"Future Justice" Obadiah 1: 1-21

The reading listed with the title is the whole of Obadiah.  Obadiah is a very short book, in fact, it is the shortest book in the Bible.

Obadiah has a single message – judgment against Edom.  Edom was the land to the southeast of Judah beyond the Dead Sea. Edom was associated with Esau, Jacob's brother.. When Babylon captured Judah, Edom prospered by capturing fleeing Judeans and turning them over to the Babylonians, which was not only a act of betrayal, but in some sense the betrayal of one brother (Esau) of another (Jacob).  Perhaps there is a theme about betrayal.

Since Obadiah only has one theme, it has me thinking about one-hit wonders.  I looked up on the Internet and found a list of some, which includes these songs that I actually recognize:  Los del Río — "Macarena;" Baha Men — "Who Let the Dogs Out?" and "Kung Fu Fighting" — Carl Douglas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-hit_wonder)

Obadiah literally means “servant of the Lord.”  Unlike the other prophets, there is no information given about Obadiah or his heritage.

As I mentioned when i preached on Nahum, only a few books of the Bible are left out of the Revised Common Lectionary's three-year cycle of readings.  Obadiah is one of the others.  With Nahum, I could see why it ought to have been included. With Obadiah, I can see why it was left out of the lectionary readings.

Obadiah finishes with a violent word of hope with the house of Jacob and the house of Joseph being fire and flame that burn down the Edomites (“house of Esau”) is how it is described (Obadiah 1: 18). As I reflect on that, it reminds me of the generations of hatred that fuel the violence in the Middle East and the terrorism we experience.  How do we break the cycle of hatred and violence?

This week I will be preaching on a prophet that does not seem like he has much to say, and I'm not sure he is on good theological grounds.  But, Obadiah is part of the biblical canon, so i guess we need to figure out how God is using this text to speak to us!

Reflections on "Living by Faith" Habakkuk 1: 1-4; 2:1-5

I did not put my pre-sermon notes on the blog due to schedule.  I spent the week as the CE person at Kirkmont Camp and Conference Center (I did preach four vesper sermons during the week).  My schedule also meant that I relied more heavily on resources this week than I might normally do, although I have done a lot of outside work for this preaching series on the minor prophets.

I intentionally try to preach sermons in broad strokes on the minor prophets since I am only spending a week on each prophet.  With Habakkuk, it might have been nice to spend several sermons exploring different themes, or to have just hit one of the points.  Each of these topics seems worthy of their own sermon:  the watchtower image (I wish the ladder had still been up from VBS so that I could have climbed up the ladder as my watchtower); working through the "appointed time language; the Hebrew parallelism in the 1:4 with "justice/judgment" and "come forth;"  the personal style of Habakkuk; complaining as an act of faith, or at least a sign of believing God is relevant.

Confession:  At the Chapel service I was a bit low energy with the sermon and sort of just preached it.  We had a couple visiting who happened to be Presbyterians from Ardmore, OK.  As we talked, he noted he was the minister there.  My first thought was, "Richard, you preached a lousy sermon for him to hear on his week off!"  My second thought was, "Richard, if you didn't like the sermon for him, why would you like it for anyone else?"  I didn't really change much for the Sanctuary service (I did take out the mention of Paul's justification by faith connection), but I became much more energized and focused for the Sanctuary service.  I believe it made the sermon better for the Sanctuary service.

“Living by Faith” FPC, Troy; 7/26/15; Minor prophet series; Habakkuk

Introduction: Late 7th century, early 6^th century. Imagine a time between King Josiah, who had come to power and re-instituted doing things right, obeying and trusting God and the fall of Jerusalem, which has not quite come yet, but is still looming.

Particularly frustrating those who were watching what was happening in the world around them was the reality that King Josiah had been in right relationship with God; king Josiah had led the people back to God; and for all that effort King Josiah had been killed in battle by the Egyptians, Judah had become a puppet government again to the Egyptian, and the Babylonian threat looks stronger than ever.

