech (3:9-11). The Lord says to them, You will not be put to shame (v. 11). I will leave within you the meek and humble (v. 12). They will do no wrong. They will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths (v. 13).

Notice carefully that when the Lord gathers the nations together for judgment, He has no intention of destroying His own people in their midst. His judgment included the land of Israel and the people of Israel, but the remnant of His people were purified by His visitation. So in that “Day of the Lord” which Zephaniah spoke about (that day when the people of Jerusalem saw their own city and temple brought to ruin by the Babylonian armies, and the subsequent deportation into Babylonian captivity), that was not the destruction of God's people. That was the destruction of all their idols and entertainments, basically the entire world as they knew it, but it wasn't the destruction of God's people. God was destroying all the vain confidence they had in themselves, and their arrogant boasting like the nations around them. God was destroying their love for lies, and their deceitful tongues, promoting gross injustices and treachery toward their neighbor.

It is in that context in mind that we finally reach our reading for today. It is in the context of God visiting His people to change the way we live our lives—to think and live Godly again—that Zephaniah proclaimed God's good news:

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! On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:“Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will direct you by his love; He will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the appointed time, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors.And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and 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”

When God comes, He comes to clean His house, but the purpose of cleaning house is because He wants to live there. And if His people are going to dwell in his house, they need to be holy and pure even as He is holy and pure. 

Notice carefully that this message is virtually the same as what we find in our gospel and epistle readings for today. In our gospel reading, John the Baptist is approached by the rulers of Israel in his day. And he message is very much like Zephaniah’s. He scolds them for their corruption and vain confidence. You vipers!, he says. Who warned you to flee from God's wrath that's about to fall upon this generation? The axe is already laid to the root of the tree, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Don't say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' so God won't come and cut us down like he does with the surrounding nations.

That was the message of John the Baptist. It was a message of God coming to judge Israel as an idolatrous nation that boasted like all the other surrounding idolatrous nations.  

The crowds then asked John the Baptist, “What then shall we do?”He answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

John's message was about God coming to purify a remnant of people for Himself, and a bunch of people understood that. Notice carefully that when some of the people asked John what to do, he told them what to do. John didn’t say ‘There’s nothing you can do! Just sit back, do nothing, and let God do His thing.” Not only does John not say that, but he says the very opposite of that. It is precisely because God was coming to visit His people that he told them to prepare to meet Him. In preparation for that meeting, he tells them to purify the way they've been speaking, and thinking, and behaving with their neighbors, in their homes, and in their workplace. To the one he says, in essence, help others in need with the abundance of good things that God gives you. If you have two tunics in your closet or enough food for a buffet at dinnertime, don't covet what you have. If one of your neighbors is in need of a tunic (and there definitely is at least one), give one of your tunics to him, and invite his family over for dinner too. 

To you, the tax collector, John says not to collect more in taxes just because you have the power to do so. Don't ever capitalize by an injustice to your neighbor. Even if it’s legal. Even if it’s “safe.” Even if you could move up the corporate ladder by just taking a tiny advantage of your neighbor, don’t do it. Resist that temptation. Don't encourage or advance business policies which exploit the poor and needy.

Even soldiers—military and police men of the region—came to John asking what to do, and notice carefully again that John didn't tell them to stop protecting the peace of the city. He doesn't advocate that they quit their jobs or throw away their weapons. Instead, he tells them to stop their abuse, and the cover-up of their scandalous abuses. He tells them to stop their threats and false accusations, their extortions and discontent. He tells them a message which many people in our American police force need to hear. 

John is directing the people, telling them to turn to God and His ways for purification. He's telling them to seek God's ways of humility and justice, because God was coming to pay a visit. One mightier than him was coming, the strap of whose sandals he was not worthy to untie; and that One comes with a winnowing fork in his hand, to clear the threshing floor of Israel, and to gather the wheat into his barn, leaving the chaff for burning.

Does that sound like good news to you? Do these messages of God, through John or Zephaniah, sound like the gospel of our Lord? Does all of this talk about justice and purification sound like a gospel which helps our hearts rejoice? Our answer might be 'No', but it should be 'Yes'! At least that's what Luke tells us. Luke tells us that this message of purification was essential to the gospel. In verse eighteen of our gospel reading today, Luke says this:

So with many other exhortations John preached the gospel to the people.

