1 Gathered Together Zephaniah 3:14-20; Luke 3:10-16 Sunday Dec 16, 2018 Rev. David Hutchinson What would it mean - - for you - - for God to be NEAR? Would it make you - afraid? Or - - would you feel comforted? Or - - joyous? Or - - that we should DO something - - in response? Well - - in the Old Testament - - the prophet Zephaniah says: Lord is in our midst. And then - - Zephaniah - - tells us a whole bunch of things about that. The prophet Zephaniah - says it means we should REJOICE and SING. Judgments are taken away. AND it means we will be gathered together - - and brought HOME. In the New Testament - - Paul says - - The Lord is At Hand - - and then says that means we should be at peace, and have NO anxiety about anything. / It s in chapter 4 of his letter to the Philippians. He writes it like this: The Lord is at hand have no anxiety about anything and the PEACE of God - - which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds. HOWEVER - - John the Baptist - - in Luke's Gospel - - calls us to REPENT. According to John - - God being NEAR - - means WRATH. John -- says Repent - - by DOING something - like giving your COAT away" The Lord is near - - DO something! But don t RUN away - - stay - - and do.
2 So - - what would it mean - - for you - - for God to be NEAR? Would it make you - afraid? Or - - would you feel comforted and joyous? Or - - repentant? Or - - that we should DO something - - in response? Does it make any difference - - that the Lord is NEAR - - and NOT - - FAR away? Not ON HIGH - but low down. / CLOSE by. Well this morning I am going to focus on the prophet Zephaniah. For the last few weeks we have been considering how the SHEPHERDS are a part of the story of the BIRTH of Jesus. / And what we have seen is that - - shepherds are part of the story of King David - - and are connected to ancient prophecies. David was the shepherd King in the Old Testament. / And the gospels POINT us to the PROPHECIES - - as a way to make sense of the birth of Jesus. In Luke - - Zechariah pointed us to the prophet Malachi. And later - - John pointed us to the prophet Isaiah. Today - - Zephaniah - - tells us that on that day when the true shepherd King - - when the Messiah is in our midst - - here s what it will be like: It will be like you have been brought home. You will be gathered - - together. So - - what would it mean - - for you - - for God to be NEAR? Would it make you - afraid? Or - - would you feel comforted and joyous? Or - - repentant? Or - - that we should DO something - - in response?
3 Does the idea of God being NEAR - - make you at all - - Uncomfortable? In the old cartoon, Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin asks the same thing about Santa. What does it mean for Santa to be NEAR - - to SEE YOU - - while making his list? He asks: "They say Santa knows if you've been bad or good - but WHAT if - - someone had been - sort of - - - BOTH?" So because of who we are - - we might have some AMBIVALENCE about all this. But NONE of the scriptures suggest we should RUN AWAY from God. Whether God brings peace and joy - - OR - - judgment. Either way - - let yourself BE - - in God s NEAR-NESS. The very NAME for Jesus - - "Emmanuel" - - means, "God WITH us". And, that's what God WANTS to do - - in Jesus - - be NEAR. And so - - for US - - - - what does it mean - - to walk right toward God - instead of fleeing? John says, "Whoever has TWO coats - give to the person who has none" - "If you have food - - share it" - "Tax Collectors - be fair." - "Soldiers - rob no one" And we KNOW we should do this stuff. / And we know it is an APPROPRIATE response to God's GRACE-filled decision - to be WITH us - in Jesus Christ. But - if you're like ME - it is STILL amazing - to see someone actually DO it. To see someone actually GIVE away their coat. Or - to remember AGAIN - that God CHOSE - to be born in a manger. Who - would CHOOSE a manger?
