november 19 2023
November 19th 2023
Old Testament: Zephaniah 1:7-16 (17-18)
Psalm: Psalm 90:1-12
Epistle: 1st Thessalonians 5:1-11
Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30
Sermon Text: Zephaniah 1:7-18
Sermon Title: “Be Silent (Before the Lord God)”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today, we continue on the theme of the church year, each of the readings in one way or another speaking of the Day of the Lord (or the day of our death) and warning us of the danger of neglecting God and His Word. For example, in the Psalm for today, Moses speaks of the brevity and uncertainty of our lives saying “You return man to dust … in the morning it (he) flourishes … in the evening it (he) fades and withers. We are brought to an end by Your anger”. (Psalm 90:3, 5-7a) BTW, this is a text in our pastoral care companion, to be read either for the funeral service or used in ministering to the dying or to comfort family members.
Listen to how he describes our life in this wicked world, “The years of our lives are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone and we fly away … so teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom”. (Psalm 90:10, 12) We often forget that our time on earth is short and we are not guaranteed to live even to the end of this day. King David prayed “O Lord, make me to know my end, what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am”. (Psalm 39:4)
Remember also, the five virgins from last Sundays Gospel, who were not prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom, Jesus, and had the door of heaven shut in their face. The Apostle Paul warns in the Epistle reading this morning, “the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them … and they will not escape”. (1st Thessalonians 5:2b-3) “So then, let us not sleep … but let us keep awake and be sober … encouraging one another and building one another up” (1st Thessalonians 5:6, 11a) BTW, “building one another up is the opposite of gossip, slander and putting the worst construction on everything. All of these Scriptures are so that we would be more prepared for His coming, “for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect”. (Matthew 24:44)
In the Gospel reading, Jesus has another word of exhortation for us regarding this day. To the faithful servants/slaves who do His bidding, He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant … enter into the joy of your Master”. (Matthew 25:21b, 23b) But, to the wicked and lazy (unbelieving) servant Jesus declares, “Cast this worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. (Matthew 25:30)
And then there is the prophet Zephaniah who paints a bleak picture of those who are comfortable in their sins on the Day of the Lord and/or the day of their death; for at that time, there will be no more opportunity for repentance, but rather a “fearful expectation of judgment … It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”. (Hebrews 10:27a, 31) “For God will bring every deed into judgment … whether good or evil”. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
Of course, most people, even in the church, do not believe they are in any danger of judgment; they believe they are just fine and have all the time in the world, thinking they will get serious about God sometime later in life, when it more convenient. All of this is a terrible deception of Satan and our own corrupt nature. CFW Walther wrote that if we are not right with God, “we cannot afford to wait a single day to address the matter … if we wait for the most opportune time, it will (may) never arrive … the longer we wait, the more deeply sin will take root … and the more hardened our hearts will become” (Sermon on Ephesians 5) and the harder it will be to convert back to Christ.
In our world, every time except the present seems to be the right time to become a disciple of Christ. But the Word of God says otherwise, “today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts”. (Psalm 95:7b-8a) “Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin”. (Hebrews 3:13) “Today is the day of salvation”. (2nd Corinthians 6:2b)
So, then we are to “Look carefully how we walk (live), not as the unwise, but as the wise; making the best use of the time because the days are evil”. (Ephesians 5:15) Do not assume that you will be able to repent later, for the Bible knows nothing of the idea of waiting for a more opportune time; for we are not promised tomorrow. Do not be like King Agrippa. Who repeatedly heard the preaching of Paul and refused to “be persuaded to be a Christian”. (Acts 26:28b)
This means that we are to hear the Word of God and receive His gifts regularly; not neglecting or stubbornly rejecting the Word and gifts of God because we are too busy. Neither are we to reject the Word because we don’t like the one proclaiming it or because we are angry, holding grudges against our brother or sister in the congregation. (saying, I can’t go to church as long as they are there) In such cases, we are, “as much as it depends on you/us, live peaceably with all”. (Romans 12:18)
In all this, we are first to “humble ourselves, under the mighty hand of God” (1st Peter 5:6) “for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. (James 4:6b) We are especially to humble ourselves before the Word, so the prophets Habakkuk and Zechariah declare, “Let all the earth keep silent before Him” (Habakkuk 2:20b) and “Be silent all flesh before the Lord”. (Zechariah 2:13a) Also the Psalmist, “Be still (shut up) and know that I am God”. (Psalm 46:10b)
Zephaniah’s pronouncement of God’s wrath begins a few verses before our reading this morning saying; “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth … man and beast … birds and fish … I will stretch out My hand against Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem … all those who bow down to the host of heaven (Baal) … those who (once followed the Lord, but) have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of Him”. (Zephaniah 1:2-6)
In light of what the Lord has just spoken through him, Zephaniah begins the Old Testament reading this morning by telling the people of Israel to stop talking; to shut their mouths in the presence of Almighty God. “Be silent before the Lord God! For the Day of the Lord (judgment day) is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice; I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. On that day, will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud”.”. (Zephaniah 1:7-9)
Judgment is coming because those who were in the house of God (the people of Israel) had made themselves subjects of our Lord’s wrath because rather than hearing and keeping the Word of God, they chose to imitate the practices of Baal and other false gods of the nations around them. In addition, they had begun to practice violence and fraud against their own people.
