1 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:14,240 So today's teaching scripture is from Zephaniah chapter 3, verses 2 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:20,120 9 to 18. At that time I will change the 3 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:25,360 speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may 4 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:30,960 call on the name of the Lord and serve him with 1 accord from 5 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,960 beyond the rivers of Cush. My supplicants, my scattered 6 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:39,880 ones, shall bring my offering. On that day you shall not be put 7 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,840 to shame because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled 8 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,640 against me. For then I will remove from your 9 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:52,360 midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be 10 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:57,880 haughty in My holy mountain. For I will leave you in the 11 00:00:57,880 --> 00:00:59,960 midst. I will leave in the midst of you 12 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:05,280 a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the 13 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,840 name of the Lord, the remnant of Israel. 14 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:14,200 They shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall a deceitful 15 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,800 tongue be found in their mouths. Then they will pasture and lie 16 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,680 down, and no one shall make them afraid. 17 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:27,120 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion, shout. 18 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:31,040 O Israel, rejoice and exalt with all your heart. 19 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:36,120 O daughter Jerusalem, the Lord has taken away the judgments 20 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,520 against you. He has turned away your enemies. 21 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,240 The King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst. 22 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:50,440 You shall fear disaster no more. On that day it shall be said to 23 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,560 Jerusalem. Do not fear, O Zion. 24 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,960 Do not let your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your 25 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,160 midst, a warrior who gives victory. 26 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,560 He will rejoice over you with gladness. 27 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:11,039 He will renew you and His love. He will exalt over you with loud 28 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:16,680 singing as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you 29 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,080 so that you will not bear reproach for it. 30 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:27,120 This is the word of the Lord. Hi friends. 31 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:31,560 Zephaniah today. You know the thing I love? 32 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,200 About this series that. We're in on the the minor. 33 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:36,800 Prophets is like. How often do you come into 34 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,280 church? And Zephaniah is the first thing 35 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:39,920 that. You hear? 36 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:41,560 So that's. We're doing that. 37 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,840 A strange thing has happened. To the way that we. 38 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:51,520 Experience the. World over the last few decades 39 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,520 for. Most of human history events. 40 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:56,600 That shape the world. And shape. 41 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:58,600 The way that we see our. Place in it have. 42 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:05,720 Arrived to us slowly. News for most of human history 43 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:10,480 travelled by. Letter by messenger, by rumors 44 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,560 that were carried. Along trade routes and if 45 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:16,680 something catastrophic happened on the. 46 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:21,280 Other side of the world. It might take weeks or months or 47 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,480 even. Years before you learned. 48 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,640 About it. Most people lived. 49 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,520 Inside of a relatively. Small circle. 50 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,920 Of information until relatively recently their their family. 51 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,960 Their village. The rhythms of the seasons, the 52 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,280 politics in their region, were the things that most. 53 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,960 People were aware of. Conscious of on a daily. 54 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,520 Basis. But today the world arrives to 55 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,920 us. Instantly and constantly. 56 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,920 Sociologists sometimes. Describe this as the. 57 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,640 Collapse of information distance. 58 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,360 So we. Used to be distant from a lot of 59 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,200 information in our world, and that distance is more or less 60 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,120 completely gone. A study from the Reuters 61 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:13,280 Institute found that the average person now encounters dozens 62 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,640 more or more than 20 news updates. 63 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,240 Per day across multiple platforms. 64 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,960 And when you add to that the constant flow of social media 65 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,360 and information about. Other people's lives. 66 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:33,960 Commentary analysis Reaction counter reaction to everything 67 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:35,800 that's going on in the. World you wake. 68 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:40,440 Up in the morning and before you have even left your bed, you can 69 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,040 see everything that has gone wrong in the. 70 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:50,400 World overnight war political. Conflict, violence, Economic 71 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:54,800 anxiety. I I am as present in this as 72 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,560 anyone. I found out about the United 73 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:02,160 States entering a conflict in Iran from my bed. 74 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:07,080 This is not normal. This is not the way that things 75 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:11,200 ought to be. Psychologists have. 76 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:13,800 Coined terms for the. Ways that this is? 77 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,000 Beginning to affect us, doom scrolling has moved from 78 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,160 Internet slang to becoming a recognized. 79 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,920 Behavioral Pattern. It started as a joke, like as we 80 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,240 looked at ourselves. And said this is how we consume 81 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,680 information and it's actually becoming ingrained in the way 82 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,640 that we think about how humans are. 83 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:40,480 Formed researchers refer to. Headline stress. 84 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,040 Disorder, it's a real thing that like we're talking about the 85 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,720 low. Grade anxiety that develops when 86 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:52,240 our nervous system has been exposed to a constant stream of 87 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:53,800 global. Crises that we have. 88 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:59,200 No power to resolve and the. Result is that. 89 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:03,800 The modern person carries the emotional weight of the entire. 