Move 1: Stylistically, you should have heard a difference in listening to Habakkuk this morning.

     a. Habakkuk introduces a new innovation – the prophet having a conversation with God.

              1. Do not want make of this.

               2. maybe a stylistic.

               3.  Habakkuk is the only pre-exilic prophet who calls himself a prophet, which may mean he was a professional prophet.

              4.  On the other hand, it also shifts the focus from how Judah looks to God and invites the listener to personalize the conversation and think about how the individual is looking at the relationship he or she has with God.

    b.  If you could get personal with God, what would you ask?

            1.  If I could give you five minutes when you could ask God anything you wanted and you hear an answer, what would you ask?

            2.  Would it be a scientific question – how in the world did you imagine creating this or that or how it works in a particular way?

            3.  Really personal question – i.e. why did this particular thing happen to me, or what particular thing is going to happen in the future?

             4.  would you ask a question for two trying to get a handle on our world and all its issues?

    b. Habakkuk basically has two questions for God. (if you want a hint about their content, you might note that in the pew Bible – the NRSV – the section that opens Chapter 1 is labeled as “The Prophet's Complaint”).

              1.  First question: Why are you not hearing the cries of the people or acting as God should?

              2.  How long it will be before God will act?

             3.  The crux of the prophet’s complaint comes in 1:4:
So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous --
therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

            4. Translation issue: In Hebrew two words are used twice, in 1:4a and 1:4b, mishpat and yatsa. In the NRSV, these two words are translated differently each time. This translation is not wrong; in fact it is quite good.

            5.  So the law becomes slack and judgment (mishpat) never comes forth (yatsa).
The wicked surround the righteous --
therefore judgment (mishpat) comes forth (yatsa) perverted.

           6.  Whichever way one would choose to go (judgment or justice) the key is that it is the same word used. Habakkuk laments first that judgment/justice does not come about, and then in classical Hebrew parallelism that judgment/justice does come forth, but it is perverted and twisted, a mockery of justice (Karl Jacobson Associate Pastor Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd Minneapolis, Minn; http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1875

Move 2: Habakkuk turns to God with the lament and complaint.

     a. Habakkuk is not the first person to ask these questions in the biblical story, nor is he the last.

            1. Remember Moses and the Israelites in slavery in Egypt?

            2.  They cry out to God, “how long?”

             3.  When the Israelites are wandering in the wilderness hungry and tired, they ask God again and again, “why are you letting this happen to us? Why aren't you doing something about this?

            4.  The Psalmists often complain.

            5.  Job – why is this happening to a righteous person like me.

            6.  Even Jesus on the cross quoting Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
 
   b. I do not think that I hear people complain about God or lament as much these days as they do in the Bible.

            1. Maybe that's a sign of trust and faithfulness.

            2. But on the other hand, think about the statement being made when Habakkuk, or Job, or the Psalmists, or Jesus complain and question – they are saying that they believe God is relevant. That God can make a difference in their world and their lives.

            3. The Israelites cry out to God from slavery because they believe God can and will lead them out of slavery. And God does.

            4. The Israelites moan and complain to God about the lack of food in the wilderness because they believe that God can provide for them. And suddenly they have manna from heaven.

              5. The Psalmists, Job, and even Jesus complain and question God because they believe that God can make a difference.

              6. Maybe not complaining and not questioning really means that God has become irrelevant in our world.

              7. Why ask God about what is happening around us, why complain about it to God, if we not longer believe God is relevant to our world?

               8. In someways, the questions and complaints can only be asked through the lens of faith – a faith that believes that God still matters and God is still at work in our world.

Move 3: In response to the questions, Habakkuk has an answer from God: wait and watch.

       a. “There is still a vision for the appointed time” Habakkuk 2: 3)

             1. the Hebrew word for “appointed time” (moed) is also used to) is also used to designate festival times in Israel’s worship (Leviticus 23:2), a time of birth (Genesis 17:21; 18:14; 21:2), seasonal migration (Jeremiah 8:7), and, yes, the end time (Daniel 8:19).

