Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18, the First Reading appointed for the 25th Sunday after Pentecost in the Year of Matthew, is a rare text in that Zephaniah is all but ignored in lectionaries. This particular text is thought to have been written either during or preceding the reforms of King Josiah, although scholars differ widely in assigning it a place in Israel's history. Be that as it may, this reading gives us an example of a prophetic warning, a call to repentance. It will be the preacher's work to also issue such a call.
(The following questions have been developed to help unearth the function of the Word in the text, a fundamental concern of Law and Gospel preachers. This is a basic concern since the way the Word functions is the way the sermon must function. For more on this method, see my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com and amazon.)
1. How does the Word function in the text? Clearly the Word is functioning as Law. The Day of the Lord is near, repent! This is the clear message. Indeed, in the verses immediately following these, we hear, "Gather together, gather, shameless nation, before you are driven away like the drifting chaff." It must be noted, nonetheless, that this call to repentance is precisely directed at those who "rest complacently on their dregs, those who say in their hearts, 'The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm.'"
2. How is the Word not functioning in the text? There is no good news here, no Gospel word. That important word will need to come from other sources in this sermon.
3. With whom are you identifying in the text? It is always important to identify with those to whom the Word is spoken, so here we identify with the complacent ones, asking ourselves, "How am I complacent? How do I presume upon the Lord's indifference to my life?"
4. What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text? The call to live life in a certain manner in response to God's gifts is not present here. This is a call to repentance.
5. What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text? Since there is much Law here, our couplets will use that language, but imagine a gospel counterpart. For example: punishment/forgiveness; wrath/grace, distress/healing.
6. Exegetical work: It is very important to identify the intended audience of this diatribe: In every case it is the complacent, the wealthy, the strong, the "towering" ones. This word of judgement is not directed at all people, but people lulled to sleep by their own wealth and security. There are strong parallels here with the words of Amos: "Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall...who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph." (Amos 6:4-6). Also, in the New Testament, the parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12 is a warning to the complacent wealthy. Sir George Adam Smith, in his classic commentary, brings this text into our time by saying this: "Here is the public temper, which at all periods provokes alike the despair of the reformer and the indignation of the prophet: the criminal apathy of well-to-do people sunk in ease and religious indifference...The great causes of God and Humanity are not defeated by the hot assaults of the Devil, but by the slow, crushing, glacier-like mass of thousands and thousands of indifferent nobodies. God's causes are never destroyed by being blown up, but by being sat upon." (The Book of The Twelve Prophets, vol. II, p. 52).
7. Consider the insights of the pioneers of the New Homiletic? Moving people from disequilibrium to equilibrium was thought, by Eugene Lowry, to be essential in any sermon. In this sermon, producing disequilibrium will be easy; moving the listener back to equilibrium will be the challenge.
Blessings on your proclamation!
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