90 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:08,600 World in their pocket, as I was. Reading Zephaniah. 91 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:11,000 This week. Last week. 92 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,680 I found myself thinking about Bo Burnham. 93 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,840 A few years ago, the. Writer and comedian Bo Burnham 94 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:22,680 released a Netflix special called Inside. 95 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,120 Has anyone seen Inside? I'll just give you a little. 96 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,120 Disclaimer, don't watch it. With your kids, OK, I just like 97 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:30,040 don't. You know, as a. 98 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,040 General rule. Most of the things that. 99 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,160 I talk about or. Recommend OK, so just can I 100 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:38,080 just. Serve as. 101 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:43,400 Your your blanket disclaimer, but it was filmed during the 102 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,840 pandemic and at one point he sings a little line. 103 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,480 That I think captures. The feeling that many people 104 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:53,800 have about the information ecosystem that we live in. 105 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:56,840 A little. Bit of everything, all of the 106 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:01,160 time. The whole special is funny, but 107 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,320 it's also pretty unsettling. It's one of those things that 108 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:05,640 you kind of like. Watch and you laugh. 109 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,160 At in the moment, but then you find yourself thinking about 110 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,040 later and you're like, that actually isn't funny. 111 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,000 And it was presented in a really funny way, but it's like a very 112 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,560 unfunny thing that we're dealing with in our. 113 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:24,400 Everyday life, the human. Mind was never made to carry 114 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,800 this much of the world all at the same time and so. 115 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,400 For the past several weeks. We've been listening to. 116 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:35,480 These prophets. From ancient Israel speaking. 117 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,600 About the larger world. Wars. 118 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,960 Nations Injustice. The great forces that shape 119 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,480 history. They're speaking to whole. 120 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,120 People, groups, they're. Speaking to rulers of nations, 121 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,560 kings, the. Prophets speak. 122 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,200 Directly into these things. They're not naive. 123 00:07:56,200 --> 00:07:58,480 About how power. Works in the world or about how 124 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,920 violence works in the world. Or about how societies. 125 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,280 Become distorted or unjust and Zephaniah. 126 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:10,760 Is part of that. Same prophetic tradition that we 127 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,720 see in what we call the. Book of the 12 he also speaks 128 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:17,680 about. Nations and Judgement and the. 129 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,760 Upheaval of the world. But one thing that sort of stood 130 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:24,000 out to me reading Zephaniah. Zephaniah turns his attention. 131 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,960 Toward the. People of God themselves in a 132 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:28,760 way that. Some of the. 133 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,799 Other prophets don't do quite as much instead of only pointing. 134 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,320 At the chaos. Of the world and the mistakes 135 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:37,280 that the Kingdom of Judah has made. 136 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:40,240 He. Talks a little bit. 137 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,000 More about what has. Gone wrong inside. 138 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:44,880 The life of God. 'S own people. 139 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,080 What has slowly shifted? In the. 140 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,120 Ways that they. Understand themselves and in 141 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,000 the. Ways that they live with God. 142 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,200 And so from the. Prophet's perspective the 143 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:59,640 deepest. Problem is not only what's 144 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:04,280 happening between the nations. But also. 145 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,720 What's quietly happening inside of the? 146 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,000 People of God. That's supposed to belong to 147 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,720 God. And reflect the love and the 148 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,360 care of God for the world. Around them. 149 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:20,320 So Zephaniah is describing something that really doesn't. 150 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:22,280 It doesn't happen to us all at once. 151 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:25,360 It's not, it's not a dramatic. Sort of. 152 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,400 Resistance against. A spiritual life or a life? 153 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:33,840 With God, it's not people loudly declaring one day. 154 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,640 That they reject God or reject faith. 155 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:38,480 What He? Sees is this kind of? 156 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:44,040 Spiritual drift that takes place over the course of a long. 157 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:48,720 Period of time when a community gradually learns to live. 158 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,040 Their life as if their life with God. 159 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,360 Doesn't really matter. As if it doesn't. 160 00:09:55,360 --> 00:10:00,160 Really have much bearing. On their daily life. 161 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,600 On their relationships with people, on their work, on the 162 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,440 ways that they think about money. 163 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,840 Their religious life, the religious activity of the 164 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,880 people, has slowly moved. Into the background of their 165 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:15,480 life. It's part of the. 166 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,600 Setting, but it's not really a driving. 167 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:23,040 Force in the plot. That they're living into God 168 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,240 becomes less like the center of their life and more like a 169 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,360 background assumption that would never really interrupt anything. 170 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:34,200 About daily life. Would never really reframe the 171 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,560 way that they think about their relationship to other people or 172 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:39,360 their relationship to their government. 173 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,680 The life of God. Has simply become a set piece. 174 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,800 Zephaniah captures that tradition that that that 175 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,120 condition in one in one sentence. 176 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,960 Really, really powerfully. In Zephaniah chapter 1, the 177 00:10:57,960 --> 00:10:59,360 12th. Verse God says he's. 178 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:04,240 Searching the city, looking. Closely at the lives of his 179 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:08,200 people. And describes what he finds. 