             2. “Appointed time” here means the right time, God’s time, the time in which God’s promise will come to pass. Rolf Jacobson, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=753

              3. That is not only a promise for the future but a reminder that God's time is not always our time.

              4. AME Church in Mt. Sterling, KY Preacher: God may not be there when we call, but God is always there on time.”

      b. Waiting means having faith in the future possibility of God to act in the future.

               1.  Watchtower image – goes back to the role of gatekeepers who stand watch at the gates to Jerusalem to watch for who is coming and determine if the gate should be opened or not.

               2.  old westerns: fort. Look for the cloud of dust in the distance; on alert; is it someone riding in to find safety or the enemy arriving; or sometimes it is one followed by the other.

              3.  child looking out the window waiting for his parents to return home.

              4. the life of faith – living in the present, being faithful in the present, but also waiting and watching for the God who comes in the future, appointed time.

       c.  Introduces a theology of the cross.

              1. An Old Testament Theology of the Cross:  In essence, the book of Habakkuk proclaims an Old Testament version of the theology of the cross. It says God is not found only (or even primarily) in the high points. Rather, God meets us in our suffering.

              2. To look around and see justice perverted does not mean that God is not present, but instead sees God is there in the midst of the suffering.

               3. To be faithful in the moment is an act of righteousness or as Habakkuk puts it in 2:4 “but the righteous live by faith,” not by how great everything is in their lives.

              4. this, of course, becomes the foundation of the Apostle Paul's theological concept of the justification by faith.

Conclusion: Habakkuk finishes with a song of thanksgiving in response to God's promise of faithfulness.

Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will exult in the God of my salvation (3:17-18)

Living by faith.

Reflections on "What Kind of God?" Nahum 1: 1-11; 3: 18-19

Another sermon I enjoyed preparing and preaching, although my guess would be the congregation is getting tired of the minor prophets!

A cool thing happened in the Sanctuary service. At the end of the sermon (just after the story from the Truth and Reconciliation experience) when I asked "Would a what goes around comes around approach have worked better?" I had several people nodding their heads "No." 

In the Chapel service when I asked if they remembered why Jonah ran away, one of the persons nodded "Yes," so I asked her "Why?" (probably a dangerous thing to do!), and she answered, "because Jonah did not want to go and preach forgiveness to Nineveh." I could not have set that up better if I had tried!

I am grateful for the teaching of Professor Louis Donelson, who taught me NT at seminary, and who also taught me that we could and should use the texts to interpret one another.  Nahum needs to be interpreted in light of other texts. 

For you Revised Common Lectionary buffs, do you know what other books are not used in the three year cycle?  Don't hold me to it, but I believe that Obadiah (another minor prophet), Ezra (the lectionary does include Nehemiah, which is part of the same story), and I and II Chronicles (I suspect they are left out since they tell the same stories as I and II Kings).  

“What Kind of God” FPC, Troy; 7/19/15; Minor prophet series; Nahum 1: 1-11; 3: 18-19

Introduction: We continue to reflect on the minor prophets, this time Nahum.

Did you even know Nahum was a book in the Bible?

I bet most of us have not spent much time reading Nahum.

I'm not sure I have ever preached from Nahum.  In fact, I looked up his name on the Internet to hear how to pronounce his name. Nahum.

Revised Common Lectionary – four Scripture readings each week so that over three years all of the Bible can be heard in worship.

Or at least almost all. Nahum is one of the few books totally left out of the lectionary. Those people who want us to hear a bit of everything in the Bible, leave out Nahum. Not worth reading! Or maybe they do not know what to do with Nahum.

In Hebrew Nahum means "comforter," which seems appropriate since he has no bad news for God's people. The major prophet Jeremiah (28:9) claimed that bad news is the mark of the prophet.

Nahum, unlike the other prophets we have encountered, has no bad news for God's people. There is bad news, but it is all for Assyria, Judah's enemy.

Move 1: what is Nahum doing?

a. Answering important questions that the Judeans have.

1. late 7^th century in Judea.

2. Assyria has been a brutal power.

3. had not destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, but had been a fearsome enemy.