God's gospel is, first and foremost, a dreadful message of purification. When we hear about God coming in these terrifying ways, we cringe, as we should. God's good news is that He cares so much about this world we live in, and the sins we persist in, that He doesn't leave us alone in our sin. He comes to change us. He comes to purify nations and cities, villages and towns, neighborhoods and homes, parents and children. He comes to lay an axe to the root of our pride and arrogance. He comes with a winnowing fork in his hand to gather up our heaps of lies, threats, and false accusations, to destroy them. He comes to purify our abusive speech, evil schemes, and unholy discontent. He comes to clean house so that he can dwell with us, in our midst again.

Take a few moments to reflect upon this idea of God dwelling with us. Ask yourselves: When I look around at my surrounding neighborhood and city, does it look like a city filled with people who God wants to dwell with?

Look at the police force in this city, or the military personnel stationed around our state, and ask yourself, Are these people who God wants to dwell with?

Look at the politicians of your city and ask, Are they people who God wants to dwell with?

Last, but not least of importance, look at the people you work with, or those who are just friendly acquaintances here around you in this city. Take a good look at the way they speak, and how they discuss the treatment of others. What are their views about people of color? What do they say about refugees? Is their speech unjust or arrogant? Is their view of our nation like that of Israel or Assyria, that "we" are special descendants of Providence, that “we” are "the one" and there is no other like us? That “we” must not tolerate "them" or that they must become one of us?

Does God want to dwell with people like that? 

Again, our instinctive answer might be 'No', but that kind of answer tells us more about how much purification we need as His people. Our answer should be an emphatic 'Yes' because our God comes into the midst of this messed up world as the One and only, the Almighty One who can save us from the mess we create. Like we saw earlier in Zephaniah, God has no interest in destroying us. Instead he wants to clean up this messed up world. That's why he came in Zephaniah's day, that's why He came in John's day, and that's why the Lord continues visiting His Church throughout all nations today.

When we consider how messy this world is, and how our own lives contribute to that mess, don’t let that become an opportunity of despair for you. Rather, let your conviction of that truth become an occasion to rejoice in the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is an occasion to rejoice because it means that God is coming to dwell among you and in you. Even for those of us who are like the soldiers and tax collectors in John's day, earnestly questioning what it is that we must do to prepare for God to enter our homes and our lives, this is still good news because in our readings for today we are told what to do. We are not left wandering around in despair. We ought to seek the Lord and His ways with humility. We ought to put away the foolish and wicked ways of the world, and instead put on Christ. We know that when God comes into our homes, and into our lives, He comes to clean us up. He cleans us up, not so he can kick us out and boast in his might, but so he can rejoice over us with gladness, direct us by his love, and change our shame into praise (Zeph 3:14-20). 

When you look at the messiness of life, do not despair. 

Turn to God and rejoice in Him always. 
The Lord is very near. So Again I say, rejoice! 

In baptism, our shame has been washed away. 

When we confess our sins together, we are welcome to draw near to Him at His Table, to eat a meal with that One who alone is mighty to save the world. 

Let that joy be known to everyone. 

With great thanksgiving, direct your prayers to God. 

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

* * * * * * *

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us, and because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.

Epiphany Meditation: Isaiah 60:1-7

Ephiphany is a season of light, as reflected in a standard liturgical reading this day from Isaiah 60:1-7. As a season of light, it manifests that light that is seen in Jesus Christ. But the message surrounding and leading up to Isaiah 60 teaches us so much more. It teaches us what the righteousness of that light looks like and the tremendous privilege we have to worship that light, and be in that light, and to rejoice is having that light dwell in us, shining so bright that it glorifies our Father in heaven. 

In Isaiah 58:3, the people of God have a complaint against Yahweh, and this sets up the background for appreciating the message of chapter 60. They ask, "Why have we fasted and don't see it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you take no knowledge of it?" There are good reasons for Israel's concern. Threats of invading enemies and political alliances are against them, and Yahweh doesn't seem to care. Israel seeks Yahweh in prayer daily, awaiting His response. They profess with their lips that they "delight to know the ways" of Yahweh. They even ask for righteous judgments upon their enemies. And if that wasn't enough evidence, Israel is even said to have a posture of worship that "delights in drawing near" to Yahweh in sacrificial gifts to prove their faithfulness to Him (Isa. 58:2). Israel has a complaint against Yahweh because Yahweh is not responding to their cries or delivering them from their oppressors. They plead with God for deliverance, humbling themselves before Him in desperation. And to some degree He hears them too, but his perspective is quite different from theirs. 

