Joyful People in Joyless Times

Introduction:

Are you happy? Are you unhappy? I wonder what how you would answer a ‘happiness pollster’ if they came and surveyed you. A couple of years ago, Gallup did a poll measuring the rise of global unhappiness. They found that over the last decade, year by year, unhappiness is on the rise all around the world. People are more stressed, more anxious, more desperate than they’ve ever been. I am sure that we’ve all felt this in some way or the other. This was happening long before the pandemic. People — maybe some of us — are living unhappy lives.

What leads to unhappiness? Well, if we’re talking on extremely small timescales, we can say that stubbing your toe leads to unhappiness. But that’s really not indicative of an ‘unhappy life.’ What about those days when your whole day is upheaved because of something that is out of your control? Terrible traffic ruins your daily schedule. The baby didn’t sleep well. I can relate to that right now. It could be a million different things, right? But again, we’re talking about one day, not a life time.

If we were making a ‘unhappiness’ soup, what would be the three main ingredients?

Discontentment

Isolation

Idolatry

I’m around college students day in and day out, and I see these three tendencies all the time. Discontentment, isolation, and idolatry. These could also be defined as joylessness, lack of biblical community, and misdirected worship. And all of these, and in fact, unhappiness, is a result of a lack of covenant relationship with God himself.

Today, our passage brings us into a time where God’s people were unhappy. They were in the midst of unhappy nations. They themselves had fallen into sin and idolatry for centuries, and were about to face the wrath of God. That’s the story of Zephaniah. God had predicted his wrath and judgment throughout the first two chapters. They had every reason to feel unhappy. But let’s take a look at how the book ends. Turn in your Bibles and follow as we look at our passage in Zephaniah 3:14-20:

Zephaniah 3:14–20 (CSB)

14 Sing for joy, Daughter Zion;

shout loudly, Israel!

Be glad and celebrate with all your heart,

Daughter Jerusalem!

15 The Lord has removed your punishment;

he has turned back your enemy.

The King of Israel, the Lord, is among you;

you need no longer fear harm.

16 On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:

“Do not fear;

Zion, do not let your hands grow weak.

17 The Lord your God is among you,

a warrior who saves.

He will rejoice over you with gladness.

He will be quiet in his love.

He will delight in you with singing.”

18 I will gather those who have been driven

from the appointed festivals;

they will be a tribute from you

and a reproach on her.

19 Yes, at that time

I will deal with all who oppress you.

I will save the lame and gather the outcasts;

I will make those who were disgraced

throughout the earth

receive praise and fame.

20 At that time I will bring you back,

yes, at the time I will gather you.

I will give you fame and praise

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes before your eyes.

The Lord has spoken.

Let’s pray:

Lord, you have spoken. And we believe your word as truth. As we celebrate this season of waiting, as we sit with hope and peace and joy and love in the already-not yet kingdom, help us to see the joy that you can bring us. We live in a world of chaos, of darkness, of hopelessness. But you, O Lord bring us true joy. You have set your covenant love on your people, and through you, we can experience meaning in life, joy. Lord, as we open your word, change us from the inside out by the power of your Spirit and the efficacy of your Word. It never returns empty. Now, may the words of mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

This passage displays how God’s people can have true joy in the darkest circumstances. And in light of that, I want to propose the following to you: Because God is in the business of redeeming, reorienting, and restoring his people, we can live with joy. Over the course of the story of the Bible, God continuously works salvation for his people. And gives them a reason for joy. I’ve got three points to show this this morning: God brings us joy by (1) Redeeming our relationship with him; (2) Reorienting our worship to him; and (3) Restoring our community with his people. God brings about true joy, and that joy looks like a redeemed relationship with God, reoriented worship to God and restored community with his people.

