Proper 28
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
Object:
It is somewhat of a mystery as to why this one text from Judges is inserted into the lectionary at this point. The Lutheran selection fits much better with the New Testament readings. But perhaps this is a feeble attempt to remind the congregation that women, too, served as leaders in ancient Israel.
After Israel entered into the promised land about 1220 B.C., for the next two centuries until the beginning of the reign of Saul in 1020 B.C., the people were very loosely organized as disparate and scattered tribes into a covenant federation that met together either every one or seven years at a central shrine where the ark of the covenant was located, first at Shechem, then Gilgal, and finally at Shiloh. (Even this loose organization has been questioned by some scholars.)
During this period, the Israelite tribes were constantly harassed by the surrounding Canaanites, who were more numerous and who had the military advantage of possessing horses and chariots. In our text, it is the Canaanites of the northern portion of the land around Hazor, under the kingship of one Jabin and the military leadership of Sisera, who threaten the Israelites' existence.
The Deuteronomic editors, who made the final assembly of the book of Judges, place the stories of the various Judges within a stereotyped theological framework. Israel's time in the promised land is the time of her testing, to see if she will remain faithful to her God. But, say the editors, Israel constantly falls into idolatry and worships the fertility gods and goddesses of the Canaanites. As a result, God sends his punishment upon her in the form of an attack by the surrounding Canaanites. The people cry out in repentance, according to the framework, and the Lord sends them a deliverer, a Judge, to save them from the enemy. Thus, in our text, the Lord has subjected his people to the oppression of Sisera's army.
The Judge at the time is the prophetess Deborah. She is not a military leader like many of the Judges, but rather exercises a judicial function, deciding the legal disputes that are brought to her (v. 5). Nevertheless, it is Deborah who summons Barak from the tribe of Zebulon, to lead in the battle. She commands him to call forth 10,000 of the farmers in the northern tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon to fight against the superior Canaanites. And because she is a prophetess, she can foretell that God will defeat the Canaanites (v. 7) and that the Canaanite commander will be slain by a woman (v. 9). In the following story those events take place (vv. 12-24).
The notable fact in our text, however, is that God is the one who determines the course of events. "I will draw out Sisera ... I will give him into your hand ..." says the Lord through Deborah (v. 7). Israel is God's covenant people, and it is God who protects and delivers them, because they are the instruments of the purpose of God to bring his blessing on all the families of the earth (cf. Genesis 12:3; Exodus 19:6). Despite Israel's idolatry, despite her continual apostasy and unfaithfulness, God forgives his errant people and moves their history forward toward his goal of salvation for the world.
It is not far fetched to conclude therefore that God is still doing the same thing in our history. Heaven knows we are frequently unfaithful servants, giving our loyalty and worship to everything and everyone except our Lord. But we are also members, with Israel, of God's covenant people, who have been set aside to be God's instruments in the salvation of all peoples. And God is using us -- using even our little sporadic faithfulness and service -- to bring in his kingdom on earth. It is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, and he will bring our history to his blessed conclusion.
Lutheran Option: Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
Our text encompasses the seventh century B.C. prophet's announcement of the nearness of the Day of the Lord, of the dies irae, the day of wrath -- the fearful day at the end of human history when God invades the earth to destroy all of those who oppose him, before he brings in his kingdom.
We live in an age and a society that believes that God never judges anybody. Too often we picture God as a kindly helper who overlooks every wrong and whose task it is simply to forgive us our sins and to deliver us out of any difficulty that we may find ourselves in. So we go our merry ways, ignoring God's loving commandments for us, making up the rules of right and wrong as we go along, and considering ourselves the individual sovereigns over our own lives and our chosen futures.
The results are the chaos in our world, of which we read in the morning headlines, and the agonizing thought that there really is no good future. No. No one rules except us. And try as we may in our decent moments, we seem unable to establish any lasting peace or community of love on our tortured earth. Millions starve, more millions die violently, our streets echo with gunfire and are besmirched with the crime that keeps us behind locked doors. Families fall apart, hatreds fester, and children find themselves bereft of caring parents or education. And we dimly realize that death will be our only deliverance from a sin-saturated life that will never finally know improvement.
But our text gives assurance of a different outcome. To be sure, it is full of darkness and gloom, distress and anguish. God has risen up in warfare against his enemies, says Zephaniah. He has offered that sacrifice that precedes every Israelite battle (cf. 1 Samuel 13:5-12). Now his final judgment is at hand, and he will come to do away with every human military weapon (cf. Isaiah 9:5; Psalm 46:8-9) and every sinful soul who has thought that human beings rule the world and that they are in charge. No material wealth, paid to government or church, will be able to turn aside God's onslaught (v. 18). God in his just judgment will destroy those who have forgotten and defied him. For he is Ruler and Lord over all, and he comes to reclaim his creation.
When the last judgment will take place, Zephaniah does not say, any more than does the New Testament (cf. Mark 13:32-37). The Day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night, reports our epistle lesson. Who knows? Maybe that dreadful day will come tomorrow afternoon! And our Lord's warning to us is to be ready and to "watch."
So our text is finally a call to repentance, isn't it? And a call to the renewal of our trust in Christ's deliverance of us. Writes Paul, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
What will the outcome be, then? Zephaniah tells us of it. "For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, those who are left in Israel. They shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall pasture and lie down, and none shall make them afraid" (Zephaniah 3:12-13).