4. Babylon on the rise.

5. Assuming Nahum written as Babylon comes to power or maybe after the fall of Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria.

b. First question with which the Judeans struggle: What good did it do them to be God's people, to have God on their side if God could not protect them from the Assyrians?

1. what good does it do us to be God's people if terrorists can strike and kill four Marines in Chattanooga or take down the Twin Towers?

2. What good does it do to follow God is I can lose my job just like anyone else?

3. what good does it do to be God's people if cancer can strike me just like anyone else?

100. Second question: If the rise of Assyria was God's will, how did that explain the cruelty and abuse of power that Assyria showed, particularly since God was just and righteous? (These two questions are discussed in Theology of the Prophetic Books: the Death and Resurrections of Israel, Donald E. Gowan, 86).

1. if God is at work in the world and God's will is being played out, why do so many things happen that do not seem like God.

2. Or perhaps even scarier, do we have the wrong impression of who God is and how God works?

Move 2: Nahum looks at what is about to happen to Assyria and has this to say: Nah, na, na, nah! God's going to get you!”

a. Destruction.

1. Destruction of Assyria, the enemy.

2. God acts upon Assyria in a vengeful way.

3. The prime example is the destruction of Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria.

4. In fact, Nineveh is compared to Thebes, which Assyria had destroyed about fifty years earlier.

5. In some ways, a pretty good image of God if you are a Judean, a God who will destroy Judah's enemies.

6. Maybe you would like to follow that kind of vengeful God who hates your enemies?

b. Having three daughters grow up in my household means I am often exposed to and confused by the language and thinking of the younger generation, or at least as interpreted by my daughters.

1. Fads in music and clothes.

2. TV shows -- "Fixer Upper" is the hot ticket these days!

3. Language and ideas.

4. I used to hear a lot about karma. Not as much anymore, but it still gets mentioned.

5. Karma –  in general, too simple terms, karma is the Buddhist belief that whatever you do comes back to you, e.g. if you do something good, something good will happen to you, and vice versa. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=karma

6. Typically, karma is espoused at my house when something bad has happened to someone with whom one of my daughters is displeased, or maybe with one the sisters who has done something.

7. let's say one girl gets dumped by her boyfriend after having just dumped her previous boyfriend – when the story is told, “karma,” is the explanation.

8. Or if one sister borrows a pair of shoes from the other sister without asking and then trips and falls, “Karma” is the answers.

9. Every once in awhile I felt compelled to respond to the appeal to karma with “I don't believe in karma, I believe in Jesus,” but I don't think they ever took me too seriously!

100. But, in effect, that's how Nahum comes to understand God.

1. the God of karma.

2. Assyria is bad, so they are going to get theirs.

3. the comparison between the looming destruction of Nineveh and Thebes is a great example of karma – Assyria destroys Thebes; before too long God destroys Assyria.

Move 3: So what do we do with the cross?

a. How do we interpret Nahum in light of Christ’s death and resurrection?

1. Instead of what goes around comes around, we learn that our only hope is that what goes around can be transformed by love.

2. God does not seek vengeance for Christ's death on the cross – God offers resurrection, the transforming of death into life.

2. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. . . . Sooner or later, all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace. . . . [We] must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” http://donteatalone.com/words-from-martin/; Milton Brasher-Cunningham, January 17, 2011

3. Remember Jonah, one of the minor prophets we do read and most of us do remember.

4. Jonah who runs away from the task God has for him.

5. What was the task? To go to Nineveh and call the people to repentance and to know God's forgiveness.

6. Jonah runs away because he does want any part of a God who offers forgiveness to the enemy who live in the capital city of Assyria.
7.  Karma sounds better to Jonah than forgiveness.

100. one of the great examples in our time for how God's people might respond comes out of the Truth And Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.
     1. In response to the crimes of apartheid, the commission discovered the importance and power of involving the victims in determining the punishment.
     2. Story of a woman who saw her husband and her son killed in front of her by the same Afrikaans policeman. When he was convicted before the commission, they asked the woman what she thought his punishment should be.