Yahweh says they do all of these righteous deeds--all these prayers, petitions, fasts, and sacrifices--"as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God." (Isa. 58:2). While they humbled themselves before Yahweh in prayer, petitioning Him with righteous requests for His judgments upon their wicked oppressors, they themselves are oppressing their own workers (58:3). They fast so their voice could be heard on high, and they even prostrate themselves, spreading sackcloth and ashes under themselves (58:4-5). But this is not the type of fasting Yahweh wants from His people:

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Isa. 58:6-7)

The people are truly in distress, and they truly want Yahweh to deliver them from their oppressors. This is why they fast. This is why they cry unto Him. But the kind of fasting Yahweh wants from them is to loosen the shackles of oppression, let their own oppressed servants go free, feed the hungry with their own bread (not the bread which others work for), bring the homeless into their own home (not sending them off somewhere else), and clothing the destitute who are naked. When Israel does that, Yahweh says their light will shine forth like the dawn, and He will bring healing upon them speedily (58:8). 

Israel's enemies would often intimidate them by pointing out that Yahweh cannot save. If He could, He would, or so they thought. After all, His people were diligent in sacrifices and prayer according to Yahweh's own word. But He must not be able to save because He is not saving. His hand must be too short or his ear too dull that He cannot save them when they need Him most (59:1) That's Israel's perspective when things are looking dark and gloomy (59:9). 

The problem with thinking this way is that Yahweh is not weak at all. If he wanted to rescue them from oppressors, his arm is long enough to do that. Yahweh ears are not dull either. He hears every cry, but their iniquities have ruptured His relationship with them. Their sins have hidden Yahweh's face from them so that He does not hear (59:2). Their "hands are defiled with blood" too (59:3), but the blood they have shed is not from murdering others. It's the blood shed by unjustly suing others, going to law against their neighbor for dishonest gain, relying on empty pleas and slanderous lies in their favor, and conceiving mischief which, in turn, gives birth for further iniquity (59:3-4). Their courts are thoroughly corrupt, not just the judges sitting on the bench. The way of peace is not truly known by the people, and there is no justice in the path they have chosen to walk. They think they're pursuing peace. They think they're faithfully active in social justice. But they have made their roads crooked, and therefore "no one who treads on them knows peace" (59:8). Justice is inverted, righteousness stands far away in the distance, truth stumbles in the public squares, uprightness isn't even allowed to enter the gates of the city, and those who flee from evil make themselves a prey (59:14-15). Yahweh saw all of this, and it displeased Him that there was no justice to be found in the land, and no man willing to intercede on behalf of the oppressed (59:15-16a).

Then we find these amazing words of Isaiah's gospel:

...then His own arm brought him salvation, and His righteousness upheld him. 

He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head.

He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. 

According to their deeds, so will He repay, wrath to His adversaries, repayment to His enemies; to the coastlands He will render repayment. 

So they shall fear the name of the Yahweh from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun, for He will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Yahweh drives. 

“And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.  “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.” 

Yahweh's gospel is to those in Zion, where He dwelt in the midst of His people. And the gospel message to those in Zion was that even though Yahweh had justly left Israel to suffer from their own wicked devices for a time, Yahweh would not abandon Zion entirely. He would return and deliver "those in Jacob who turn from transgression." He would even come like a rushing stream, driven by the wind of His spirit, to redeem them. This would be for the purpose of having His name feared and His glory shown from east to west. This would be accomplished by the Word and work of His Spirit. He would place His Spirit upon them and put His words in their mouth, and in their children's mouth, forever, so they would glorify Him. At the time of Isaiah's prophecy, Zion was suffering under darkness and gloom because of their sins, but Yahweh promised to come and be their light. By coming and being their light, He would place His Spirit upon them so His light would shine through them. This is the good news for the nations in Isaiah's prophecy. This is the message of Epiphany. This is the background that sets up the message of Isaiah 60:1-7:

Arise! Shine! For your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you!

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you and His glory will be seen upon you!

And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Lift up your eyes all around and see: They all gather together, they come to you.

Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. 

Then you shall see and be radiant.

Your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you.

The wealth of the nations shall come to you.

A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah.