Truly I say to you, "The Kingdom of God will come."
After Israel entered into the promised land about 1220 B.C., for the next two centuries until the beginning of the reign of Saul in 1020 B.C., the people were very loosely organized as disparate and scattered tribes into a covenant federation that met together either every one or seven years at a central shrine where the ark of the covenant was located, first at Shechem, then Gilgal, and finally at Shiloh. (Even this loose organization has been questioned by some scholars.)
During this period, the Israelite tribes were constantly harassed by the surrounding Canaanites, who were more numerous and who had the military advantage of possessing horses and chariots. In our text, it is the Canaanites of the northern portion of the land around Hazor, under the kingship of one Jabin and the military leadership of Sisera, who threaten the Israelites' existence.
The Deuteronomic editors, who made the final assembly of the book of Judges, place the stories of the various Judges within a stereotyped theological framework. Israel's time in the promised land is the time of her testing, to see if she will remain faithful to her God. But, say the editors, Israel constantly falls into idolatry and worships the fertility gods and goddesses of the Canaanites. As a result, God sends his punishment upon her in the form of an attack by the surrounding Canaanites. The people cry out in repentance, according to the framework, and the Lord sends them a deliverer, a Judge, to save them from the enemy. Thus, in our text, the Lord has subjected his people to the oppression of Sisera's army.
The Judge at the time is the prophetess Deborah. She is not a military leader like many of the Judges, but rather exercises a judicial function, deciding the legal disputes that are brought to her (v. 5). Nevertheless, it is Deborah who summons Barak from the tribe of Zebulon, to lead in the battle. She commands him to call forth 10,000 of the farmers in the northern tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon to fight against the superior Canaanites. And because she is a prophetess, she can foretell that God will defeat the Canaanites (v. 7) and that the Canaanite commander will be slain by a woman (v. 9). In the following story those events take place (vv. 12-24).
The notable fact in our text, however, is that God is the one who determines the course of events. "I will draw out Sisera ... I will give him into your hand ..." says the Lord through Deborah (v. 7). Israel is God's covenant people, and it is God who protects and delivers them, because they are the instruments of the purpose of God to bring his blessing on all the families of the earth (cf. Genesis 12:3; Exodus 19:6). Despite Israel's idolatry, despite her continual apostasy and unfaithfulness, God forgives his errant people and moves their history forward toward his goal of salvation for the world.
It is not far fetched to conclude therefore that God is still doing the same thing in our history. Heaven knows we are frequently unfaithful servants, giving our loyalty and worship to everything and everyone except our Lord. But we are also members, with Israel, of God's covenant people, who have been set aside to be God's instruments in the salvation of all peoples. And God is using us -- using even our little sporadic faithfulness and service -- to bring in his kingdom on earth. It is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, and he will bring our history to his blessed conclusion.
Lutheran Option: Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
Our text encompasses the seventh century B.C. prophet's announcement of the nearness of the Day of the Lord, of the dies irae, the day of wrath -- the fearful day at the end of human history when God invades the earth to destroy all of those who oppose him, before he brings in his kingdom.
We live in an age and a society that believes that God never judges anybody. Too often we picture God as a kindly helper who overlooks every wrong and whose task it is simply to forgive us our sins and to deliver us out of any difficulty that we may find ourselves in. So we go our merry ways, ignoring God's loving commandments for us, making up the rules of right and wrong as we go along, and considering ourselves the individual sovereigns over our own lives and our chosen futures.
The results are the chaos in our world, of which we read in the morning headlines, and the agonizing thought that there really is no good future. No. No one rules except us. And try as we may in our decent moments, we seem unable to establish any lasting peace or community of love on our tortured earth. Millions starve, more millions die violently, our streets echo with gunfire and are besmirched with the crime that keeps us behind locked doors. Families fall apart, hatreds fester, and children find themselves bereft of caring parents or education. And we dimly realize that death will be our only deliverance from a sin-saturated life that will never finally know improvement.
But our text gives assurance of a different outcome. To be sure, it is full of darkness and gloom, distress and anguish. God has risen up in warfare against his enemies, says Zephaniah. He has offered that sacrifice that precedes every Israelite battle (cf. 1 Samuel 13:5-12). Now his final judgment is at hand, and he will come to do away with every human military weapon (cf. Isaiah 9:5; Psalm 46:8-9) and every sinful soul who has thought that human beings rule the world and that they are in charge. No material wealth, paid to government or church, will be able to turn aside God's onslaught (v. 18). God in his just judgment will destroy those who have forgotten and defied him. For he is Ruler and Lord over all, and he comes to reclaim his creation.
When the last judgment will take place, Zephaniah does not say, any more than does the New Testament (cf. Mark 13:32-37). The Day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night, reports our epistle lesson. Who knows? Maybe that dreadful day will come tomorrow afternoon! And our Lord's warning to us is to be ready and to "watch."
So our text is finally a call to repentance, isn't it? And a call to the renewal of our trust in Christ's deliverance of us. Writes Paul, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
What will the outcome be, then? Zephaniah tells us of it. "For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, those who are left in Israel. They shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall pasture and lie down, and none shall make them afraid" (Zephaniah 3:12-13).
Truly I say to you, "The Kingdom of God will come."
