God’s
Joy
What brings you Joy?
What images of Joy do you have?
What words do we use to describe Joy?
Delight Celebration
Jubilation Exultation
Good Fortune Bliss
Blessed Glory
I love the idea that joy
can be part of our everyday lives.
You and I
can find joy in so many ways and places,
among friends and family, and
in small simple surprises in life.
What is God’s Joy?
In the beginning...in
Genesis 2 we read…
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their
multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that
he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had
done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because
on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”
Sabbath, a day of rest
but more than a day.
One of my professors in
seminary mentioned that Sabbath
was
not supposed to be a once a week
event;
it
was meant to be a way of life.
Life in Eden, life with a
relationship with God,
encountering God’s presence on a personal level.
“the
Lord
God walking in the garden at the time
of the evening breeze”
God’s joy is the
relationship with humanity.
Since the expulsion of
Eden, we have longed to return
to
that state of being;
God
has longed for it too.
Our scripture today is
from Zephaniah.
Zephaniah is one of the
minor prophets, perhaps not as well-known as others.
Like the other prophets,
he gives warning to Judah.
The verses we heard, the
final joyful verses of Zephaniah,
are
in contrast with how the book begins.
Chapter 1, verse 2 calls
for God’s judgment to all,
especially
Judah…
“sweep away everything”.
God’s intention is to “sweep creation clean”.
The Creator is to destroy
disobedient idolatrous Judah,
because
the covenant commandments have been broken.
Zephaniah calls for
repentance,
righteousness,
humility, trust, and faith.
Zephaniah’s words
of judgement are tempered with
words
of
grace, forgiveness, and restoration.
The scripture we heard
today is a victory song
of
Joy for Jerusalem,
(most
likely a post-exile addition).
They are words of
celebration, celebration of God,
“he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he
will renew you in his love;”
This is a celebration of love,
when God saves his
people.
It is a Halleluiah moment…a time of unimaginable
joy!
What have been times when
you have felt joy like that?
This is more than being happy,
more than having a good day…. this
is:
wanting
to shout from rooftops,
laugh
‘til your side hurts, and
a
desire to share this feeling with everyone you meet!
Pure joy!
The people of Israel have seen and
experienced
God’s blessings on them time after
time…
God’s promises to Jacob when he dreamed
at Bethel…
God guiding them through their
wanderings
in
the wilderness…
and
in God’s presence through the exile and their return.
These final verses in Zephaniah
give reasons for the celebration…
Yahweh makes promises concerning
their future:
-put
an end to oppression
-save
the lame and the outcast
-return
the people to their homeland
-restore
both their reputation and their fortunes,
You and I can see these same themes of
rejoicing
in many of the Psalms.
The Psalms express the joyous mood of
believers
as they encounter God.
Psalm
147:1-2 Praise
for God’s Care for Jerusalem
“Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.”
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.”
Psalm
95:1-2 A Call to Worship and Obedience
“O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”
Psalm
126:1-2a A
Harvest of Joy
“When the Lord
restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;”
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;”
The joy of the harvest is used to
describe the believer’s
final victory over adversaries.
We rejoice in God’s grace and mercy
toward us.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites
experience
punishments,
slavery, famine, and exile;
yet,
every time they discover God’s presence,
they
find a reason to rejoice.
Joy is powerful…
joy
can displace mourning,
calm
follows the storm,
in
the midst of human darkness, light shines,
we
can face the world, not with fear, but with joy;
profound joy and gladness.
In the New Testament, Luke 15 gives
reasons
for individuals to shout with Joy…
“Rejoice
with me,
for I have found my sheep that was lost.”
“Rejoice with me,
for
I have found the coin that I had lost.”
“…celebrate and rejoice, because
this brother of yours
was dead and has come to life;
he
was lost and has been found.”
In Zephaniah, the community rejoices;
verse
14 is a series of imperatives,
commands to rejoice!
“Sing aloud, O daughter
Zion; shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!”
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!”
The community, the Holy City comes
together in joy.
So how do you and I
experience this unimaginable joy today?
What has God gifted us with to bring
us such joy?
Jesus.
Jesus is the one to reconcile our
relationship with God;
our
way back to living in Sabbath,
to
the garden,
to God’s presence
“walking
in the garden at the time of the evening breeze”
to living in relationship of God’s
presence,
love,
mercy, and grace.
God’s Joy is the relationship
to humanity and
God
no longer needs to be the
disciplinarian to his children.
Jesus has sacrificed himself,
so God’s judgement
will
not be placed on his people;
The joyful promise of God’s
presence,
makes
us rejoice in our hope of salvation.
Mark 1:14b-15a
“Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming
the good news of God, and saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
has come near;”
It can be said for both the final verses
of Zephaniah,
as
the people celebrate God’s love,
and
for the message of the New Testament that
-an
age of renewal has begun
-there
is focus on a true home: God’s kingdom
-there
is a destination and direction.
Rejoice in the Lord!
Rejoice in God’s gift of love!
In the Letter to the Philippians,
Paul commands…
“Rejoice in the Lord
always;
again I will say, Rejoice.
Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
The Lord is near.”
Let us shout with joy for the…
Glory
of God,
Love
of God,
Our
witness to God.
God reigns and will reign fully, our
future is assured.
No comments:
Post a Comment