All those of Sheba shall come. 

They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of Yahweh.

All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you. The rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you.

They shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will beautify My beautiful house.

When Yahweh comes to redeem His people, He sends His Spirit to illumine their darkness, and they become objects of His shining glory as a result. When they turn away from transgression, the glory of Yahweh returns to his house and His glory shines through their worship. When they turn from their own greed and selfishness, feeding the poor with bread of their own, His light shines through their good deeds. When they clothe the naked with their own clothes and shelter the homeless in their own homes, then the light of Yahweh is seen in them. When their hands stop shedding blood through lying, slander, injustice, and dishonest gain, then the nations will be attracted to their light, precisely because it is Yahweh's light that illumines them. 

As I said in the beginning, Isaiah 60 gives us a glimpse as to the kind of glorious light we walk in, the kind of light that Israel eventually saw in Jesus the Messiah. That Light is worthy to receive "the wealth of nations" from all over--from the far south-eastern lands of Midian, Ephah, and Sheba with their gifts of gold and frankincense (Matt. 2:1-2, 9-11), and from the local pastures of Kedar and Nebaioth with the shepherds and their flocks (Luke 2:8-20). That Light is worthy to receive our worship. That light is the true light which gives light to everyone (John 1:9). Whoever does what is true comes to that Light, so that it may be clearly seen that their works have been carried out in God (John 3:21). In that Gospel, the gospel lived in and through the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining (I John 2:8).

Yahweh's Chosen Servant: Matt. 12:15-21 (section D3)

Continuing where I left off in this series of Matthew's Gospel, we come now to the final section in the center of the larger narrative structure. This section (Matt. 12:15-21, section D3) reads as follows:

Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
 my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
 I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, 
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
 until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the nations will hope."

As mentioned in an earlier post, chapters 11-12 form one unit, and that unit centers on the theme of rest for the people of God. In chapters 1-4 we learn about the beginnings, birth, and exodus of the Son of God, but at the same time we learn that Jesus is really fulfilling the beginnings, birth, and exodus of Israel, God's "firstborn son". In chapters 5-7, after passing through the waters of baptism and entering into the wilderness, we find Jesus, as a new and greater Moses, ascending a mountain to give the people of Israel the Law. Afterward, in chapters 8-9, Jesus descends from the mountain to heal the people of Israel as many times as Israel fell in the wilderness (i.e. ten times; cf. Num. 14:22), and in Mosaic fashion we find Israel wandering in that wilderness like "sheep without a shepherd" (9:36; cf. Num. 27:17), whose burdens are carried by a greater Joshua. After that, in chapter 10, we find Jesus, the greater Joshua, commissioning and resting His authority upon 12 apostles, instructing and sending them into the land in preparation for future conquest. Finally, having reached chapters 11-12, Jesus and his disciples travel into the land, pronouncing woe after woe for the inhabitants who hate God, but also promising rest for those who put their trust in Him. It is in the very center of all this that we see the rise of Israel's Servant-King, Jesus.

When we looked at the rest of chapters 11-12 in detail, I pointed out that Jesus travels on the day of rest --the Sabbath-- to the synagogue of the Pharisees who are hostile to the gospel of His kingdom. After being harassed outside their synagogue, we then looked at His entrance into their synagogue, and there we found the Pharisees conspiring to destroy Him because He healed a man on the Sabbath, which was contrary to the traditions that held them in power. After that we arrive to the narrative before us. We arrive at a point when Jesus, aware of his enemies' plot to destroy Him, withdraws from their synagogue. It is at this point when we learn that "many followed Him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make them known." It seems that in context the "many" who followed Jesus came from the synagogue of the Pharisees. In other words, when faced with a choice to follow Jesus (who bears the burdens of Israel) or the Pharisees (who lay heavy burdens on them, Matt. 23:4), many Jews openly choose Jesus over the Pharisees. Like Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue (Matt. 9:18-26; Mk. 5:22; Lk. 8:41), the people within the synagogue of the Pharisees are beginning to recognize that Jesus' yoke is easy, his burden is light, and he's even willing to carry it along with them, whereas the Pharisees weren't willing to carry Israel's burdens at all (Matt. 23:4).