180 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:13,160 He finds people who say to themselves, the Lord will not do 181 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:17,600 good, nor will he do harm, in other words. 182 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:20,000 God searches the city. He He's. 183 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,160 Looking at the people, he's looking at their attitudes and 184 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:29,400 what God finds is. Is a broad attitude of of apathy 185 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:32,600 toward God? Toward what? 186 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:36,840 God might do in their day. He sees people who say the Lord. 187 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,640 Won't do anything good, the Lord won't do harm. 188 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,560 There's no real substance to this thing that we. 189 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:47,680 Would call religious faith. You know. 190 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:50,960 We go to. The temple we sing the songs we. 191 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:55,400 Offer the sacrifices. But at the end of the day, God's 192 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:59,480 not going to do anything. And we think to ourselves, that 193 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:02,840 sounds pretty sad. But what I. 194 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,840 Find is that when I look at my own life. 195 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:12,040 This. Assumption this attitude is kind 196 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,720 of a a sinister thing. They can sort of creep in, 197 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:16,280 really. Easily because. 198 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:20,520 Listen, I don't know about you, but for me, most. 199 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,200 Days there are a. Lot of things that feel a lot 200 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:25,960 more real to me than the presence of God. 201 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:30,440 You know the fact that my. Kids are. 202 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:34,480 Freaking out and driving. Me crazy, that feels a lot more. 203 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:36,200 Real to me than the presence of God. 204 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,240 Or the fact that I've got. This financial thing to figure 205 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:40,120 out. That. 206 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:42,000 Feels a lot more real to me than the presence. 207 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,440 Of God or I have to. Figure something out about my 208 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,000 housing or about my work or about, you know, fill in the 209 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,920 blank right and we can easily sort of find ourselves with 210 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:53,320 this. Attitude, the Lord. 211 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,000 Will not do good, nor will he do harm. 212 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,880 I alone can fix it, in other words. 213 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:04,640 These people haven't rejected God outright. 214 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:06,240 They haven't. Said, you know we're. 215 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:08,680 Walking away from our faith tradition, we're done with all. 216 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:10,120 This. Forget it. 217 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,560 They simply assume that. God is largely irrelevant. 218 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,600 God will not really act. God will not intervene. 219 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:19,520 God will not really demand anything of us. 220 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:22,480 God will not really challenge anything about. 221 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:24,560 Our life, life. Will continue on its normal 222 00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:28,680 course and God will remain somewhere in the background, 223 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:32,880 distant and uninvolved. And what Zephaniah is naming 224 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,560 here is. This slow, sort of. 225 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:40,560 Settling of our souls into a life where God is acknowledged 226 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:45,160 but no longer expected. Or. 227 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,200 Experienced in any real. Way. 228 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:54,040 And So what Zephaniah sees in Judah isn't the collapse of 229 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,200 religion. In fact, on the surface things 230 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:59,640 looked fairly normal, as with most. 231 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,040 Of these prophetic books, the people were still. 232 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:07,480 Participating in the life of the community and Zephaniah is 233 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:12,360 speaking into a moment where King Josiah has been the king of 234 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,360 Israel and so. If you read about. 235 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,560 King Josiah in the Hebrew Bible. What you find is that. 236 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:22,760 King Josiah actually presided over what could could be called 237 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:27,960 sort of a revival. Or renewal in Israel in his day, 238 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:30,920 running around like a crazy person tearing down all these 239 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,280 idols from different. Hills all over the. 240 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,280 Kingdom of Judas, you know, bringing, bringing the reading 241 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,560 of the scriptures back into the temple, reinstating Jewish 242 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:43,760 religious life. And so aesthetically, at the 243 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,840 time that Zephaniah is writing and prophesying to the people, 244 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:51,320 they're in the middle of what some people would look around 245 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:52,640 and say. This is religious. 246 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:55,520 Renewal, this is. This is. 247 00:14:55,520 --> 00:15:00,360 God, you know, sort of reasserting his presence on our 248 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:02,960 nation, on our people, and a lot of people would look and say. 249 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:05,720 This is good. Look at how many young. 250 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,480 People are excited about this. Look at how many. 251 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:10,920 People are. Coming back to church. 252 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:17,360 But Zephaniah is naming the realities that are underneath 253 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:21,720 what appears on the surface to be religious renewal. 254 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,520 Zephaniah is naming this condition that's easy to miss. 255 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:30,120 Because it develops slowly. God becoming less like the 256 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:35,240 living center of the community and more like a thin veneer that 257 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:37,840 gets placed. Over the ways that we sort. 258 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:42,120 Of conduct our lives. It's a pattern that shows up 259 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:47,000 again and again and again in the Hebrew Bible, in the life. 260 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,520 Of God's people. It happens slowly, where our 261 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,440 attention drifts. And our loyalties are a little 262 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,080 bit scattered and. It's not a dramatic rejection of 263 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:58,520 God. It can look. 264 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:03,800 Like the opposite. Thing, but it's the settling in 265 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:09,280 where faith is something that we might ascribe to, but it's not 266 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,200 really the center. Of who we are. 267 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:19,040 So from the outside, Judah. Looks like a religious society, 268 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,160 the temples. There the language. 