Before we dive into these three points, though, let’s look at how this joy is expressed in God’s people. Remember, they had sinned and sinned and sinned over the course of several centuries. They had asked for a king, and God sent them one. And quickly those kings led Israel into idolatry. They worshiped Baals and other false gods. And the God of Israel is a jealous God. Why? Because He is worthy of every ounce of human worship. So when his own people fell into idolatry, they deserved his wrath. He expressed his wrath often through other countries invading and defeating his people in battle. As I said earlier, the first two of Zephaniah’s three chapters are all about God’s coming wrath.

So put yourselves in God’s people’s shoes. God’s prophets are telling you over and over about this coming wrath. The Day of the Lord. Just look at Zephaniah 3:1-8:

Zephaniah 3:1–8 (CSB)

1 Woe to the city that is rebellious and defiled,

the oppressive city!

2 She has not obeyed;

she has not accepted discipline.

She has not trusted in the Lord;

she has not drawn near to her God.

3 The princes within her are roaring lions;

her judges are wolves of the night,

which leave nothing for the morning.

4 Her prophets are reckless—

treacherous men.

Her priests profane the sanctuary;

they do violence to instruction.

5 The righteous Lord is in her;

he does no wrong.

He applies his justice morning by morning;

he does not fail at dawn,

yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.

6 I have cut off nations;

their corner towers are destroyed.

I have laid waste their streets,

with no one to pass through.

Their cities lie devastated,

without a person, without an inhabitant.

7 I said: You will certainly fear me

and accept correction.

Then her dwelling place

would not be cut off

based on all that I had allocated to her.

However, they became more corrupt

in all their actions.

8 Therefore, wait for me—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

until the day I rise up for plunder.

For my decision is to gather nations,

to assemble kingdoms,

in order to pour out my indignation on them,

all my burning anger;

for the whole earth will be consumed

by the fire of my jealousy.

Wow. God calls Jerusalem — the center of civilization for his own people — an oppressive city that is disobedient and has not trusted in his Word. He promises that he will pour out judgment on the whole world because of its sin, including Israel and Jerusalem. This would lead to great unhappiness among his people. Why?

Because sin steals joy. Sin is a thief of all that is good. I’ve heard sin explained as ‘missing the mark’ a lot of times. And while it’s true, sin is much more than ‘missing the mark.’ Sin is rebellion. Sin is what brought the curse onto the earth that causes all sadness, all grief, all pain, and all hardship in life. Sin is not merely missing the mark. Sin isn’t just messing up. Sin is the ultimate thief of joy. Sin is the cause of relational strife between man and God. We experience joylessness because of sin.

We need joy. We need the restored relationship with God, renewed worship, and redeemed community brought about by a joyful experience of God’s grace. In Zephaniah’s era, Israel needed joy. That’s where our passage comes in. God tells his people that they will “sing for joy”, “shout loudly’, and to “be glad and celebrate with all [their] heart.” God is giving the people a reason for joy, and the first of those reasons is a restored relationship with him.

I. Restored Relationship

Look at verse 15. Verse 14 is where the people are expressing their joy, but verse 15 is where we see that God has given them a restored relationship with himself. Because of their sin and continuing rebellion, their relationship had been fractured. However, God — in his eternal wisdom and sovereign purpose — had chosen to set his covenant love on Israel. It was nothing that Israel had done. They were not an especially powerful or wealthy nation. But God had chosen them before time began. He had promised through his covenant that he would be their God and they would be his people. A reason for joy.

But as I said before, sin had caused this relationship to be broken. The days were dark in Israel. Babylon was about to come and take them captive. Their homeland would be taken over. Many would die in captivity. And I am sure that many in Israel had forgotten — or maybe ignored — God’s covenant promises to his people. But God does not forget his promises. No matter how dark the days are. No matter how deep the sin is. No matter how faithless we are: God’s faithfulness to his own people does not run out. He will always keep his promises.

So look at verse 15: “The LORD has removed your punishment; he has turned back your enemy.” Though they were sinful and deserved punishment, God’s mercy was greater. Mercy is not getting what you rightfully deserve. For centuries, God’s people had laughed in his face by worshiping other gods. They deserved everything that was about to come to them. But God tells them here that their punishment will be removed and their enemies will be turned back.