In chapters 11-12 we also find Jesus as a greater David, protecting the borders of Israel and providing rest for those who are perishing from the harassment of God's enemies. But during this time of rest we find out for the first time in Matthew's Gospel that the established rulers of Israel don't want the rest Jesus has to offer; instead they seek to put Him to rest, to harass, trap, and cause Him to perish. However, like we find in the rise of the Davidic kingdom, opposition to the King doesn't keep the gospel of the kingdom from advancing. That is because Yahweh sent His Son into the world to inherit the world as a kingdom for Himself. He was sent to die for the world so that a new world --a new Israel united to Him-- would resurrect with Him. Yahweh's purpose in sending His Son was to save the world, not to destroy it, and by saving it the increase of His kingdom, power, and glory on earth shall have no end. In this section of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus even receives a taste of what it will be like for the future nations to hope in Him. Even when Jesus withdraws from the synagogue of His enemies, whom we now knows are conspiring to destroy Him (Matt. 12:14), an exodus of many more disciples follows in His train. Instead of opposition from the world diminishing His Kingdom, His enemies bring Him even more attention and popularity.

After this Sabbath exodus Jesus does something else, only this time what he does is not entirely unheard of. This time He orders His new disciples not to make Him known, just as He did earlier with the two blind men who followed Jesus from Jairus' house (Matt. 9:30-31). But why do this? Why not tell all of Israel that their King has come, and that the increase of His kingdom shall have no end? (After all, Jesus is King whether the rulers of the land like Him or not.) 

The answer to this has something to do with Matthew's reference to Isaiah 42:1-4, and the fact that, as the King, He is on a mission to bring justice and victory to the nations. Because it would be in His name that the nations of the world would hope, He did not come to contend his regal authority. Instead He came to assert His regal authority by modeling what truly Godly authority looks like. He came as the King to save the perishing sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 10:6; 15:24), but He didn't come quarreling and making all kinds of commotion in the streets, as Isaiah says. He came to model faithful and compassionate service to the house of Israel (Matt. 9:36). For those Israelites who might have expected His voice to be heard in the streets like they did with John the Baptist, the message of Isaiah as quoted describes the character of His ministry well. He didn't come, bearing the burdens of Israel, healing withered hearts and hands as a form of self-aggrandizement. He came to take Israel's illnesses and diseases and carry them upon Himself because the people were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, no longer being able to bear the weight of the burden placed upon them by the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 8:17; 9:36).

When the Pharisees opposed Jesus, attempting to trap and destroy Him, Jesus also doesn't fight back the way we might expect Him to. Instead we find a humble Servant who is willing to lay down His life for His sheep. We find a gentle Servant who won't even break a bruised reed in His way (Matt. 11:29). Even at the point when the Pharisees fan the flame of controversy in their synagogue, Jesus makes no attempt to quench that flame either. Instead we find Jesus withdrawing from there, letting the fires which they started continue to smolder. This is because Jesus knows what the Father has in store for Him. He knows the great commission which His heavenly Father has sent Him to perform. Yahweh's Spirit is upon Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations --the justice of reconciling the world to God-- until He brings justice to victory; and in His name the nations will hope. 

Prayer that shapes us

Let’s face it. People pray most often when they either want something from God or when their ritualistic family traditions kick in—like praying before a meal. The way they often pray is also predictable. They express their thanks to God for nice weather, good food, and friends to enjoy it with, and they ask God to bless them with more good things to enjoy, amen. This isn’t automatically a bad thing, nor should it be discouraged. But how and why someone prays is indicative of some thing, and therefore that thing, if it is not good, will need some healthy changes. Let me explain some ways in which these indicators can become more obvious to us.

For the Christian, prayer is not merely a ritual. It is a way of life. It is a tradition that shapes our life, molding the way we think and behave into godliness, working in us to show a greater family resemblance with our Heavenly Father. When the Christian prays for nice weather, good food, and friends to enjoy it with, he (or she) should be doing it as heartfelt communion with and love for their Heavenly Father, who cares about why they enjoy it. It should not be prayer for the sake of prayer, any more than it  should be ritual for the sake of ritual. But often times it is. This is because a life of prayer is unavoidably ritualistic, and some people don't incorporate an appreciation of what God cares about into their daily rituals. Whether they reflect self-consciously upon God's feelings or not, their rituals are shaping their life. Their rituals are shaping their complacency. Their prayer-life is shaping their dependence upon self and their dependence upon God.