269 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:22,800 Of faith is. Still in place. 270 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,880 People talk the talk. People show up at the meetings 271 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,400 and so on. People know the traditions, they 272 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:30,680 know the. Rituals that sort. 273 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,040 Of mark the time for them, but the. 274 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,040 Prophet sees that the. Heart of the community that he's 275 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,640 talking. To has drifted far away from the 276 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,920 love of God, far away. From the intent that. 277 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,920 That God has for. The good world and the good. 278 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:50,440 People who fill it. And so in that situation, 279 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,720 Zephaniah speaks of this striking image. 280 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,040 He talks about God. Searching the city, God's moving 281 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:59,120 through Jerusalem, he's examining the lives of the 282 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,320 people, looking closely at what's happening beneath the 283 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,839 surface and what's happening here at the beginning of the 284 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:08,400 book is he's painting a. Picture of a God who refuses to. 285 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,520 Remain distant or indifferent. Toward the world. 286 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:14,200 And friends, if there's one thing. 287 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,359 That I could. Say, if there's one thing that 288 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,640 you remember about the Prophet Zephaniah or any of this this 289 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,599 morning, it's that. The scriptures give us a picture 290 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,720 of a God who. Relentlessly refuses to abandon 291 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:30,800 the world and so when you look at when you look at the world 292 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,080 and all of its chaos, when you. Look at your personal. 293 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,520 Life and all of its chaos, all the things that feel confusing 294 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,240 and disordered, and you're tempted to think, if I could get 295 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,600 that one little line. Back that the Lord. 296 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:44,960 Will will not do. Will not. 297 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,640 Do good. Nor will he harm and you think. 298 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,240 I have to figure. This out on my own friends. 299 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,680 The prophets remind us over and over and over again, God will 300 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:59,880 not abandon the world and God will not abandon you in your 301 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:01,760 circumstances. And you know I. 302 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,320 Just have to say. Living in Babylon. 303 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,880 As we do where we have. Everything we could ever need. 304 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:10,480 Right at our fingertips. You can order. 305 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,520 Groceries to your door. You can, you know you. 306 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:19,840 You can have it all, we're tempted to think, in our 307 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:21,160 spiritual. Life in our life. 308 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,680 With God, this thing that people have been trying to figure out 309 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,320 for centuries. That it ought to just be readily 310 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:28,360 available to us. And we get. 311 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:32,880 Really frustrated. When prayer feels pointless or 312 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,320 when our spirituality. Feels a little bit slow or we 313 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:38,320 feel like. This just isn't coming to me 314 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:40,560 very fast or I'm struggling with the. 315 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:42,080 Scriptures. I read the Bible and it's 316 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,400 frustrating. And confusing to me because we 317 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:47,560 live in Babylon. Because everything is. 318 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,320 Right at our fingertips. We are being, we are being 319 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,800 formed counter to the skills and the instincts that we need. 320 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:59,520 To have a healthy life. With God and so I say this to. 321 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,920 Encourage you if you feel frustrated. 322 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,560 Or confused in your spiritual? Life if there are. 323 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:09,880 Things that just are not coming to you easily and that feels 324 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:12,160 really. Difficult to you? 325 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:14,560 Like maybe you're barely. Hanging on. 326 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:19,000 I just want to say it's because you're being told by everything 327 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,560 around you, all of the signals. Are that? 328 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:23,680 This should be getting easier and easier. 329 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:25,400 Life should become become. Be. 330 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:30,280 Becoming more and more convenient and this whole thing 331 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:31,520 of having. A life with God. 332 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:37,040 And letting the love of Jesus transform us is just not an easy 333 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,760 or convenient enterprise. So. 334 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:42,600 Be encouraged. Hang in. 335 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:48,200 There, get prayer today, the prophets. 336 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,760 Are consistently challenging this assumption that God will 337 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,880 not intervene, God will not come and help you, Zephaniah. 338 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,760 Describes a people. Who have grown spiritually, 339 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,840 spiritually numb and and. Talks about a people who have 340 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,840 rested. Complacently and assume. 341 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,000 That life will always. Continue will just continue. 342 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:15,560 As it always has, he he evokes this image of people who rest. 343 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:19,080 Complacently on their dregs. So if you're going to just 344 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,720 imagine the person who sort of leans back on a big barrel of 345 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:28,080 wine and thinks, I don't know, it'll all work out somehow, 346 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:32,400 right? As the Old Testament scholar 347 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:34,840 Jimmy. Roberts notes the prophets 348 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:38,680 language. Here reflects a critique of what 349 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:42,160 he calls religious. Indifference and practical 350 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,720 atheism. That is to say. 351 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:50,080 Religion that forms people into an indifferent and unhealthy 352 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,520 indifferent attitude. That would sort of look. 353 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:54,560 Out in the world and say, well, it's all going to burn. 354 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:59,400 So what's what's? It matter. 