Sermon delivered on the third Sunday of Advent C, December 16, 2012, at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, Columbus, OH.

Lectionary texts: Zephaniah 3:14-20; First Song of Isaiah (Isaiah 12.2-6); Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3.7-18.

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

This past Friday we were again confronted by the terrible face of evil, this time in the form of a young gunman who murdered several schoolchildren and adults before taking his own life. I fear the more we as a culture continue to marginalize and jettison God from our lives, the more we will see this kind of behavior occur because God is the foundation on which all good order in society is built and established. The sheer wickedness of this act is enough to overwhelm us, not only because we understand the terrible and senseless loss that is involved, but also because it makes us realize how helpless we really are in the face of evil like this. And because we realize that we cannot ultimately control evil beyond our own Spirit-aided efforts to prevent evil from using us to spread itself, it makes us afraid, very afraid. We wonder why God lets atrocities like this happen and whether God will do anything about evil and those who perpetrate it. We cannot answer the first part of this question because we simply don’t know why God allows these awful things to happen and speculation often does more harm than good.

But because we are in the midst of Advent with its focus on waiting and watching for the return of our Lord to put all things to rights, we have the opportunity to reflect on what God is doing and will do about despicable acts like this by considering God’s promised judgment. Acts like mass murder tend to make us better appreciate the goodness of God’s justice and Scripture tells us that evil and those who commit it will meet God’s righteous judgment. And while we may all be satisfied to see mass murderers come under God’s judgment, our certainty about the goodness and justice of God’s judgment becomes less certain when it comes to us facing his judgment. When we think about us standing before God’s judgment throne (if we think about it at all), we tend to want a little less justice and a lot more mercy. It is this theme that I want us to look at briefly this morning, especially since today is Gaudete Sunday, with its themes of rejoicing and joy. How can we possibly find joy in the face of God’s impending judgment on us and all that is wrong with us? How can we rejoice when schoolchildren are being murdered?

We get our first clue from our OT lesson with its breathtaking promises of healing and restoration. But before we look at today’s text, we have to first look at its counterpart in Zephaniah 1 so that we can better appreciate what God is promising through his prophet [read Zephaniah 1.2-4, 15-18]. The word of God spoken in Zephaniah 1 is hardly reason to rejoice. In fact, quite the opposite. These are not healing but killing words. They challenge the popular notion that God is some doting old grandfather who is perfectly content to let the kiddies misbehave because everything will turn out right in the end. And they most certainly challenge the notion that God is an absentee landlord who really doesn’t care about what happens to his creatures and creation. No, here we are reminded that God does care about what goes on in his world. God finds sin and evil of any kind intolerable because it ultimately hurts and dehumanizes us, and God loves us too much to let that continue to happen forever. And so God reminded his people Israel (and us) that he would bring his holy and righteous wrath on the whole world in general and on Israel in particular because Israel failed to be the people God called them to be to bring God’s healing love and restorative justice to the world. And in doing so, God will spare nothing. This text should make us very afraid because it reminds us that God has the power and the will to deal with evil and intends to exercise that power in full one day. Not only will mass murderers be swept away but so will the rest of us because we cannot seem to get out of our own way and fix ourselves so that we no longer engage in behaviors that dehumanize us and further diminish God’s image in us. Are we rejoicing yet?

But of course, this isn’t God’s last word. Today’s text with its message of salvation, restoration, and hope represents God’s last word. But how can we reconcile the two? How can there be universal death and yet the hope of salvation for God’s people? At first blush the two are simply not compatible. But we must always remember we worship the God who raises the dead and calls into being things that were not (Romans 4.17). And this points us to the answer—resurrection, which is the basis of our hope as Christians. Death and judgment do not have the final say if God really does raise the dead. In the immediate context of our OT lesson, we know that Israel experienced God’s judgment and essentially “died” when God sent his people into exile. Jerusalem was destroyed and God brought fearsome judgment on his idolatrous people who as a whole failed to be the people God called them to be.

But there was also return from exile and this represents resurrection. Because God is gracious and always faithful to his promises, the remnant of Israel returned to start a new life beyond judgment and death, a new life of resurrection and hope so to speak (cf. Ezekiel 37.11-14). “That’s all well and good,” you say. “But we are not ancient Jews and the return from exile isn’t exactly on our priority list. What’s this got to do with us?”