“I was once a mother and a wife and now I am neither,” she said. “Let him come to visit me so I can be a mother to him.” She then rose and embraced him as the man wept uncontrollably. http://donteatalone.com/life-sentence/, Milton Brasher-Cunningham, July 6, 2006

3. Would a what goes around comes around approach have worked better?
Conclusion: Nahum invites us to consider how God is at work in the world. Not is some theoretical way, but in the concrete happenings around us.
But, we accept his invitation as people who know the about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as people who know the transforming love of God.

"What Kind of God" Nahum 1: 1-11; 3: 18-19

We continue to reflect on the minor prophets, this time Nahum.  I bet most of us have not spent much time reading Nahum.  Did you even know Nahum was a book in the Bible?

In Hebrew Nahum means "comforter," which seems appropriate since he has no bad news for God's people.

Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, the world power and threat to Judah.  Nineveh is the city that Jonah will be told to go into and call on the Ninevites to repent, which they do, much to Jonah's dismay.

Nineveh is compared to Thebes, which Assyria had destroyed about fifty years earlier.  As I write this, I hear, "What goes around comes around."  Is that sound theology or true about how God works?

Even though the historical context in which the minor prophets prophesied seems so different than our, I am really struck by how much they are struggling with questions we have:  Where is God at work in our world?  how do we interpret what is happening in our world in light of our faith?  What will the future hold?  

Reflections on "Humble Yourself Now" Zephaniah 3: 8-13

I enjoyed preaching the sermon because I had a chance to explore Zephaniah.  I like the teaching aspects of this sermon series.  But, this sermon may have had too much teaching, which made it seem more like a lecture than a sermon.

I thought the point about humility worked well.  It was also a new theme from the prophets.

I initially had the second Scripture lesson from Chapter 2, but decided when I put the sermon together to read from Chapter 3 and introduce the concept of the remnant, which brings a little hope to the doom and gloom!

“Humble Yourself Now” FPC, Troy; 7/12/15; Minor prophet series; Zephaniah 1 14-18; 3: 8-13

Zephaniah 3: 8-13 Therefore wait for me, says the Lord, for the day when I arise as a witness. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all the heat of my anger; for in the fire of my passion all the earth shall be consumed.

At that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, my scattered ones, shall bring my offering.

On that day you shall not be put to shame because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.

For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord—the remnant of Israel; they shall do no wrong and utter no lies,
nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. Then they will pasture and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.

Introduction: We move from the 8^th century prophets about 70-100 years (depending on how you want to date the different prophets) to the mid-7^th century BCE and the prophet Zephaniah.

The opening verse of Zephaniah gives us some sketchy biographical details about him. He is named as a son of Cush, which suggests that he might have been an Ethiopian.

His genealogical roots also go back four generations, which is two more generations than are generally included. Since the third and fourth generations mention Hezekiah. It does not say King Hezekiah, but Hezekiah was one of the great kings of Judah, so presumably the extra genealogical information is provided to connect Zephaniah with him.

Although we may not get it from reading Zephaniah, scholars tell us that Zephaniah shows great familiarity with Jerusalem, the Temple, and Temple practices such as the sacrificial codes. This suggests that Zephaniah was from Jerusalem and was connected with the Temple.

By not reading Zephaniah in Hebrew, we also miss out on the fact that the whole prophesy is a poem, with the exception of the first verse.

That also means we miss out on the poetic devices that Zephaniah uses. If you read Chapter 1, you will see the repetition of the word “sweep” in the English translation, which exemplifies the use of repetition throughout Zephaniah, although it does not always translate well into the English.

And we completely miss Zephaniah's use of assonance, which is using words that sound a like because it is the Hebrew words that sound alike, not the English translations of those words (I consulted the New Interpreter's Bible for background on the literary analysis of Zephaniah).

This morning, I want to reflect on several themes in Zephaniah: a continuing theme of God's people trying to figure out what God is doing in the world; some good news/bad news that Zephaniah shares in a unique way; an finally Zephaniah's call to humility.