That’s not exactly how the story goes immediately for Israel however. A few years later after Zephaniah was written, Babylon took Israel captive. So wait: I thought that the LORD had removed their punishment? I thought the LORD had turned back their enemy? What could Zephaniah mean since Babylon seemed to have won? We have to broaden the timeline. God knew that Babylon would besiege Jersualem and take God’s people captive. Nothing takes him by surprise. They would be taken captive for around 70 years and then return to their homeland, defeated, decimated, humiliated. But remember: no matter how dark the days, no matter how great the sin, no matter how deep the curse, God’s purposes will never be thwarted. God’s promises will always be kept.

God’s relationship with his people could never be fully and finally be broken. Harmed: year. Maimed: yes. But once God set his covenant love on his people, no power of hell nor scheme of man could change that. In this verse, God was talking about an eternal removal of punishment, an eternal turning back of the enemy of God’s people. This would fully and finally through Jesus the Messiah. We find that answer in the second half of the verse: “The King of Israel, the LORD, is among you; you need no longer fear harm.” God wasn’t talking about Babylon. God was talking about a greater enemy: sin. And the purpose of the Messiah was to come and take away the sin of God’s people.

This is a passage that is pointing forward to the coming of Jesus. That’s why were preaching on it during Advent. The Messiah was coming. His Advent was drawing nearer and nearer. The coming of the Messiah would bring about eternal redemption and restored relationship with God. This is why the Messiah must be the God-Man. Jesus was God: Eternally divine in every way. The Nicene Creed says it this way:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,     the only Son of God,     eternally begotten of the Father,     God from God, Light from Light,     true God from true God,     begotten, not made,     of one Being with the Father.

The Messiah was to be God - truly God. This was so that he could bear the full weight of God’s anger (deserved by our sin). He was divine so that he could satisfy God’s wrath and also secure righteousness and eternal life.

But the Messiah was also to be human - truly human. This was so that he could truly sympathize with his fellow humans and be an appropriate sacrifice for us.

So how does the LORD removed punishment, and what is he referencing here? The coming Messiah who would be truly God and truly Man and would die on the cross as a sacrifice for mankind, removing the punishment of sin and guilt and shame. He turned back the enemy of death. The King of Israel was Jesus himself, God in flesh, born as a baby in Bethlehem. He came to his people’s midst to restore the relationship between God and man. He came as a warrior — not making war on Rome or any other human kingdom, but with sin.

Through Christ, and only through Christ, can God’s people experience a restored relationship with him. And let us glorify Christ today, for he has come to earth for us and for our salvation. So how can God’s people sing for joy and shout loudly? How can we be glad and celebrate with all our heart? God keeps his promises, and all of his promises find their yes in Jesus. He has promised salvation by removing our punishment, turning the backs of our enemy. This happens because Yahweh himself, Jesus, came and lived among men. We don’t to live in fear. In fact, we can live lives of joyful exuberance: We can sing and shout as those who have experienced salvation through Christ. The LORD is among us. Praise God that he has restored his relationship with us through the gift of his Son, Jesus. Joy is found in finding yourself in a restored relationship with God. And look at how God sees his people: He sings over them. He fights for them. He rejoices over them with gladness. Take a moment and reflect on that: The God of the Universe has struck up a relationship with you and rejoices over you. Not because of your inherent goodness or some light within, but simply because he loves you. He has chosen you. He has set his covenant love on you. You are his and he is yours. He sings over you for he has worked salvation in you.

II. Reoriented Worship

Not only is God in the business of producing joy in us by restoring our relationship with him, he is also reorienting our worship. Everyone at all times is a worshiper. God has made us all to be worshipers. And what does it mean to worship? Worship is the feeling of adoration or devotion. And in some way, we are always showing devotion or adoration. And in my case, unfortunately, this worship is often misdirected. Worship is often where we spend our time or our money or what draws up our affections. Today, this looks like sports, phones, TV, success, influence. What do you find yourself worshiping?