4 There is a story about two boys - and a Christmas pageant - that highlights this question. The two boys - Bobby and Alex - didn't like each other too well. But - they were BOTH in the Sunday School Christmas pageant. Bobby was the innkeeper. Alex was Joseph. And Alex just KNEW Bobby would do something in front of all those people to embarrass him - and so he tried to keep on his toes. / And sure enough, Bobby DID. Joseph and Mary came up to the innkeeper, expecting to be turned away. "No, we've got LOTS of room", said the innkeeper, "Come right in" Joseph was ready for him, though. Looking past the innkeeper, he said to Mary, "Nah, this place is a dump. Let's go sleep in the barn." / / WHO - - - would CHOOSE a manger - to sleep in? Is THAT what we re supposed to DO - - because God is NEAR? Go sleep in a manger? Or give away one of our COATS? John didn't actually want us to go home after this worship service - - and get our coat from our closet - - and give it away - - - - did he? The Lord is NEAR - - SO - - what should we DO? Give away a coat Share your food Be fair
5 We all KNOW this stuff on SOME level - - but it doesn t make it any easier to DO. Nevertheless - - IF we really LISTEN - - to the PROPHETS this Christmas - - as the GOSPELS urge us to do - - we have to deal with this question of our RESPONSE. Zephaniah - - says - - that God being NEAR - - means we will be GATHERED TOGETHER. / Which is something - - SHEPHERDS did - - with SHEEP. It s kind of IRONIC - - if you think about the life of a shepherd. It s a LONELY life. According to a documentary on North American shepherds - - by Richard Lane and William Douglass - - shepherds could go for WEEKS without seeing another HUMAN being. They lived in a kind of isolation. That documentary - - and another book called, Shepherders; Men Alone was the source for the photos on the bulletin covers this past few weeks. According to the book by William Douglass - - Lacking the intimacy of regular human contact - - the herder developed a relationship with animals - - that is scarcely comprehensible to an URBANITE. / RATHER than SHOUTING at a horse, a dog, or a sheep - - he would CONVERSE with them. / It was UNTHINKABLE to take a herder s DOG from him except at his own request. Even further, he writes, The shepherder HUMANIZES an otherwise UNRELENTING and PRISTINE - - NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. / While wandering among the trees and stones - - he enjoys the ILLUSION - - of not being ALONE. / Rather - - despite his SOLITUDE - - he can COMMUNE - - with the GHOSTS of past generations. And so while a shepherd is ALONE - - where HUMANS are concerned He is the primary - - GATHERER - - of the SHEEP.
6 Think of what that might mean - - as we think about Jesus as our shepherd! In the ancient role as shepherd king God is WITH us - - GATHERING us - - even though God is so DIFFERENT from us! A poem called The Shepherd s Song catches something of how a shepherd gathers sheep. / Listen: I am the SHEPHERD S SONG - - - - I SING - - here in the stable s shadow. And all men come - - like lambs I bring them to the Christmas meadow. I call them through the winter night, Lost out there in the bitter cold; Oh come and see how love is bright in the Good Shepherd s fold! IF there should come - - some weary one still late at night - - that I could bless, I ll be content my singing s done - - and be glad - - for my weariness. What does it mean - - this Advent season - - for the Shepherd s SONG - - to gather us? Where are you lonely - - or feeling scattered? Imagine hearing that gathering song - - in your ears. In an essay called, The Oldest Doors in Europe, Katie Munnek describes a set of doors in a European castle - - as an image of safety - - and welcome: The image is of the oldest castle doors in Europe. / Eight hundred years old.
7 Good - - strong - - OAK doors. They were the main doors of a castle in Whales. Built using techniques adapted from ancient boat building they are innovative and beautiful Then she writes: This is my image for hope. In an uncertain world we hope for safety and security. So we build strong doors. But we also hope for welcome - - so we learn to OPEN those doors - - to those who seek refuge. What DOES it mean - - for US - - that God - - is NEAR? How can we be a safe - - and welcoming place? A place where we are gathered - - together - - by God As we consider that - - I ll end today - - with a few lines from a poem by Raymond Carver called Waiting : Left off the highway and down the hill. At the bottom hang another left. Keep bearing left. The road will make a Y. Left again. There s a creek on the left. Keep going. Just before the road ends - - there ll be another road.
8 Take that road - - and NO OTHER. Otherwise - - your life will be RUINED forever. / / There s a log house with a shake roof - - on the left. It s not that house. It s the NEXT house - - just over the rise. The house where the trees are laden with fruit. It s the house where the woman stands in the doorway, wearing sun in her hair. The one - - who s been WAITING - - all this time. The one who loves you. The one who can say: What s kept you?