Move 1: As we have discovered in the other prophets, the Israelites have a prevailing view of how God is at work in the world – if things are going well, then they must be faithful; if things are going poorly, they must be sinful.

a. When Assyria defeated Israel, the Northern kingdom, public sentiment believed it was because Israel had not been faithful to God.

1. When Assyria took territory from Judah and forced Judah to pay tribute, it was because of Judah's sinfulness.
2. As Assyria seemed poised to take over Jerusalem, it was seen as a sign of Judah's continuing sinfulness.
3. But now, Assyria has lost its power in the world. Assyria has abandoned its outposts in Judah; Jerusalem seems safe. No idea who the next world power is going to be, but Judah is feeling good about itself.
4. In fact, Judah is contemplating taking back some of the territory it had lost to Assyria, and perhaps wondering if maybe the tide has turned and Judah will now become a world power like in the days of old.
5. That also means that what Judah is doing must be OK with God. (This description of Zephaniah's era comes from Theology of Prophetic Books, Donald E. Gowan, 80).

6. the theological understanding that defeat is God's punishment also allows Judah to believe that not being defeated must be God's affirmation of how they are doing things.

b. As I have mentioned previously, it is easy to see the flaw in this theology, but also easy to fall prey to it.

1. how often do we say when things seem to fall into place, “It must have been meant to be.”

2. Which also means that if things don't fall into place, it was not meant to be.

3. Judging God by how what happens in the world.

Move 2: In the face of this theological perspective, Zephaniah offers some good news and some bad news.

a. Zephaniah lifts up the idea of the “Day of the Lord.”

1. the people would have some idea of this concept.
2. It is the day of judgment.
3. The day when the unrighteous will be punished and the righteous will be rewarded.
4. It is typically assumed by God's people that when the Day of Lord happens, they will be the righteous and their enemies will be unrighteous.
5. But Zephaniah describes the day of the Lord as a day of doom and gloom for God's people because it will be a day when they will be punished.
6. Zephaniah uses the image and language of sacrifices in the Temple to make his point.
7. Sacrifices are made when the priest kills clean animals to be given to God.
8. As Zephaniah describes it, God will be the priest and Judah will be sacrifice, killed and destroyed.
9. The bad news is this provocative prophecy that denounces Judah belief that they must be counted among the righteous since Assyria will not defeat them.

b. But before Zephaniah is done with his prophecy, eh will also introduce the idea of the remnant.

1. that there will be a core group of people whose faithfulness will be rewarded by their salvation.
2. This remnant will be the example of faithfulness whose witness will lead the people back to God.
3. Zephaniah's name literally translates as “Yahweh protects,” and we see God protecting the future of Judah through this remnant of the faithful.
4. In later years when Judah is defeated and exiled, this concept of the remnant that Zephaniah lifts up will become very important to the hope of God's people.

Move 3: The mark of the remnant will be their humility.

a. Zephaniah calls God's people to humble and lowly (3:12).

b. As we hear Zephaniah's call to humility, we see in this an acknowledge that the people to whom Zephaniah prophesies, that we are not God.

1. the temptation in the theological perspective that God's people must be faithful is Assyria loses its power is that it invites people to take things into their own hands.
2. If they can become the victors, then it will prove that God is with them.
3. It creates a world where dependence in God give ways to trying to play God.
4. David Read, the well-known 20^th century preacher, tells a story from his experience as a war camp chaplain: He debated an atheist about God and the atheist finally said: “I believe in the end the main difference between us is the question of humility. I'll be damned if I want [I changed the quote to “I am not willing” for sermon purposes] to acknowledge any boss beyond myself or the human race.

b. If you follow baseball, you surely know the player Mike Trout. He is a young star who plays for the Los Angeles Angels. He arguably has been the best player in baseball over he last few years. IN an article in Sports Illustrated last year, he said this “I think that where all my success comes from – always staying humble. If you do get four hits and two home runs or whatever, you're not out there bragging. You just come in and do your job.” (5/12/14; Sports Illustrated, Tom Verducci, “The Best, Simply,” 46)