355 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,480 What I do or? What anybody does and practical 356 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:05,320 atheism, the sense that you know. 357 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,520 We have a a religious aesthetic in our life. 358 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,480 We come to church. You might even have a cross from 359 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:18,880 Hobby Lobby on your wall, but at the end of the day, God will not 360 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,440 actually do anything to affect my. 361 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,800 Real life. But the message? 362 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:31,520 Of the prophet is that God sees clearly earlier. 363 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,160 In the chapter. God declares I will stretch. 364 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:39,280 Out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of 365 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:42,160 Jerusalem. And later the prophet speaks of 366 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,560 the great day of the Lord, he says the great. 367 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,800 Day of the Lord is near and hastening fast, and these words 368 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,000 can sound severe to our modern Western. 369 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,360 Ears we. Can hear things like that and 370 00:21:55,360 --> 00:22:02,040 go, that sounds mean, that sounds confusing, and it does 371 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:07,360 sound mean and confusing to us, but there's something 372 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:09,520 underneath. This, that we, we. 373 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,080 Must ascertain that's happening in the text. 374 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,360 God cares. Deeply about the condition of 375 00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:18,640 the world. God cares deeply. 376 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:20,840 About the condition of his. People. 377 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,760 And so for all the confusing language about judgement in the 378 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:29,320 prophets or in the Hebrew Bible. For all the hard work that we 379 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:30,720 have to. Do as modern people to 380 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,960 understand that it's not the language. 381 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,360 Of a God. Who has lost interest? 382 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:39,400 And I said something like this. A couple weeks ago. 383 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,320 And I, I just want to say it again because I believe it, you 384 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:49,080 know, I don't know what it is. For you, whether it's corrupt 385 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,080 leaders. Whether it's the rampant. 386 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:56,680 Abuse of people of. Children in. 387 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:00,920 Society if it's. War and violence, whatever 388 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,200 thing. You know, sort of provokes you 389 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,760 to look at the. World and go God, how long? 390 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:09,280 Why? Why are things like this? 391 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:11,560 I would just invite. You to maybe. 392 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:14,120 Sort of access that a little. Bit when you read. 393 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:16,840 These passages about. Judgement, not to wish judgement 394 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,440 on other people, but to understand a little bit the. 395 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,520 Picture that the Prophet. Is trying to paint, trying to 396 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,800 give people hope in a world that's just full of things that 397 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:28,880 absolutely need to? Be set right. 398 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:33,080 And have gone on for far too long and we look and say, God, 399 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:38,280 how long and and you know, maybe this is just me trying to make 400 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:39,560 myself a little bit more comfortable. 401 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:41,680 With these texts. But when I read stuff. 402 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:43,400 Like that, what I hear, what I see. 403 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,960 Underneath words that sound a little. 404 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,800 Bit harsh I'm. Hearing from a God. 405 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,680 Who sees? Those injustices and cares 406 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:53,720 deeply. That they be set. 407 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:55,320 Right. And that. 408 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,760 People be held to. Account for the ways that they 409 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:03,400 harm others. But that confrontation that 410 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,360 Zephaniah writes about isn't the final. 411 00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:09,720 Word that he gives. He introduces an invitation 412 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,680 after exposing the complacency of the people and the divided 413 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,040 loyalties in the way. That they've propped up Judah's 414 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:24,040 corrupt. System the prophet calls them to 415 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,760 return and so in the 2nd chapter Zephaniah says. 416 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,440 Seek the Lord. All you humble of the land, who 417 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,960 do his commands, seek righteousness, seek humility, 418 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,280 perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the Lord. 419 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:39,240 And so. We start to see just a little 420 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:40,560 bit of a. Turn toward. 421 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,720 God is, God is. Looking God is looking to the. 422 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:46,560 Hearts of people who. Want to partner who are 423 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,000 advocating for real justice and the rhythm? 424 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,080 Of the prophets follows this pattern every. 425 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,880 Time there's. Exposure of the problem. 426 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:57,760 And then there's an invitation from the prophet. 427 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,440 To say. You see these things that are 428 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,320 wrong as well. Don't you come with me. 429 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,440 There is another way of being in the world. 430 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:09,760 The call to seek the Lord appears. 431 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,760 Again and again and again throughout the prophetic 432 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:14,320 writings. And it's a reminder that the 433 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:18,640 relationship between God and God's people is not finished, 434 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:21,680 even in moments. Of their greatest failures. 435 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:25,160 The door remains open. For people to be. 436 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:30,400 Welcomed into the mission of God again Walter Brueggemann, who I 437 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,120 think Karl referred to as Uncle Walt in a in. 438 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,280 A series late last year which I just. 439 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,760 Love so Uncle Walt in his in his wonderful. 440 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,040 Little book, The Prophetic. Imagination observes. 441 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:47,440 The that the prophets. Regularly move from critique to 442 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,880 hope so when you. Read the Prophets. 443 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,000 In the Hebrew Bible, as you've been reading, you know each of 444 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:54,400 the minor prophets along with us. 445 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:58,600 Every week I see. Everyone. 