Naturally, our worship needs to be reoriented. In our sin, we worship anything else but God. John Calvin says this: “The human heart is a perpetual forge of idols.” We are idol factories. And this isn’t new. The people of Israel throughout the centuries-long story of the Old Testament continually fell into idolatry. Think about their escape from Egypt for a moment with me. God send 10 plagues onto Egypt and allows his people to leave finally. They head out, and encounter the Red Sea. God causes a wind to blow the Red Sea up on its sides and they are able to walk across the dry sea bed and escape the Egyptian army. They go into the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land and end up at the foot of Mt. Sinai, complaining all the way. Moses went up the to the mountain to receive the Law, and in the opinion of the people, stayed up there a little too long. While he was up there in the presence of God, what did the people do? They grew impatient and created a golden calf, bowed down to it, and worshiped it. How quickly, and how foolishly, idolatry strikes.

And this was the repeated tendency of God’s people. Idolatry rears its ugly head over and over throughout the Old Testament. And finally, God was going to show his wrath to his people. Misdirected worship. I think it can be easy for us to say, “If only we could be in the time of the Old Testament, when they were in the presence of God, we wouldn’t fall into idolatry.” But we know in our heart that we would. How often are we tempted to forsake time with God to scroll on our phones? How often do we wish we could be anywhere except with God’s people? In the Old Testament, their worship was misdirected. Still today, worship is misdirected.

What then is true worship? What does it look like? Worship that God desires is that which is in Spirit and in Truth. This is what Jesus tells us in John 4. Right worship is rightly centered on God himself, and is wrapped up in what God has done in redeeming a people for himself. In other words, joy comes from a worshiping life that is completely oriented around God. And he works to reorient our worship every day.

In our passage, God promises that days of joy and singing were coming. This verse is talking about the Israelites worshiping God externally, yes. Singing, praying, all of these things we do that we call “worship” are external and outward overflows of an internal change. So, in the first point, we talked about God restoring our relationship with him. What is the response to this? In our joy, our worship is reoriented back to God who has worked salvation with us. So the response to a restored relationship — a changed heart and new life — leads to an overflow of worship. Not only in singing and shouting but in a life that is oriented around God himself. In the Advent of Christ and his work for us, God has restored a relationship and reoriented our worship. How can you rightly worship God? By orienting everything you are and everything you do to him. To see the world as a place that completely and totally redounds to the glory of God. To devote your life to his purpose.

As we think about Advent, it’s a good time to ask yourself: Where is my worship oriented? And that should rightly be the same answer to this: Where am I finding joy? We worship what brings us joy. In stadiums all around the country today, there will be worship services with 75000 NFL fans. They will shout and sing and take joy. They have spent their money and time to watch this game and participate. They are worshiping. You will orient your life around what you worship and what you orient your life around is where you will find your joy. God brings you joy by reorienting your worship around himself. Devote your life to him today.

III. Redeemed Community

Once God has restored his relationship with his people, reoriented their worship, he restores them to a community. This passage was not given to an individual. The covenants were not given to individuals. Rather, God has saved and promised and worked salvation for a group of people. A redeemed community. Look at verses 18-20: “I will gather those who have been driven from the appointed festivals; they will be a tribute from you and a reproach on her. Yes, at that time I will deal with all who oppress you. I will save the lame and gather the outcasts; I will make those who were disgraced throughout the earth receive praise and fame. At that time, I will bring you back, yes, at that time I will gather you. I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes. The LORD has spoken.”

The LORD will gather his people together again. They were about to be scattered into Babylon in captivity. They would no longer be able to gather for their feasts and to get together to celebrate and have public worship. Part of being exiled to a pagan nation meant that they would have not been allowed to keep their different religious customs outlined in the Law. And Jewish community was built around a mutual faith and different feasts and public worship. They were a community that was forged in faith.