1. Humility allows him to focus on doing the tasks that make him a star rather than focusing on being a star and forgetting with it is has made him a star.
2. It seems to me that Zephaniah's call to humility is for God's people to do the things that are pleasing to God and forget about looking at the world and deciding whether their actions are of God based on how the world's politics and power struggles are unfolding.
3. In other words, God's people should worship God appropriately; give up their allegiance to gold and silver and seek allegiance to God; care the poor and weak in their midst;
4. do the things God expects them to do and quit trying to figure out how the political changes in their world reflect God's presence in their midst.

Conclusion: In a world in which we try to figure out what God is doing by reading the tea leaves of what is happening around us, we heard Zephaniah's call to be humble and let God be God.

"Humble Yourself Now" Zephaniah 2: 1-7

Another week among the minor prophets, this time with Zephaniah.  We are moving from the 8th century to the 7th century, approximately 75-100 years since the prophets have been heard. The world is shifting as Assyria loses power and abandons its outposts in several cities in Philistia and Judah.  Egypt is on the rise.  The world is waiting to discover who will be the next great power.  In Judah, there may have been thoughts of regaining more of its independence (it basically was a vassal state to Assyria) and perhaps even reclaiming some territory that had been lost over the years (This description of Zephaniah's era comes from Theology of Prophetic Books, Donald E. Gowan, 80).

The prophetic voices have been silenced for close to a century.  Now Zephaniah comes to the scene.  He brings up the Day of Yahweh, and gives a dismal picture of what it might be like.  He also introduces a theme of humility.

Zephaniah's familiarity with Jerusalem suggests that he lived there.  The supersciption to Zephaniah indicates he is prophesying in the time of Josiah, who was the last great and righteous king of Judah according to the books of Kings and Chronicles.  Josiah had introduced reforms.

I am intrigued by the idea that as Judah sees Assyria lose its power, Judah believes that it is ripe for getting ahead in the world.  They are deluding themselves into thinking that if Assyria becomes less threatening, that means that God is happy with Judah. Judah's perspective reveals the faulty theology that if everything is going well, Judah must be right with God.  It also makes Judah ignore the call to come back to God.  Zephaniah's call to humility may work as a corrective against this attitude.

Reflections on "Moving Beyond" Micah 1: 1-9; 3: 1-12

It did not feel like I was on top of the material this morning as I would have liked.  I tried to pick up on a couple of different themes in Micah that I had not previously focused on in the sermons on Amos and Hosea.  

If I preached the sermon again, I would use the text from Micah 6: 6-8 -- "With what shall I come before the Lord,  and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  I had opted not to read that text since it is the section of Micah everyone knows, but since I ended up focusing on it in the sermon, it might have worked better to read from it.

If I preached Micah again, I might also focus more on Micah 3: 11 when we are told the false prophets say, "  “Surely the Lord is with us!"  Eugene Peterson translates that passage as, "We've got God on our side."  That could be the start of a pretty interesting sermon!

I originally thought I would be preaching about the third point -- Micah's predictions about Jerusalem's destruction that did not happen -- which is why I chose the sermon title.  I don't think the sermon quite met the title this week!

“Moving Beyond” FPC, Troy; 7/5/15; Minor prophet preaching series; Micah 1: 1-9; 3: 1-12

Introduction: Unlike Hosea and Amos, Micah prophesies in Judah, the southern part of the kingdom.

Israel, the Northern Kingdom, has been defeated by the Assyrians. From a prophets standpoint, that means Hosea and Amos were correct when they prophesied doom and gloom for Israel.

Now Micah is preaching a similar message to Judah. Micah has a little more hope – he prophesies about the remnant that would survive, and he mentions the ruler that will come forth from Bethlehem, which we now understand to be a call for the coming of Christ.

But mostly, he preaches a similar message of doom and gloom. In fact, when Micah prophesies about the destruction of Jerusalem, he is talking about the unthinkable – the destruction of the holy city; the place where the temple is; the place that is at the heart of the faith of God's people.