446 00:25:58,760 --> 00:25:59,800 Everyone. Yes. 447 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:01,480 Read your Bible. No. 448 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,440 You should you should read You should read the Bible. 449 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:10,160 It's a good book. They expose these. 450 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:14,320 False patterns of the community that they're writing to while 451 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,760 simultaneously inviting them into renewed. 452 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:22,880 Life with God biblical. Prophets move from critiquing 453 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,360 what Walter Brigham and calls the royal consciousness. 454 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:29,000 I know. That's like a little bit of a. 455 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,080 You know, lofty concept, but we're just going to camp out on 456 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,320 that for a second. The royal consciousness. 457 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,760 Which is how he describes attitudes that foster. 458 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:45,560 Injustice and denial to nurturing in the people. 459 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,880 What he calls a. Prophetic imagination. 460 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,040 That offers hope. And imagines an alternate 461 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,000 reality. Imagines. 462 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,400 A world that's ordered. Around the life and the 463 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,840 teachings and the way of Jesus. And so Brueggeman. 464 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,800 Uses this phrase royal. Consciousness to describe the 465 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,600 mindset of empires he talks about. 466 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:08,960 Egypt at the. Beginning of the prophetic 467 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,120 imagination. Kings and ruling classes who 468 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:16,480 construct a vision of the world. That protects their power. 469 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:21,040 It keeps them safe from anybody who might challenge the idea 470 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,680 that they run the world. That they rule the world. 471 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:27,240 It it tells a story. Where everything they do. 472 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,400 Is. Stabilized everything they do. 473 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,360 Is justified. Everything they do is 474 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:36,200 inevitable. There's no other way that things 475 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,800 could have turned. Out because you know what? 476 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:44,080 What Pharaoh says is, of course, the wisest judgement. 477 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:46,480 That could exist. But the. 478 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:52,160 Prophets insist that this same pattern is not just limited to 479 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:56,520 kings and empires. And So what I'm thinking about, 480 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:57,880 you know? This week is like. 481 00:27:58,200 --> 00:27:59,760 We've talked about some of these big. 482 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,600 Forces we've talked about. You know, the ways that 483 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,480 injustice works in the world. But what I want to propose 484 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:10,680 alongside Walter Bruggeman is that this shows up in similar 485 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:16,080 ways in our ordinary lives as well, just the same way that 486 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,840 kings and kingdoms and empires protect themselves. 487 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,760 Each of us has. A tendency to construct our own 488 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,000 little Kingdom. A life, that is. 489 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,800 Well organized around protecting our comfort and our security and 490 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,720 our reputation and our control over our circumstances. 491 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,080 And just like an empire, we can begin to. 492 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:42,240 Tell ourselves stories that justify. 493 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,360 Those patterns. That that sort of protect us 494 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,280 that. Keep us from seeing clearly and 495 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:53,320 we insulate ourselves from critique and feedback from other 496 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,200 people. We become unable. 497 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,440 To hear sort of a corrective word. 498 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,200 Even from a trusted friend or someone that we've asked to have 499 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:06,520 visibility into our lives. And the prophetic voice 500 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:11,360 interrupts that illusion. On the scale of nations, but on 501 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,160 the. Scale of your everyday life. 502 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:15,520 And so my hope. Is that as we read? 503 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,280 These prophets we can see, We can see. 504 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:19,640 The big forces that are at play in our world. 505 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,000 In our neighborhood. But we can also see the ways. 506 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,640 That these things have sort of deeply taken root in our own 507 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,080 lives and the. Ways that that God's spirit 508 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,120 through the scriptures over the course of. 509 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:33,560 Thousands of. Years as sort of. 510 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,400 Calling us to account for the ways that. 511 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:37,040 We build. Up our own little kingdoms and 512 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:37,920 we. Protect. 513 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,320 We protect ourselves at the cost. 514 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,120 Of being able to see what God is really doing in our lives. 515 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:56,040 But notice how this invitation from the prophet centers on 516 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,480 humility. Seek righteousness. 517 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,720 Seek humility. Is how? 518 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,920 Is how he introduces this to us humility? 519 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,400 Is what allows people to see their lives clearly. 520 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,040 Again, it's what? Allows a gathered people to see 521 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:12,360 their lives clearly. Again. 522 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,840 And this kind of spiritual drift often develops when we assume 523 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:21,640 that everything's fine, when we stop examining our own loyalties 524 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:26,040 and our own habits in the language of the prophets. 525 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,760 Humility. Creates the space where. 526 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,160 Spiritual renewal can come to us. 527 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:36,840 Where Jesus? In his kindness can come to us 528 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:41,760 when when we're in a humble place and just say I have 529 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,680 something for you. I have an encouragement. 530 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:46,840 For you I have. You know, do you remember this 531 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:49,640 time when you were very, very young and this thing happened? 