In order to have community, there must be intrinsically shared values. For Israel, the Temple in Jerusalem was a shared value that was precious to them. It was where they gathered yearly to make sacrifice and worship. They gathered around this thing. That was where their community was forged. Babylon would not allow such a community to continue. They would be integrated into a new community with different values and different customs. They would be left without a community. Or rather, would be in the midst of a pagan community.

But — as we said before — God’s promises do not fail. He promises that he would bring them back, restore their relationship, reorient their worship, and also that he would redeem their community. The prophecy here is concerned with the redemption of the true community of God’s people. They would be gathered together again after they were driven out of their land. They would be together under the presence of the LORD and would be restored before all the earth.

How then was this prophecy answered? Israel was allowed to come back to their land, and the Temple was restored. However, what we call 2nd temple Judaism would have been largely unrecognizable to earlier Israelites. Worship still happened their, but it was perverted from its biblical roots. It wasn’t done in a right, restored relationship with God and the worship was not oriented to God. This is the corrupted system that Jesus entered into during his Advent. This is the system that was held hostage by elite Sadducees and legalistic Pharisees. This isn’t what God was pointing to here in Zephaniah.

God was talking about a new gathering. A new people. A new Covenant. That’s how we need to learn to read the Prophets and the Old Testament as a whole: As Christian Scripture. All of the promises of God find their ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus, and this work of God to gather his people again is no different. How then does this look?

Take a look around you this morning! This is the new gathering of God’s people. This the collection of outcasts, disgraced, and oppressed who God was calling together. When a nation or any institution goes through a period of upheaval, they sometimes make the hard decision to reconstitute. They become a new nation or a new company. They adopt different leadership, different constitution and by-laws, though they are still the same people making up that institution.

In God’s work with his people, the church is the reconstituted people of God. They are under a new constitution (the new Covenant in Christ), but are the same people. So God gathers his people, his community, and we call that new community the church.

In God’s saving act, in his bringing you ultimate joy, he redeems your community. We are saved as personal and individual people. But we are saved and called into a community. This is why we use adoption language when talking about salvation. We are saved into a family of God. God’s people are now your community once you become a Christian. So let’s look at this work in a linear way: God restores your relationship with him by sending Christ the God-man to die on the cross for you. In so doing, he reorients your worship from worshiping idols and self to worshiping him with your whole life. And you worship him in a redeemed community known as the Church. This is a worldwide people expressed in unique local churches like this one.

IV. Conclusion

To the outside world, this might not look like a reason to have joy. But what’s the alternative? We talked about that at the very beginning: People are unhappy, right? Record numbers of unhappiness abound. Why? Much of the world defines happiness incorrectly. For many, it’s based on external factors: job performance, money in the bank, entertainment value, or where you live. But we know that happiness or contentment or even joy should be defined differently. We know that people are generally joyless because they have not been restored to God in a right relationship. They are idolaters. And they don’t have biblical community. This is a joyless life. So let me ask you again: Where are you finding joy today? If it’s not Christ, I would invite you to talk with me after service, and I would love to tell you about the joy I’ve found in him. Believers, today, remember that you have joy: It’s because you’ve been restored to God through Christ, your worship is oriented to him, and your community has been redeemed through the shed blood of Christ who has come and is coming again. And in Christ coming again, we find the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy. At that time and on that Day, when Christ has his Second Advent — that’s what we’re waiting for in this season — our relationship with God will see it’s fulness. We will walk by the light of his presence. Everything will be filled with his beauty and goodness. Sin will be no more. Tears will be wiped away. Our lives will be oriented around God’s glory. And the community of the saints of all time, from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be gathered at the throne singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy’ in pure joy. That’s joy. Joy in waiting for that concrete promise of God. Let’s look forward to that day!

Let’s pray.