This morning, I want to reflect on a couple of themes in Micah.

Move 1: We begin by looking at the way Micah, like Amos and Hosea, shifts the way we are to look at sin and suffering.

a. At the time, God's people had a simple view of sin and suffering – if you were suffering, it was the result of your sinfulness.

1. The poor were poor because they were less faithful; those suffering from injustice were doing so because they had in some way sinned against God.
2. When I put it that way, we easily recognize the flawed thinking.

3. But, think about how quickly we move from gratitude – that is, “thanks God for all the blessings we have” - to certitude about how we deserve those gifts – that is, deep down we say, “really, I do deserve these things because I do act better or are more faithful than most!”

4. Recently I read an article from Christian Century that was written several years ago. That author shared about a National Lampoon cartoon that was a spoof of the old Medici rose window from the cathedral in Florence, how it depicted a laughing camel leaping with ease through the eye of a needle. The caption beneath the cartoon reads, "a recurring motif in works commissioned by the wealthier patrons of Renaissance religious art," while the Latin inscription on the window itself reads "Dives Vincet," which can be translated, "Wealth wins!" John Rollefson, "Eye of the Needle," Christian Century, September 21, 2004, 20. Referenced in Robert Dunham's sermon at Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, 6/14/15.

b. Micah offers a different perspective.

1. Micah makes the point that sometimes suffering is a “consequence of victimization and abuse by the wicked and powerful.” Daniel J. Simundson, “The Book of Micah: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible: Volume VII, ed. Leander E. Keck, Thomas G. Long, David L. Petersen, et al, The New Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994), 560. Eric Mathis, Samford University, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2183

2. In other words, the suffering of the poor, the injustices heaped upon the powerless result from the sinfulness of those in power.

3. The sign of faithfulness is not being in power and having wealth; likewise, the sign of unfaithfulness is not suffering.

4. for all people, the sign of faithfulness becomes are we doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with our God.

Move 2: It can be hard to hear Micah's challenge.

a. Think about this week-end's celebration of our nation's independence from England.

1. Great celebrations.
2. I had the chance to beat Red, White, and Boom in Columbus on Friday night.
3. A spectacular fireworks display with wonderful music tied in that jerked at our heart strings. A tribute to our nation's history, the armed services, and a little bit of “Hang on Sloopy” mixed in for good measure.
4. Most of us this week-end are proud of nation's heritage and would not trade living here for anywhere else in the world.

b. But there is also the temptation to believe that somehow living here makes us more faithful or better in God's eyes than others around our world.

1. there is a temptation to be triumphalistic instead of humbled by all the blessings we have.
2. There is a temptation to believe that everything is just fine in our country and ignore any injustices or suffering that takes place.

3. Like those to whom Micah prophesied, we have plenty of false prophets who speak of our country as if we are perfect.

100. Then we hear Micah's challenge – are you doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly.

1. the litmus test for us is not how good we feel about ourselves, but how much good we are doing for those who are suffering or those who deal with injustice in their lives.

2. that's the measure God uses.

Move 3: A final thought about the complexity of being faithful.

a. Micah prophesied that Assyria would destroy Judah just like Assyria destroyed Israel for its unfaithfulness.

1. Judah suffers at the hands of Assyria, but Assyria stops before destroying Judah and Jerusalem survives.
2. Eventually, the Babylonians will destroy Jerusalem, but in that moment Micah was wrong about the looming threat of Assyria.
3. The question was raised: could Micah have been wrong in his judgment of Judah?
4. Or was Judah somehow better than Israel since Judah was spared destruction by the Assyrians?

5. was Judah one of those false prophets about whom he prophesied?
6. The struggle to see how God was at work.

b. We know that challenge.

1. how do we know what God wants us to do?
2. When can we look at what is happening in the world and know that it is God at work?
3. Unfortunately, Micah does not give us an easy answer.
4. In fact, instead of an answer, we get the question: are you doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God?

As we live out our answer to that question, we discover how Micah, how God, speaks to us today. Amen.