532 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,320 Or do you can you think of you know that? 533 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:56,080 First job that. Boss that you had who was just 534 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:59,160 incredibly hard to be around. Or this church experience years 535 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:00,520 ago that. You've just sort of put on the 536 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,680 shelf in the back of your mind. And when we humble ourselves, 537 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:06,320 when we. Actually, stop. 538 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:10,920 Trying to protect ourselves from what what might come. 539 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,560 And reveal the reality of our lives. 540 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:18,360 There's this this. Posture that allows. 541 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:23,040 A community to come and to. Seek the true words. 542 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:26,480 Of God again. And so the last movement of the 543 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:28,760 book brings us to one of the most beautiful passages in the 544 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:32,040 entire Old Testament. After the warnings and the 545 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,920 invitations, Zephaniah reveals something about the heart of God 546 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:37,680 that's just incredibly important. 547 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,480 For us to hear. Near the end of the book. 548 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,880 We hear these words. Sing aloud, O daughter Zion. 549 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:46,760 Shout, O Israel, rejoice. And exalt. 550 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:51,360 With all your heart. And the reason for the joy comes 551 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,400 immediately in the next passage. The Lord has. 552 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:57,080 Taken away the judgments against you, the King of Israel, the 553 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,600 Lord is in your midst. You shall never again fear. 554 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:02,640 Evil. And so all. 555 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,960 Of the ways that. You know, as the Prophet begins 556 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:09,280 to sort of outline the problem and shine a light a little bit 557 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:11,600 on some of our apathy or some of the ways that we've grown. 558 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:13,760 Comfortable in our habits to just say. 559 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:14,720 You know. God. 560 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:16,280 God won't. Do any good? 561 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:20,000 He won't cause any harm. The Prophet says. 562 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,600 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, the 563 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:27,040 judgments that you make against yourself, the ways that you 564 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,640 might even hear that and be tempted to condemn yourself. 565 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,960 There's this condemnatory voice that sort of comes sometimes. 566 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:37,160 And guys, that's not, that's not Jesus. 567 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:40,520 And so when there's when there's an opportunity, when there's an 568 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,120 invitation to change course, when there's an invitation to 569 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:44,200 think. Differently about the. 570 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,760 Ways that we've been imagining our lives. 571 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,120 The Lord has. Taken away the judgments against 572 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,680 you and then the final. Image of the prophecy. 573 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,120 Is 1 of God? Personally dwelling. 574 00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:00,280 Among his people, which is one of the most powerful images in 575 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,080 the Bible. It's one that we come back to 576 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,640 you over and over and over again in the prophets. 577 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,120 Jesus. God Incarnate, dwelling among 578 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,840 the people, but the future promise of all things being set. 579 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:14,480 Right, that gets. Set out in the prophets Isaiah 580 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,320 and Daniel and in Revelation. Talks about God. 581 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,440 Dwelling with the people. The Lord. 582 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:23,280 Your God is in your midst, a mighty one. 583 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:25,560 Who will say if he? Will rejoice over you with 584 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:30,960 gladness He will quiet you by his love He will exalt over you. 585 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:35,240 With loud singing. So after. 586 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,960 Everything that's been said about judgement and warning the 587 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:41,280 prophet ends with joy. And we miss this in the prophets 588 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,960 because we sometimes isolate those lines that sound a little 589 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,200 harsh, but they all kind of work like. 590 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:49,480 This with the exception. Of maybe 1. 591 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,320 There's a little less, a little less hope, but when we step back 592 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:58,040 and look at the. Movement of the book as a whole. 593 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:02,080 We see the deeper logic that God. 594 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:06,520 Confronts numbness, confronts our own apathy. 595 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:11,320 Because he refuses to. Abandon us refuses to abandon us 596 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:14,440 to the forces of the world around us, Refuses to abandon us 597 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:18,360 to the traumas that have occurred in our lives, refuses 598 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:21,440 to abandon us to the difficult circumstances that we might be 599 00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:24,920 dealing with. God confronts numbness. 600 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:27,040 Because he refuses to. Abandon his people and he 601 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:29,760 exposes. This sort of spiritual. 602 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:33,239 Drift in our lives. Because God desires restoration, 603 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:39,880 God desires to be close to us. And the warnings of the Prophet 604 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,040 are not meant to. Drive people away. 605 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:46,080 They're not meant to hold people at arm's length, they're meant 606 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,080 to bring them in close. And so the final image reveals 607 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:52,639 this goal that's been present underneath all along, a restored 608 00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:54,080 relationship. Where? 609 00:34:54,080 --> 00:35:00,520 God is present among his people and delights in His people, and 610 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:02,680 it's one of the reasons that I love preaching through. 611 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,320 The prophets especially. During Lent right now, as we. 612 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,680 Sort of approach Easter because. What are we doing? 613 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:10,160 We're we're preparing ourselves to. 614 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:14,040 Sort of receive the gravity of the cross. 615 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:18,840 And then just the overwhelming joy and hope that comes with. 616 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:21,720 The restoration of Jesus. And each of the prophets. 617 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:25,400 Sort of follows this this arc. As they go along, they tell the. 618 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:27,920 Story over. And over and over again in lots 619 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:31,800 of different ways. And so at this point, I think 620 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:32,680 it. Helps us to just. 621 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:37,680 Pause and consider how. Easily spiritual drift develops. 