Mighty God
“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17, ESV)
The room was comfortable with its chairs and furnishing, but my mind was on edge. The sterile scent of this dentist office reminded me that I can’t relax. Sitting in the dentist’s office is not my favorite place to be. Someday I will tell you stories about how my childhood dentist put the fear of God into me, figuratively. But for now, just assume that I have a low tolerance for the dull echo of the drill.
What happened after entering this disinfected waiting room was all good. I just needed to get past my initial soul-jerking balk at what was going to happen next: needles, drills, mouth guard—the works. I know this was the best place for me to be at that time, but it still took some adult-level processing for me to step into this environment and roll with the punches.
In the end it was all good; my very capable dentist applied his skill to putting my pain in the past and the repairs he made would amend the brokenness of my tooth.
How did this all begin? It was this same celebratory time of year and a piece of toffee was dangled in front of my eyes. Christmastime and sweet delectables bring warm memories. This particular treat was offered to me just long enough and I happily indulged. Mmmm, I love good toffee. And this was good toffee: real butter and real brown sugar with real cashews and toasted almonds.
I took a bite and immediately there was a crunch. That crunch was not the almond, cashew mix. It was much more pronounced and sharp. And that crunch left a gaping hole in the left side of my topside dental row (L24, if I remember correctly).
There was some initial pain—half of my tooth was missing. I quickly recovered it but the damage was already done. Thankfully the dentist was pre-Covid available to help and the repairs went smoothly. A new crown was put in place and all seemed peaceful again.
In some unique way, this event parallels what I see in Zephaniah 3:17—the reading for this weekend’s message. It speaks about the Mighty God, who is very well qualified to save. But save from what? As Christians, we have the immediate, practiced answer: sin. But here is where Zephaniah begs us all to slow down and let the expert attend to our great need.
If “sin” was the simple answer and Mighty God was the solution, then it would make some sense if Zephaniah took half of his 53 verses to speak about sin and the other half of his 53 verses to speak about our Savior, the Mighty God. But Zephaniah causes his readers to take a dramatic pause and examine the breakdown of positivity and sin issues. Only seven verses speak about God saving—and clearly these words do resound and glorify our Mighty Savior King.
The snag to our celebration comes with the other 46 verses. They are not pretty. They speak about weaknesses in our moral stance. They highlight our inconsiderate obeisance of things created and our lack of homage to our Creator. Zephaniah does not hold punches when he speaks, and his language makes us turn around and look at the crowd, as if to say, “Who is that wretched man, that worthless woman?” The prophet’s own bony finger thumps on his mortal chest and sighs, “That’s me.”
He berates himself and then asks us to journey with him to the point of our broken and wretched nature. To be sure, Zephaniah has a sweet ending—God rescues his people. But Zephaniah produces a taxing soliloquy and makes us wonder, is there any hope?
In the end there is.
So why must Zephaniah rant and rave? Why did any of the prophets need to speak so crassly against humanity? Why is it that even John the Baptist seemed to be sent to drive us to humble tears? Because there is no cure until we see the brokenness that is more than a tooth, more than a disease, more than a polluted word, and much more serious than looking at what someone else has done wrong. Zephaniah and all the prophets want to offer hope, but they first must paint the accurate picture of despair and show us that we are the cause for that despair. We are the burden of shame upon our own shoulders. We are the reason the Son of God must be licked and cursed by the flames of hell.
So the prophets and Zephaniah pound and wail upon their own chests. They cry bitter tears of humility and notice, with stark recognition, that their future is shattered and their end is the grave. Then, at that lowest point of despair, the Mighty God stoops to lift each humbled chin and wipe each grimy tear that falls from the misery of their own soul.
Zephaniah, thank you for being harsh! Thank you for shaking us out of our complacent ease and making us aware of the thirst in our own souls. Thank you for your 7 verses of good news and your willingness to speak 46 verses of condemnation.
May you be blessed by this heavy hitter: Zephaniah. Please read Zephaniah 3:17 again below. It is beautiful. But its beauty comes from a place of despair, which we all must see. May the Lord open our understanding so that the seven verses, the one verse (Zeph. 3:17) become more sweet and assuring than they have ever been before.
“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17, ESV)
Pastor Al