Zephaniah 3:14-20
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel!Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak.
The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it.
I will deal with all your oppressors at that time.
And I will save the lame and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord.
Advent and the Christmas season are a time for music and singing. Each year we are greeted with more celebrity Christmas albums. Before the pandemic our schedules were filled with holiday concerts. The stores and restaurants are also playing the music of the season. And often, we find ourselves humming a carol.
The music of this season mirrors an ancient longing deep in the heart of humanity. It is not nostalgia for days past, no! It is more profound. It is a longing for home. Home, where we experience the security to be the creatures God created. Home, where we experience comfort and the wounds of life are healed. Home, where we are held in the arms of God and we know we are loved.
This is a radical vision of hope in world where violence, injustice, racism, hatred, hunger, and homelessness are the norm. Raising our voices in song of the One to come is an audacious act of resistance to the false deities that our world worships. The message of Zephaniah is to “sing aloud” of the One who came and is yet to come; to proclaim the good news of the Messiah in a world of phony saviors. Sing aloud!
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