622 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:42,800 In our own lives, not in a. Way where we are being harsh 623 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:46,200 with ourselves. But you know, I I noticed this 624 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,680 in my own life more than I probably would like to admit. 625 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,960 There are seasons where my life with God feels vivid and alive, 626 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:57,800 and there are times where prayer comes easily and scripture is 627 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:02,600 interesting and exciting and I'm attentive to what God might want 628 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,320 to do in the middle of the day. And there are other seasons 629 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:08,600 where nothing, nothing dramatic has happened. 630 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:14,640 But I am fixated on my very full inbox and my responsibilities 631 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,000 that seem to be multiplying. And I'm doing all the right 632 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:21,320 things outwardly, so you wouldn't be able to tell. 633 00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:28,480 But somewhere along the way, my attentiveness starts to thin out 634 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:32,520 a little bit, and my my my actual attentiveness to God 635 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:37,640 slowly moves from the very center of my awareness. 636 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:42,600 To like a set piece. In the play of my life and guys, 637 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:44,320 some of that. Is just reality. 638 00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:47,680 Some of that is just a matter of like being human and the fact. 639 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,640 That we're fickle. You know, I can't think of many 640 00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:53,080 commitments to myself that I've ever been able to keep. 641 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:56,640 So it's just a reality that like we're, we're sort of. 642 00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:58,440 Pushing up against the very limits. 643 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:05,160 Of of our of our. Finiteness, but at the same time 644 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,640 we're invited. To keep pushing we're. 645 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:09,480 Invited to keep sort of fight, you know? 646 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,440 Where is the very. Edge of my ability. 647 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:14,160 To cooperate with what? God might want to do and how can 648 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:15,600 I? How can I live? 649 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,400 There how? Can that be the place where I'm 650 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:22,200 sort of approaching the majority of my life? 651 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:27,360 And so as we've wind down and come toward a little bit of 652 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:31,360 prayer, I want to just invite us to let the. 653 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:36,160 Words of the Prophet settle. In US, I'll invite the worship 654 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:41,520 team back up. Zephaniah begins with this image 655 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:47,200 of God searching the city, bringing light into places that 656 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,680 look dim, paying attention to the. 657 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:55,040 Lives of God's people, but he doesn't. 658 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:57,120 End there. He ends with a very. 659 00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:00,800 Different picture, a hopeful picture, the Lord dwelling in 660 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:04,000 the midst of His. People quieting them with love, 661 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,520 rejoicing over them with singing, and I think that tells 662 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:10,720 us something. Important about the heart of 663 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:13,280 God, the God who. Searches us and. 664 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:17,280 Searches for us. Is not looking for a reason to 665 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:18,280 push you. Away. 666 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:20,880 And so friends, I know so many of. 667 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,080 US have had experiences. In church, in spiritual 668 00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:25,400 community, where we've been, sort of. 669 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:31,000 We felt pushed away or held at arm's length by by God or by the 670 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:33,360 people of God. And I just want. 671 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:36,640 To encourage you, I really think there is. 672 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:41,760 An invitation to come. Close as we worship, so I would 673 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:44,680 invite you to to. Stand, I'm going to pray for us 674 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:46,960 and I just want to offer a few simple. 675 00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:51,960 Invitations for prayer. And if some of our people. 676 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:54,960 Who know how to pray? Could make your way. 677 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:56,480 Make your way. Around. 678 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:00,400 The first is. Just for anybody who who sort of 679 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:05,080 recognizes themselves in this sort of spiritual numbness that 680 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:06,920 Zephaniah is describing. Maybe your life is. 681 00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:10,360 Just full of responsibilities. It's full of noise and it's very 682 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:12,320 difficult. To imagine making the. 683 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,360 Space for a vibrant life with God. 684 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:19,360 I think there are some. Ways that we imagine what that 685 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:23,120 might look like that make the. Barrier even a little bit higher 686 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:25,720 than it actually is and. So I'd love to invite you to 687 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:27,280 come and receive prayer. Second thing. 688 00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:30,920 It's just for. People who maybe sense some 689 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:33,880 divided loyalties in their lives and when I talk. 690 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:35,880 About the forces that shape your life, you're. 691 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:37,880 Actually thinking like. Oh, actually, there's this. 692 00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:43,800 One thing, this one like news source or this one, you know, 693 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,200 it's like. Probably actually. 694 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:49,480 Shaping me a little bit more than anything else would invite 695 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:50,760 you to come and receive. Prayer. 696 00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:53,400 And the last thing is just. For. 697 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:55,920 Those of you who find yourselves feeling tired. 698 00:39:56,680 --> 00:40:01,400 Who just this talk of a life with God is a little bit. 699 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,160 Exhausting. We'd love to. 700 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:06,080 Pray for you. Come and receive. 701 00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:09,040 Prayer. So come Holy Spirit. 702 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:12,240 Lord, thank you for. The ways that you're present to 703 00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:13,560 each of us, the ways that you are. 704 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:17,960 Loving us into the image of your son and. 705 00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:20,040 God, I just pray for each person here. 706 00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:23,480 You know what we need. Would you meet with us as we 707 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:24,040 sing? As we. 708 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:24,440 Worship.