“On that day will be heard … a cry … a wail … a loud crash from the hills”. (Zephaniah 1:10) On that day, the Lord declares, “I will search Jerusalem … I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts; the Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill”. (Zephaniah 1:12) In arrogance and laziness, the people thought they had nothing to fear from God’s judgment nor anything to benefit from God’s grace and mercy; rejecting both law and Gospel. They did not believe God’s Word which declares that “those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God”. (Galatians 5:21
So, they did just as they pleased, as did the people in the time of the Judges and increasingly in our own day; “everyone did what was right in their own eyes”. (Judges 21:25b) They murdered the innocent, just as we do in abortion and euthanasia; killing off the disabled and elderly. They practiced all kinds of sexual immorality, just as we do in our day, promoting among other things, LGBTQ values in our schools and businesses and culture; without a word of protest from most Christians.
They no longer paid attention to the Lord of heaven and earth, or to His Word, doing just the opposite; just as we do, rejecting God’s plan for marriage; rejecting the gathering around God’s Word and Sacrament; slandering our neighbor to further our own agendas; etc. The list could go on and on just by examining the Ten Commandments. Therefore, the Lord promises that all they value; freedom, property, houses, and land; will be taken from them. Do not think that God will hesitate to do the same to us, if we do not repent.
Zephaniah continues to preach, “The great Day of the Lord is near and hastening fast; the sound of that day is bitter … a day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness … against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. I will bring distress on all mankind … because they have sinned against the Lord … neither their silver, nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the wrath of the Lord”. (Zephaniah 1:14-18a)
Here are a few other things that will not be able to save us on that day, the government, our military, the “science” and so-called knowledge (Marxist, atheistic ideology, evolutionary theories, etc) we love to put our trust in, even when it contradicts the Word of God; will be utterly useless on the Day of the Lord. So will our bank accounts and all our land and possessions that we hold so dear. They will be of no benefit when the Lord comes in judgment.
They will not be able to save us because everything we have/possess in this life is a gift of and belongs to Almighty God. As the Psalmist declared, “the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; the world and all those who dwell therein; for He has established it”. (Psalm 24:1-2a) Your life and possessions are not yours to do with as you please, Christ’s church is not yours to do with as you please; “you are not your own, for you were bought with a price”; (1st Corinthians 6:19b-20a) the precious blood of Christ.
As we heard in the Parable of the Talents, the Lord is the One who gives these gifts, entrusting them to us as stewards, “each according to his own ability”. (Matthew 25:15b) We who belong to Jesus are His servants/slaves and we are to work in our various vocations, with what God has entrusted to us, for the purpose of furthering His kingdom; serving both God and our neighbor.
So, we who are in the church, whether pastor, officer, voter, or member; will have to give an account to God for how we have handled what has been entrusted to us. Jesus said, “I tell you; on the day of judgment, people will have to give an account for every careless word they speak; for by your words, you will be justified and by your words, you will be condemned”. (Matthew 12:36-37)
Holy Scripture is full of such warnings against sin, against contempt for the Word of God and of His eternal judgment on unbelief, but do we take Him at His Word; do we take Him seriously or do we blow it off, thinking that doesn’t apply to me? Do we really believe that we can ignore (reject) the Word of God, going our own way without any consequences? Or that Jesus’ warnings are not to be taken seriously? I fear many of us do not take Christ or His Word seriously at all.
Now, these warnings are given not just to warn the ungodly and unrepentant, but also so that the believer in Jesus would not become complacent about receiving the gifts of God in Word and Sacrament; so that they/we would not be like the five foolish virgins who thought they were prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom, Jesus, but were not, and had the door of heaven shut on them. The signs are there so that we would avoid useless speculation and trying to figure out the day that He is coming, by studying the politics of the Middle East; but rather always watch and be ready by receiving the gifts He gives here in this place.
These warning signs of the end of the world and Jesus’ second coming demonstrate more than His wrath; they demonstrate His love for us and His eager desire for our salvation. He warns us so that we will not become secure in our sins, leading to unbelief, but rather repent daily as the Small Catechism exhorts us in the fourth part of Baptism. He warns, because there is nothing worse than an eternity in hell; “the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth forever”. (Matthew 25:30) Love as God defines it, is warning the unrepentant sinner of the consequences of their sin.
The signs that Jesus speaks of are for the believer a hopeful sign that “their redemption is drawing near”. (Luke 21:28b) So, the Day of the Lord’s wrath is also the day of redemption for all those who trust in Christ. On that day, those who belong to Christ; those who have had their sins washed away in baptism and believe in Christ alone, will according to St. Paul, receive “the crown of righteousness … which the Lord will award to all who loved His appearing”. (2nd Timothy 4:8) Remember the words of Simeon when he saw the baby Jesus in the temple; “Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace”. (Luke 2:29) For the Christian death is “departing in peace” to be with the Lord forever.
So, “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ”. (Philippians 3:20) We who trust in Jesus can be sure of this, “God who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ”. (Philippians 1:6) So, we watch and “wait for our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13) who said, “Surely, I am coming soon (to which our reply is) Amen. Come, Lord Jesus”. (Revelation 22:20) So, we watch and continue to pray that our Lord would “come and save us who are eagerly waiting for Him”. (Hebrews 9:28) Amen.
The peace of God …