Zephaniah 3: 8-20
The prophet Zephaniah cries out, as all
of the prophets from the heart of God, against the forces of darkness which
destroy all that God loves. Through
Zephaniah God proclaims “The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my
jealous anger.” This is a holy jealousy,
a jealousy which longs for the hearts of God’s people to turn again to the love
and blessing of God. This is a holy
anger, expressed as a passion, which purifies for the sake of love. God called his people to be the meek and the
humble as God prepared to take away the punishment of sin that would become for
them the salvation of life. The compassion
of God’s heart is expressed, “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to
save. He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing…. he
will remove sorrows, rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered,
bringing them home.” With the Advent of
Christ we are given the gift of homecoming wrapped in the swaddling cloth of
salvation as God sings over all of creation and humankind with the gift of
himself in the tenderness of innocence.
A prayer of silence as listening to a
lullaby. “The Lord will quiet you with his love and rejoice over you with
singing.”
Jennifer Steil
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