Proverbs 28:6-9 speaks a little about this way in God shapes our life, even through prayer: 

A)  Better is a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man who twists two paths together
  B)  The one who keeps the Law is a discerning son, 
    C)  but a companion of gluttons shames his father.
A')  Whoever augments his wealth by profiteering and exacting interest gathers it up for him who has pity on the poor
   B')  The one who turns away his ear from hearing the Law, 
      C')  even his prayer is completely detestable.

When it says that “Better is a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man who twists two paths together,” the comparison is between those who are financially poor and those who are wealthy, and Wisdom says one path is better for both of them; and that path is the way of integrity, the way of keeping God's instructions. Only a fool would earnestly desire to become completely impoverished, choosing to sleep on wet sidewalks and beg for crumbs out of dumpsters, especially when given plenty of opportunities to gain an honest amount of wealth through productive labor instead. Therefore the wisdom of this proverb takes for granted that kind of foolishness in order to focus upon what is better for both, whether one is, incidentally, the poorest of beggars or richest of merchants. If the poor man is better for walking with integrity, how much better would a rich man be if he too walked with integrity, keeping God's laws in all of his business? This proverb, therefore, is contrasting more than just a lifestyle of poverty with a lifestyle of riches. It’s contrasting lifestyles which attempt to have fellowship with God. One lifestyle walks self-consciously with integrity in God’s sight, and one does not. One desires to twist two paths together, a path of blessing and wealth with a path of profiteering and usury. One desires to keep God’s instructions, while the other does not.

The parallel between keeping God’s instructions and walking with integrity is even more obvious from the proverbs that follow. The very next proverb refers to a glutton and the fact that such a sinfully selfish disposition is a shame to one’s father, but “the one who keeps the Law is a discerning son” (v. 7). From this we learn that the ritual formality of law-keeping cannot merely be a checklist of commandments to obey or ignore. Rather, it’s a way of thinking about God’s involvement in your life, and His desire for your relationship with Him to be evident in the sight of others who, like you, are also made in God’s image. Otherwise, why would the proverb contrast shaming a father with being a discerning son, or gluttony with law-keeping? It seems that the author of this proverb considered the two parallel illustrations as one unified concept. 

Understanding how to be a son who honors his father comes from learning how to keep the Law as our Heavenly Father intended it to be kept. By learning our Heavenly Father’s Law, we learn how to be a gloriously discerning son—a son who understands the glory of God manifested in honoring one's father. The son who dishonors his father is the glutton. The glutton is the one whose desires are focused upon satisfying the self far more than others. The gluttonous son shames his father because the son’s desire is not to glorify and honor his father; the glutton's desire is to glorify and honor himself, plundering others—even his own father—to fill his own coffers. If the son’s desire were to honor and glorify his father, he would be self-sacrificial and other-oriented in his lifestyle. This is what God’s Law endorses; gluttony is not. 

Since gluttony and plundering the goods of others is not what God’s Law endorses as a way of life, how do you suppose one of those lifestyles would impact one’s prayers? Do you suppose that a life like that—a life of disobedience or neglect of obedience to God—filled with an abundance of traditional prayers at dinner time, is going to please God? The next two verses give us the answer.

Whoever augments his wealth by profiteering and exacting interest gathers it up for him who has pity on the poor. The one who turns away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer is completely detestable.

If a Christian multiplies his wealth in a gluttonous manner, that will not keep God from exacting justice for the poor. God will ensure that such sinful deeds  ultimately accumulate toward the greater good of the oppressed. Because gluttonous gain does not honor God, God promises that He will give that wealth to another who will be generous to the poor. The glutton's sinful gain will become the reward of those who pity the poor. God will judge between those who plunder and those who are plundered. 

This revelation of God's character leads us to the sobering reality that even if a Christian were to pray for greater blessings, greater wealth, greater prosperity—as people often do—God promises to shape our lives through such prayers. If they honor their Heavenly Father by hearing and praying according to His Law, those prayers will please Him. But if they turn their ear away from hearing His Law, even their prayers will be detestable in His sight. Either way, God shapes their life through prayer. For many people, a God like this, who detests all haters of His Law but yet allows plundering of others to exist, might seem capricious and ungracious. But for those who take God's holy character seriously, and consider His revelation of wisdom greater than their own, they know that He knows what is best for all men, and they trust in Him when  He speaks to them. They even trust in what He has to say about their prayer life because they want Him to be the one who shapes them through it. They know God's not capricious. They know God is very reliable. That's why they don't want to turn their ears away from hearing His infinitely wise Law--because God has revealed himself as their Father therein, a Father is who is first and foremost merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6). They don't want to turn their ears away from hearing His instructions because in doing so, even their prayers are detestable to His ears.

