The Coming Lord Gathers Us Home
God's Word from Zephaniah 3:18-20 offers us a better understanding of our King, his kingdom to which we belong, and the blessings that are ours because of it. The Coming Lord Gathers Us Home. December 16, 2009.
The Christmas card read, “Merry Christmas from our home to yours.” It was sent to the address where I live from an address where friends of mine live. “Merry Christmas from our home to yours” could have meant that their house was greeting our house – the walls, ceilings, floors and doors at their address wished to express kinship with the walls, ceilings, floors and doors at my address. But the card was signed by people. A home is more than a house or a building. A home is where people live and grow, dream and struggle, laugh, cry, believe, share.
During Advent we prepare for the coming of our King and envision ourselves as already part of his kingdom. Thoughts of castles and thrones and cries of war may present themselves clearly to people who pray “your kingdom come,” but admittedly they’re as foreign to our way of life as lutefisk or Hanukkah. A more familiar picture in God’s Word today offers us a better understanding of our King, his kingdom to which we belong, and the blessings that are ours because of it. The Coming Lord Gathers Us Home.
The joy of returning home
“The day of the Lord is near” (1:7), Zephaniah emphatically predicted to the people of God in Judah who had cut themselves loose from God’s covenant by turning away from God to worshipping idols and practicing injustice like their pagan neighbors. He described it more specifically as “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” (1:15). But by the third and final chapter of this short Bible book, Zephaniah concludes and turns the page to a promise about another day, “On that day they will say to Jerusalem … ‘The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save’” (3:16,17).
On that first day coming soon – as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow – the Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem and take its people into exile. This foreign captivity would remove the Jews from the highlights of their worship life: the festivals like Passover and the daily and weekly sacrifices offered at the temple. Their worship home would not be replicated during their captivity in Babylon, and one psalm writer would later recall, “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion … How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land” (Psalm 137:1,4).
Yet God didn’t forget about them. “At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you.” On another day some 70 years later he would destroy the Babylonians and the new government would release the Jews to return home. He promises through Zephaniah, “The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you.” The Jews would return to their homeland, rebuild their temple, and remember the scents of the sacrifices and the sounds of church music. Their sorrow at the absence of feasts and festivals would be removed and its burden replaced with the joy of returning home.
Home is a welcome place, especially when you’ve been away from home for a while. One friend of our family wrote this in a Christmas letter: “We took a whirlwind trip in November down to North and South Carolina and saw as many friends as we could. After a week of riding from the mountains to the coast of North Carolina then down the coast to Myrtle Beach we headed home. It was truly wonderful to be back.” Glad to be back at home. Well, if that’s the case, then why leave? And if God’s Old Testament people would be burdened by the absence of their worship life and glad to return to it after 70 years, why would God allow them to be exiled in the first place? Because with vacations, or business trips, or the Babylonian exile of the Jews, what happens between leaving home and returning home is worth the sad separation of leaving. The discipline of a vacation that separates a workaholic from the daily grind is healthy. And the discipline of the Babylonian exile that separated the Jews from their idol worship and complacency as a covenant nation was healthy. Those experiences allow a person to return home with a fresh perspective.
Where are you in exile? What burdens do you bear because of a lost job, a broken dream or relationship, or a privilege of health or home you no longer enjoy? “The day of the Lord is near” (1:7). Very near. He comes right now in his promises. He comes right now in his presence. Look for him. Understand his loving discipline. Don’t ignore him. Don’t put him off. As one of my seminary professors used to say, “Whoever refuses to meet God as the Savior had better get ready to meet him as Judge.” Persevere – wherever your exile – because God’s might is strong enough to defeat your oppressors and his mercy is loving enough to save you, to return you home, and to give you a newfound joy that you wouldn’t have realized without leaving home for a while.
The relationships around home
Do you recognize this person returning home? “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him … The father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him … Let’s have a feast and celebrate” (Luke 15:20,22,23)! The sadness and hurt of our foolish disobedience to God is forgotten in his compassionate, embracing forgiveness. He eagerly waits for us to return in repentance, and when we do, God is as glad as we are. “Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,” Zephaniah cheers. “He will take great delight in you … he will rejoice over you with singing” (3:14,17). Like the lyrics of a song written by someone about their lover, God writes – and sings – a song because he loves you and you love him. And he’s so delighted to save you that he has to share the story with others. A relationship with God is both a private affair and a group experience.
“[I will] gather those who have been scattered,” God promises the exiled Jews and us. “I will gather you [and] bring you home.” Gathering around others remains an important part of celebrating Christmas. Travel arrangements and food preparation and gift lists become what they are only because of others in our lives. Especially those around our home: family, neighbors, and close friends. One couple’s Christmas letter shared: “By far the biggest joy we’ve experienced this year is watching our son grow. He turned one year old in November and we celebrated with a Micky Mouse party. We feel so blessed to have each other, our families, our friends and now another addition to our family.” God sent his Son into our world as part of a family. Jesus had parents and siblings and cousins. Gathering around others who are close to us doesn’t just happen by chance. The hand of God and heart of God give us friends and family around home to bless us. Our Advent Savior who enjoyed relationships around home gathers us home around loving relationships today. Kindle the coals of those relationships around the home before they grow cold.
The blessings of home are shared
The work of God in the lives of the Jewish exiles would not only impact them and their loved ones, but the nations around them. God promised through Zephaniah, “I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes.” Where is God working in your life and home? What privileges and blessings have made a difference for you in this past year? Christmas letters like this one not only recount blessings but testify to them as God’s gracious work: “We were thankful this year that although Corey lost his job in the city planning department he went back to school and was hired as a web developer. The Lord works in mysterious ways because Corey has discovered gifts he never knew he had, and made new friends along the way.” God gives you honor among people because he wants them to see your faith, your hope, and your love. Show it to them. Share it with them. And give them the best gift of all: Jesus.
Your home is not walls, ceilings, floors and doors. It’s a place to live and grow, dream and struggle, laugh, cry, believe, share. God’s Word promises that The Coming Lord Gathers Us Home. That home is more than a place you enter. It’s a promise that enters you. And you’re already there. Welcome home. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on December 16, 2009
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