Just this. The promise of resurrection and hope triumphing over judgment and death is ultimately realized in Jesus the Messiah, God become human to be the true Israel to bring real healing and restoration to the world. On the cross, Jesus bore the full brunt of God’s wrath and just judgment for our sins so that we do not have to bear it. The darkness on Good Friday fulfilled the prophetic word of Zephaniah 1.15. But just like that word, the death of Jesus was not God’s last word because God raised Jesus from the dead and launched his promised new creation that will be implemented  fully when Jesus returns again to execute God’s final just judgment on all humanity. Jesus’ resurrection, of course, represents God’s vindication, not only of Jesus but of all who believe in him so that death and judgment are not the final word, but rather resurrection, life, and hope are. Because of the blood of the Lamb, God no longer looks on us in anger and wrath because his justice was fully satisfied in Jesus’ death. Instead, God looks on those of us who accept by faith his gracious gift offered to us with great delight and rejoices over us with singing, in fulfillment of Zephaniah 3.17. Let that image of God singing over you sink in. Ponder it and muse on it a good long while this week. Dare to believe it, not because you are some extra-special good person but because God is an extra-special, gracious, and faithful God! No wonder Paul tells us to rejoice without ceasing! No wonder he tells us not to be anxious about anything and to bring all our cares to God. How can a God like this do us wrong?

Do you see the necessary psychology here that is for our own good? We have to be jolted out of our complacency and delusional thinking about sin and God’s response to it. Until we let the full force of Zephaniah 1 sink in, we will never be ready to accept the breathtaking promise of Zephaniah 3. Instead, we’ll continue to think that it’s OK to just muck along and do our own thing because God really doesn’t care what we do or isn’t around to notice it. But once we understand that God does take sin seriously and will not let it go on forever, we are ready to hear the even more wondrous Good News of how in Jesus God has dealt with our sin and the separation it causes. When by God’s grace we accept his gift offered to us freely, we are ready to let God heal us thoroughly. That’s when we are ready to experience the peace that passes understanding because it is not of our own making; it comes from God. This is also why we can rejoice, even in the face of massive evil. Maybe we cannot rejoice right now because it is all still too fresh and raw. But eventually we can and we must if our faith is ever going to make a difference for us. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has demonstrated that he is in charge, that evil and death have been defeated decisively, and that history is going somewhere, and for the good. God judges evildoers, us included, and judges them severely. But for those who have the humility and good sense to embrace God’s offer in Jesus to a life of resurrection and new creation, there is no reason to fear because God has won the victory for us. And the promise is available to us right now, even in the face of evil. And so I ask again. Are we rejoicing yet?

So what do we do with this? On a personal level, if you are one who is struggling with the notion of whether God can really love you, study the promises of Zephaniah 3 in light of Jesus’ death and resurrection. While God cannot tolerate sin, evil, and rebellion forever, remember that God created you for relationship, not destruction, and ask the Spirit to open your mind and heart to the depth of God’s love for you expressed in Jesus’ death and resurrection. One can only wonder what a difference this would have made for the Newtown shooter had he really had a living relationship with Jesus.

And as we apply all this to those who were murdered at Newtown, we must focus on God’s last word so we remember that evil and death do not have the final say, but rather God’s power to redeem does. The One who told his disciples that they would never enter the kingdom of heaven unless they became like little children and chastised those who tried to prevent little children from coming to him, has surely now embraced those who were murdered and will redeem them when he ushers in fully his new creation. This doesn’t diminish the horror of their murders nor will it take away the terrible sense of loss and grief their families and loved ones feel. Rather it reminds us that God’s last word is resurrection and life, not evil and death, and from that hope can eventually spring forth and grow so that they (and we) can be sustained.

Second, when we really believe that God does love us and in Jesus has taken his just judgment from us, it inevitably changes us so that we work hard to live a life pleasing to God. We see this dynamic illustrated in today’s gospel lesson. When John’s audience starts to accept what he has to say about the coming judgment, they ask what they must do and he tells them. John’s answer shows a concern for the least and the lost, for God’s justice to be implemented, and for those asking what they must do differently. Likewise with us. That’s why we have so many projects going on right now as Jesus’ body. We don’t engage in good works to earn our salvation. We engage in good works because that is what God calls us to do so that he can use us to help bring about his kingdom on earth as in heaven. When we realize what God has done for us in Jesus, the Spirit creates in us a natural desire to be conduits for God’s good instead of evil, and God blesses us with each other to help hold us accountable to his call.

Third, God’s gift to us should naturally want to make us share that gift with others. How are you doing in talking to others about why Jesus is essential to you? The recent shootings give us the perfect context to do just that. If Jesus isn’t essential for you during times like this, he never will be. And are you still inviting others to come to church? We can introduce others to Jesus anytime, anywhere. But once we do, those who are just learning to know Jesus will need to feel his presence and support in and through other faithful Christians just like we do, and that’s why we invite folks to church.

Last, our texts remind us that God is in charge and is very much present and active in his world. God has dealt with evil on the cross, defeating the powers and principalities. He continues to deal with evil right now, primarily in and through his healing love offered through his people living in the power of the Spirit until Jesus comes again in great power and glory to consummate his victory won on the cross. This gives us hope, even in the face of evil. And because we believe that resurrection and new creation is our destiny, we have God’s peace that passes all understanding. This, in turn, enables us confront evil the way Jesus did, through our prayers and suffering love, believing that God will use us to help defeat evil. That is why we can live like people who have Good News, now and for all eternity. Amen. Come Lord Jesus.

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.