If you have concerns about your prayer life, and you want to know if some healthy changes need to be made to your prayer life, let me encourage you to consider the following exercise and apply these questions to your own prayers from this past week (or month):

Within the past week (or month) did you ask God to bless you (e.g. your food, your time with friends, your job, etc.)? If so, why did you ask for that? What was your motive in desiring his blessing? Did you ask because you always ask for that at prayer-time? Did you put much thought into that request? Did you consider what pleased God before you asked Him for a blessing? 

What about your thankfulness too? Did you thank God in prayer for certain things this week? What were they and why did you thank Him for those specific things? Did you thank Him merely because that’s the ritual you often perform at prayer time? Did you thank Him because without thanking Him you would feel awkward (or selfish) while asking Him for stuff afterward? At any time did you thank Him because His provision helped you serve Him more faithfully? At any time did you thank God for His provision because it helped you glorify Him as you provided for others in need? 

And what about unanswered prayers? Have any of your prayers recently seemed to be unheard by God? At any time did you thank Him for answering prayer by not giving you what you initially wanted? Or have you been presuming that God wants what you want?

As I mentioned at the beginning, the way in which people pray is indicative of some thing, either good or bad, and if that thing is not good, some healthy changes to one's prayer life are unquestionably in order. Thankfully, in Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church, we catch a glimpse of what some healthy habits of change ought to look like. In Philippians 4:6-9 Paul writes: 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

For Paul, prayers and supplications to God are supposed to dwell upon certain things, and by dwelling on certain things and then offering them back up to God in prayers and supplications, our lives are shaped into a vessel fit for his honor and glory. For us to be molded into glorious vessels, we must learn pray in a way that is lawful; and for it to be lawful it has to be thoughtful; and for it to be thoughtful it has to be conditioned through a focus upon what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, and worthy of praise. Thankfully Scripture is replete with examples of such God-honoring lifestyles of prayer. Paul prayed three times for the Lord to remove a "thorn in his flesh," and he stopped praying for it's removal once he realized the Lord wanted that thorn to remain in order to keep him from exalting himself (II Cor. 12:7-10). Likewise, in Luke 18, Jesus tells a series of parables about prayer, and among them we find a tax collector who humbles himself, and even beats his breast praying, "God be propitious to me, a sinner." Because of his humility, the Lord hears and exalts him (Luke 18:9-14). 

We also find a widow who won't stop petitioning her judge for justice (Luke 18:1-8), and so the judge answers her because of her persistence; and that persistence is likened unto the "elect who cry to God day and night." Such likening with the prayers of the elect is appropriate because it reminds us that God is a judge who listens to our cries because He cares about justice. According to James, God cares about justice so much that when brethren confess their sins toward one another and pray for one another, He brings healing (James 5:16). Have you ever felt miserable because your prayers weren't being answered by God? When was the last time you confessed your sinful, damaging attitude about your brother to your brother? When was the last time you confessed your sins of dishonoring your wife to your wife? In first Peter 3:7, the apostle Peter says that if a husband doesn't dwell with his wife in an understanding way, giving her the honor she deserves, then his prayers will be hindered and God will not hear. And if God does not hear, the husband ought to fear.

The wise life of prayer takes all of this to heart, giving it to our God and Father because, like Paul's example, it is teachable and submissive to the will of the Lord, even when it's not exalted. The wise life of prayer is also persistent like the widow seeking justice, and also confessional, not only with God, but toward their neighbor as well, which openly demonstrates trust in a judge who hates the injustice of sin but is compassionate enough to forgive all those who walk with integrity, keeping His Law. The wise life of prayer is what brings true peace of mind, the kind of peace which the gluttonous heart cannot discern, the kind of peace which surpasses all worldly comprehension. The wise life of prayer is, ultimately, Father-honoring prayer. When wise Christians express their thankfulness to God for the mundane—the nice weather, good food, and friends to enjoy it with—they ask for God's blessing so that they will honor their Heavenly Father. When they pray to enjoy His honor, He remembers and honors their prayers. Amen.